Please join us for the annual German Christmas Lecture, followed by Glühwein & Lebkuchen
Register via this link.
Oswald was king of Northumbria in the seventh century. He was also a saint, and various parts of his (conveniently dismembered) body were said to perform miracles all over medieval England. Oddly enough, he also became hugely popular in the German-speaking world, especially in the Alps, where there are lots of churches dedicated to him (and where the name Oswald is still popular), and where the stories told of his life changed beyond recognition. In this lecture I’ll attempt to piece together the story of Oswald in the German-speaking world: a strange and surprising story, complete with medieval queens, international politics, some wonderful medieval art and a talking raven. It’s also a story that makes us think about the relationship between storytelling and the places where we live, and what happens when stories cross languages and borders