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Old Norse Archive
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Listening for the Vikings: Some Evidence from Etymology
Posted on May 18, 2013 | No CommentsThe Vikings left behind several kinds of evidence during their stay in Anglo-Saxon England. Richard Dance notes that 'one crucial aspect is the etymological.' -
Saga Motifs on Gotland Picture Stones: The Case of Hildr Högnadóttir
Posted on March 17, 2013 | No CommentsThis article will only examine one of these legends, namely the ‘Hildr legend’ in the context of two of these stones, lärbro stora hammars and stenkyrka smiss . An attempt will be made to place the images in a larger context than has been done before, and by doing so to strenghten the probability that they were indeed intended to refer to the original Hildr legend. -
Novgorod the Great in Baltic Trade before 1300
Posted on March 3, 2013 | No CommentsThe information on trade contacts between Novgorod and Scandinavian countries preserved in the works of Old Norse -
The Old English Rune Poem – Semantics, Structure, and Symmetry
Posted on February 17, 2013 | No CommentsThe later runic alphabets do, of course, follow the basic pattern of the earlier Germanic Fupark though considerably modified by the late eighth century, decreasing in the number of runes in Scandinavia whilst increasing in number in the runic alphabets of England. -
Awkward Adolescents: Male Maturation in Norse Literature
Posted on January 25, 2013 | No CommentsAlthough medieval masculinities have become a subject of scholarly interest, there has been relatively little discussion of the transition in Old Norse until very recently. -
INTERVIEW: Song of the Vikings: Snorri and the Making of Norse Myths
Posted on December 13, 2012 | No CommentsAn interview with author Nancy Brown on her latest medieval offering: "Song of the Vikings: Snorri and the Making of Norse Myths". -
Talk to the Dragon: Tolkien as Translator
Posted on December 11, 2012 | No CommentsWhen Bilbo, and the readers of The Hobbit, are confronted with the dragon, they are in for a surprise, as Smaug’s behaviour is somewhat unusual for a dragon. -
The Emergence of the North
Posted on December 5, 2012 | No CommentsApart from this bipolar system that contrasted North and South, authors writing in the Old Norse-Icelandic language also appear to use the term Norðrlönd within a quadripolar system that held good beyond the immediate region: Norðrlönd, the Vestrlönd (the British Isles), Suðrríki (Germany, the Holy Roman Empire), and Austrríki or Austrvegr (Russia and other lands to the East). -
The Language of Birds in Old Norse Tradition
Posted on September 30, 2012 | No CommentsSpecial individuals capable of understanding the language of birds are spread throughout the medieval Icelandic literary corpus. This phenomenon has received surprisingly little academic attention and is deserving of detailed, extensive, and interdisciplinary study. Capable of flight and song, birds universally hold a special place in human experience. Their effective communication to people in Old Norse lore offers another example of their unique role in humanity’s socio-cosmic reality. -
What Was Viking Poetry For?
Posted on September 12, 2012 | No CommentsThe most characteristic kind of verse that has been preserved from the Viking Age is praise poetry — praise either of the living or of the recently dead... -
What is runology and where does it stand today?
Posted on August 29, 2012 | No CommentsRunes are an alphabetical system of writing, and for the most part they are used to record language. An independent runological discipline, if it is to be established, must therefore deal with the runic symbols themselves, individually and as systems, with their development, and their use to record language. -
Re-forging the smith: an interdisciplinary study of smithing motifs in Völuspá and Völundarkviða
Posted on August 29, 2012 | No CommentsIn this dissertation I examine key smithing motifs in the eddic poems Võluspá and Võlundarkviña in relation to the socio-cultural role of smithing techniques and sites in early medieval Scandinavia. -
Sir Walter Scott and Eyrbyggja Saga
Posted on August 29, 2012 | No CommentsThe influence of this interest in ancient Scandinavia on Scott's own work has also been traced and examined in great detail... -
The Riddle of Gollum: Was Tolkien Inspired by Old Norse Gold, the Jewish Golem, and the Christian Gospel?
Posted on August 23, 2012 | No CommentsI would like to speculate on Tolkien's sources for Gollum. As a start, it is likely that Tolkien's conscious sources for Gollum were the same as his sources for ents. -
Changing views on Vikings
Posted on June 25, 2012 | No CommentsIn this article changing views, not only of Viking activities, but also of the etymology and meaning of the word viking will be discussed. -
“Ek Skal Hér Ráða”: Themes of Female Honor in the Icelandic Sagas
Posted on May 25, 2012 | No CommentsA major goal of this thesis is to not only interpret the representations of women from these sagas, but also to place these representations in the context of the time and the writers. Icelanders wrote these sagas a couple centuries after the Viking age ended and are based nearly entirely on oral tradition. -
Mythic Transformations: Tree Symbolism in the Norse Plantation
Posted on May 17, 2012 | No CommentsThis thesis explores tree symbolism as interpreted from a selection of Old Norse poetic and prose mythological sources. -
The Mythology of Magic in The Hobbit: Tolkien and Andrew Lang’s Red Fairy Book “Story of Sigurd”
Posted on May 16, 2012 | No CommentsThis paper was part of the Tolkien at Kalamazoo sessions. -
Recreating Beowulf’s “Pregnant Moment of Poise”: Pagan Doom and Christian Eucatastrophe Made Incarnate in the Dark Age Setting of The Lord of the Rings
Posted on May 4, 2012 | No CommentsThe following chapters will explore how Tolkien fuses themes and imagery from the pagan Norse apocalyptic myth of Ragnarök with Christian apocalyptic imagery and themes in a recreated Dark Age historical setting to create The Lord of the Rings. -
On bilingualism in the Danelaw
Posted on April 26, 2012 | No CommentsLittle can be known about those bilingual speakers of the language varieties related to Old English and Old Norse, who wandered in the Danelaw during the Viking Age, as no direct evidence has come down to us to support this argumentation. -
The Runic System as a Reinterpretation of Classical Influences and as an Expression of Scandinavian Cultural Affiliation
Posted on April 22, 2012 | No CommentsAccompanying discussions of the runic system’s graphical origins are arguments concerning its geographical origins. Von Friesen’s theory that runes derived from Greek characters looked east to the Gothic territories, while scholars arguing for North Italic origins have pointed towards the Alps. Moltke, who looked to a largely Latin source for the runic characters, suggested a runic origin in Denmark. -
If She Says Yes or Is Silent: A New Interpretation of Female Marital Consent in the Settlement Period in Iceland as Revealed Through the Family Sagas
Posted on December 20, 2011 | No CommentsIcelandic Sagas have captivated the minds of casual readers and historians alike due to their complex depiction of character and deeply resonant storylines. All of the characters are highly nuanced and developed, but many times it is the female characters that catch a reader’s attention because of their exceptional level of activity and variety. -
Völuspá and the Feast of Easter
Posted on September 28, 2011 | No CommentsVöluspá and the Feast of Easter By John McKinnell Alvíssmál, Vol. 12 (2008) Introduction: It is generally agreed that Völuspá has been influenced by Christian ideas to some extent, but... -
Woman or Warrior? The Construction of Gender in Old Norse Myth
Posted on September 4, 2011 | No CommentsWoman or Warrior? The Construction of Gender in Old Norse Myth Norrman, Lena (Harvard University) Paper given at the 11th International Saga Conference (2000) Abstract This example from Saga Hei›reks konungs... -
“Ek Skal Hér Ráða”: Themes of Female Honor in the Icelandic Sagas
Posted on August 28, 2011 | No Comments“Ek Skal Hér Ráða”: Themes of Female Honor in the Icelandic Sagas Rivenbark, Susan Elizabeth (University of North Carolina at Wilmington) M.A. Thesis, Appalachian State University, May (2011) Abstract There was...