60 Semester Credit Hours
Program in Development
The Associate of Eddic Studies (A.E.S.) is a planned 60-semester-credit-hour religious degree providing a foundational education in Eddic literature, Old Norse religious history, ethics, language, textual interpretation, law, runes, archaeology, and sacred material culture. The degree is designed both as a complete associate-level religious credential and as the first two years of the Bachelor of Eddic Studies.
Inheritance → Understanding
• Total Degree: 60 semester credit hours
• Program Structure: 12 courses × 5 credits
• Year I — Foundations: 30 credits
• Year II — Understanding: 30 credits
• Minimum HIES Residency: 30 credits
• Maximum Transfer Credit: 30 credits
• Minimum Passing Course Grade: 70%
• Minimum HIES GPA: 2.0
• Standard Completion: 2 years
• Maximum Completion: 4 years
The A.E.S. uses the same BES-coded courses, assessments, grading standards, and academic policies as the corresponding lower-division Bachelor of Eddic Studies coursework. There is no separate associate-level version of a BES course. All HIES coursework completed for the A.E.S. remains applicable to the B.E.S., subject to applicable degree requirements.
30 Semester Credit Hours
5 credits
Introduction to the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda as foundational sources for understanding Old Norse religious tradition, mythology, cosmology, ethics, sacred narrative, poetic tradition, and cultural memory.
Students examine the historical setting, organization, transmission, preservation, and interpretive challenges of the Eddic corpus while learning to distinguish primary religious sources from later commentary and reconstruction.
5 credits
Close study of major mythological and wisdom poems, including Völuspá, Hávamál, and Vafþrúðnismál. The course examines creation, cosmology, divine relationships, wisdom, fate, mortality, human conduct, sacred order, and relationships among the Gods, humanity, and the world. Students consider the religious and ethical significance of these texts within the wider Old Norse tradition.
5 credits
Study of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda as a major witness to Old Norse mythology, religious memory, poetic language, and inherited sacred tradition. Students examine mythological narratives, poetic theory, kennings, preservation of traditional material, Christian-era transmission, and the challenges involved in using the text as a source for Old Norse religious interpretation.
5 credits
Introduction to selected family sagas, legendary sagas, and kings' sagas as sources for understanding religious belief, household life, social obligation, honor, oath, hospitality, leadership, kinship, conflict, conversion, and community stability. Students learn to read saga literature critically while considering how narrative sources preserve and interpret the religious and ethical world of medieval Scandinavia.
5 credits
Survey of the historical development of Old Norse religious life from the late Iron Age through the medieval period. Topics include settlement, household organization, kingship, assemblies, law, sacred spaces, ritual practice, regional variation, contact with Christianity, conversion, and the transformation and preservation of religious tradition throughout Scandinavia and the North Atlantic.
5 credits
Study of moral and religious thought expressed through Eddic poetry and saga literature. Students examine wisdom, courage, moderation, hospitality, reciprocity, loyalty, oath, reputation, responsibility, restraint, fate, and the consequences of human choices. The course emphasizes ethical formation within the Old Norse religious worldview.
30 Semester Credit Hours
5 credits
Introduction to Old Norse language concepts, key vocabulary, pronunciation, grammatical forms, names, and terms relevant to Eddic and religious studies. The course is designed to help students recognize and interpret important Old Norse words and expressions encountered in translations and scholarly discussions; it is not intended to develop full independent reading fluency in Old Norse.
5 credits
Continued study of key Old Norse terms, names, linguistic concepts, and translation issues encountered in Eddic, saga, and religious sources. Students compare translations, examine the meanings and interpretive significance of selected terms, and strengthen their ability to use linguistic evidence responsibly without requiring independent reading of complete Old Norse texts.
5 credits
Introduction to textual criticism, translation comparison, manuscript transmission, editorial practice, and responsible religious interpretation. Students examine competing readings of selected Eddic texts and learn to distinguish manuscript evidence, editorial reconstruction, scholarly interpretation, and contemporary theological application.
5 credits
Study of law, assemblies, oath, compensation, kinship obligation, dispute resolution, property, reconciliation, and communal responsibility within the Old Norse world. Using saga narratives and accessible translated selections from surviving medieval legal traditions, students examine the relationship between law, religion, oath-bound obligation, social order, and the maintenance of frith. The course does not require students to read Icelandic legal codes in the original language.
5 credits
Historical study of runic writing, major runic alphabets, inscriptions, literacy, language change, memorial practice, sacred expression, and the role of writing in preserving religious and cultural memory. Students evaluate runic evidence critically and distinguish historical uses of runes from later interpretations and modern claims.
5 credits
Study of archaeological evidence relevant to Old Norse religious life, including settlements, halls, burials, cult sites, sacred landscapes, ships, monuments, ritual objects, art, offerings, and material expressions of belief. The course emphasizes how material evidence complements, complicates, or challenges literary descriptions of religious practice.
The following six courses must be completed through HIES and may not ordinarily be satisfied through transfer credit:
BES 101 • BES 102 • BES 105 • BES 106 • BES 203 • BES 204
The remaining six courses may be satisfied through approved transfer credit when HIES determines that prior coursework fulfills the applicable degree requirement. The A.E.S. permits a maximum of 30 semester credit hours of approved transfer credit.
Graduates of the Associate of Eddic Studies program are expected to be able to:
• Identify and explain major themes, narratives, concepts, and teachings found in the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda.
• Describe the historical development and religious context of the Old Norse tradition.
• Interpret introductory Eddic, saga, legal, linguistic, runic, and archaeological evidence with appropriate scholarly caution.
• Recognize important Old Norse religious vocabulary and use basic linguistic evidence responsibly when studying translated primary sources.
• Distinguish primary historical evidence from later interpretation, reconstruction, and contemporary religious application.
• Explain major ethical concepts within Eddic and saga literature, including honor, wisdom, responsibility, hospitality, reciprocity, oath, restraint, and frith.
• Demonstrate foundational understanding of Old Norse law, sacred social order, runic tradition, archaeology, and material religious culture.
• Apply foundational methods of textual interpretation and source evaluation appropriate to continued undergraduate study in Eddic Studies.
A.E.S. coursework uses the same assessment methods, grading standards, and academic policies as the corresponding B.E.S. courses. Coursework is evaluated through the assessment methods established for each course, including examinations and designated written assessments.
Students must earn a minimum final course grade of 70% and maintain at least a 2.0 cumulative HIES GPA.
The A.E.S. does not require a separate capstone course or comprehensive examination.
Undergraduate admission requirements for the A.E.S. are established in the HIES Admissions policies. Applicants must satisfy the Institute's educational, English-proficiency, technology, and institutional acknowledgment requirements.
• $150 per six-month academic term
• Includes the standard 15-semester-credit-hour course block
• After successfully completing the current 15-credit block, eligible students may elect an additional 15-credit Accelerated Course Block for a $50 administrative charge
• Complete all 60 semester credit hours applicable to the A.E.S.
• Successfully complete all required courses or approved transfer equivalents.
• Complete at least 30 semester credit hours through HIES, including the designated 30-credit HIES Core.
• Earn at least 70% in every successfully completed HIES course.
• Maintain at least a 2.0 cumulative HIES GPA.
• Satisfy applicable academic-integrity and institutional requirements.
• Complete the degree within the four-year maximum completion period, excluding approved leaves.
• Resolve outstanding institutional and financial obligations before degree conferral.
The A.E.S. does not require a separate capstone course or comprehensive examination.
Graduation from the A.E.S. does not require membership in Hákonarætt Fellowship or a local kindred and does not confer Gothi status, ordination, or other religious office.
The A.E.S. is fully integrated into the Bachelor of Eddic Studies. All HIES coursework completed for the A.E.S. remains applicable to the B.E.S., allowing students who choose to continue their studies to progress directly into Years III and IV of the bachelor's curriculum, subject to applicable degree requirements.