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2017/18 Taught Postgraduate Module Catalogue
MEDV5250M Vikings, Saxons and Heroic Culture
30 creditsClass Size: 10
Module manager: Dr Alaric Hall
Email: A.T.P.Hall@leeds.ac.uk
Taught: Semester 2 (Jan to Jun) View Timetable
Year running 2017/18
This module is approved as an Elective
Module summary
The Germanic-language tradition of 'heroic poetry' is one of the central elements in medieval European textual culture. This module enables students to work in an interdisciplinary way across different types of textual sources from different language areas, and to consider how and why traditions are transmitted, and how they developed.Objectives
The aim of the module is to provide a scholarly introduction to the Germanic-language heroic tradition, with particular emphasis on the understanding of:a) the complex relationship between events that really happened and their reporting and memorialisation
b) the nature and function of heroic poetry in medieval society
Learning outcomes
a) familiarity with major poetic (and some prose) texts from Anglo-Saxon England, medieval Scandinavia, and Germany
b) familiarity with key theories of orality and literacy in medieval textuality
c) a critical understanding of the medieval historiography of the so-called Migration Period
Syllabus
An introductory seminar emphasising the interdisciplinary scope and the question of the transmission of narrative and character from late Antique to medieval sources; three blocks of three seminars, each focusing on literature from one each of the three language areas covered (Old English, Old Icelandic, Middle High German); a closing seminar looking across all areas studied.
Teaching methods
| Delivery type | Number | Length hours | Student hours |
| Seminar | 11 | 2.00 | 22.00 |
| Private study hours | 278.00 | ||
| Total Contact hours | 22.00 | ||
| Total hours (100hr per 10 credits) | 300.00 | ||
Private study
- Students will be required to read and take notes on translated primary texts and secondary scholarship in preparation for each text discussion seminar.- A substantial amount of private study will be devoted to work towards the assessments.
Opportunities for Formative Feedback
- Feedback on the first assessment, to be submitted in week 6 for return in week 8, will have formative as well as summative functions.- Students' performance in text discussion seminars and in liaising with tutors to develop a suitable question for their final essay.
- Mid-semester light-touch student feedback
Methods of assessment
Coursework
| Assessment type | Notes | % of formal assessment |
| Essay | 3000 words | 50.00 |
| Essay | 3000 words | 50.00 |
| Essay | 1 x 3,000 word essay due by 12 noon on Monday of teaching week 7 | 50.00 |
| Essay | 1 x 3,000-word essay due by 12 noon on Monday of teaching week 11 | 50.00 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Coursework) | 200.00 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Exams
| Exam type | Exam duration | % of formal assessment |
| Standard exam (closed essays, MCQs etc) | 1 hr 30 mins | 30.00 |
| Total percentage (Assessment Exams) | 30.00 | |
Normally resits will be assessed by the same methodology as the first attempt, unless otherwise stated
Reading list
The reading list is available from the Library websiteLast updated: 20/04/2017
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