Caitlin Barbera

Caitlin Barbera is a proud Coloradan and got her B.A. in History at Colorado College. While there, she became interested in the medieval history of East Central and Northern Europe, writing her undergraduate thesis on the interplay between paganism, Christianity, conversion and colonization in Lithuania in the Middle Ages. Folklore has been an important part of her life since childhood, when she became an avid reader of mythology, especially Norse mythology. A love of Irish music and a cappella singing has also given her an interest in folk songs and folk music. Her research interests include the conceptions of societal and otherworldly spaces in Old Norse literature. She is currently researching the locations and movements of magic and magic-users in Old Norse literature, especially in relation to gender roles. She has also done research on the interaction between traditionality and individual spirituality in Norse neo-pagan communities in the Bay Area.