I'm a seemingly-perpetual student (as long as there remains interesting classes at the University of Gothenburg that I haven't taken, I'm in, at least part-time) who lives about 20 minutes north of Gothenburg, on the west coast of Sweden, together with my imported fiance, Elio. Although my 3 years of gymnasiet (High School, more or less) were spent studying a math-, science- and biology-focused program, my primary area of study at university has been Classical History in which I hold a 1-year Master degree (which I hope to soon turn into a 2-year Master). I have also studied Latin, Greek, Archaeology, Rhetorics, Translation, Literature and English. I am still hoping to get into the post-graduate program for Classical History at some point, ideally to continue researching horse-related matters, but with fewer than one student a year accepted, I think it might take a while. So, at the moment I continue to study on the side of my work as a subtitler.

When I am not spending too much time on-line -- which often includes working on various websites (this one, of course, and Westeros) and MU*ing -- I love to read (mainly fantasy, with my favourites including George R.R. Martin, Guy Gavriel Kay, Judith Tarr, Stephen R. Donaldson, Jacqueline Carey, Anne Bishop and Robin Hobb, among others) or, but I don't get to do this nearly often enough, go riding. Horses are, without a doubt, my main passion in life, and when I'm in a stable I am still essentially a horse-crazy girl of about 8 or 9. Apart from that, personality-wise I am such a perfect match for a Scorpio that I just have to believe in Astrology at least a little bit. In particular, I am temperamental and strong-willed (sounds better than stubborn, right?). I am also prone to more than a bit of "doom and gloom" at times, not to mention a habit of placing very high demands on myself. Stress and I are close friends. Very close. Still, I do like to think that I have some positive sides too, such as a wicked sense of humour and ... well, some more things, I am sure. Just give me some time to think about it.

Academia

My main area of study within Classical History has been various horse-related matters and this is reflected in my work for my Bachelor and for my 1-year Master. I've only put up the abstracts so far, but I hope to add the actual papers as well.

Aspects of the Horse in Mycenaean Society

The Paired Horse-burials from Dendra in a Larger Context

Focusing on the two paired horse-burials from Dendra -- dated to the Middle and Late Bronze Age, respectively -- this paper attempts to explore aspects of the horse in Mycenaean society. To begin with, the Dendra horses are looked closely at, in order to investigate what they alone can tell us about the roles of the horse in the Mycenaean period and, in particular, about the roles of the four horses from Dendra.

Following upon that, the scope of the paper is widened and the Dendra horses are used to form the core of a broader investigation of the roles of the Mycenaean horse. To aid in this task, comparisons are drawn to similar finds. Additionally, pictorial, mythological and literary evidence is used to highlight various aspects of the horse and help in the attempts to answer such questions as when the horse was re-introduced to Greece, what functions the horse-drawn chariot served, what role horseback riding may have played and what symbolic and religious roles the horse may have filled in Middle and Late Bronze Age Greece.

The Mounted Etruscan Horseman

Nature, Context and Purpose of Riders on Archaic Architectural Terrecotta Reliefs

The horse is one of the more popular motifs occurring upon the architectural terracotta reliefs that once decorated a variety of Etruscan buildings. While many of the depicted horses are shown harnessed to chariots, a large number are also shown ridden in processions, in what clearly appears to be races and in other, less easily interpreted contexts. The riders themselves are sometimes shown armed, sometimes unarmed, and a few are even depicted as mounted on one horse while leading a second.

This paper explores aspects of the Etruscan aristocracy and Etruscan horsemanship as illustrated by these depictions of mounted Etruscan horsemen. The primary questions that this paper attempts to answer are what activities these relief plaques are intend to portray, in what contexts both the relief plaques themselves and said activities belong and what purpose the actual relief plaques as well as the activities in question may have served in Etruscan society. Of particular interest is what significance they may have held for the Etruscan aristocracy.