Kalamazoo...

I just returned from a 3-day pilgrimage to the largest medieval conference in America: the 41st International Congress on Medieval Studies at Kalamazoo, Michigan. Held at Western Michigan University, hosted by the Medieval Institute, this congress occurs once a year, every year, as a torrent of medieval scholars descends upon the campus to discuss everything medieval: history, literature, paleography, archeology, name-calling, and everything in between. As one of the professors from my own college was making the trek to present a paper, he invited me along to the festivities. Loving the Middle Ages, naturally, I said yes. I could fill pages with things I heard and experienced. Instead, I'll give a brief outline of the sessions I attended (out of hundreds, I had to pick and choose to fit my interests -- it was difficult, but I managed it) and the papers I heard presented. So here we go...


Norse Myth and Saga
"'Off Center': Reconsidering Spatial Valences in Norse Cosmology" by Kevin J. Wanner
"Wealth, Avarice, and Choice in Gautrek's Saga" by James Ryan Gregory

Malory and Christianity I
"The Omnipresence of Christianity in Malory's Morte Darthur: A Survey" by Thomas Hanks, Jr.
"Flawed, Yet Forgiven: Living Holy in the Fallen World of Malory's Morte" by Susan Sainato

Old Norse Literature and Culture
"Sigurdr's Youth and the Wisdom of Old Norse Kingship" by Megan Hartman
"An Unmanly Peacemaker? On Eyrbyggja Saga's 'Mahlidingavisur'" by Asdis Egilsdottir
"'Still Combatants' of Ragnarok in Anglo-Scandinavian Stone Sculpture" by Ilse Schweitzer

The Body in Middle-Earth
"Embodiment, Incorporeality, and Transformation in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-Earth" by Yvette Kisor
"Dual-Body Theory and Tolkien's Kingship" by David Thomson
"Extending the Reach of the Invisible Hand: A Gift Looks for Gain in the Gifting Economy of Middle-Earth" by Jennifer Culver

Untaught Tolkien
"Frodo Lives: Tolkien, Beowulf, and the Critics" by Sarah A. Hauer
"Tolkien's Unfinished 'Lay of Leithian' and the Middle English Sir Orfeo" by Deanna Delmar Evans

History and Legend: Mythopoeia in Medieval Literature
"A Darker Shade of Gray: The Blade Grasida" by Matthew McConnel
"The Transformation from Myth to Fairy-Story in the Middle English Breton Lai Sir Orfeo" by Jack Baker