Old English Student Society would like to extend an invitation to all scholars and students (BA, MA, PhD) interested in the study of the Anglo-Saxon period and in the various ways of retelling the Anglo-Saxon past across centuries.

This year the conference theme is an invitation to explore the relationship between the various tellers and the way they shape their tales. Whether it be Anglo-Saxon England or any other place in space and time, the storytellers have their own unique ways of telling or retelling a story, which is often deeply rooted in their cultural, linguistic or socio-historical context. Since the conference promotes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the Anglo-Saxon period and beyond, the organisers accept from various fields of interest (e.g. literature, culture, historical linguistics, paleography, history). This will hopefully allow for the continuation of the attempts to map the presence of Anglo-Saxons across time and space, from Middle Ages until the present day.

Papers may address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• The oral formulaic tradition and the position of the scop in Anglo-Saxon culture
• Various Anglo-Saxon narrators and narratives (poetry, prose, historiography, etc.)
• Anglo-Saxon narrators and their counterparts in other cultures (e.g. scops and scalds)
• Literary and other representations of the Anglo-Saxon past
• Historical imagination and historical fiction
• The passing of time, cultural change and the concept of national identity or heritage
• Synchronic and diachronic approach to the Old English language
• Linguistic and stylistic analysis of different narrative modes
• Incorporation and role/function of the Old English language into modern narratives

Abstract dealine: 28 December 2017. Conference language: English.