Rudolf Simek

{{short description|Austrian philologist and religious studies scholar}}

{{Infobox academic

| name = Rudolf Simek

| image = Rudolf Simek.jpg

| caption = Photographed in October 2012

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1954|02|21|df=y}}

| birth_place = Eisenstadt, Austria

| nationality = Austrian

| alma_mater = University of Vienna

| academic_advisors = {{unbulleted list|Otto Gschwantler|Helmut Birkhan}}

| discipline = Germanic studies

| workplaces = University of Bonn

| main_interests = {{unbulleted list|Germanic religion and mythology|Medieval science and popular religion|Old Norse literature|Old Norse religion and mythology|Vikings and the Viking Age}}

| notable_works = Dictionary of Northern Mythology (1993)

}}

Rudolf Simek (born 21 February 1954) is an Austrian philologist and religious studies scholar who is Professor and Chair of Ancient German and Nordic Studies at the University of Bonn. Simek specializes in Germanic studies, and is the author of several notable works on Germanic religion and mythology (including Old Norse religion and mythology), Germanic peoples, Vikings, Old Norse literature, and the culture of Medieval Europe.

Biography

Since 1995, Simek has been Professor and Chair of Ancient German and Nordic Studies at the University of Bonn.{{cite web |url=https://www.germanistik.uni-bonn.de/institut/abteilungen/skandinavische-sprachen-und-literaturen/abteilung/personal/simek_rudolf |title=Prof. Dr. Rudolf Simek |publisher=University of Vienna |access-date=7 October 2020 }} Simek was appointed Professor of Comparative Religion at the University of Tromsø in 1999, and Professor of Old Nordic Studies at the University of Sydney in 2000. Simek has held a number of visiting professorships, having had long research stays at the universities of Reykjavik, Copenhagen, London, Oxford and Sydney. From 2000 to 2003, Simek was Chairman of the International Saga Society (German: Internationalen-Saga-Gesellschaft). Simek is a member of many additional learned societies, including the International Arthurian Society, the Österreichische Gesellschaft für Germanistik, the Viking Society for Northern Research, the Society for Northern Studies, and the Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy.

Research

Simek researches a wide variety of topics connected to the Middle Ages. This includes Germanic religion and mythology (including Old Norse religion and mythology), Vikings and the Viking Age, Old Norse literature, and medieval science (including astronomy) and popular religion. Simek has published a number of notable works on these subjects, several of which have been translated into multiple languages.

Selected works

Lexikon der germanischen Mythologie, Stuttgart, Kröner, 1984 {{ISBN|3-520-36801-3}} (translations to English, French and Icelandic)
Lexikon der altnordischen Literatur (with Hermann Pálsson), Stuttgart, Kröner, 1987 {{ISBN|3-520-49001-3}}
[https://books.google.com/books?id=QfAfXMHLCfcC Altnordische Kosmographie. Studien und Quellen zu Weltbild und Weltbeschreibung in Norwegen und Island vom 12. bis zum 14. Jahrhundert], Berlin/New York, de Gruyter, 1990 (Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde. Ergänzungsbände, Bd. 4) {{ISBN|3-11-012181-6}}
Erde und Kosmos im Mittelalter. München, C.H. Beck, 1992. {{ISBN|3-406-35863-2}}
Die Wikinger, München, C.H. Beck, 1998 {{ISBN|3-406-41881-3}} (translation to Spanish)
Religion und Mythologie der Germanen, Stuttgart, Theiss 2003 {{ISBN|3-8062-1821-8}}
Götter und Kulte der Germanen, München, C.H. Beck, 2004 {{ISBN|3-406-50835-9}}
Runes, Magic and Religion: A Sourcebook (with John McKinnell und Klaus Düwel), Wien, Fassbaender, 2004 {{ISBN|978-3-900538-81-1}}
Mittelerde – Tolkien und die germanische Mythologie, München, C.H. Beck, 2005 {{ISBN|3-406-52837-6}}
Der Glaube der Germanen, Limburg und Kevelaer, Lahn-Verlag, 2005 {{ISBN|3-7867-8495-7}}
Die Germanen, Stuttgart, Reclam, 2006. {{ISBN|3-15-017051-6}}
Die Edda. C. H. Beck, München 2007, {{ISBN|978-3-406-56084-2}} (C. H. Beck Wissen).
Ewige Orte. Reliquien und heiligen Stätten in Wien. Metro, Wien 2007, {{ISBN|978-3-902517-64-7}}.
Artus-Lexikon. Mythos und Geschichte, Werke und Personen der europäischen Artusdichtung. Reclam, Stuttgart 2012, {{ISBN|978-3-15-010858-1}}.
Die Schiffe der Wikinger. Reclam, Stuttgart 2014, {{ISBN|978-3-15-010999-1}}.
Monster im Mittelalter. Die phantastische Welt der Wundervölker und Fabelwesen. Böhlau, Köln, Weimar, Wien 2015. {{ISBN|978-3-412-21111-0}}.
Vinland! Wie die Wikinger Amerika entdeckten. C. H. Beck, München 2016, {{ISBN|978-3-406-69720-3}}.
Trolle. Ihre Geschichte von der Mythologie bis zum Internet. Böhlau, Köln/Weimar/Wien 2018, {{ISBN|978-3-412-50743-5}}.
Die Geschichte der Normannen. Von Wikingerhäuptlingen zu Königen Siziliens. Reclam, Ditzingen 2018, {{ISBN|978-3-15-011174-1}}.
Monster im Mittelalter. Köln und Wien: Böhlau 2019, {{ISBN|978-3412514037}}

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20080416004908/http://www.skandinavistik.uni-bonn.de/simek.html Page of Rudolf Simek at the Scandinavian studies chair of University of Bonn]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080625112628/http://www.germanistik.uni-bonn.de/content/lehrende/dozenten?doz_id=65 Page of Rudolf Simek at the Institute for German studies of University of Bonn]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20080914081115/http://www.skandinavistik.uni-bonn.de/simek_pub.html List of publications]

Category:1954 births

Category:20th-century Austrian historians

Category:21st-century Austrian historians

Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh

Category:Austrian librarians

Category:Austrian medievalists

Category:Austrian non-fiction writers

Category:Austrian philologists

Category:Germanic studies scholars

Category:Austrian Germanists

Category:Living people

Category:Members of the Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy