This is the inaugural conference of the project ‘Myths about Language in the Middle Ages’, which begun on 1 August 2017. The project adopts a comparative perspective on the important but understudied topic of medieval myths about language. All across Europe, people told myths about their language in order to describe its place in the world. They did so to understand its origin and character, but also to argue that their native language was an equally worthy medium of literature as the dominant languages, such as Latin. These myths are rarely studied, but they were a crucial component in the development of the languages of modern Europe and beyond.

Programme attached.