SELCS

Introduction to Old Norse


Course code: SCAN1401.
Course unit value: 0.5.

Old Norse is among the most remarkable of medieval literatures: remarkable both for the breadth and variety of its corpus – with texts ranging from orally-preserved Viking poetry to the great Icelandic prose sagas of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries; from learned history to outrageous legends; and from pagan myths to Christian doctrine – and for the insights it affords us into the history, culture, and religion of Scandinavia during a period of huge upheaval. This course is intended to give students a basic knowledge of Old Norse grammar, sufficient to enable them to read straightforward medieval Icelandic prose, and to provide a general introduction to the historical and cultural background to the texts read and discussed in class.

Assessment: one unseen three-hour written examination (100%).

Tutor: Dr Christopher Abram.

Preparatory reading and set texts:

Students are required to obtain a copy of M. Barnes et al., A New Introduction to Old Norse (London, 1999). Texts for translation and accompanying background material will be provided in class, together with relevant bibliographies. The two set texts are Auðunar þáttr vestfirzka and the extract from Hrólfs saga kraka in A New Introduction to Old Norse, vol. II.

For a good general introduction to the subject, students are invited to peruse one or more of the following works:

  • H. O’Donoghue, Old Norse-Icelandic Literature. A Short Introduction (Oxford, 2004).
  • M Clunies Ross, ed., Old Icelandic Literature and Society (Cambridge, 2000).
  • P. Pulsiano, ed., Medieval Scandinavia. An Encyclopedia (New York, 1993).
  • Jónas Kristjánsson, Eddas and Sagas, trans. P. Foote (Reykjavik, 1988).