Celebration of New Chair in Runology: 20 April 2021

Rune stone

Welcome to join the ceremony held at Uppsala University Hall to celebrate the new chair in Runology. 

As part of the celebration, Professor Henrik Williams will give a lecture entitled “From Rök to the Mustang Mountains – The Challenges of Runology”. The celebration will also include an address from Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University, Professor Coco Norén, and traditional Swedish folk music.

RVSP at the latest Monday 19 April via mail to development@uadm.uu.se! Please note that the number of attendees for this event is limited.

The event will also be recorded and available afterwards at www.runforum.nordiska.uu.se/blog/ as well as at www.uu.se/en/support/research-on-runes/.  

Runology is the science of reading and interpreting runic texts, which are the earliest written culture in north-western Europe. Reading runic inscriptions is like travelling a thousand years back in time. Runes intrigue us and entice us to try to understand the people and society of that time – and perhaps they can also help us to see our own time from another perspective.

The chair in runology at Uppsala University was made possible thanks to generous donations. Recently, Ms Myrna G. Smith pledged a legacy of USD 1.5 million which has ensured and advanced the future runic research at Uppsala University. 

Runes have been studied in Uppsala since the late 16th century. Runology at Uppsala University is a small discipline in terms of the number of researchers, yet it is world-leading and a node for all international runic research. 

Learn more about the campaign Runic Code, and how you can support runic studies at Uppsala University. 

Learn more about Runic research at Uppsala University.

Last modified: 2021-04-27