Stephen A. Mitchell is the Robert S. and Ilse Friend Professor of Scandinavian and Folklore at Harvard University. His research centers on the Nordic world in the medieval and early modern periods, and employs a variety of interdisciplinary approaches, including performance theory, memory studies, anthropological linguistics, and other folklore-centered perspectives. He is the author of Heroic Sagas and Ballads and Witchcraft and Magic in the Nordic Middle Ages.