Thorkelin as scholar and editor

International seminar on Grímur Jónsson Thorkelin.

The third and last in a series of seminars organised by the Universities of Edinburgh and Copenhagen examining aspects of the life and legacy of the Icelandic-Danish scholar Grímur Jónsson Thorkelin (1752-1829), his scholarly network and publishing activities, in particular his dealings with scholars in Great Britain and Ireland.

The theme of this seminar will be “Thorkelin as scholar and editor”, with special focus on his 1815 edition – the editio princeps – of the great Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf.

 

Programme

Thursday, 14 November

Time Activity
12:30-14:00 Lunch
14:00-14:30
Matthew Driscoll (Copenhagen) – “Introduction: Thorkelin as scholar and editor”
14:30-15:15
Margrét Gunnarsdóttir (National Archives of Iceland) – “The historical context of Thorkelin’s 1788 publication of Fragments of English and Irish history in the ninth and tenth century”
15:30-16:15
Peadar Ó Muircheartaigh (Edinburgh) – “When is a Welsh manuscript not a Welsh manuscript? Thorkelin’s Historia Gruffud vab Kenan”
18:30-20:00
Dinner

Friday 15 November

Time Activity
9:00-9:45

Thijs Porck (Leiden) – “Thorkelin’s Beowulf and the reception of Old English in nineteenth-century Europe”
10:00-10:45

Vibeke Pedersen (Aarhus) – “Grundtvig, Thorkelin and Beowulf: A war of words – and other issues”
11:00-11:45

Charles Lock (Copenhagen) – “An ungrateful nation? On the reputation of Thorkelin among English scholars”

Registration

The seminar is open to all, but please register by sending an email to Matthew Driscoll.