Dr Tarrin Wills
Lecturer
work
+44 (0)1224 272627
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+44 (0)1224 272624
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t.wills@abdn.ac.uk
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CB502, 50/52 College Bounds
Office hours: Thursdays 9-11
Lecturer
BA (hons), PhD (Sydney)
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Personal Details
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Web Links
- Centre for Scandinavian Studies
- Department of English
- Department of History
- Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages
- Old Norse-Icelandic resources
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Biography
Tarrin Wills is Lecturer in Early Scandinavian Studies, and is Co-Director of the Centre for Scandinavian Studies. He has a BA (hons) and PhD from the University of Sydney. He worked from 2001-7 as a postdoctoral Research Associate on the project Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages, including 18 months as a visiting scholar at Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, University of Copenhagen (2003-4).
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Research Interests
Tarrin’s main research interest is in Old Norse language and literature. He has been closely involved in the project, Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages, and is the only non-Professorial member of the coordinating/editorial board. Tarrin is currently working on understanding medieval literature and history through behavioural endocrinology. He has further interests in palaeography; runology and the history of the runology; Old and Middle English; as well as linguistics and discourse analysis. Tarrin is also closely involved in various digitisation projects, and is responsible for the skaldic poetry database at http://skaldic.arts.usyd.edu.au. He is also involved in the Medieval Nordic Text Archive (Menota) and the Medieval Unicode Font Initiative (MUFI).
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Current Research
Tarrin is currently working on:
- Understanding male behaviour in Old Norse and Old English literature through behavioural endocrinology, particularly testosterone.
- Reviewing the evidence for the transmission of oral poetry in medieval Scandinavia and revising Gísli Sigurðsson's thesis concerning the Third Grammatical Treatise.
- Establishing new methods for dating and analysing Old Norse poetry, using selected data from the 10,000-odd transcriptions in the skaldic database, including spatial data.
- Developing a new lexicon of Old Norse poetry, based on the new edition.
- Developing a new index of skaldic diction (kenningar and heiti), based on the new edition.
- Putting the final touches on his edition, translation and commentary on the anonymous verse in the Third Grammatical Treatise for the skaldic project.
- Finishing editions, translations and commentary for the skaldic project, including verses in: Bandamanna saga, Harðar saga, Stjörnu-Odda draumr, Bergbúa þáttr, Kumlbúa þáttr and Draumr Þórsteins Siðuhallssonar.
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Collaborations
- Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages
- Medieval Nordic Text Archive (Menota)
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Teaching Responsibilities
2012-13:
- HI1020 Vikings! - Coordinator, 8 lectures, 2 tutorial groups
- EL5074 Old Norse - 15h seminars
- EL45OP Sagas - 12h seminars
- EL48OX Beowulf - 12h seminars
- HI551Q Viking Religion - 15h seminars
2011-12: EL45OP Sagas of Icelanders (Convenor, 20h seminars); EL48OP Beowulf (Convenor, 20h seminars); EL5580 Old Norse (Convenor, 15h seminars); HI353C The Migration Age (Coordinator, 33h seminars); EL2512 Tragedy of Knowledge (2h lectures); EL2513 History of Language in the British Isles (3h lectures); AY3509 Viking Archaeology (tutorials);
2010-11: EL30WB Chaucer (6 Lectures, 10h Tutorials); EL40OP Sagas of Icelanders (Convenor, 20h Seminars); EL43OP Beowulf and Old English (Convenor, 20h Seminars); EL5074 Old Norse (Coordinator, 15h Seminars); HI1020 Vikings (Coordinator, 8 Lectures, 11h Tutorials); HI302G Sex and Violence in Cold Climates (9h Seminars); HI4015 Legendary Scandinavia (22h Seminars); HI501L Approaches to Scandinavian Studies (Seminars); EL2510 History of Language in the British Isles (3 Lectures); HI5574 Runes and Place Names (15h Seminars)
2009-10: EL30WB Chaucer (lectures and language tutorials); EL40OP Sagas of Icelanders (Convenor, seminars); EL43OP Beowulf and Old English (Convenor, seminars); HI1018 Vikings! (lectures); HI4018 Legendary Scandinavia (seminars); HI5080 Old Norse Language and Literature (Coordinator, seminars); HI5029 Medieval Texts and Manuscripts (seminar); LN1001 Communication and Language (lectures); EL2510 History of Language in the British Isles (lectures); HI35xx Sex and Violence in Cold Climates (seminars); HI5574 Runes and Place Names (seminars)
2008-9: EL30WB Chaucer (lectures and language tutorials); EL40OP Sagas of Icelanders (Convenor, seminars); EL43OP Beowulf and Old English (Convenor, seminars); LN1001 Communication and Language (lectures); HI1018 Vikings! (lectures); HI5080 Old Norse Language and Literature (Coordinator, seminars); HI5067 Approaches to Scandinavian Studies (seminar); HI5574 Runes and Place Names (Seminars); EL2510 History of Language in the British Isles (lectures)
2007-8: EL5302 Preparation and Presentation of Scholarly Writing (Convenor); HI5080 Old Norse Language and Literature (Convenor); EL30KF Knights, Virgins and Viragos (language tutorials); HI5029 Medieval Texts and Manuscripts (guest lecture); EL48ON Sagas of the Icelanders (Convenor); EL2510 History of Language in the British Isles (lectures); HI1015 Vikings! (lectures)
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External Responsibilities
- Honourary Associate, Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies, University of Sydney
- Member, Viking Society for Northern Research (Council Member 2008-10)
- Member, Australian Early Medieval Association
- Member, Teachers of Old English in Britain and Ireland
- Member, Scottish Society for Northern Studies
- External Supervisor to Chris Crocker, University of Iceland
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Admin Responsibilities
- Co-Director of the Centre for Scandinavian Studies
- Coordinator, History MLitt programmes
- Development and promotion of the MA in Scandinavian Studies
- Coordinator, MLitt in Scandinavian Studies
- Erasmus Adviser for English
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Research Students
- Irene García Losquiño (2007)
- Declan Taggart (2010)
- Ian Crockatt (2010)
- Edward Carlsson Browne (2010)
- Claire Organ (2011)
- Doug Dutton (2012)
- Lisa Nitsche (2012)
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Publications
Contributions to Journals
Articles
- Wills, TJ. 'Testosterone, Aggression and Status in Early Northern Literature'. Northern Studies: the journal of the Scottish Society for Northern Studies, vol 43.
- Wills, TJ. 'Physiology and Behaviour in the Sagas'. Viking and Medieval Scandinavia, vol 8.
- Wills, TJ. (2004). 'The Third Grammatical Treatise and Ole Worm’s Literature Runica ’'. Scandinavian Studies, vol 76, pp. 439-458.
- Wills, TJ. (2002). 'Electronic Editing of the Skaldic Corpus'. Skandinavistik: Zeitschrift für Sprache Literatur und Kultur der Nordischen Lander, vol 32, pp. 25-30.
Reviews of Books, Films and Articles
- Wills, TJ. (2011). 'Christopher Abram: Myths of the Pagan North: The Gods of the Norsemen'. Scandinavica, vol 50, no. 2, pp. 98-100.
Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings
Chapters
- Wills, TJ. 'Verses from the Third Grammatical Treatise'. KE Gade (ed.), in: Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages: Volume 3: Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. vol. 3, Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages, vol. 3, Brepols, Turnhout.
- Wills, TJ. (2012). 'Olafr hvitaskald Thordarson: Fragments'. KE Gade (ed.), in: Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages: Volume 3: Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. vol. 3, Brepols, Turnhout.
- Clunies Ross, M., Gade, KE., Marold, E., Nordal, G., Whaley, D. & Wills, TJ. (in press). 'General Introduction'. D Whaley (ed.), in: Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages. vol. 1, Brepols, Turnhout.
Other Contributions
- Wills, TJ. (2009). 'The Development of Skaldic Language'. A Ney, H Williams & FC Ljungqvist (eds), in: Á austrvega: Saga and East Scandinavia: Preprint papers of the 14th International Saga Conference. Gävle University Press, Gävle, pp. 1032-1038.
- Louis-Jensen, J. & Wills, TJ. (2007). 'Placitusdrapa'. M Clunies Ross (ed.), in: Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages: Poetry on Christian Subjects. vol. 7, Brepols, Turnhout, pp. 179-220.
- Wills, TJ. & Würth, S. (2007). 'Hugsvinnsmal'. in: Poetry on Christian Subjects: Norse-Icelandic Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages. vol. 7, Brepols, Turnhout, pp. 358-449.
Contributions to Conferences
Other Contributions
- Wills, TJ. (2006). 'The Anonymous Verse in the Third Grammatical Treatise'.
- Wills, TJ. (2003). 'Theories of the Antiquity of Runes'.
Books and Reports
Books
- Haugen, OE. (ed.), Bruvik, TM., Driscoll, M., Johansson, KG., Kyrkjebø, R. & Wills, TJ. (2008). 'The Menota handbook: Guidelines for the electronic encoding of Medieval Nordic primary sources'. 2 edn, The Medieval Nordic Text Archive, Bergen.
Other Contributions
- Wills, TJ. (2012). 'Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages: Database'.
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