The organisation - University of Iceland

1.1 The Viking Congress is a multinational, interdisciplinary meeting for leading scholars of Viking studies in the fields of Archaeology, History, Philology, Place-name studies, Numismatics, Runology and other disciplines relevant to the study of the Viking Age.
1.2 The countries that participate in the Viking Congress are: Denmark, England, Faeroes, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Scotland, Sweden and Wales.
1.3 The Viking Congress is held every fourth year alternately in Scandinavia or the British Isles and Ireland. Henceforth, the location of the Viking Congress will normally alternate between the groupings of Denmark/Iceland/Norway/Sweden and England/Faeroes/
Greenland/Ireland/Scotland/ Wales (including Isle of Man)
1.4 The presidency of the Viking Congress lies with the Organising Committee of the next Congress.
1.5 The Viking Congress supports the official website: www.Vikingcongress.com. The website includes the history of the Viking Congress, information about each Congress, delegates of the Congresses, Organising Committees, Congress programmes, excursions, pictures,
Congress Proceedings and minutes from the Congress Council.

2.1 The Viking Congress is organised by an Organising Committee.
2.2 The Organising Committee is formed in the country hosting the next Congress.
2.3 The Committee sends out invitations to National Representatives of the Viking Congress Council to nominate a certain number of invited participants from the member countries
2.4 The Committee sets the theme or themes for the next Congress, plans and forms the Congress programme and carries it through.
2.5. Each Organising Committee maintains the website (two years before and two years after a congress) and makes necessary updates for every new Viking Congress.

3.1 Each country is represented by two National Representatives, ideally from different scholarly fields and different institutions.
3.2 The National Representatives constitute the Viking Congress Council.
3.3 National Representatives nominate scholars and students from their country for invitation to the next Congress. Attention must be given in this process to achieving a balanced representation within the above-mentioned disciplines and to selecting research-active
scholars who can make an important contribution to the themes of the Congress.
3.4 National Representatives may nominate upto 2 participants (in addition to the national quota) from outside the participating countries to the Organising Committee for its consideration.
3.5 Members of the Council will, normally, vacate their positions either on retirement or on reaching the age of 70, whichever comes first.
3.6 Replacement members are nominated by the two National Representatives on the Council, subject to approval by a majority of the remainder of that country’s delegates to the previous Congress.

4.1 Each country nominates a limited number of scholars to participate in the next Viking Congress.
4.2 Denmark nominates 15 delegates, of which three should be selected from SchleswigHolstein. England, Norway, Scotland and Sweden nominate 12 participants each. Iceland nominates 10 participants. Faeroes and Ireland nominate 6 participants, Greenland and Wales nominate 3 participants each.
4.3 In addition a country may nominate two reserves and two PhD student representatives.
4.4 The Organising Committee may choose to invite additional participants of its choice, including honorary delegates, to the Congress. National Representatives may request that scholars be invited as honorary delegates, but the decision rests with the Organising Committee.

5.1 The Viking Congress is governed by a Congress Council that holds a meeting in conjunction with each Viking Congress.
5.2 All decisions concerning the organisation of the Viking Congress are taken by the Congress Council.
5.3 Proposals to organise the next Congress are put forward in the Congress Council.
5.4 The Congress Council votes on where the next Congress will be held.
5.5 Minutes of the Congress Council are taken by the appointed secretary of the meeting and shall be sent out to all National Representatives within two months.
5.6 At the end of the Congress Council meeting the Presidency of the Viking Congress is turned over to the organisers of the next Congress.
5.7 Henceforth, within a period of two months following the Congress Council’s decision on the location of the next Congress, that country’s Organising Committee will select a person to serve as the formal chairperson of the Viking Congress Council until the next Congress Council meeting. Other Congress Council members should be informed of this decision.

6.1 Persons who have been nominated and have accepted an invitation to a Viking Congress are full delegates of that Congress and are eligible to participate in it and to present a paper on the theme of the Congress in their specialist field.
6.2 After retirement scholars are not normally eligible for nomination as delegates, though if they remain research-active they may be considered for nomination by their country’s National Representatives or, in some circumstances, by the Organising Committee.
6.3 PhD student delegates are not invited to lecture at the Congress, but will be expected to present at a poster/laptop session.
6.4 Honorary delegates have full access to all lectures and field-trips of the Congress.

7.1 Selected papers presented at a Viking Congress will be published by the Organising Committee of that Congress in the Proceedings of the Congress.
7.2 The papers shall be of significant scholarly value and peer-reviewed.
7.3 The publication should also include a Congress diary and list of delegates.
7.4 Decisions taken at the Congress Council shall be published on the Congress webpage.

Passed at the Viking Congress Council meeting in Reykholt, August 23rd 2009.