Natalie Van Deusen, PhD

Area of Study / Keywords

Old Norse-Icelandic; Medieval Studies; Hagiography; Disability Studies

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About

I hold the inaugural Henry Cabot and Linnea Lodge Scandinavian Professorship in the Department of Modern Languages and Cultural Studies at the University of Alberta, where I serve as Director of Undergraduate Programs and Program Advisor for Scandinavian, Norwegian, and Swedish. I am also Adjunct  Professor in Religious Studies in the Department of History & Classics.

I serve as Editor for Scandinavian-Canadian Studies / Études scandinaves au Canada. 

When I'm not on campus, you can find me teaching group exercise and spinning classes at the gym.

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Research

My research interests include Old Norse-Icelandic paleography and philology, manuscript culture, hagiography and religious literature (poetry and prose), gender studies, and disability studies. I have published articles and book reviews in such venues as Scandinavian Studies, Journal of English and Germanic Philology, Speculum, Scandinavian-Canadian Studies, Arthuriana, Arkiv för nordisk filologi, and Maal og minne. In 2014, I was awarded a Killam Research Fund award from the University of Alberta to conduct archival research for a book I have since co-written and published with Professor Kirsten Wolf (UW-Madison), entitled The Saints in Old Norse and Early Modern Icelandic Poetry. I have also published a detailed study, edition, and translation of the history, cults, and legends of Martha and Mary Magdalen in medieval Iceland with the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. My most recent research has examined early modern poetry on famous (and infamous) women from the Bible, history, saga literature, as well as saints and their function; this work resulted in a number of articles and article-length editions of previously unedited (and in some cases, undiscovered) poems, a co-edited volume, and a forthcoming monograph on the post-Reformation poetic tradition surrounding St. Agnes of Rome. I recently completed a SSHRC Insight Development Grant for a research project entitled "'Completely Healed': Miracles, Cures, and Constructions of Disability in the Old Norse-Icelandic Sagas of Bishops," which resulted in several publications, and I am now beginning a new research project that examines stories of Helena Augusta in Old Norse and early modern Icelandic prose and poetry. 

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Teaching

I teach a variety of courses on Nordic history, literature, and culture from the Middle Ages to the present. I also supervise graduate students in MLCS and History, Classics, and Religion.

MLCS 599 - Directed Reading

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SCAND 341 - Old Norse Mythology and Legends

Survey of Old Scandinavian mythology from the earliest times to the end of the Viking Period. Readings in English from the Poetic and Prose Eddas, including the heroic legends and lays. Also included is a brief look at runic inscriptions and skaldic poetry. Note: Taught in English.

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SCAND 342 - The Vikings

Survey of the cultural and literary history of the Viking and Medieval periods in Scandinavia with selections in English from primary sources. Note: Taught in English.

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SCAND 343 - Scandinavia Through Folklore

An exploration of Scandinavian folk literature as an expression of the human experience from pre-industrial to contemporary Scandinavia. Taught in English.

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Browse more courses taught by Natalie Van Deusen

Van Deusen, Natalie M.

Scandinavian-Canadian Studies. 2025 December; 33

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Van Deusen, Natalie M.

Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar á Íslandi. 2025 October;

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Van Deusen, Natalie M.

Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 2024 September; 123 (1):1-28

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Van Deusen, Natalie M.

Scandinavian Studies. 2023 September; 95 ( 4):429-50

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Van Deusen, Natalie M.

Bókavarða hlaðin Guðnýju Ragnarsdóttur sextugri 9. janúar 2023. Reykjavík: Menningar- og minningarsjóður Mette Magnussen. 2023 March;

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Dario Bullitta and Natalie M. Van Deusen, eds.

Turnhout: Brepols. 2022 August;

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Dario Bullitta and Natalie M. Van Deusen

Turnhout: Brepols. 2022 August; In Sainthood, Scriptoria, and Secular Erudition of Medieval and Early Modern Scandinavia: Essays in Honor of Kirsten Wolf. Ed. Dario Bullitta and Natalie M. Van Deusen

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Natalie M. Van Deusen

Turnhout: Brepols. 2022 August; In Sainthood, Scriptoria, and Secular Erudition of Medieval and Early Modern Scandinavia: Essays in Honor of Kirsten Wolf. Ed. Dario Bullitta and Natalie M. Van Deusen

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Natalie M. Van Deusen

2022 July; Female Friendship: Literary and Artistic Explorations, ed. Slav Gratchev

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Natalie M. Van Deusen and Kirsten Wolf

Turnhout: Brepols. 2022 January; The Cult of Saints in the Archbishopric of Nidaróss. Ed. Jon Vidar Sigurdsson and Ragnhild Bø

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Natalie M. Van Deusen

Suffolk: Boydell & Brewer. 2021 January;

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Natalie M. Van Deusen

Cornell: Cornell University Library. 2021 January; In An Icelandic Literary Florilegium: A Festschrift in Honor of Úlfar Bragason, ed. Kirsten Wolf and Marianne Kalinke (Islandica LXII):219-43

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Van Deusen, Natalie M. and Wolf, Kirsten

Turnhout: Brepols. 2020 January; Faith and Knowledge in Late Medieval and Early Modern Scandinavia, ed. Mikael Males and Karoline Kjesrud

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Natalie M. Van Deusen

Toronto. 2019 February;

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Van Deusen, Natalie M.

Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. 2019 February;

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Natalie M. Van Deusen

Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 2018 January; 117 (2):235-43

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Kirsten Wolf and Natalie M. Van Deusen

2017 January;

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Natalie M. Van Deusen

Gripla. 2017 January; XXVIII

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Natalie M. Van Deusen

Scandinavian Studies. 2015 January; 87 (3)

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Natalie M. Van Deusen

Journal of English and Germanic Philology. 2014 January; 113 (2):206-221

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Natalie M. Van Deusen

Scandinavian Studies. 2014 January; 86 (1):52-71

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Natalie M. Van Deusen

Arthuriana. 2012 January; 22 (1):109-117

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Natalie M. Van Deusen

Maal og minne. 2011 January; 103 (2):26-42

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Natalie M. Van Deusen

Arkiv för nordisk filologi. 2011 January; 126