Call for Papers: Performing Magic in the pre-Modern North conference

The conference encourage papers that engage with any aspect of magical belief, practice, representation, or experience in the pre-modern Nordic and North Atlantic worlds. Particular attention may be given to magic as something lived, practiced, performed, transmitted, or contested within specific social, cultural, and historical contexts. 

Topics of interest include, bur are not limited to: 

• Magical practitioners and specialists, including cunnning folk, healers, seeresses, clerics, and ritual experts 
• Domestic, agricultural, and communual magical practices
• Spoken, written, or perfomed magic, including spells, charms, songs, and incantations
• Material culture and magic, including objects, amulets, texts, and rutual tools
• The transmission, adaptation, and reinterpretation of magical knowledge over time
• Narratives, representations, and memories of magic in literary, legal, or historical sources. 

The language of the conference will be in English and the entire event will take place online to allow for accessibility. Papers should not exceed 20 minutes and will be followed by 10 minutes of discussion and the opportunity for questions. The conference encourage students, early career, established, and independent scholars to participate. If you wish to present a paper, please email an abstract of 250-300 words alongside a short personal biography that includes pronouns, name, area of study and institutional affiliation (if relevant) to performingmagicinthenorth@gmail.com by 1 August 2026.

Read more about the committee and about previous conferences here: Performing Magic in the Pre-Modern North