Abstrakt
The presentation overviews the results of the project SYMBODIN, a Marie Sklodowska Curie research realized at the LLE UiB, and its follow-up in one year retrospective. The main focus of the project was the analysis of Old Norse myths using the cognitive-linguistic notion of conceptual metaphors and analogical thought.
We will look more closely on the myth of the legendary smith Völundr, of Ódin's self-sacrifice and on the myth of Ragnarök, as well as the general "logic of the concrete" as exemplified by the surreal system of body parts in Old Norse myth. All these four topics were covered by academic articles produced during the project.
The second part of the presentation will focus more on the biographical and personal effect of the finished project - the popularization follow-up, the interaction with mass media and the shift of the focus from metaphors in pre-Christian Scandinavian mythology to the pressing issue of metaphors in modern mythology (specifically the conspiracy theories), which led to the preparation of a new EU project.