Jesse Byock
(Professor)
Royce Hall 212. Tel.: (310) 825-0671. Fax: (310) 825-9754. byock@humnet.ucla.edu
Professor Byock completed his doctorate at Harvard University, following studies at the Sorbonne, Georgetown University Law School, the University of Iceland, and the University of Lund.
Professor Byock teaches in the areas of Viking history, early Icelandic society, medieval feuds, and Old Norse saga literature. These texts are a key source of social-historical and legal information about northern European medieval culture. They also are the major source of mythical and heroic lore, containing crucial information about the Norse gods.
Jesse Byock has published widely on the society, literature, and history of medieval Scandinavia. His writings have been translated into several languages, including Icelandic and Japanese. Articles include "Governmental Order in Early Medieval Iceland," "Modern Nationalism and the Medieval Sagas," and an article in Scientific American that analyzes the nature of an important Viking grave. His books include: Feud in the Icelandic Saga; Medieval Iceland: Society, Sagas, and Power; and a translation of The Saga of the Volsungs: The Norse Epic of Sigurd the Dragon Slayer. He recently received a Guggenheim Foundation award.
For a brief look at some of Professor Byock's work, visit
UCLA Viking Pages
Mosfell Valley
The Mosfell Archaeological Project
Cotsen Institute of Archaeology at UCLA