In Episode 31 our conversation about VIKINGS VALHALLA continues with NAHIR OTAÑO GRACIA, a medieval scholar whose “Global North Atlantic” extends the Viking story from the North Sea to the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean, and the tip of North Africa. We talk about how the Vikings’s travels and encounters changed their culture and destinies as seen in VIKINGS: VALHALLA.

Nahir Otaño Gracia, is Assistant Professor of English at the University of New Mexico and a Member of the Institute for Advanced Studies located in Princeton, NJ (IAS). Her theoretical frameworks include Critical Race Studies, Translation Theory and Practice, and the Global North Atlantic—extending the North Atlantic to include the Iberian Peninsula and Africa. She has published several articles on literatures written in Middle English, Old Castilian, Old Catalan, Old Irish, and Old Norse-Icelandic, and they have appeared in journals such as "Arthuriana," "Comitatus," "Enarratio," "English Language Notes," and "Viator." Her essay, “Towards a Decentered Global North Atlantic,” won the 2022 Medieval Academy of America Article Prize in Critical Race Studies.

0:08 - Intro to Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters ((generic open); 1:20 - VIKINGS: VALHALLA Seasons 1 & 2 Recap; 2:47 - Nahir Otaño Gracia & Her Journey to Medieval Scholarship (Medieval Studies); 5:28 - Mapping the Global North Atlantic; 8:36 - Recovering Medieval History -- Not Just White and Male; 12:37 - Port Cities and Cultural Encounters; 17:26 - Shield Maidens, Scholars and Queens (Medieval Womanhood)

22:37 - Break

23:08- Religious Conflicts in the Middle Ages; 32:01 - Mariam, Muslim Scholar in Vikings: Valhalla; 35:17 - Middle Ages: A Time of Possibility

38:24 LIGHTNING ROUND Questions

STAY ENGAGED with HISTORICAL DRAMA WITH THE BOSTON SISTERS

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