I am a lecturer in Old English Language and Literature and Historical Linguistics. My research focuses on Old Norse literature, particularly skaldic poetry, History of Emotions, Translation Studies, and the Post-Medieval reception of Old Norse literature.
RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS
Language and Linguistics, Literature and Literary Theory
2
Scopus Publications
61
Scholar Citations
3
Scholar h-index
1
Scholar i10-index
Scopus Publications
angr, hryggr (sadness) Edel Porter Saga Emotions, 2025 Taking a semasiological approach, this chapter evaluates the distribution and semantic range of two individual sadness terms, angr and hryggr, in the Old Norse prose corpus as represented by citations recorded in the Dictionary of Old Norse Prose (ONP). The analysis reveals a strikingly low occurrence in indigenous genres, such as the sagas of Icelanders, as opposed to a very high occurrence in literature of a foreign origin, particularly translated romances and religious texts but also native hagiographies and romances inspired by foreign models. The prevalence of angr and hryggr can be specifically linked to the translation practices and rhetorical styles of the two principal centres of literary production in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, the royal court at Bergen in Norway and the monastic communities at Þingeyrar and Munkaþverá in Iceland. Furthermore, the corpus evidences a strong correlation between the different meanings of these terms and particular emotive scripts. Thus, although angr can simply mean ‘grief’ or ‘sorrow’, in translated courtly literature and fourteenth-century saints’ lives it most commonly represents an intense, tumultuous anguish of the heart or soul, often accompanied by physiological signs of distress. Similarly, in religious literature and the kings’ sagas (especially in public displays of bereavement), hryggr denotes a mournful or religious sorrow, but in translated romances it generally indicates an emotional upset caused by a perceived injustice or a sense of grievance. Accordingly, angr and hryggr can function not only as emotion signifiers but also as generic markers in Old Norse literature.
“Opening the Doors of an Unexplored World”: Pioneering the Translation of Skaldic Poetry in Spanish Edel Porter Impossibilia, 2021 This paper contributes to a growing body of research investigating the role \nof translations in the post-medieval reception of Old Norse-Icelandic literature. In this case \nstudy, we analyse Enrique Bernárdez’s Spanish translation of the skaldic verse in Egils saga \nSkalla-Grímssonar as a site of cultural encounter where the power relations between target \nand source cultures can be explored. By situating the translation within its historical-cultural \ncontext, we show how the translation reflects the trend of Europeanisation in post-Franco \nSpain, while simultaneously recalling its glorious past from the Reconquista to the Golden \nAge.
RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS
Juan Andrés’s “Poesía Septentrional”: Translation, Notes, and Commentary EM Porter Norse-Iberian Encounters: Studies on Contact and Cultural Reception , 2027 2027
Problematizing Emotions and their Linguistic Expression in the Medieval North Atlantic E Porter, JE Díaz-Vera Cultural Models for Emotions in the North Atlantic Vernaculars, 700–1400, 11-30 , 2025 2025
Ship of Volition, Seabed of Desire: Vernacular Models of the Breast in Skaldic Diction EM Porter Cultural Models for Emotions in the North Atlantic Vernaculars, 700–1400 , 2025 2025 Citations: 1
Cultural Models for Emotions in the North Atlantic Vernaculars, 700-1400 EM Porter, JE Díaz Vera Medieval Texts and Cultures of Northern Europe, Brepols , 2024 2024 Citations: 1
Sadness (angr, hryggr) EM Porter Manchester University Press , 2024 2024
" Abriendo las puertas a un mundo inexplorado": las primeras traducciones de la poesía escáldica en español E PORTER Impossibilia. Revista Internacional de Estudios Literarios, 31-62 , 2021 2021
Modelos de mujer de la época vikinga EM Porter Editorial Municipal de Albacete , 2021 2021
“Opening the Doors of an Unexplored World”: Pioneering the Translation of Skaldic Poetry in Spanish E Porter Impossibilia, 31-62 , 2021 2021 Citations: 1
“Noticia de los Kenningar”: Borges, Kennings, and the Spanish Tradition E Porter Old English Newsletter 47 , 2021 2021 Citations: 2
EMOTION IN OLD NORSE LITERATURE. TRANSLATIONS, VOICES, CONTEXTS E Porter Saga-Book 43, 181-183 , 2019 2019
Poesía escáldica EM Porter El mundo nórdico medieval: Una introducción , 2017 2017 Citations: 7
Aprendizaje basado en proyectos EM Porter II Jornadas de Innovación Docente, Albacete , 2017 2017 Citations: 5
‘The Irish Dress Funny’: An Analysis of Literary Motifs Concerning Ireland and the Irish in the Sagas of Icelanders and the Kings’ sagas E Porter The Sixteenth International Saga Conference Sagas and Space, 234 , 2015 2015
Cognitive Linguistic Studies E Porter, TM Antón 2015 Citations: 2
Flushing in anger, blushing in shame: Somatic markers in Old Norse emotional expressions E Porter, TM Antón Cognitive Linguistic Studies 2 (1), 24-49 , 2015 2015 Citations: 33
CHAPTER XV OLD NORSE, NEW NORSE: HEIMSKRINGLA IN NORWAY 1599-1900 EDEL PORTER OLD NORSE True North: Literary Translation in the Nordic Countries, 238 , 2014 2014
Old Norse, New Norse: Heimskringla in Norway 1599-1900 EM Porter True north : Literary translation in the nordic countries , 2014 2014 Citations: 3
Lost in Transmission: Reconstituting Forgotten Verses in Gísla saga Súrssonar E Porter Viking and Medieval Scandinavia 9, 173-195 , 2013 2013 Citations: 1
The Skalds Mead Can Leave a Bitter Taste in the Mouth: Vilifying Verses in the Poetry of Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar EM Porter University College London , 2008 2008 Citations: 3
MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS
Flushing in anger, blushing in shame: Somatic markers in Old Norse emotional expressions E Porter, TM Antón Cognitive Linguistic Studies 2 (1), 24-49 , 2015 2015 Citations: 33
Poesía escáldica EM Porter El mundo nórdico medieval: Una introducción , 2017 2017 Citations: 7
Aprendizaje basado en proyectos EM Porter II Jornadas de Innovación Docente, Albacete , 2017 2017 Citations: 5
Old Norse, New Norse: Heimskringla in Norway 1599-1900 EM Porter True north : Literary translation in the nordic countries , 2014 2014 Citations: 3
The Skalds Mead Can Leave a Bitter Taste in the Mouth: Vilifying Verses in the Poetry of Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar EM Porter University College London , 2008 2008 Citations: 3
“Noticia de los Kenningar”: Borges, Kennings, and the Spanish Tradition E Porter Old English Newsletter 47 , 2021 2021 Citations: 2
Cognitive Linguistic Studies E Porter, TM Antón 2015 Citations: 2
Ship of Volition, Seabed of Desire: Vernacular Models of the Breast in Skaldic Diction EM Porter Cultural Models for Emotions in the North Atlantic Vernaculars, 700–1400 , 2025 2025 Citations: 1
Cultural Models for Emotions in the North Atlantic Vernaculars, 700-1400 EM Porter, JE Díaz Vera Medieval Texts and Cultures of Northern Europe, Brepols , 2024 2024 Citations: 1
“Opening the Doors of an Unexplored World”: Pioneering the Translation of Skaldic Poetry in Spanish E Porter Impossibilia, 31-62 , 2021 2021 Citations: 1
Lost in Transmission: Reconstituting Forgotten Verses in Gísla saga Súrssonar E Porter Viking and Medieval Scandinavia 9, 173-195 , 2013 2013 Citations: 1
Translating the Untranslatable: A Comparative Study of Two Modern Language Translations of the Verses of Egils saga Skalla-Grimssonar EM Porter University of Leeds , 2007 2007 Citations: 1
Juan Andrés’s “Poesía Septentrional”: Translation, Notes, and Commentary EM Porter Norse-Iberian Encounters: Studies on Contact and Cultural Reception , 2027 2027
Problematizing Emotions and their Linguistic Expression in the Medieval North Atlantic E Porter, JE Díaz-Vera Cultural Models for Emotions in the North Atlantic Vernaculars, 700–1400, 11-30 , 2025 2025
Sadness (angr, hryggr) EM Porter Manchester University Press , 2024 2024
" Abriendo las puertas a un mundo inexplorado": las primeras traducciones de la poesía escáldica en español E PORTER Impossibilia. Revista Internacional de Estudios Literarios, 31-62 , 2021 2021
Modelos de mujer de la época vikinga EM Porter Editorial Municipal de Albacete , 2021 2021
EMOTION IN OLD NORSE LITERATURE. TRANSLATIONS, VOICES, CONTEXTS E Porter Saga-Book 43, 181-183 , 2019 2019
‘The Irish Dress Funny’: An Analysis of Literary Motifs Concerning Ireland and the Irish in the Sagas of Icelanders and the Kings’ sagas E Porter The Sixteenth International Saga Conference Sagas and Space, 234 , 2015 2015