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Michele Roncarati
Research Student,
Contact
Biography
I was educated at the University of Bologna (Italy, BA in Foreign Languages and Literatures), University of Sussex (UK, exchange student at the School of English), University of Nottingham (UK, MA in Viking and Anglo-Saxon Studies) and I am currently a PhD student at the University of Nottingham (PhD in English).
Before coming to Nottingham for my PhD, I worked as a museum operator at the Collection of Anatomical Pathology and Veterinary Teratology of the University of Bologna. I oversaw an educational project for high school and college students that explored the behaviour and relationship between humans and canids, especially wolves and dogs. I was also part of one of the teams in charge of the exhibitions for the five hundredth anniversary of Ulisse Aldrovandi at the University of Bologna (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine).
I'm currently involved with educational activities at the University of Nottingham (Vikings for Schools).
Research Summary
My project offers an extensive examination of wolves in Old Norse-Icelandic culture, unearthing the impact of wolf imagery in medieval Iceland. I ask: What is the cause of wolves' cultural ubiquity… read more
- Viking Age
- Human-Animal Studies
- Old Norse laws
- Old Norse prose and poetry
Conferences:
- 'Dogs and Wolves in Old Norse Law: A Matter of Agency', The 14th Bergen International Postgraduate Symposium in Old Norse Studies, 17-20 April 2023, University of Bergen, Norway.
Funding Body:
Midlands4Cities AHRC Doctoral Studentship (2022)
Supervisors:
Associate Professor Christina Lee
Professor Judith Jesch
Current Research
My project offers an extensive examination of wolves in Old Norse-Icelandic culture, unearthing the impact of wolf imagery in medieval Iceland. I ask: What is the cause of wolves' cultural ubiquity in Iceland despite their physical absence? What does the spiritual and moral codification of this species suggest about social outlooks towards individuals associated with wolves? How has this aspect evolved in modern society?
By expanding on recent studies regarding the history and distribution of this species in the Scandinavian landscape, my thesis evaluates the meaning of wolves in folk taxonomy and the wider culture. I also investigate the peculiar role that dogs play in understanding the relationship between humans and wolves in medieval Scandinavia.