Volcanoes in Old Norse Mythology: Myth and Environment in Early Iceland

by Mathias Nordvig

Volcanoes in Old Norse Mythology details how Viking Age Icelanders, migrating from Scandinavia to a new and volcanically active environment, used Old Norse mythology to understand and negotiate the hazards of the island.

162 pages, ebook

First published March 31, 2021

About the author

Dr. Mathias Nordvig is a visiting assistant professor of Nordic and Arctic studies at the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures at University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder). He teaches subjects on Viking history, Nordic mythology, folklore, Arctic culture and society, and Danish language. Dr. Nordvig earned his PhD in Nordic mythology in 2014 at Aarhus University in Denmark, his native country. He moved to Colorado in 2015.


Dr. Nordvig has a BA. degree in Nordic languages and literatures with a minor in Viking Studies. His MA. degree includes studies in medieval Icelandic history and saga literature, Viking Age archaeology, Nordic mythology, and Old Norse language. He wrote his PhD dissertation on the relationship between Old Norse myth and the Icelandic environment. The dissertation is titled: Of Fire and Water. The Old Norse Mythical Worldview in and Eco-mythological Perspective.