Sagas and Archeology-INLUS Webinar

Learn How Icelandic Sagas Help Explain Archaeological Discoveries

Archaeologists uncover sites and artifacts used long ago. The context surrounding these finds may prove elusive.

Dr. Elizabeth Ida Ward

Dr. Elisabeth Ida Ward has worked with archaeologists to look back into the Icelandic Sagas for answers. Dr. Ward completed her PhD in Scandinavian Languages and Literature from the University of California at Berkeley. Her research focused on medieval narratives called the Sagas of Icelanders, and their relationship with the actual physical landscape of Iceland. She argues that the literature and the land are “co-constituted,” meaning one cannot be read without the other.

Learn more when the INLUS hosts a presentation with Dr. Ward on September 23, 2026, at 8:00 PM Eastern.

Elisabeth Ida Ward served as assistant curator of the Smithsonian Institution’s special traveling exhibition, Vikings: The North Atlantic Saga, from 2000 to 2004. She is also a Smithsonian Journeys Expert and Cultural Heritage Specialist.

In addition to appearing on documentaries for the Smithsonian Channel and others, Elisabeth also worked as the program director for Vikingaheimar Museum in Reykjanesbær, Iceland, and as the director of the Scandinavian Cultural Center at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington.

Since 2005, she has served as a consultant for Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center, helping to create exhibitions about the Vikings, Norwegian folk culture, and Norse mythology. In 2017, she began applying her love of history on the ground to small museums in California and is currently the Executive Director of the Moulton Museum.

This event is open to the public and will be recorded.