Edited by Katarzyna Anna Kapitan, Helen F. Leslie-Jacobsen, Luke John Murphy, Simon Nygaard, and Beth Rogers Table of Contents An Introduction to the Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse (NECRON) 7 NECRON 2017: Trends and Challenges in Early Career Scholarship 9 NECRON 2017: Programme Poster 11 “Thor is still alive and drives around in the heavens”: N.F.S. Grundtvig’s Romantic Re-Enchantment Efforts, 12 New Perspectives on Knýtlinga saga, Deniz Cem Gülen 13 Applied Rhetoric in Konungs skuggsjá, Katharina Heinz 14 Sophie Bønding What Do We Know About All The Versions of The Story of Hrómundur Gr(e)ipsson? Katarzyna Anna Kapitan 15 The Limits of Discrepancy: Mapping Variation in Pre-Christian Nordic Religion, Luke John Murphy 16 Ritual and Memory Specialists in Pre-Christian Nordic Religion, Simon Nygaard 17 Reassessing Language and Script in Late Medieval Icelandic Manuscripts, Roberto Pagani 18 Regional Differences in Scandinavian Clothing in the Viking Age, Kamil Rabiega 19 Áfram með smjörið: The Cultural Significance of Dairy Products in Medieval Iceland, Beth Rogers Added Stanzas in Reykjabók Njálu, Beeke Stegmann On the Receiving End of Ljósvetninga saga, yoav tirosh Old Gutnish in a Danish Hand, Sean Vrieland Reintroducing the Kraftaskalds, Eirik Westcoat 20 21 22 23 24 NECRON 2017: List of Participants 25 NECRON 2018: A Networking Reception 26 NECRON 2019: Communication and Dissemination for Early Career Scholars 27 NECRON 2019: Programme Poster 30 Law Manuscripts of Western Scandinavia: European Influences and Domestic Use, Stefan Drechsler 31 Eiríkr inn góði and Knýtlinga saga, Deniz Cem Gülen 32 Writing Histories: Legendary Sagas and Early Modern Danish Historiography, Katarzyna Anna Kapitan 33 The Sea in Old Nordic Belief, Jonas Koesling 34 Body Symbolism in Old Norse Myth, Jan A. Kozák 35 Military Aristocracy in Scandinavia, c. 1150-1300, Beñat Elortza Larrea 36 Transformations of Medieval Law, Helen F. Leslie-Jacobsen 37 Artemis, Diana, and Skaði: A Comparative Study, Giulia Mancini 38 Outlawry and the Judicial Space in Medieval Scandinavia, c.1200-1350, Fraser Miller 39 Religious ‘Stuff’: The Cognitive Science of Ritual Props in the Romanisation of Britain and the Christianisation of Iceland, Luke John Murphy 40 Food Anxiety: Crying Over Spilled Milk in Medieval Iceland, Beth Rogers 41 The Main Manuscript of Konungs skuggsjá: What a discussion about the world tells us about communication strategies, Juliane Marie-Therese Tiemann 42 NECRON 2019: List of Participants 43 6 An Introduction to the Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse (NECRON) NECRON was first formalised in 2017, and has since held biannual workshops that are intended as inclusive safe spaces for discussion of the personal and professional challenges faced by ECRs in our fields. NECRON aims to be as inclusive as possible, and explicitly welcomes anyone who shares our goals regardless of their ethnic, racial, or religious backgrounds, their gender expression, and their sexual orientation. The first workshop “Trends and Challenges in Early Career Scholarship” took place in Copenhagen, Denmark in October 2017, and the second workshop “Communication and Dissemination for Early Career Scholars” took place in Bergen, Norway in November 2019. In addition, the network aims to support community-building activities for ECRs across Old Norse Studies, and therefore hosted a networking event at the 2018 International Saga Conference, a major venue for everyone working on Iron Age and Medieval Scandinavia. The present volume gives insight into NECRON’s activities in the period 2017–2019, presenting brief reports by the editors (who were also involved in organising the two workshops), as well as selected posters and slam presentations by contributors at the two events. As a network, NECRON is reliant on the people who constitute it. The editors would therefore like to thank all the participants of the 2017 and 2019 workshops and 2018 reception. NECRON would not be possible without you! We are grateful that you share our desire to to build an inclusive community of ECRs. This is especially true for the keynote speakers at our two workshops. These established scholars, no longer ECRs themselves, found time in their busy days to talk to us – their less experienced peers – and to share their own, sometimes deeply personal, experiences from the early stages of their careers. Of course, we are also The rapidly-changing modern university poses particular opportunities and challenges for junior scholars – academics who have not yet secured permanent employment at a cultural or research institution. Early Career Researchers (here understood to refer to PhD Students, Post-Doctoral Researchers, External or PartTime Lecturers, and a range of other insecure junior appointments) have traditionally been able to lean on their more senior colleagues’ advice and knowledge of university systems, but the increasing pace of reform and counterreform sweeping across most academic institutions makes even well-connected, experienced academics unsure about the future. In response, ECRs working with the (broadlyunderstood) Viking and Medieval Nordic region have increasingly taken to social media to communicate with one another, sharing experience, resources, and support. While much of this assistance remains informal and deeply personal, the Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse (NECRON) is an attempt to offer a more structured forum for ECRs to collaborate with and support one another in the face of the issues they face. NECRON is an international, interdisciplinary network of ECRs working in all fields of research on late Iron Age and Medieval Scandinavia – that is, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and areas of Viking-Age settlement from around 800 AD until the Reformation in the 1530s, as well as subsequent reception of this material. One of the main aims of the network is the strengthening of cultural and academic collaboration in the fields of Nordic research across both national and disciplinary lines, as well as the building of a strong research community where members support each other, collaborate, and exchange professional experiences. 7 grateful to all the round-table contributors, poster and slam presenters, and participants of open discussions who openly spoke about their hopes and fears, and created an unique atmosphere of this supportive community. We would also like to thank the generous sponsors of our workshops, especially Clara Lachmanns Stiftelse, as the sole Nordic organisation which positively considered our application seeing the importance of projects such as ours, but also the following Nordic Universities which provided funding and infrastructural support: Universitetet i Bergen, Norway (the Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies, the Research Group for Medieval Philology & the project ‘Transformations of Medieval Law’, cofunded by the Trond Mohn Foundation), Københavns Universitet, Denmark (the PhD School at the Department of Humanities & Department of Nordic Studies and Linguistics), and Aarhus Universitet, Denmark (Communication Department). There are also other individuals who have supported NECRON over the last three years, and whose work has (thus far) managed to avoid the spotlight: in particular, we owe great thanks to: Maja Bäckvall (Uppsala Universitet), Védís Ragnheiðardóttir (Háskóli Íslands), Haraldur Bernharðsson (Háskóli Íslands), Patrick Farrugia (Universitetet i Bergen), and Jens Eike Schnall (Universitetet i Bergen). We hope to see you at a future NECRON event! The Editors 8 NECRON 2017: Trends and Challenges in Early Career Scholarship NECRON’s first event, a two-day workshop entitled “Trends and Challenges in Early Career Scholarship” was held at the University of Copenhagen in late October 2017, organised by a collective of ECRs from across the Nordic region: Katarzyna Anna Kapitan (Københavns Universitet, Denmark), Luke John Murphy (Stockholms Universitet, Sweden), Helen LeslieJacobsen (Universitetet i Bergen, Norway), and Simon Nygaard (Aarhus Universitet, Denmark).1 Generously sponsored by Clara Lachmanns Stiftelse and the Universities of Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Bergen, the workshop was billed as an opportunity for participants to update one another on their research – primarily via a long poster session – and to discuss the career challenges ECRs face in the modern university. Bringing together over fourty ECRs from all around the Nordic region, Germany, the UK, Switzerland, the USA, and Poland, representing disciplines spanning from Literature, through History and Archaeology to Linguistics, the workshop allowed international and interdisciplinary dialog between scholars on various stages of their academic careers, from newly graduated MAs developing their PhD projects, through PhD students, to temporary-employed researchers with many years of experience of obtaining external funding for their projects. The workshop’s first day began with two keynotes on “Current Academic Trends in Old Norse Scholarship”, both with a strong focus on how ECRs could engage with these ongoing debates. Tarrin Wills (Københavns Universitet) presented his thoughts on the use of Digital Humanities as a secondary discipline for medievalists, prompting discussion of methodologies – both digital and traditional – and the difficulties of ECRs finding stable platforms to host their work when moving between institutions. This was followed by Emily Lethbridge (Stofnun Árna Magnússonar Reykjavík), who discussed Cultural Memory in light of her own work with landscape, and her own experience of building a long-term project alongside the time-consuming labour of funding applications and short-term contracts. These themes were built upon by a roundtable discussion of “Academic Trends in Medieval Scandinavian Scholarship” chaired by Katarzyna Anna Kapitan, and featuring Michael MacPherson (Háskóli Íslands), Simon Nygaard, Beeke Steegmann (Københavns Universitet), and yoav tirosh (Háskóli Íslands). The good-spirited debate ranged from the need for digital research to have strong research questions to the necessity of explicit methodological discussion, focusing in particular on the difficulties of defining just what is – and what is not – a contribution to a particular scholarly movement. The remainder of the day was taken up by a combined poster and “slam” session. While posters are not common at humanities conferences, the organisers of the workshop asked each participant to present their current research as a poster in the hope that this would allow a good deal of informal exchange between scholars who would ordinarily have been unlikely to meet. This session also included four short slam presentations by participants whose research was not well-suited to the poster format, where each speaker presented themselves and their ongoing project in just three minutes. Several of these presentations are reproduced in this volume: some have been updated to reflect subsequent work (or later affiliations), while others have been submitted “as is” as snapshots of ongoing research projects as they stood in late 2017. The second day sought to address the titular “Challenges” of an ECR career, opening with 9 Nygaard – which also covered the challenges of internationalisation and the “two-body problem” (where an academic must leave their partner and/or family and live in a different place to find work), and which served as a capstone to the workshop. The event closed with a short discussion of the potential future of the NECRON network. It was agreed that a forum for ECR discussion and networking at the 2018 Saga Conference in Reykjavík would be an ideal next step, and that the organisers of the 2017 workshop would work towards publishing a small e-book of the posters presented in Copenhagen. Although significantly delayed, the present volume is the result of those efforts, and has been expanded to cover NECRON’s subsequent 2018 reception and 2019 workshop. In summary: although it was acknowledged that the road ahead for ECRs will likely result in a large majority of us reluctantly leaving traditional academia to pursue forms of employment that offer greater stability, increased job security, and more normal family lives, there was also a mood of defiance, a sense that ECRs would have to challenge the prevalent academic culture of short-term, poorly-paid contracts, unreasonable requirements for time abroad, and the stigmatisation of those who take periods of leave (be that for parental, personal, or healthrelated reasons). In the words of one contributor, Védís Ragnheiðardóttir (Háskóli Íslands): “These are things we need to fight against, because nobody is going to do it for us.” two keynote papers on publishing in modern academia: Leszek Gardeła (Uniwersytet Rzeszowski) offered a well-reasoned, systematic overview of the pros and cons of publishing in different formats and championed publishing for popular audiences; while N. Kıvılcım Yavuz (Københavns Universitet) introduced Kısmet Press, a not-for-profit, Open-Access alternative to traditional publishing houses. This dialogue on publishing was followed by consideration of another key skill for ECR scholars, with a round table on teaching, chaired by Luke John Murphy and featuring Helen Leslie-Jacobsen, Friederike Richter (HumboldtUniversität zu Berlin), and Seán Vrieland (Københavns Universitet). The conversation quickly covered good practices and key skills for the classroom and courses where these could be acquired, but also touched on the difficulties of teaching across linguistic, cultural, and disciplinary boundaries, as well as noting frustration at the lack of support offered by some institutions, even in serious cases of bullying among students. The final afternoon was opened by a forthright, autobiographical keynote by Karen Bek-Pedersen (Aarhus), detailing her career to date, and explaining the difficult choices she faced between a traditional academic career and a more balanced, fulfilling lifestyle that still allows her to contribute to academic discourse. Discussion following this challenging presentation understandably picked up on the difficulties of securing permanent employment, prejudice against “Independent Scholars”, and issues in transferring from one national academic system to another. These topics were revisited during the following round table on career planning for ECRs – chaired by LeslieJacobsen and featuring contributions by Dale Kedwards (Syddansk Universitet), Lara Hogg (The University of Sheffield), and Simon Luke John Murphy An earlier version of this text appeared in RMN Newsletter as Murphy, Luke John. 2019. ‘Conference Report – Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse: Trends and Challenges in Early Career Scholarship Workshop’. The Retrospective Methods Network Newsletter 14: 166–68. I am grateful to the Editor, Frog, for allowing me to present a modified version of that text here. 1 10 NECRON 2017: Programme Poster 11 “Thor is still alive and drives around in the heavens”: N.F.S. Grundtvig’s Romantic Re-Enchantment Efforts N.F.S. Grundtvig (1783-1872) is widely regarded as a central figure for Danish nation building processes in the 19th century. He was a driving force for a turn towards Old Norse mythology as the foundation of a new Danish collective identity. N.F.S. Grundtvig at his public lectures about Old Norse and Greek mythology at Borch Collegium in Copenhagen, 1843. ‘Brage-Snak – Grundtvig på talerstolen’. Drawing: J. Th. Lundbye, 1843. ABSTRACT Focusing on the turbulent mid-19th century, this study examines N.F.S. Grundtvig’s ambitions for introducing Old Norse mythology as the mythic foundation of modern Danish community. It situates Grundtvig’s utilisation of Old Norse mythology in the context of contemporary Romantic reappraisals and nationalist mobilisations of Europe’s non-Classical, vernacular mythologies. Drawing on a combination of memory theory and fantasy theory, the study argues that Grundtvig’s actualisation of Old Norse mythology as a fantastic-poetic mode of discourse was an attempt to ‘reenchant’ or ‘re-mythologise’ the world view of the Danes in his day. This aspect of Grundtvig’s treatment of Old Norse mythology is largely unexplored in existing scholarship. N.F.S. Grundtvig portrayed as a zealous political debater. Satire drawing, Corsaren 1842, 91. Sources N.F.S. Grundtvig was a polymath. As a pastor, historian, poet, and politician, he published and spoke publically about a range of subjects. His efforts concentrated on two core domains: the Danish ‘people’ and the Danish Church. Old Norse mythology and the pagan past figure prominently in his writings. This study focuses on Brage-Snak (1844) – the published version of a series of 25 public lectures, given in 1843-1844. Why Build a Danish Community? The long 19th century was a turbulent period in Danish, as in European, history. Former communal units, and the collective traditions underpinning these, faced erosion by Enlightenment thinking, increasingly penetrating the public mind. The totalising ambition of Christianity as an all-encompassing meaning system was abandoned, as nature and society were now irrevocably uncoupled from the divine, i.e. ‘disenchanted’ (Weber 2002). The Danish monarchy and the state church were no longer self-evident pillars of society, as they had been for centuries. To secure social cohesion among the population of the (now wobbling) Danish conglomerate state, Grundtvig and like-minded cultural thinkers sought new unifying frames of reference. The immanent threat of political revolution added to a growing sense of urgency. The sought-after unity was found in a (re)invented Danish past, attested in Old Norse mythology. Grundtvig envisioned a new ‘folk-enlightenment’ intended to teach the Danes about their shared past and to cultivate an emotional attachment and a collective intentionality among them (cf. Korsgaard 2015). Mythological ‘Revival’ In Brage-Snak, Grundtvig spoke about Old Norse mythology as poetic memories from the community’s golden past, interpreting and actualising them in relation to present affairs. To him, this mythology was a figurative, poetic language – ‘Nordens Billed-Sprog’ [the image-language of the North] – through which the present and the future could be conceptualised and, thereby, understood. In the vein of the Romantic paradigm characteristic of contemporary nation building efforts (cf. Leerssen 2016), Grundtvig sought to convince his audience (men and women of the Copenhagen bourgeoisie) that Old Norse mythology was their cultural heritage, that it contained the cultural essence of what was authentically Danish, and that it needed to be (re)vitalised in the present in order to secure the restoration and future flourishing of the Danish community. Connective Memory Old Norse mythology as tales and images from the golden, heroic past served a ‘contra-present’ as well as a ‘foundational’ function (cf. Assmann 2011). They provided a contrast against which the present stood out as deficient, offering a contra-present argument for change. If the broken continuity between golden past and glorious future was rectified, communal stability could be restored. On this basis, Grundtvig envisioned that when (re)introduced and (re)vitalised as a ‘living’ cultural repertoire, Old Norse mythology would (re)acquire a foundational function, providing orientation in life for the entire population. It would connect members across social and geographical divides, uniting them through their common heritage into a social unit, a community or a ‘people’. Fantastic Re-Enchantment On the one hand, Old Norse mythology was a repertoire of foundational narratives in the autobiography of the Danish people, which signaled status as well as political and cultural independence for the Danish people towards the outside world. On the other hand, Grundtvig’s ambition included the vitalisation among the population of this mythology as a universe of imagination in everyday interaction. This would tie them together inwardly. Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Inaugural Workshop 21st-22nd October 2017 University of Copenhagen Sophie Bønding Aarhus University socb@cas.au.dk/ sophieboending@live.dk Grundtvig on Slipnir’s back. Drawing: Constantin Hansen, 1846. In Grundtvig’s view, the fantasticenchanted dimension of Old Norse mythology was crucial to attain such social cohesion. He sought to bring the fantastic-mythic elements to life as a fantastic-poetic mode of discourse (cf. Lachmann 2004). He filled his Brage-Snak lectures with phantasms: fantastic-mythic agents, objects, events, and places. Thereby, he took issue with the disenchanting, historicalcritical approach to mythology, which explained away the fantastic dimension of mythic narratives to reconcile them with reason. In tune with contemporary Romanticism, he re-ascribed truth-value to these phantasms by relocating Old Norse mythology to the aesthetic-poetic realm, the realm of fiction. The phantasms were deemed not factually but poetically true. As part of an enchanted universe of imagination they were able to impact the world view and everyday reality of the Danes. Enchantment as Social Adhesive By his romantic actualisation of Old Norse mythology, Grundtvig attempted to ‘re-enchant’ (cf. Jenkins 2000) the world view of the Danes. As a fantastic-poetic mode of discourse it provided access to an enchanted layer of reality shut off to the more rationalistically inclined. To him, it was a social adhesive, crucial for connecting the Danish population into a social unit, a ‘people’. REFERENCES Assmann, Jan. 2011. Cultural Memory and Early Civilization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Bønding, Sophie. In press. ‘Founding the Community on Old Norse Myths: N.F.S. Grundtvig’s Attempt at Remythologizing the Danish Community’. In: Mythology and Nation Building in 19th Century Northern Europe, edited by S. Bønding, L.K. Martinsen & P.-B. Stahl, Aarhus: Aarhus University Press. Grundtvig, N.F.S. 1844. Brage-Snak. København Jenkins, Richard. 2000. ‘Disenchantment, Enchantment and ReEnchantment: Max Weber at the Millenium’. Max Weber Studies 1: 11–32 Korsgaard, Ove. 2015. ‘How Grundtvig Became a Nation Builder’. In: Building the Nation, edited by John A. Hall et.al., 192–209. Copenhagen: Djøf Publishing Lachmann, Renarte. 2004. Erzählte Phantastik. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp. Leerssen, Joep. 2016. ‘Gods, Heroes, and Mythologists: Romantic Scholars and the Pagan Roots of Europe’s Nations’. History of Humanities 1: 71–100 Weber, Max. 2002 [1919]. ‘Wissenschaft als Beruf. 1919.’ In: Max Weber Schriften 1894 – 1922, edited by D. Kaesler, 474–511. Stuttgart: Alfred Kröner. New Perspectives on Knýtlinga saga This poster argues that Óláfr Þórðarson is the author of the saga of Knútr inn helgi, as well as the compiler of Knýtlinga saga. It also suggests that the addition of Blóð Egill is influenced by both Christianity and Snorri’s tutelage of the saga author. Front cover of the Íslenzk fornritedition of Danakonunga sögur. Photo by the author. ABSTRACT Knýtlinga saga is one of the interesting examples of the konungasögur for, other than Skjöldunga saga, it is the only saga which deals with a portion of medieval Danish history. The studies relating to the saga are, however, rather limited. With this poster, I will present two new ideas: one on the issue of authorship and the other on Blóð Egill: (1) I will argue that Óláfr Þórðarson is not the author of Knýtlinga saga, but rather its compiler, because he not only had the necessary skills for compiling, but he also had access to the needed sources. (2) The addition of Blóð Egill is influenced by Christianity and Snorri’s impact on Óláfr himself during the years when Óláfr was his student. Deniz Cem Gülen University of Aberdeen r01dcg15@abdn.ac.uk @DenizCemi The Issue of Authorship The Addition of Blóð Egill Conclusion The contemporary literature on the issue of authorship of Knýtlinga saga is divided into two groups: (1) the scholars who are in favor of Óláfr Þórðarson, and (2) the ones who are not. Blóð Egill is a unique character that can be only seen in Knýtlinga saga and Flateyjarbók. In Flateyjarbók, however, the story has no connection with the preceding or following parts of it. The first group argues that Óláfr is the saga author because: (1) he was related to Snorri, (2) he had personal ties with King Valdimarr II and heard many stories from him (Hermann Pálsson and Edwards 1986, 18), and (3) several verbs, nouns and adjectives repeat themselves with statistical significance throughout the saga, indicating that the saga is a work of a single author (Hallberg 1963, 93). The story focuses on the rise and fall of Egill (who is a son of Ragnar, a Dane with a farm at the diocese of Ribe) under the reign of Knútr inn helgi. Throughout the story, Egill’s relationship with Knútr weakens due to Egill’s actions. He receives his nickname, Blóð Egill, after drinking blood mixed water when he defeats the Wendish fleet. Eventually, Knútr orders his execution which turns out to be a mistake. The execution causes unhappiness among his magnates. In addition, Knútr's unrealistic demands of the peasantry causes a rebellion which results in his death. The studies regarding Knýtlinga saga are incomplete and invite us to look further. Studies pertaining to the authorship issue may seem adequate, however, both perspectives fail to address several issues and ignore the possibility of Óláfr as the compiler of the saga. The addition of Blóð Egill, on the other hand, lacks much-needed research and stands as one of the only studies in the literature that does not focus on the importance of religion. The second group disagrees with this notion for three main reasons: (1) there are three events in the saga which took place after Óláfr’s time in Denmark, (2) the saga lacks a consistent writing style as well as vocabulary unity (Heller 1967, 162-63) and (3) the saga of Knútr inn helgi possesses a superior writing style in comparison to other sections of the saga. I believe there are two reasons why the saga author added this story: (1) Snorri’s influence and (2) Christianity. (1) Snorri’s influence on Óláfr is easy to notice. The sagas of Saint Óláfr and Knútr have several similarities in terms I propose there is a midway between of storytelling which is easily explained these ideas. The contemporary literature due to Snorri being the teacher of fails to recognize how similar Óláfr and Óláfr. For Blóð Egill’s story, Snorri’s Sturla Þórðarson’s careers turned out to influence on Óláfr comes from Egils be. Their works are more influential and saga. In the saga, Þórólfr Kveldúlfsson sophisticated than other sagas. The clear shares striking similarities with Blóð reason for this is that both these authors Egill (Bjarni Einarsson 1986, 44). In were educated by Snorri himself. For both stories the relative of a noble is several years, Óláfr and Sturla observed appointed by the king, the king hears Snorri and learnt how to compose a saga. that the man has misbehaved and has When Óláfr visited King Valdimarr II, the man killed. The representations he had access to Danish chronicles in and details of these stories are similar, the royal archives which had been and some of the unique words repeat established by Valdimarr the Great. themselves which indicates Snorri’s After returning to Iceland, Óláfr used direct influence on Óláfr. Heimskringla as his model and imitated Snorri to compose the saga of Knútr inn (2) There are several Christian themes in Knýtlinga saga. By the time the saga helgi. Óláfr, however, had a busy life in Iceland and for that reason he distributed was composed, the life and the death of a saint king would be seen more his sources to his students. These important than even distinguished students were inexperienced and failed members of the monarchy. It is to match Óláfr’s writing style. This is possible to find motifs relating to why the sections of the saga display conversion, pilgrimage and saints’ lives. different writing styles and the main One can imagine that the saga author section of the saga is a masterpiece. wanted to emphasise the importance of Regarding the three events taking place faith for Knútr and added the story of after Óláfr’s return from Denmark in Egill. Although his execution led to 1241, they must have been added to the Knútr's death, even in his last moments saga by an unknown author responsible the king is devoted to his cause and for one of the later copies of the saga. fights to be a martyr. Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Inaugural Workshop 21st-22nd October 2017 University of Copenhagen Murder of Canute the Holy, Christian Albrecht von Benzon, 1843 (public domain). REFERENCES Bjarni Guðnason (ed). 1982. Danakonunga sogur, İslenzk fornrit 35. Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag. Bjarni Einarsson. 1986. ‘On The "BlóðEgill" Episode In Knýtlinga Saga’. In: Sagnaskemmtun. Studies in Honour of Hermann Pálsson. Vienna: Hermann Böhlaus Nachf. Gesellschaft. Hallberg, Peter. 1963. Ólafr þóðarson Hvítaskáld, Knýtlinga saga og Laxdælas saga: ett försök till språklig författerbestämning. Studia Islandica 22. Reykjavik: Heimspekideild Háskóla Íslands. Heller, Rolf. 1967. ‘Knýtlinga saga: Bemerkungen zur Entstehungsgeschichte des Werkes’. Arkiv for nordisk filologi 82. Hermann Pálsson and Edwards, Paul, trans. 1986. Knýtlinga saga (Odense: Odense University Press, 1986) Applied Rhetoric in Konungs skuggsjá The textual composition of Konungs skuggsjá implies a variety of didactic devices that are rooted in classical rhetoric. How did the didactic program of the text influence the visual layout of the manuscript? What are the rhetorical practices in the text and on the manuscript page? Keys for interpretation For the analysis, the medieval rhetorical concepts figura, divisio and ordo (fig. 2) provide relevant tools to describe my material. They serve to detect applied rhetorical practices within Konungs skuggsjá, including devices on the textual-literary and material-visual level. University of Oslo katharina.heinz@iln.uio.no Preliminary findings ABSTRACT This project aims to investigate rhetorical concepts and their didactic functions in the textual and material composition of the educational text Konungs skuggsjá, written as a dialogue between a father and son, in the manuscript AM 243 b α fol. (c. 1275). By combining theories of semiotics and Material philology, the study focuses on the visual aspects of the text, including the arrangement of the manuscript page as well as literary imagery and figurative language, as inextricable components of the underlying pedagogical program. Ultimately, this inclusive approach will enhance our understanding of the universal scope of rhetoric in medieval European culture, which Norway indeed was part of. Katharina Heinz Fig. 1: Initials and rubrics indicating the voice change in the dialogue, Arnamagnæan Institute, Copenhagen, AM 243 b α fol., f. 26r. Photo: Handrit.is. Objectives Theoretical framework The overall aim of this project is to explore how medieval training of rhetoric informed and framed processes of textual and material composition within a didactic and learned context. This can be specified by means of two hypotheses: (1) Assuming that Konungs skuggsjá emerged within an intellectual culture in which rhetoric was one of the basic disciplines of the curriculum, this study examines particular rhetorical practices (direct and indirect influence), their didactic functions, and their implications for the textual and material composition. (2) Based on materialphilological principles, this study demonstrates how the literary structure determined the visual representation on the page, and analyzes the relations between text and image on the page. o Acknowledgement of the manuscript as a coherent product of intellectual work (Material philology) o Interrelation of different systems of signs (Semiotics) Fig. 3: Large-sized initial-A indicating second main part, Arnamagnæan Institute, Copenhagen, AM 243 b α fol., f. 24v. Photo: Handrit.is. REFERENCES Carruthers, Mary. 2008. The Book of Memory. 2nd edn. Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press. Copeland, Rita. 1991. Rhetoric, Hermeneutics and Translation in the Middle Ages. Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press. Eriksen, Stefka G. 2014. Writing and Reading in Medieval Manuscript Culture. Brepols:Turnhout. Franklin-Brown, Mary. 2012. Reading the World. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press. Irvine, Martin. 1994. The Making of Textual Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Fig. 2: Rhetorical concepts. Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Inaugural Workshop 21st-22nd October 2017 University of Copenhagen The most striking observation has been that the traditional scholarly opinion of a threefold textual division of Konungs skuggsjá may have to be revised. The hierarchy of initials and their literary relation reveal a textual division into two main parts, each introduced by an especially large-sized initial (fig. 3). The formerly third part, which has been designated to the king, does not appear as a self-contained part in the manuscript but rather as related to part two on the rules for behavior in the king’s hirð. Another important finding is that both direct and indirect use of classical rhetoric appear in the material. Direct use is restricted to two references to Latin authorities, Gregory the Great and Isidore of Seville. However, indirect impact, i.e. using rhetorical strategies to establish one’s own authoritative textual framework, is a far more frequent phenomenon. Specific rhetorical practices, such as metaphors, hierarchical order of topics, and repetition are deployed in order to serve the didactic purpose of Konungs skuggsjá. The textual form of a dialogue is related to the material representation in various ways. One example is that rubrics and initials (fig. 1) consistently indicate voice change in the dialogue and thus serve as visual tools for different modes of reception. Simultaneously, the dialogic form provides an appropriate textual framework, so that didactic techniques, such as repetition of textual content as a mnemonic device, could have been applied. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my colleagues from the research group Norrøn og keltisk filologi and the medieval interdisciplinary research group Systems of Knowledge in Nordic Middle Ages for continually receiving valuable response and suggestions on my project. I am also very grateful for supportive comments on this poster from my PhD-colleagues from different fields. What Do We Know About All the Versions of the Story of Hrómundur Gr(e)ipsson? This poster presents an overview of my preliminary research results on the history of adaptation and transmission history of Hrómundar saga Gr(e)ipssonar, one of the best known “lost” Old Icelandic sagas, e.g. sagas whose existence is attested in the medieval period, but which appear not to have survived in their original form. Katarzyna Anna Kapitan University of Copenhagen kak@hum.ku.dk Main findings Hrómundar saga Gr(e)ipssonar exists in at least two distinct versions. Version A, known from all modern editions and composed in the late-17th century, is based on the medieval rímur and is preserved in at least 30 manuscripts. Previously unknown Version B was most likely composed in the late 18th or early 19th century and it is preserved in 4 manuscripts. Version B is an intriguing example of a postmedieval reception of medieval Icelandic literature, as it is most likely a modernized reworking of Version A and Hrómundarrímur. The beginning of Hrómundar saga Greipssonar (Version A) in AM 395 fol., held at Stofnun Árna Magnússonar in Reykjavík. Image: KAK ABSTRACT Hrómundar saga is a lost Old Icelandic saga (Mitchell 1991; Driscoll 2009) mentioned in the famous description of the wedding feast at Reykjahólar in 1119, found in Þorgils saga ok Hafliða. The story of Hrómundur has not survived in its original form, but it survived in a 15th-century metrical version called Hrómundarrímur, which are presumed to have been composed on the basis of the lost medieval saga. The rímur in turn served as a basis for the 17th century prosification known as Hrómundar saga Greipssonar. The story of Hrómundur appears in many postmediaeval manifestations, which so far received only limited amount of scholarly attention. My PhD-project explores the postmediaeval transmission history and history of adaptation of the story of Hrómundur in prose and verse, and the relationships among the subsequent manifestations. State of the art The question of the medieval origin of the saga was of greatest interest and is widely discussed in the literature, e.g. Andrews (1910–13), Liestøl (1915), Björn Karel Þórólfsson (1934), Jón Helgason (1953) and Holtsmark (1961) and Jesch (1984), all of whom believed that Hrómundarrímur reflects to some extent the lost *Hrómundar saga. Moreover, the same lost saga was supposed to be the basis of the Scandinavian ballads which exist in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish. Hrómundarrímur in AM 146 a 8vo, held at Stofunun Árna Magnússonar in Reykjavík. Image: KAK Hrómundar saga, as known from Rafn’s (1829–30) edition of fornaldarsögur, is a 17th-century narrative, preserved in manuscripts from the 17th – 19th centuries. It is thought to derive either from Hrómundarrímur (Brown 1946–53, 77) or from the lost medieval saga (Hooper 1934, 56). No in-depth study of its transmission history yet exists and its relationship to younger adaptations is unknown. Relationships among the various versions of the story about Hrómundur Gr(e)ipsson. Dotted lines represent uncertain connections. Image: KAK Discussion The discovery of Version B is of great significance for the study of the adaptation history of Hrómundar saga. The text of Version B appears to be closer to Hrómundarrímur and thus provides a prose version of the story which is presumably closer to the lost *Hrómundar saga. The relationship between Version B and the 19th-century Hrómundar rímur Greipssonar is unknown, but it cannot be excluded that the author of the younger rímur had access to both versions of the saga and the medieval Hrómundarrímur. REFERENCES Andrews, A. L. 1910–13. ‘Studies in the Fornaldarsögur Norðrlanda’. Modern Philology 8: 527–44, 9:371–97, 10: 601–30. Björn Karel Þórólfsson. 1934. Rimur fyrir 1600. Copenhagen: Möller. Brown, U. 1946–53. ‘The saga of Hrómund Gripsson and Þorgilssaga’. Saga-Book 13: 51–57. Driscoll, M.J. 2009. ‘A new edition of the fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda: Some basic questions’. In: On editing Old Scandinavian texts: Problems and perspectives, edited by M. Bampi & F. Ferrari, 71–84. Trento: Universita degli Studi di Trento. Holtsmark, A. 1961. ‘Helgediktingen’. In: Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk midelalder VI, cols. 314–18. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde and Bagger. Hooper, A. 1934. ‘Hrómundar saga Gripssonar and the Griplur’. Leeds Studies in English 3: 51–56. Jesch, J. 1984. ‘Hrómundr Gripsson revisited’. Skandinavistik 14: 89–105. Jón Helgason. 1953. ‘Norges og Islands digtning’. In: Nordisk kultur VIII B, 3–179. Copenhagen: Schultz. Liestøl, K. 1915. Norske trollvisor og norrøne sogor, Kristiania: Norli. Mitchell, S.A. 1991. Heroic sagas and ballads, Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS My PhD-project (2015–2018) is fully funded by the Faculty of Humanities, University of Copenhagen. I would like to thank my PhD supervisors M.J. Driscoll and A. Lassen for their support. The beginning of Hrómundar saga Greipssonar (version B) in Lbs 2404 8vo, held at Landsbókasafn Íslands in Reykjavík. Image: KAK Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Inaugural Workshop 21st-22nd October 2017 University of Copenhagen The Limits of Discrepancy: Mapping Variation in Pre-Christian Nordic Religion Luke John Murphy This post-doc project seeks to explore the ways in which Iron-Age Nordic paganism\s varied according to a range of social conditions, and to identify semi-distinct articulations of pre-Christian cult. ABSTRACT There is a growing acceptance that pre-Christian Nordic religion was not a single monolithic cultural system, but rather varied along a range of geographic, social, temporal, and even cognitive axes. Most previous research on concepts within this variation has focused on the geographic axis, looking in particular at the East/West cultural divide in early medieval Scandinavia. Hosted at the Department of Ethnology, History of Religions, and Gender Studies at Stockholm University, this short project builds on my doctoral research to investigate a range of variant and semi-distinct articulations of pre-Christian cult, using the establishment of sacral social spaces to examine the social axis of religious variation in particular. The project is generously sponsored by the Kungl. Gustav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur. Bernadotte Research Fellow Stockholm University luke@luke-murphy.com The Project As a single-semester project, The Limits of Discrepancy will see the production and submission for publication of three articles dealing with different issues – social, spatial, and methodological – in the ongoing debates surrounding religious variation in the pre-Christian North. Planning will also begin for the organisation of a conference on the theme of religious variation in the medieval north, in order to encourage dialogue between scholars of pre-Christian and Christian cultures. The Social This article develops a comparative model of pre-Archaic domestic, household, and family-based cult on the basis of other Indo-European cultures, seeking evidence for a similar articulation of pre-Christian Nordic religion. It proposes a model of household cult performed in the domestic context focused around food-based offerings to localised supranatural beings, performed predominantly in the autumn and winter, and which appears to have offered significant roles for women. (Below: archaeological evidence for one such setting.) This model serves as an illustration of the complex relationship between individual “articulations” of pre-Christian religion and the wider system they exist within and help constitute. The Spatial A study of the spatialisation of preChristian sacral value in Gotland, this text investigates the enigmatic “Vi” of Guta saga, proposing that vé were spatially-focused ritual places that exhibited a great concern with access to the object of sacral value and which utilised a range of controls to establish a range of analogue spaces. (Above: an artist’s interpretion of the vé at Götavi.) A second article building on these findings uses vé as a springboard to consider the changes to sacral space during Christianisation, arguing that Gotland does not conform to traditional models of gradual centralisation. (Right: Fabech’s much-debated model of cult centralisation.) The Methodological This polemic is a call for greater explicit discussion of methodology in the emerging field of Viking Studies: as the profile of the field rises, there is a risk that less attention will be paid to disciplinary concerns, particularly theory and method. This article seeks to provide a common vocabulary for interdisciplinary communication, and uses a case study of concepts of Iron-Age “privacy” to argue that most Viking Studies research can usefully be regard as either “emic” or “etic” and that conscious discussion of these differences can produce higher-quality scholarship. Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Inaugural Workshop 21st-22nd October 2017 University of Copenhagen KEY READING Murphy, Luke John. 2016. ‘Continuity and Change in the Sacred Social Spaces of the Pre-Christian Nordic World’. Viking and Medieval Scandinavia 12: 147-82. Murphy, Luke John. 2017. ‘Processes of Religious Change in Late-Iron Age Gotland: Rereading, Spatialisation, and Inculturation’. In: Place and Space in the Medieval World, ed. M. Boulton, H. Stoner, and J. Hawkes, 32-46. London & New York: Routledge. Nordberg, Andreas. 2012. ‘Continuity, Change and Regional Variation in Old Norse Religion’. In: More than Mythology: Narratives, Ritual Practices and Regional Distribution in Pre-Christian Scandinavian Religions, ed. C. Raudvere and J. P. Schjødt, 119-51 Lund: Nordic Academic Press Schjødt, Jens Peter. 2009. ‘Diversity and Its Consequences for the Study of Old Norse Religion: What Is It We Are Trying to Reconstruct?’ In: Between Paganism and Christianity in the North, ed. L. P. Słupecki and J. Morawiec, 9-22. Rzeszów: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego. IMAGE CREDITS Above Centre: The vé at Götavi, © Mats Vänehem. Reproduced with permission. Above Right: A model for the physical changes of location undergone by sacral places during the Iron Age, after Fabech, Charlotte. 1994. “Reading Society from the Cultural Landscape: South Scandinavia between Sacral and Political Power.” In The Archaeology of Gudme and Lundeborg, edited by P. O. Nielsen, K. Randsborg, and H. Thrane, 169–183. Copenhagen: Akademisk forlag, universitetsforlag i København. Reproduced with permission. Below Left: Plan of the longhouse at Hrísbrú, Mosfell (Iceland), Viking Age, after Zori, Davide, and Thomas Wake. 2008. “Archaeofauna from the Chieftain’s Farm at Hrísbrú, 2001-2008.” Mosfell Archaeological Project. Reproduced with permission. Ritual and Memory Specialists in Pre-Christian Nordic Religion In oral societies, cultural memory – which includes religion – seems to have been transmitted through ritual reconstruction by ‘specialized carriers of memory’ (Assmann 2010, 114). But who were these specialists and what did they transmit in a pre-Christian Nordic context? Grímnismál and the þulr Because pre-Christian Nordic religion can be characterised as a primary religion that is orally transmitted and firmly grounded in ritual, it would be plausible to look for what Jan Assmann terms ‘rite-based repetition’ of cultural memory in a pre-Christian Nordic context (2006, 39). This ritual reconstruction of cultural memory is understood as a tripartite process comprising of: 1. preservation by ritual specialists in poetic form; 2. retrieval by ritual specialists through ritual performance and; 3. communication between the ritual specialists and the group through ritual participation. Some of the few occurrences of ritual specialists and possible performances in the Old Norse textual corpus and the Scandinavian runic inscriptions form the basis of this research. Fig.1 Ritual and Memory Specialists This poster focuses on two of the named ritual specialists who seem to have something to do with transmission of memory. The þulr may be a figure who fits the bill of ritual and memory specialist. The etymology of the term (ON þylja, to recite, speak) indicates a performance function. Another possibility may be the skald – court poet and very much specialist of memory. But also religious rituals? Fig. 3 Rituals Fig. 2 These performances may have taken the form of ritual and ON poetry may have been the cultural memory transmitted in these performances. I will explore the possible rituals behind these performances of ljóðaháttr poetry – both eddic and skaldic. Ritual hall space and ritual props – like the Sutton Hoo helmet (fig. 3) – may have been utilised to ritually transformative ends. The eddic poem Grímnismál bears marks of having been performed orally in a Viking Age hall. A close reading of the poem suggests that Grímnir deliberately reveals his identity as Óðinn gradually throughout the poem; this coincides with the ritual specialist performing the role of Grímnir in the first person revealing his transformation into Óðinn in the ritual. The name Grímnir (lit. ‘masked one’) may hint at the use of a ritual mask to aid this transformation. Ultimately, Óðinn transmits the cultural memory of the poem to the group in this ritual reconstruction of cultural memory. Simon Nygaard Aarhus University sn@cas.au.dk IMAGES Fig 1: Grímnir between the fires and Agnarr giving him a drink, W. G. Collingwood, 1908 (public domain). Fig 2: Grímnir between the fires, Lorenz Frølich, 1895 (public domain). Fig 3: Detail of reconstruction of the Sutton Hoo helmet-mask by Dave Roper of the Wulfheodenas living history group. Courtesy of owner Paul Mortimer, Wulfheodenas living history group. Photo: Lindsey Kerr. Fig. 4: The Snoldelev rune stone (DR 248; 700-800 CE), Copenhagen, Nationalmuseet. Photo: Roberto Fortuna (CC-BY-SA). The ritual specialist who performs this may be the þulr, additionally acting as an initiator for the future king Agnarr (Nygaard 2019). The þulr seems to be an orator of knowledge perhaps in a ritualised hall setting as implied by part of the Snoldelev inscription (fig. 4) (ODa þulaR ā Salhaugum, ‘þulr at salmounds’). The noun salr, it has been argued, often describes a ritual hall (Brink 1996). Eiríksmál and the skald The skaldic poem Eiríksmál also shows signs of oral performance. The skald may have performed a hall-based, religious ritual that both transforms the space of the hall into Valhǫll (in st. 1) and the possible warrior-audience into einherjar – for the duration of the ritual. Skaldic poems may be viewed as one-off performances composed for a special occasion and considering this, we may be able to suggest a ritual occasion for Eiríksmál. Being commissioned by Gunnhildr, it may have been performed at the court of her brother or half-brother Haraldr blátǫnn in Denmark as a form of erfikvæði for her late husband Eiríkr blóðøx (Nygaard 2018). Conclusions In short, cosmological, cosmogonic and eschatological poetry may have been the cultural memory performed ritually by specialists like the þulr or the skald and transmitted to the group of bearers of pre-Christian Nordic religion. Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Inaugural Workshop 21st-22nd October 2017 University of Copenhagen Fig. 4 REFERENCES Assmann, Jan. 2006. Religion and Cultural Memory. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Assmann, Jan. 2010. ‘Communicative and Cultural Memory’. In: A Companion to Cultural Memory Studies, edited by Astrid Erll and Ansgar Nünning, 109-18. Berlin: de Gruyter. Brink, Stefan. 1996. ‘Political and Social Structures in Early Scandinavia: A SettlementHistorical Pre-Study of the Central Place’. Tor 28: 235–81. Nygaard, Simon. 2018. ‘“…nú knáttu Óðin sjá: The Function of Hall-Based, Ritualised Performances of Old Norse Poetry in PreChristian Nordic Religion’. In: The Fortified Viking Age: 36th Interdisciplinary Viking Symposium in Odense, May 17th, 2017, edited by Mette Bruus and Jesper Hansen: 26–34. Odense: Odense City Museums and University Press of Southern Denmark. Nygaard, Simon. 2019. ‘Being Óðinn Bursson: The Creation of Social and Moral Obligation in Viking Age Warrior-Bands through the Ritualized, Oral Performance of Poetry: The Case of Grímnismál’. In: Social Norms in Medieval Scandinavia, edited by Jakub Morawiec et al.: 51–74. Leeds: ARC Humanities Press. Department of the Study of Religion Aarhus University Reassessing Language and Script in Late Medieval Icelandic Manuscripts Roberto Luigi Pagani University of Iceland Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum robertop@hi.is The manuscript production of the 15th century in It is the objective of this study to narrow the gap in our Iceland has received considerably less scholarly understanding of the language and script between the 15th attention than that of the previous century. Our current century and the previous ones. knowledge about this period is based on descriptions This will be done by charting and analysing the of script, language, and orthography in individual development of Icelandic script, language, and orthography manuscripts or—more commonly—parts of manuscripts during ‘the long 15th century’, that is, from the end of the found as part of introductions to text editions based 14th century down into the beginning of the 16th century. (in part) on manuscripts from the 15th century. Selected features of the script, language, and orthography Consequently, no comprehensive overview exists of the in a variety of scribal hands found in manuscript books and development of the script, language, and orthography documents from this period will be studied. Based on the and this has resulted in difficulties in dating manuscripts resulting database, an overview of the development will be and documents from the period. For example, the large constructed in the form of a reference book which will both codex AM 152 fol., containing a variety of texts, was for present a comprehensive picture of previous research, and a long while dated to the 15th century, but more recently trace the outline of a general description of the evolution of scholars have leaned toward a later date in the first language and script in the period examined. quarter of the 16th century. The hope is that to facilitate the work of manuscript scholars in dating texts from the long 15th century, and The development of the script, language, and orthography in previous centuries has been examined that of literary scholars in tracing the history and relations among these. much more closely. The scholarship includes detailed studies such as Lindblad (1952), Widding (1960), and Spehr (1929), to mention a few on script and orthography, and de Leeuw van Weenen (1993, 2009), Mårtensson (2011) and Kjeldsen (2013) on individual manuscripts. Consequently, we have a much firmer understanding of the development of the script, language and orthography from the earlier periods, and the earlier manuscripts have been dated with much greater accuracy. REFERENCES de Leeuw van Weenen, Andrea. ed. 1993. The Icelandic Homily Book. Perg. 15 4° in the Royal Library, Stockholm. Íslensk handrit—Icelandic Manuscripts, series in quarto 3. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar á Íslandi. de Leeuw van Weenen, Andrea. 2009. Alexanders saga AM 519a 4° in The Arnamagnæan Collection, Copenhagen. Manuscripta Nordica 2. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. Lindblad, Gustaf. 1952. Det isländska accenttecknet. Lund: Gleerup. Mårtensson, Lasse. 2011. Studier i AM 557 4to: kodikologisk, grafonomisk och ortografisk undersökning av en isländsk sammelhandskrift från 1400-talet. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum. Kjeldsen, Alex Speed. 2013. Filologiske studier i kongesagahåndskriftet Morkinskinna. Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana Suppl. 8. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. Spehr, Harald. 1929. Der Ursprung der isländischen Schrift und ihre Weiterbildung bis zur Mitte des 13. Jahrhunderts. Halle (Saale): Max Niemeyer Verlag. Widding, Ole. 1960. ‘Håndskriftanalyser. Én eller flere skrivere’. Opuscula 1: 81–93. Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Inaugural Workshop 21st-22nd October 2017 University of Copenhagen Regional Differences in Scandinavian Clothing in the Viking Age On the basis of archaeological and iconographic finds from Denmark, Norway and Sweden, and combining them with the written sources from Scandinavia and beyond, we can try to reconstruct ways of dressing in the Viking Age Scandinavia Men’s clothing ABSTRACT For several years, the re-enactment of Viking Age Scandinavia has become increasingly popular. The demand for this type of event forces researchers to discuss the reliability of reconstructed elements of material culture, including costumes. It turns out that for many “Scandinavian clothing” is treated as a monolith, and they forget about the territorial and chronological variety of costumes. Therefore, I would like to draw attention to the differences in finds from various sites and periods, based on archaeological and iconographic sources. Sources Archaeological evidence includes fragments of clothing (shirts, trousers, dresses, coats, shoes, etc.) made of wool, linen and leather, as well as imported silk fabrics. Iconographic sources are significant because of the representation of human figures with outfits. It is possible to analyse clothing forms and patterns. Written sources come from later periods and we should not accept such data uncritically. Sometimes written sources (e.g. Rígsþula, Egils saga, Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu) include complete descriptions of the garments, which do not appear in iconographic sources: “(…) hosan var strengd fast at beini, hann hafði fustans kyrtil rauðan, þröngvan upphlutinn, ok lázt at síðu” (Ásmundarson 1892: 242). Kamil Rabiega Institute of Archaeology Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University in Warsaw kamilrabiega@onet.eu Viking men’s clothing basically consisted of a shirt, outer garment (tunic, kaftan or cloak), trousers and shoes. In Hedeby, men wore lacing hose or wrapped their calves with cloth tapes. The body was covered with a shirt and a tunic; the outer garment was a cloak or a kaftan. Men also wore hoods with “tails”. A well-preserved linen shirt from the early 11th century was found in Viborg. However, tunics dating back to the middle of the 11th or 12th century (Kragelund, Moselund) differ from the current fashion. Swedes wore woollen tunics made of one piece of fabric with tapered sleeves and lateral wedges. In Sweden, there appear to have been two types of kaftan. It seems that the baggy trousers worn in 10th century Denmark were much more popular in Sweden, because they appear in many iconographic sources. Due to the Oseberg tapestry we can distinguish several elements of a Norwegian costume. Men wore tunics to their hips or knees, a short rectangular cloak reaching the hips, or a long ankle coat. The Oseberg depicts baggy trousers, which, unlike in other regions, were ankle-length. Unique is the 11th c. costume from Skjoldehamn, which is quite different from other Scandinavian examples. Women’s clothing Women’s clothing consisted of a dress (one or more) made of linen or wool. An apron dress was worn on top, attached with characteristic turtle brooches. In Denmark there were also pleated aprons, as the Køstrup find and Trønninge figurine show. In Sweden, women wore trailing dresses with long sleeved dresses on top. Women put on coats or tunics richly decorated with embroidery. They also wore pinafore dress above their main dress that could have been closed or – unlike the examples from Denmark – open at the front and pinned only by turtle brooches. The cloak was fastened with a single clasp. REFERENCES Ásmundarson, Valdimar (ed.). 1892. Egils Saga Skallagrímssonar. Reykjavík: Sigurður Kristjánsson. Christensen, Arne Emil and Margareta Nockert (eds.). 2006. Osebergfunnet Bind IV Tekstilene. Oslo: Kulturhistorisk Museum and Universitetet i Oslo. Geijer, Agnes. 1938. Birka III: Die Textilfunde aus den Gräbern. Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksells boktryckeriaktiebolag. Hald, Margrethe. 1980. Ancient Danish textiles from bogs and burials. København: Nationalmuseet. Hägg, Inga. 1985. Die Textilfunde aus dem Hafen von Haithabu. Neumünster: Karl Wachholtz. Rabiega, Kamil. 2019. Viking Dress Code: Textile and leather clothing in Scandinavia. Szczecin: Triglav. FIGURES Maps depicting the presence of archaeological (left) and iconographic (right) finds discussed in this paper. Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Inaugural Workshop 21st-22nd October 2017 University of Copenhagen Colour image: Kamil Jadczak Maps: Stamen Design (CC BY 3.0) / Kamil Rabiega Black-and-white images: Kamil Rabiega Áfram með smjörið: The Cultural Significance of Dairy Products in Medieval Iceland Bethany Rogers University of Iceland blr3@hi.is The cultural significance of various food (particularly skyr) are in fact an emblem of products throughout Europe has been the focus culture as defined by historian Fernand Braudel of much scholarly debate since the 1980s, when – that is, milk products have inspired “a state of Food History emerged as a new field. strict bondage” (1982: 254) within the However, little attention has been paid to the community, ritual in the collection, processing historical cultural significance of dairy products and eating of this product, space is allocated to it in medieval Iceland, and so this project seeks to above other resources, relative abundance, and it examine the historical relationship between undergoes refinement over time to satisfy the medieval Icelanders and dairy products (milk, people’s tastes. This project is an examination of butter, cheese, skyr and mysa). The research is the importance, purposes and meanings of dairy grounded in close textual analysis of key primary products in the medieval Icelandic cultural sources – notably Íslendingasögur that feature region, c. 1000-1500. This wide geographical and motifs of animal husbandry and dairy chronological scope allows for recognition and production and use. In addition, this project analysis of a continual development of dairy will draw on a range of secondary evidence, product food culture over time. including historical, literary and physical studies among these. of milk-based practices, and folklore from Iceland, with wider contextualization drawn from the Nordic nations. REFERENCES Braudel, Fernand. 1982. Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century: The Perspective of the World, trans. Siân Reynolds. London: William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd.. A model is proposed whereby it is concluded that milk products have been intrinsic to cultural identity of the Icelandic people due to their relative abundance in comparison to other limited food choices, and these products Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Inaugural Workshop 21st-22nd October 2017 University of Copenhagen Added stanzas in Reykjabók Njálu Multispectral and paleographical analysis indicates that the Njáls saga manuscript Reykjabók (AM 468 4to) was written by two contemporaneous scribes. The second hand wrote, among other things, the rubrics and the added stanzas, meaning that the latter are older than previously suggested. Beeke Stegmann Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum beeke@hi.is ABSTRACT The main text of Njáls saga in Reykjabók was written ca. 1300–1325. A second, roughly contemporary scribe is known to have made marginal additions. This study shows that the same hand was involved in other parts of the production, such as writing the rubrics and possibly drawing the initials. The two scribes may have collaborated and divided the labour between them. ? HAND 1: main text 45 Mean reflectance (%) 40 HAND 2: rubrics, marginal additions; & initials? Opening sentence 35 30 25 Initial 20 Rubric Insertion mark 15 Main text 10 5 0 375 425 475 525 575 625 675 725 775 825 875 925 975 Wavelength (nm) Fig. 2: Palaeographical analysis of distribution of hands in Copenhagen, The Arnamagnæan Institute, AM 468 4to, f. 32v. Photo: Handrit.is. Fig. 1: Multispectral analysis of ink on f. 31v. All occurrences of light red ink show a comparable spectral signature. Photo: Handrit.is. PALAEOGRAPHICAL analysis of the script reveals two hands that are systematically distributed. While hand 1 wrote the main text and made smaller corrections to it, hand 2 rubricated the manuscript, added verses and indicated where to read them. REFERENCES For a full list of references, see Stegmann, Beeke. 2018. ‘Collaborative Manuscript Production and the Case of Reykjabók: Paleographical and Multispectral Analysis’. In: New Studies in the Manuscript Tradition of Njáls saga: The historia mutila of Njála, edited by Emily Lethbridge and Svanhildur Óskarsdóttir, 29–54. Kalamazoo: MIP. The spectral curve further indicates that the light red pigment used was cinnabar. THE ADDED STANZAS by hand 2 relate directly to the main text. In some manuscripts of Njáls saga that are younger than Reykjabók, these stanzas are found as part of the main MULTISPECTRAL analysis with text. Earlier research has a VideometerLab2 shows that therefore suggested that the the light red ink found in all verses were later inventions, additions by hand 2 as well as but this study indicates that the in initials and other highscribes collaborated. That means lighting elements has a similar the stanzas were already known chemical composition. These when Reykjabók was produced. paratextual features thus seem to be added at the same time. Fig. 3+4: Red ink of initial and rubric recognized as chemically similar after nCDA transformation (top). Copenhagen, The Arnamagnæan Institute, AM 468 4to, f. 1r. Photo: Handrit.is, BS. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks are due to Oliver Hahn for the tentative identification of the pigment. Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Inaugural Workshop 21st-22nd October 2017 University of Copenhagen On the Receiving End of Ljósvetninga saga A new look into questions of dating, genre and the cultural memory of a somewhat neglected saga yoav tirosh Háskóli Íslands tiroshyoav@yahoo.com Fig. 1 „Tönn tímans hefur búið a við Ljósvetninga sögu,” Björn M. Ólsen, Um Íslendingasögur: kaflar úr háskólafyrirlestrum. 1939, p. 366. ABSTRACT My PhD project looked into Ljósvetninga saga, a once widelydiscussed text that has received little scholarly attention in recent decades. The project aimed to jump over the much debated issue of the saga’s origins, and focus on the inner workings of its two redactions (A and C) in their manuscript and generic context. Three key issues were looked at; 1. the scholarly debate around the saga’s redactions and dating, 2. the role the manuscripts’ selection of sagas had on the differences between Ljósvetninga saga’s two redactions, and, 3. the cultural memory aspects of the saga’s transmission in the extant 15th century manuscripts. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project is funded by a research grant provided by Rannsóknamiðstöð Íslands (RANNÍS). Fig. 2 Dating Fig. 3 The project reassessed the dating of Ljósvetninga saga, and questioned the assumptions of scholars such as Björn M. Ólsen, Björn Sigfússon, and Theodore M. Andersson. While not offering answers in the almost unsolvable issue of the saga’s date, it problematized the assertion that both redactions of the saga were written before Brennu-Njáls saga, and suggested that the C-redaction could have been written as a reaction to it rather than being its inspiration. With Ljósvetninga saga, one feels like Goldilocks; confronted with two Björns and one Teddy, Barði Guðmundsson’s late 13th century solution could end up feeling just about right. Manuscript and genre Fig. 4 The project explored the role of Ljósvetninga saga’s medieval manuscripts AM 561 4to and AM 162 c fol. in the differences between the extant redactions. The former manuscript contains Reykdæla saga, Þorskfirðinga saga, and several 17th century rímur, and the latter manuscript contains several sagas that concern Northeastern Iceland, as well as Sálus saga og Nikanórs. This text selection creates different generic expectations from the audience, and thus influences the redaction selection/creation. The incorporation of the þættir into Ljósvetninga saga’s C-redaction could stem from a Northeastern interest in these materials. Cultural memory Fig. 1. Detail from AM 561, 33r, ©Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum in Reykjavík. Photo: handrit.is. Fig. 2. Timeline: Yoav Tirosh. Fig. 3. Dating Ljósvetninga saga: Yoav Tirosh. Fig. 4. Detail from AM 162 c fol., 2r, ©Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum in Reykjavík. Fig. 5. Möðruvellir í Eyjafirði. Photo: Yoav Tirosh Fig. 5 Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Inaugural Workshop 21st-22nd October 2017 University of Copenhagen The saga, which takes place in the 10th-11th century, would have echoed contemporary concerns for its 15th century copyist and audience, such as the turbulent career of cleric Þorkell Guðbjartsson, and that of Westfjords magnate Guðmundr Arason hinn ríki. The research focused on AM 162 c fol.; its scribe was likely Ólafr Loptsson—bastard son of the influential Loptr ríki Guttormsson (who, like Guðmundr Eyjólfsson inn ríki, lived in Mǫðruvellir í Eyjafirði)—or someone associated with him. A speculative analysis of AM 561 4to in a 14th century context was also conducted. Old Gutnish in a Danish Hand A sixteenth-century paper manuscript contains Guta lag written in the Old Gutnish language copied by a Danish priest. This manuscript, known as ‘Codex B’, has received relatively little attention due to its age and foreign scribe. Seán D. Vrieland University of Copenhagen sean.vrieland@hum.ku.dk Danish influence in Codex B Who copied the 1470 exemplar? Influence from Bilefeld’s native language is evident throughout the manuscript on all linguistic levels: orthographic/phonological, morphological, syntactic, and lexical. We no longer have the exemplar manuscript Bilefeld used, nor do we know who copied it. Evidence from Codex B as well as external evidence, however, point to a Danish scribe. Orthography: Codex B follows the typical spelling of Danish manuscripts from the same period: ❖ th and dh for (etymological) þ ❖ ffu for f inside a word ❖ single n for final nn ❖ ck after r l n ABSTRACT Two main manuscripts preserve the medieval law code of Gotland in the Old Gutnish language. The younger of these two, a sixteenth-century paper manuscript, is often considered inferior due to its relative age, foreign scribe, and linguistic peculiarities. Nevertheless, this so-called ‘Codex B’ preserves many of the older layers of the law code not present in the medieval parchment manuscript, ‘Codex A’. The present study investigates the language of Codex B as the result of linguistic contact between the Old Gutnish text and the Danish scribe. It is argued that the language of Codex B shows a mixture of Danish influence, native Gutnish developments, and the preservation of older features not found in the elder codex. The B Manuscript of Guta lag ❖ Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan Collection, AM 54 4to ❖ Contains the law code of Gotland, Guta lag, in the Old Gutnish language ❖ Copied in 1587 by David Hansen Bilefeld, a priest from Jutland ❖ Exemplar manuscript written in 1470, now lost ❖ Codicology suggests Bilefeld copied the manuscript for his own personal use ❖ Marginalia shows Bilefeld had access to other Guta lag manuscripts, including Codex A ❖ Bilefeld also cites the Danish Jyske lov from his native Jutland Ecclesiastical and Legal Terms: Considering Bilefeld’s role as a priest, it is no surprise we find Danish spellings such as præst ‘priest’, biskop ‘bishop’, and gudstienistu ‘religious service’. Close Cognates: Danish and Gutnish are closely related languages. Bilefeld often writes common words as in Danish if a close cognate exists, e.g. mand ‘man’, er ‘is’, and da ‘when, then’. Borrowing or Development? Not all linguistic peculiarities are due to Danish; some show younger developments within Old Gutnish. Often it is difficult to distinguish native developments from foreign (Danish) influence. Phonology: Codex B shows some later Gutnish phonological developments such as [uer] > [uar] in vara ‘to be’, quar ‘remaining’ and [ul] > [ol] in folk ‘people’, golf ‘floor’. Inflection: Gotland and Denmark In 1361 the Danish king Valdemar the Victorious (Valdemar Sejr) invaded Gotland. For decades Danes, Swedes, and Germans fought for control of the island, whose position and deep harbor made it an ideal possession for controlling trade in the Baltic. From 1408-1645 the island was in Danish hands. In general Codex B preserves the full case system of Old Gutnish, though some changes in the morphology have occurred, such as dat.sg.fem. gutniski ‘Gotlandic’ and andri ‘other’ for older gutniskri and annari. Sometimes, however, apparent loss of inflection is due to a complete borrowing from Danish, such as the phrase till liif och siell ‘to body and soul’ for older til lifs oc sialar. Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Inaugural Workshop 21st-22nd October 2017 University of Copenhagen The four main manuscripts of Guta lag. From back to front: B 65 (German, 1401), AM 54 4to (Gutnish, 1587), AM 55 4to (Danish, ca. 1565), B 64 (Gutnish, ca. 1350) REFERENCES Peel, C. 2015. Guta Lag and Guta Saga: The Law and History of the Gotlanders. Abingdon & New York: Routledge. Pipping, H. 1905-07. Guta lag och Guta saga jämte ordbok. Copenhagen: S.L. Møller. Schlyter, C.J. 1852. Gotlands-Lagen. Lund: Berlingska. Vrieland, S.D. 2017. “Old Gutnish in a Danish Hand: Studies in the B Manuscript of Guta lag.” PhD diss. University of Copenhagen. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This poster is a summary of my Ph.D. dissertation (Vrieland 2017) written under the supervision of Anne Mette Hansen at the University of Copenhagen. IMAGES Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan Collection, AM 54 4to. Photo: Suzanne Reitz. Shepherd, W.A. 1911. “Decline of German Power in the Baltic Region, 1380-1560.” Historical Atlas. New York: Henry Holt and Company, p. 88. Scan: University of Texas Libraries. National Library of Sweden, MS B 65. Photo: National Library of Sweden. Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan Collection, AM 54 4to. Photo: Suzanne Reitz. Copenhagen, Arnamagnæan Collection, AM 55 4to. Photo: Suzanne Reitz. National Library of Sweden, MS B 64. Photo: National Library of Sweden. Reintroducing the Kraftaskalds Eirik Westcoat University of Iceland evw1@hi.is The kraftaskáld (‘power poets’, hereafter anglicized as My research aims to provide a more thorough kraftaskalds), also called ákvæðaskáld (‘spell poets’), were a characterization of the phenomenon than has been phenomenon in Icelandic folktales during the 16th through undertaken to date. The roles the kraftaskalds take will be 20th centuries. These poets were reputed to produce magical analyzed in greater detail to see what they use their magic for, or supernatural effects through extemporaneous poetic whether cursing, blessing, affecting the weather, combating stanzas, and their magic seems to require an excited mental the walking dead, and other less common activities. The tales state of some kind — sometimes it is sudden anger, other will also be looked at to see what social functions they might times it is a heitur hugur (‘hot mind’) (Almqvist 1961, 74–75). have had. Preliminary findings show that the kraftaskalds are Although some were anonymous, most of the kraftaskalds often upholding social norms of some kind, such as proper were historical persons about whom such folktales have treatment of animals, guests, vagrants, the elderly, and the arisen. These include famous Icelanders such as Hallgrímur infirm, usually by cursing those who are stingy or cruel, but Pétursson — a tale about him says that once, in the middle occasionally blessing those who are generous. The nature of of performing mass, he glanced out a window, saw a fox that their magic itself will be examined. For the language aspects, was attacking sheep, and killed it with a stanza of poetry I will look at the stanzas with a semiotic approach for how (Jón Árnason 1954, 450). Other significant kraftaskalds and to whom they communicate their magical intentions. include Látra-Björg Einarsdóttir (a vagrant in old age who For the mental state, I will look at its parallels in Icelandic was known for luck in fishing), Sigurður Breiðfjörð (a notable folklore and magic, as well as in modern magical practices in rímur poet), Páll Jónsson skáldi (who was also a priest), and order to clarify just what it might have been. Finally, I look Þormóður Eiríksson í Gvendareyjum. The phenomenon at the complexities of the figure itself, as seen through the appears to have significant medieval roots, especially as seen character and personality of several notable kraftaskalds. in poets like Egill Skallagrímson and Þorleifr jarlsskáld. There is very little existing research specifically about REFERENCES kraftaskalds. Almqvist (1961) was the first to outline this Almqvist, Bo. 1961. ‘Um ákvæðaskáld’. Skírnir 135: 72–98. topic in any detail, and it provides starting points for many Almqvist, Bo. 1965–1974. Norrön niddiktning: possible research questions. Almqvist (1965–1974) later traditionshistoriska studier i versmagi. 2 vols. Uppsala: looked at medieval níð-poetry as a significant part of the Almqvist & Wiksell. earlier Icelandic roots of the phenomenon. Only a few other articles or chapters elsewhere focus on this figure, so there are Jón Árnason. 1954. Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og ævintýri. New ed. Vol. 1. Reykjavík: Þjóðsaga. significant opportunities for further contributions to develop this obscure but fascinating part of Almqvist’s legacy. Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Inaugural Workshop 21st-22nd October 2017 University of Copenhagen NECRON 2017: List of Participants Kamil Rabiega Nina Kongsdal Rasmussen Friederike Richter Bethany Rogers Keith Ruiter Zuzana Stankovitsová Beeke Stegmann Heidi Stoner yoav tirosh Védís Ragnheiðardóttir Sean Vrieland Eirik Westcoat Tarrin Wills N. Kıvılcım Yavuz Karen Bek-Pedersen Bjarni Gunnar Ásgeirsson Anja Blode Sophie Bønding Brynja Þorgeirsdóttir Leszek Gardeła Deniz Cem Gülen Kathryn Haley-Halinski Jason Hash Katharina Heinz Lara Hogg Regina Jucknies Katarzyna Anna Kapitan Dale Kedwards Vera Kemper Anne Ladefoged Helen Leslie-Jacobsen Emily Lethbridge Michael MacPherson Ermenegilda Muller Luke John Murphy Simon Nygaard Roberto Luigi Pagani Ana Belén Piñera Álvarez 25 NECRON 2018: A Networking Reception Given the network’s focus on collaboration and inclusivity, it was especially important for NECRON to reach out to the broader group of ECRs who, for various reasons, had been unable to travel to Copenhagen in 2017. Therefore, thanks to the financial support from the NECRON, and who did not have established social or professional networks in the Nordic countries and/or their fields – some of whom were even newcomers to the conference. NECRON wanted to offer them a warm welcome into our community and facilitate networking activities. The organisers therefore regarded the event as a resounding success (a response repeated more widely by other participants2) and would like to here repeat their thanks to Háskóli Íslands for hosting it, and to the Transformations of Medieval Law project for generously funding it. Transformations of Medieval Law: Innovation and Application in Early Modern Norwegian Law Books project (run by Helen LeslieJacobsen at the Universitetet i Bergen), we decided to organise an event alongside the 17th International Saga Conference in Reykjavík and Reykholt between the 12th–17th August, 2018. The International Saga Conference is a major triennial congress, which always attracts hundreds of students and scholars engaged with Old Norse from around the world. It was thus an unique opportunity for NECRON to reach out to international ECRs who usually stay outside the scope of Nordic professional networks, and to encourage them to join our organisation. Taking into consideration the intensive program of the conference, the organisers of this event (Helen Leslie-Jacobsen, Beth Rogers, Luke John Murphy and Katarzyna Anna Kapitan) decided that it would be better to hold a social networking event, rather than asking potential contributors to commit a day or more of their valuable time at one of our fields’ most important conferences to formalised meetings and presentations within the network. The organisers of the Saga Conference (particularly Haraldur Bernharðsson) and the Félag Doktorsnema og Nýdoktora við Háskóla Íslands (particularly Védís Ragnheiðardóttir) were kind enough to allow NECRON to host a reception on the evening of Sunday the 12th, and also included a flyer about the NECRON reception in the conference welcome pack. The event was attended by around 60 ECRs, many of whom had not previously been aware of Luke John Murphy & Katarzyna Anna Kapitan Franks, Amy Jefford. 2019. ‘Saga Conference, 12-17 August 2018, Reykjavík & Reykholt, Iceland’. Kyngervi 1: 114–17. 2 26 NECRON 2019: Communication and Dissemination for Early Career Scholars communication to your target group can be a great advantage while applying for various education-related jobs. On the note of competence-building, the lecture was followed by a round table on supervision and teaching chaired by Patrick Farrugia, and featuring Ingvil Brügger Budal, Sven Kraus (Universität Basel), Friederike Richter (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin & Universität Zürich), Beth Rogers (Háskóli Íslands), as well as Julián Valle (Universitetet i Bergen). During the discussion various perspectives on teaching as an ECR were presented, from traditional group work activities, through e-learning platforms to possibilities and challenges of making medieval studies relevant for contemporary audiences. Following on the inaugural workshop’s concept of discussing various theoretical and methodological approaches in the community of Old Norse ERCs, the second keynote lecture, delivered by Miriam Tveit (Nord universitet), was devoted to various approaches to legal sources. This lecture emphasised the potential of transdisciplinary approach to legal texts for expanding our understanding of Medieval Scandinavia, and was received very positively by the audience, among whom were a number of ECRs already engaged with legal culture on various levels. The research-oriented part of the workshop was continued during the poster session, which closed the first day of our meeting. The great success of the poster sessions during the inaugural workshop in Copenhagen, expressed in the positive feedback from ECRs in disciplines which rarely use visual aids, assured us that we should also have a poster session illustrating the ongoing research projects within NECRON in 2019. With almost two dozen posters, presenting research in a broad array of disciplines from the history of religion, through legal studies and manuscript studies to NECRON’s second workshop entitled “Communication and Dissemination for Early Career Scholars” took place in Bergen, Norway on 29–30 October 2019. It was organised by a team of ECRs from across the Nordic region Helen Frances Leslie-Jacobsen (Universitetet i Bergen, Norway), Katarzyna Anna Kapitan (Det Nationalhistoriske Museum, Frederiksborg Slot, Denmark), Patrick Farrugia (Universitetet i Bergen, Norway), and Beth Rogers (Háskóli Íslands, Iceland). Generously sponsored by the Medieval Research Cluster at the University of Bergen, the workshop gave participants the opportunity to update one another on their current research and to discuss the strategies for academic dissemination and communication as well as career planning with the main focus on CV-building. Bringing together over thirty participants from across the Nordic region, Argentina, Basque Country, Czechia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK and the US, from disciplines such as History, Literature, Legal Studies, Manuscript Studies, etc., the workshop opened up for an interdisciplinary discussion of Old Norse scholarship in transdisciplinary and transnational perspective. The workshop’s first day began with a keynote lecture on career planning by Ingvil Brügger Budal (Høgskulen på Vestlandet), who from an autobiographical perspective presented possibilities and challenges that Old Norse scholars face when entering an academic job market. Her talk provided great insight into the assessment criteria of academic jobs, which include teaching, research, and outreach, as well as into the importance of transferable skills in career planning. With special emphasis on didactic and pedagogic skills and experiences, which most ECRs develop during their studies, Ingvill argued that the ability to adapt one’s 27 solid background research, and convincing project description. Participants received worksheets which they used to reflect on their own academic achievements, and to identify weaknesses in their CVs. While many of us identified our weaknesses in public engagement and outreach, the afternoon lecture was a great response to this challenge. Tommy Kuusela (Institutet för språk och folkminnen, Dialektoch folkminnesarkivet, Uppsala) focused on academic dissemination, not limited to traditional publication channels but also including publications for a general audience. Based on Tommy’s personal experience, the take-home message of his lecture was twofold: firstly that not all good publications have to be the output of full-scale research projects, as side-interests can also lead to valuable contributions to scholarship. Secondly, that the general public is more interested in our research than we might expect, and that we should therefore not avoid engaging with them but look for possibilities to reach out to them through dissemination activities in museums, libraries and adult education. The final roundtable of the workshop focused on preparing for conferences and delivering successful conference papers. This session, chaired by Beth Rogers and featuring Beñat Elortza (Göteborgs Universitet/Kungliga Gustav Adolfs Akademien), Katarzyna Anna Kapitan, Tommy Kuusela, and Luke John Murphy opened a lively discussion of tips and tricks for good conference presentations. While most of the speakers agreed that an interactive presentation (Prezi, Keynote or PowerPoint) is a must-have these days, opinions were divided on whether one should use a script or freestyle. Equally divided were opinions of the environment-friendly approach (relying on digital media), as opposed to having a printed version of one’s script. The problems with food history, the poster session resulted in a lively interdisciplinary dialogue, which continued during the communal dinner. A selection of posters are presented in this volume. The second day was exclusively devoted to scholarly communication as a part of career planning. It started with a keynote lecture by Rosie Bonté (Brepols Publishing) on academic publishing. During the lecture, as well as the following discussion, emphasis was put on converting a thesis into a monograph, but many good tips on how to approach a publisher, what to expect from the publication process, and when to best start reworking one’s thesis into a monograph (as well as whether or not every thesis should be reworked into a book) were also exchanged. Some of these discussions continued during the following roundtable, which focused on writing strategies, chaired by Katarzyna Anna Kapitan and featuring Ben Allport (Universitetet i Bergen), Rosie Bonté, Jan Kozák (Universitetet i Bergen), Laura Saetveit Miles (Universitetet i Bergen). Speakers discussed best practices regarding types of writing, including theses, articles and monographs, and exchanged tips on how to overcome hyper-perfectionism that often blocks us from writing. With Laura’s publication pipeline being a particularly inspiring tool, it was agreed that all ECRs should keep track of their writing process in either physical or digital form. Considering the challenging employment conditions, where ECRs frequently have to individually obtain funding for their own salaries, the final session of the morning was devoted to the grant writing workshop organised by Helen Leslie-Jacobsen. Drawing on her own extensive experience in applying for external funding, Helen provided great insight into the key features of a successful grant application, including a strong track record, 28 technology that arose during this session were a good example of what might go wrong! Overall it was agreed that there were no hard and fast answers to these questions, and that national and disciplinary traditions should inform the choices presenters make The event closed with a discussion of the future of the NECRON network, with emphasis on the network’s organisation and future events. It was agreed that, rather than further formalising its structure via the election of dedicated officers, the network should continue its activities in the same voluntary manner as it has been doing for the past two years – not least because the precarity of ECR careers makes committing to long-term responsibilities extremely difficult. That said, a group of participants expressed their willingness to join a loose steering group, and to organise the NECRON workshop in 2021. Given the enthusiasm with which the idea of continuing NECRON’s mission was met, we believe our network has a bright future. Katarzyna Anna Kapitan 29 NECRON 2019: Programme Poster 30 Law Manuscripts of Western Scandinavia: European Influences and Domestic Use In the spirit of Material Philology and with a keen focus on interdisciplinarity, this project researches the textual content, book painting, as well as codicological and societal features of medieval law manuscripts from Iceland and Norway c. 1250–1550. AM 347 fol., f. 9r, ca. 1350–70. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum.. Photo: Jóhanna Ólafsdóttir. Copyright: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum.. New Approaches Aims The project ‘Law Manuscripts of Western Scandinavia’ will explore the cultural and personal ties between the social elite of Norway and Iceland and centres of legal education in Europe. In particular, this project will shed new light on an important area of Scandinavian legal history: the book painting of West Norse secular and ecclesiastical laws. These include the Icelandic ‘Grágás’, ‘Járnsíða’, ‘Jónsbók’ and ‘Kristinréttr Árna biskups’, as well as the Norwegian national law ‘Landslǫg’ and ‘Hirðskrá’, a unique collection of laws regulating the royal court. A major aim of this project is to show that despite the largely secular textual content of these Scandinavian codices, the aspect of education appears to have been equally important to the medieval users as it was to contemporary society in universities such as Paris, Oxford and Bologna where Canon and civil laws were taught to international students, many of whom also came from the Nordic countries. This project will be the first in the field to map the literary and artistic exchange between Scandinavian legal societies and other parts of Europe. Furthermore, the project will produce evidence for the cultural ties between the elite of Scandinavia and centres of legal education in Europe. Accordingly, this project will provide new insights into the movements of medieval people through pictorial and textual evidence. In this respect, the project sets the Scandinavian laws within their wider European context. Key research questions are: Stefan Drechsler University of Bergen stefan.drechsler@uib.no Methodology Outcome Textual Criticism: Scandinavian law texts exist in several redactions. The textual work of the codices will be researched with help of ‘Polysystem Theory’ combined with investigations on textual variances, as well as paratextual elements. This postdoctoral project is scheduled to run for 48 months covering the period from 09/2019 to 08/2023, and consisting of five working packages (WP). These WPs focus on the writing of ten peer-reviewed journal articles, as well as a final WP that will conclude with the writing of the synopsis book. The WPs are: Manuscript Studies: Nordic codices feature ‘Production Units’ or ‘Blocks’, which provide information about the original audience, clients, as well as the scribal and artistic activities at specific times. Furthermore, features of the design indicating changes in the layout of columns, internal subdivision of texts, and the dimensions of written space and rubrics are recognised and set in relation to changing working modes. Art History: The use of iconographic models will be examined with the help of ‘Interpicturality’, which identifies the technique of combining a number of iconographic models in a newly created image, which has been proven to be typical for medieval Scandinavian book painting. 1) ‘The Development of Law Manuscript Cultures in Scandinavia c. 1250–1550’ 2) ‘The Personal Network of Medieval Nordic Law Book Production’ 3) ‘Medieval Norwegian and Icelandic Law Manuscript Design’ 4) ‘Iconographic Programmes in Medieval Scandinavian Codices’ 5) ‘Preparation for the Book Medieval Scandinavian Law Cultures: Production and Design’ Scheduled Outcomes: Stefan Drechsler (Forthcoming). ‘Production and Content of the Fourteenth-Century Norwegian Law Manuscript Lundarbók’. In: Law Book Culture in the Early and High Medieval West, edited by Thomas Gobbit. Brill. Stefan Drechsler (Forthcoming). ‘Marginalia in Medieval Western Scandinavian Law Manuscripts’. In: Imaginationen und Praktiken des Rechts: Literatur- und geschichtswissenschaftliche Perspektiven, edited by Roland Scheel and Silke Schwandt. De Gruyter. 1) In what way does the material presentation and iconographic programmes in the vernacular Scandinavian legal codices follow established models from Latin law codes, such as prevalent ‘Decretum Gratiani’ or ‘Corpus Iuris Civilis’ manuscripts? 2) How much are iconographic programmes, textual redactions, para-texts and overall manuscript layouts in Scandinavia bound to their sites and areas of production? 3) Via which personal channels did European iconographic and textual models reach Scandinavia? Is an international network of scribes, illuminators and clients visible? Network of ‘Landslǫg’ manuscripts featuring the ‘Borgarþingslǫg’-redaction: In this project, the social environment surrounding the production history of Scandinavian law codices is displayed with help from the Social Network Analysis. Copyright: Stefan Drechsler. Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Workshop 29th-30th October 2019 University of Bergen Eiríkr inn góði and Knýtlinga saga Deniz Cem Gülen In contrast to several primary sources, Knýtlinga saga describes King Eiríkr as one of the vital rulers of the medieval Danish Kingdom. This poster focuses on the possible reasons why and offers an explanation. The Religious Side of Eiríkr in Knýtlinga saga The Re-establishment of Law and Order Canonisation of Knútr inn helgi Extermination of Vikings • Óláfr I ignores a priest’s comment on Knútr’s holiness, but same priest meets Eiríkr who follows his advice • • After Eiríkr’s first pilgrimage, Knútr becomes the first canonised Danish king Fairness and Respecting Law • • ABSTRACT The reign of Eiríkr inn góði of Denmark (r. 1095–1103) lasted eight years and as a result of his short reign, Eiríkr is usually described as a supporting character in the studies relating to his brother, Knútr inn helgi. Knýtlinga saga, however, provides a unique perspective on King Eiríkr and offers several detailed chapters about him. This poster argues that due to Eiríkr’s religious activities and re-establishment of law and order during his reign, he became a point of interest for Knýtlinga saga. Representations of Eiríkr in Primary Sources a • Knýtlinga saga Extremely detailed with several chapters longer than many other kings Focuses on his religious side (canonisation of Knútr inn helgi, archbishopric, pilgrimages) and reestablishment of law and order First king to visit Rome since Knútr inn ríki (Chapter 74) • Demonstrated as a fair judge who follows the law of God • Forms good relations with the Pope and meets several distinguished people • Sven Aggesen saga Second pilgrimage attempt is to Jerusalem, first Danish king to do so. However, dies from disease on his way Archbishopric • • Saxo Grammaticus In consideration of the length of the chronicle, the reign of Eiríkr does not take as much space as it does in Knýtlinga Eiríkr does play a role in the canonisation of his brother, although he is not the only reason why the elevation process started • A few sentences about his reign • and argues that he introduced many unjust laws Shares a similar narrative to Knýtlinga saga and praises Eiríkr A perspective which is completely different in comparison to other primary sources Pilgrimage(s) • Chronicon Roskildense Eiríkr is only mentioned three times, once in Lex Castrensis and twice in Brevis Historia • Thanks to his newly founded relations with the Pope, Eiríkr is rewarded with an archbishopric, making it the Northernmost archbishopric The previous archbishopric was in Saxony, causing several issues for the Danes according to Saxo’s Gesta Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Workshop 29th-30th October 2019 University of Bergen University of Aberdeen r01dcg15@abdn.ac.uk @DenizCemi The saga suggests that Eiríkr ended all the Viking activities in the Baltic region by punishing any thievery or robbery severely • Óláfr I was a ruthless and unpopular king, due to his greed, Denmark suffered famine and lawlessness • Eiríkr is the complete opposite to his predecessor and vows to treat everyone equally Why? • In the saga, Eiríkr is demonstrated as one of the most influential and important kings of the medieval Danish kingdom alongside kings like Knútr inn ríki, Knútr inn helgi and Valdimarr I. It is possible that the saga author decided to pay more attention to Eiríkr thanks to his strong ties with the Curia, arguably ending the heathen activities in the Baltic region and reconstructing the administrative system of the Kingdom. REFERENCES Bjarni Guðnason (ed). 1982. Danakonunga sögur, Íslenzk fornrit 35. Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag. Hans Olrik (ed). 1893. Danske helgeners levned i oversættelse. Copenhagen: K. Schønberg. Karsten Friis-Jensen and Peter Fisher, (trans.) 2015. Saxo Grammaticus (Volume II) Gesta Danorum: The History of the Danes: 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press. IMAGE CREDITS Above: Erik I. Ejegod. Det Kongelige Bibliotek (public domain) Below: Erik I. Ejegods mønt, præget i Lund (public domain) Writing Histories Legendary Sagas and Early Modern Danish Historiography This research project examines the scholarly reception of Old Norse literature in Denmark in the early modern period. The main focus is on the role the corpus of Old Norse legendary sagas played in the early modern Danish historiography. Katarzyna Anna Kapitan Det Nationalhistoriske Museum Frederiksborg Slot kak@dnm.dk REFERENCES Methodology Bartholin, Thomas. 1689. Antiquitatum This project relies on Danicarum de causis contemptae a Danis qualitative analysis of adhuc gentilibus mortis, libri tres, published historical works, Copenhagen: Bockenhoffer. Jørgensen, Jon G. 2008. ‘Tormod Torfæus such as Torfæus’ Series og det fantastiske i sagalitteraturen’. Dynastarum, and unpublished Historisk tidskrift 87: 475–490. manuscript materials, including O'Connor Ralph. 2018. ‘Putrid Fables and True Histories: Perceptions of Authenticity private and official scholarly and the Management of Scepticism in correspondence, scholarly Northern Humanist fornaldarsaga transcriptions of Old Norse Scholarship’. In: The Legendary Legacy: Transmission and Reception of the texts, and the marginalia Fornaldarsögur Norðurlanda, edited by M. accompanying these texts in Driscoll et al., 117–160. Odense: University Press of Southern Denmark. manuscripts (e.g. GKS 1006 Torfæus, Thormod. 1702. Series Dynastarum fol. on the photo below). et Regum Daniæ. Copenhagen: Johan These manuscripts, considered Melchior Liebe. as physical artefacts, together Skovgaard-Petersen, Karen. 1993. ‘The with the texts and the marginalia Literary Feud between Denmark and Sweden in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth they carry, give us insight into Century and the Development of Danish Historical Scholarship’. In: Renaissance the scholarly reception of Old Culture in Context. Theory and Practice, Norse literature and serve as a edited by J. Brink and W. Gentrup, 114–120. documentation of the scholarly Aldershot: Scolar Press. work in progress. Portrait of Thormod Torfæus (1636–1719), held at the Frederiksborg Castle, A 830. Photo. Wikipedia.org ABSTRACT Taking as its point of departure the scholarly work of Thormod Torfæus, royal historiographer and the author of Series dynastarum et regum Daniæ, and Thomas Bartholin, royal antiquarian and author of Antiqvitatum Danicarum, this project examines the role that the corpus of Old Norse legendary sagas played in the early modern Danish historiography. By application of qualitative analysis of published materials, as well as unpublished sources (scholarly transcripts of Old Norse sagas, marginalia accompanying these sagas, and scholarly correspondence) this project seeks to answer questions concerning the historical value of Old Norse sagas as sources, as well as methods of critical evaluation and interpretation of these texts. Title page of Series Dynastarum et Regum Daniae (1702). Photo: Baekur.is Background Since the times of Saxo Grammaticus (1160–1220) to the 19th-cent. romanticism, Old Norse sources were used in Danish historiography and played an important role in the formation of Danish national identity. Kings of Denmark were interested in Norse legendary sagas, because they concerned “Gothic” kings and heroes and described the splendid past of the Scandinavian countries. Torfæus, who was first employed as a royal translator, later royal antiquarian, and finally royal historiographer, was tasked with writing an account of Danish royal genealogies according to the Old Norse sources, which became Series dynastarum et regum Daniæ (first completed in 1664 and published in revised form in 1702). Copenhagen, Royal Danish Library, GKS 1006 folio, a manuscript preserving various Old Norse legendary sagas accompanied by extensive marginalia written by Thormod Torfæus. Photo: KAK, reproduced with permission from the Royal Danish Library. Research Questions The project seeks to answer questions such as: What was the status of the legendary sagas in early-modern Danish historiography? What was their position on the spectrum of historical sources? How did early modern historians deal with factual discrepancies appearing in the legendary sagas? What were their working methods? Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Workshop 29th-30th October 2019 University of Bergen ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The project “Writing (hi)stories: Danish antiquarians and their reception of Old Norse literature” conducted at the Museum of National History between 2019 and 2021 is sponsored by the Carlsberg Foundation (Grant nr CF180500) as HM Queen Margrethe II Distinguished Research Project on the Danish-Icelandic reception of Nordic antiquity. The project is a part of the collaboration between the Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle, the National Museum of Iceland and the Stofnun Vigdísar Finnbogadóttur í erlendum tungumálum, University of Iceland. The Sea in Old Nordic Belief The Nordic people depend on the sea and without mastering it, the Viking Age would never have happened. How, then, have people and the sea related to each other in terms of belief, worship, myth, and ritual? As a result, nautical, economical, and military aspects of human interactions with the sea in the Viking Age and beyond have dominated research. Perceptions and concepts of the sea in PCRN, , on the other hand, have largely been ignored and merely addressed in terms of individual myths and deities (e.g. Nordvig 2013; Heide 2006; Quinn 2014). Jonas Koesling University of Iceland jok26@hi.is National Museum of Iceland jonas.koesling@thjodminjasafn.is drinking vessels in migration-period boat-houses along the west coast of Norway. How to find the sea? The Sea in PCRN builds upon Figure-head (4th–6thC) found in the Schelde river (Belgium). London, British Museum (BM 1938,0202.1) Photo: © Trustees of the British Museum (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) ABSTRACT This project dives literally into the role of the sea in the PCRN (Pre-Christian Religions of the North). It seeks to gain an understanding of pre-modern, or indeed pre-mediaeval, conceptions of the vast blue depths surrounding the Nordic lands and islands. While several studies on sagas and skaldic poetry by philologists have explored representations of the sea, and exciting finds like ship-burials have created vivid discussions amongst archaeologists, religious aspects of the sea have thus far escaped the attention of most modern scholars. Did the Old Nordic people of Iron-Age Scandinavia (really) worship deities of the sea? How was the sea venerated? Did different people relate to sea in different terms? Indeed, it is not even clear whether one can speak of one sea at all, or whether there existed manifold notions of the sea(s) surrounding the North. A project on sea-beliefs The project presented here, The Sea in PCRN, will take the form of a MA-thesis in Old Nordic Beliefs at the University of Iceland, supervised by Terry A. Gunnell. Scope and research question Gaining better insights into how Old Nordic people pictured and interacted with the sea through myths, rituals, and other aspects of belief will hopefully foster new understandings of the Nordic past —and is equally relevant for the present and future. Numerous recent studies have focused on the sea as a topic in studies of sagas (Barraclough 2016), runic inscriptions (Jesch 2001; Zilmer 2005), and maritime archaeology. earlier studies in myth and poetry, but looks beyond their focus to find some deeper eco-theoretical meaning through comparison with pictorial representations of the sea and indications of rituals carried out in connection with the sea. Approaching ecology anew The ‘nature mythology’ of the nineteenth century was rightfully abandoned by the scholarship of the twentieth century, yet not without leaving a vacuum. It is only recently that the ‘ecological turn’ saw Mathias Nordvig (2013) developing a new eco-mythological approach and Christopher Abram (2019) engaging in eco-critical readings of Old Nordic myths. Source comparativism Generally speaking, the sea is everywhere in mediaeval written sources, yet remarkably few of them deal explicitly with its role in Old Nordic beliefs. Relevant evidence is found in early-modern folklore as well as in archaeological material from the Iron Age. There are thus good grounds for undertaking an indepth study of the sea, carefully comparing different sources. Seeing the sea anew Remarkable finds from poetry and archaeology suggest that rituals were performed in relation to the sea in the pre-modern North. A rare but prominent find is the Iron-age deposit of tiny gold-foil boats in Nors, Denmark. More numerous, but hardly mentioned, are smashed Picture-stone from Gotland. Photo by the author. Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Workshop 29th-30th October 2019 University of Bergen The beginning of Lokasenna in Reykjavik, Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, GKS 2365 4to, 15r. Photo: Handrit.is Mediaeval Icelandic poems such as Grímnismál and Lokasenna also talk of ritual drinking and assemblies of the æsir by the sea. Such findings, supported by kennings and picture-stones, point to different reifications and conceptions of the sea which do not match modern (Western) thinking, but provide an interesting postmodern foil to it. REFERENCES Abram, Christopher. 2019. Evergreen Ash. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press. Barraclough, Elisabeth Rosamunde. 2012. ‘Sailing the Saga seas’. JoNA 18: 1–12. Heide, Eldar. 2006. Gand, seid og åndevind. PhD-thesis: Universitet i Bergen. Jesch, Judith. 2001. Ships and Men in the Late Viking Age. Woodbridge: Boydell Press. Nordvig, A. Mathias Valentin. 2013. Of Fire and Water. PhD-thesis: Aarhus Universitet. Quinn, Judy. 2014. ‘Mythologizing the Sea’. In: Nordic Mythologies, ed. by Tim Tangherlini, 71–97. Berkeley & Los Angeles: North Press. Zilmer, Kristel. 2005. He Drowned in Holmr’s Sea – His Cargo-Ship Drifted to the Sea-Bottom, only Three Came Out Alive. PhD-thesis: Tartu University Press. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my thanks to Terry Gunnell, my fellow students at HÍ, participants at the 2019 Student Conference, and IMC Leeds 2019, for comments made on earlier presentations of this project. Body Symbolism In Old Norse Myth The surreal character of ON myths can be explained by their metaphorical nature. The human body is one of the source images for ordering reality. Four different specific types of mythological motives for using the image of the body this way are presented below. Jan A. Kozák University of Bergen Marie Curie Fellow jan.kozak@uib.no From Ymir’s flesh the earth was made, and from his blood,the sea, mountains from his bones, treesfrom his hair, and from his skull, the sky. Ór Ymis holdi var iorð um scǫpuð, enn ór sveita sær, biorg ór beinom, baðmr ór hári, enn ór hausi himinn... Myths contrast with historical and other 'realistic' narratives by their stark surreality, which makes them akin to dream sequences. This is true also for Old Norse mythology. Myths seem so strange because they speak a different language. It is a non-literal, symbolic form of encoding a message. Myths use concrete images to express general or multivalent ideas. The human body in these myths works as a semantically overcharged whole that can either be divided into pieces with different purposes or mapped onto other wholes so as to make them meaningful. The four master tropes form the core of many mythical expressions. These tropes are not mere poetic embellishments, but are rather rooted in human cognitive system. The Four 'Master Tropes' METAPHOR Based on similarity: e.g. "It was a heated discussion." METONYMY Based on contiguity: e.g. "It is an original Picasso." SYNECDOCHE Based on partiality: e.g. "Check out my new wheels." IRONY Based on inversion: e.g. "It was as soft as concrete." PROJECT INFO This poster presents one of the guiding ideas of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship project SYMBODIN, taking place at the University of Bergen, Department of Linguistic, Literary and Aesthetic Studies in 2018-2020 under the guidance of Prof. Jens Eike Schnall. The project's main focus is the symbolic use of the image of human body in the mythic thinking of Norse Religions and myths in general. The approach is interdisciplinary, combining cognitive linguistics with phenomenology and semiotics as well as psychology of religion. Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Workshop 29th-30th October 2019 University of Bergen One of the better-known Old Norse myths describes the creation of the world from the body of the primeval giant, Ymir. The macrocosmmicrocosm analogy is also attested in many other cultures. Military Aristocracy in Scandinavia, c. 1150-1300 The Scandinavian ‘state formation’ process is often viewed solely from a national perspective. This poster shows the importance of a comparative approach by looking at the establishment of a military aristocracy. Beñat Elortza Larrea Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy/ University of Gothenburg benat.elortza.larrea@gu.se Similarities ▪ The establishment of an aristocracy is tied to the fiscalisation of the leiðangr, the peasantry’s naval levies ▪ Three things are needed for social advancement: economic capital, social capital, and martial prowess ▪ The main obligation in exchange for elite status is to provide armed service Detail of the Baldishol tapestry, Oslo, National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design. Photo: Frode Inge Helland. ABSTRACT 11th 13th From the to centuries, the Scandinavian realms underwent significant changes in their socio-political, economic and cultural structures. These processes, often referred to as the ‘state formation process’, have rarely been examined from a pan-Scandinavian perspective. One of the main innovations introduced in this period was a re-stratification of society. Shifting away from the free / unfree paradigm, Scandinavian societies moved towards new social divisions along privileged and unprivileged lines. This poster presents a comparative case study centred upon the creation of the privileged classes, i.e. the military aristocracy. By showing the similarities and differences of this process from a cross-Scandinavian viewpoint, this poster aims to highlight the importance of comparative methodology when looking at the consolidation of Denmark, Norway and Sweden in the high medieval period. The Establishment of a Military Aristocracy Denmark ▪ Privileges bestowed upon the aristocracy are fiscal, but not jurisdictional Differences ▪ Military aristocracy introduced in 1169-70, after the conquest of Rügen ▪ Strong chronological disparity throughout Scandinavia ▪ Exemption from lething tax if they provided service to the Crown whenever requested ▪ Dissimilarities in terms of status, e.g. Norwegian aristocracy is not tax-exempt ▪ Reforms further expanded in 1241 Law of Jutland; privileged status can be lost if armed service is neglected European dimension Norway ▪ Recognition of elite status first recorded in Hirðskrá (c. 1270) ▪ Several levels within hirð, with differing obligations e.g. maintaining certain equipment ▪ Elite status often hereditary in Western Europe, but decided on a case-by-case basis in Scandinavia ▪ The idea of privileged warring aristocrats and later social divisions based on European institutions – e.g. knighthood Depiction of Erik IV of Denmark, St. Bendt’s church, Ringsted. Photo: Orf3us / Wikimedia Commons. Significance The creation of a military aristocracy showcases the similar nature of the Scandinavian ‘state formation’ processes. Royallysponsored legislation was used to form a new privileged social class, which had strong political, economic and social implications. These reforms were based on western European social and ideological practices, but the Scandinavian aristocracy only received fiscal privileges, and jurisdictional powers present in Europe were largely absent. At the same time, the differences in speed and character accentuate the diverse nature of the ‘state formation’ in Scandinavia. REFERENCES Liljegren, Johan Gustaf et al. 1824–2017. Diplomatarium Suecanum, 11 vols. Stockholm: Riksarkivet. Friis-Jensen, Karsten and Peter Fisher. 2015. ▪ No exemption from tax, but benefices awarded according to rank Saxo Grammaticus. Gesta Danorum: The History of the Danes, 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Holmbäck, Åke and Elias Wessén. 1933. Svenska Landskapslagar I: Upplandslagen. Sweden Stockholm: Hugo Gebers Förlag. Imsen, Steinar. 2000. Hirdskråen: Hirdloven ▪ Tax-exempt aristocracy established with the Ordinances of Alsnö in 1280 ▪ Exemption from all royal taxation in exchange for mounted service til Norges konge og hans håndgangne menn. Oslo: Riksarkivet. Tamm, Ditlev and Helle Vogt. 2016. The Danish Medieval Laws: The Laws of Scania, Zealand and Jutland. London: Seal of Erik Magnusson, Duke of Södermanland, Stockholm, Riksarkivet. Photo: Narking / Wikimedia Commons. Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Workshop 29th-30th October 2019 University of Bergen Routledge. Transformations of Medieval Law Ordering, conveying and updating knowledge in Medieval and Early Modern Norwegian law books, from 1274 to 1687 Helen F. Leslie-Jacobsen University of Bergen helen.leslie@uib.no Sources and Approach There are over 100 manuscripts that contain the Landslov, whether in Below: The Prologue of the Landslov in Old Norwegian in the oldest manuscript, Holm Perg 34 4to, 8r, from c. 1300. Old Norwegian or in Danish translation. Manuscript Compilation The texts that accompany the law code in manuscript compilations can indicate how the law was used and contextualised. ABSTRACT Research Questions Translation The Landslov was the first The main research questions the The translation of the law into national law code of Norway. project deals with are: Danish reveals translation Introduced in 1274 by King 1) How and to what extent do Magnus Lagabøte, it was in innovations and changes in the force for over 400 years. This structure, contents and use of project examines the transformation of the medieval law throughout its lifetime. It the law books of Early Modern containing the Landslov • The translation of the laws in the 16th century from Old for modern Norwegian legal vocabulary. Amendment Norway reflect changes to Amendments reveal how the Norwegian society during the Landslov was transformed from a Reformation and Renaissance? medieval law to one that reflected considers the following aspects: • Manuscript compilations strategies, and the historical basis 2) How did legal circles in Norway and Iceland order, the needs of an Early Modern society. apply and update their Adaptation knowledge in medieval and The Landslov was amended and Early Modern times? combined with earlier Icelandic law Norwegian to Danish • The amendments made by various rulers to update the legislation • The revision of the Landslov to form the Icelandic code Jónsbók, adopted in Iceland in 1281. Methods • A database of manuscripts and their contents • Material philology • Cultural approach to medieval manuscripts • Material approach to medieval multilingual communication. • Translation studies to form the Icelandic lawcode Jónsbók Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Workshop 29th-30th October 2019 University of Bergen Below: The Prologue of the Landslov in Danish translation, AM 79 4to, 9v, from 15751599. IMAGE CREDITS Top left image: AM 101 4to, 60r, Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, Copenhagen. Bottom right image: AM 79 4to, Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, Copenhagen. Both available on www.handrit.is. Top right image: The Royal Library, Stockholm. Digitalt faksimil Stockholm Kungliga biblioteket 2015 Bottom centre image: Codex Hardenbergianus, public domain image from Wikipedia. Artemis, Diana, and Skaði: A Comparative Study The research deals with an analysis of Skaði’s role in the Late Pagan Period. A comparative analysis is carried out using Artemis and Diana as tools for reconstructing Skaði. It is concluded that Skaði’s role is to be found in the frames of dry-land wildlife. Giulia Mancini Independent Researcher mancini.giulia28@gmail.com The goddesses The patterns Artemis: Greek goddess of the hunt, wild animals, wild nature, moon, and childbirth. She is unmarried and hunts with bow and arrow. The Hunt and the Animals 3 patterns emerged from the analysis of the classical goddesses in relation to the animals and the hunt. Skaði did not fully fit in any of them. ARTEMIS/ ROMAN DIANA Diana: two different goddesses: • • Figure 1: Skadi Hunting in the Mountains Italic Diana: Sylvan, moon and childbirth goddess. No connection with hunt and animals. Pre-Republican. THE PROTECTOR OF WILD ANIMALS Roman Diana: Molded over Artemis. Post-Republican. THE (AVID) HUNTRESS Skaði: Norse Jötunn, turned goddess. Wife of Njörðr and (allegedly) Óðinn. Generally associated with the hunt, skiing and bow and arrow. MISTRESS OF THE WILD ANIMALS The Landscape: 2 patterns emerged from the analysis of the classical goddesses in relation to the landscape. Skaði did not fully fit in either. ABSTRACT Skaði is a truly fascinating goddess, and her complexity and controversial origins have captured the attention of many excellent scholars. Little focus, however, has been paid to the question of her role in the Late Pagan Period. As such, this project seeks to attempt a reconstruction of the goddess’ role by placing her into a wider European context, using Artemis and Diana as terms of comparison. Drawing from a series of literary sources from the Germanic and Classic tradition, a comparative analysis of the goddesses is proposed, to individuate similarities and differences in their connection with animals, hunting and landscape. It is concluded that Skaði’s main role is to be found within the frames of dry-land wildlife. SKAÐI ARTEMIS/ ROMAN DIANA ITALIC DIANA SKAÐI THE PROTECTOR OF THE SANCTUARIES THE AVENGER OF THE WILDERNESS Figure 2: Artemis / Diana The methodology The Model, Discourse and Semantic Center Approach (Schjødt): • MODEL: tool to reconstruct reality through the construction of a map (Smith; Jensen). • DISCOURSE: all the different ideas about a god or ritual in the model. • SEMANTIC CENTER: Defining characteristic of the discourse. The Comparative approach (Paden) • Use of patterns. • Comparison of 2+ objects horizontally. • No foundational agenda. • Differences and similarities have equal importance. Conclusions The research did not succeed in determining Skaði’s exact semantic center in the Late Pagan Period. It was, however, able to find the frames within which it can be found: dry-land wildlife. REFERENCES Jensen, Jeppe Sinding. 2008. ‘Conceptual Models in the Study of Religion’. In: The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Religion, edited by Peter Clarke, 245–262. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Paden, William E. 1996. ‘Elements of a New Comparativism’. Method & Theory in the Study of Religion 8 (1): 5–15. Schjødt, Jens Peter. 2013. ‘The Notions of Model, Discourse and Semantic Center as Tools for the (Re)Construction of Old Norse Religion’. The Retrospective Methods Network Newsletter 6: 6–15. Smith, Jonathan Z. 1978. Map Is Not Territory: Studies in the History of Religions. Leiden: Brill. IMAGE CREDITS Figure 1: H.L.M, Skadi Hunting in the Mountains, n.d. Foster, Mary H. Asgard Stories: Tales from Norse Mythology. Silver, Burdett and Company, 1901, pp. 79. (Public Domain). Figure 2: Unknown Author, n.d. Vollmer, Wilhelm. Dr. Vollmers Wörterbuch der Mythologie aller Völker, 1874, pp. 164. (Public Domain). Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Workshop 29th-30th October 2019 University of Bergen Outlawry and the Judicial Space in Medieval Scandinavia, c.1200-1350 Fraser Lucas Miller Stockholm University fraser.miller@historia.su.se The king handing his people the law in Kong Magni Hagensens Gule Tings Lov in Copenhagen, The Royal Danish Library, GKS 1154 2º, f.1v,. Photo: Høvel & Hage. The Project Part of the Space and Place in the Humanities project at Stockholm University, this dissertation aims to explore the nature and development of a judicial space in Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden during the period 1200–1350 through a comparative study of outlawry between the various town, provincial and national lawcodes extant. In doing so, this project will improve our understanding of the institution of outlawry in medieval Scandinavia, and the evolution of punishment in the centralizing Scandinavian kingdoms, as well as provide commentary on the complex manner in which law and space interacted in Scandinavian society in the High Middle Ages. It will argue why this understanding can offer new insights into the mentalities of medieval Scandinavians. Outlawry The Sources The manner in which lawbreakers were treated can tell us a lot about a specific society and the realities with which it contended. For those who committed a serious enough breach of the social contract, execution was certainly an option; or one could be sentenced to execution in absentia: outlawry. Expelled from the space of legal protection, an outlaw could be killed with impunity; anyone providing them with food or shelter risked becoming an outlaw themselves. A sentence of outlawry condemned one to a life on the outskirts of society. For this reason, a detailed analysis of this punishment reveals much about how space was perceived by the societies that utilized it. But as much as outlawry is a statement on space and place, the regulations that resulted in this punishment can also tell us much about how people viewed and interacted with the world around them. Denmark: Skånske Lov, 1202-1216 Valdemars Sjællandske Lov (older redaction), 1225 Valdemars Sjællandske Lov (younger redaction), late 1200s Jyske Lov, 1241 Eriks Sjællandske Lov (Books 1-2), 1232–1248 Eriks Sjællandske Lov (Book 3), 1280 Research Questions Sweden: Gutalagen, c.1220 Äldre Västgötalagen, c.1225 Yngre Västgötalagen, c.1290 Östgötalagen, c.1290 Upplandslagen, 1296 Bjärköarätten, 1252–1296 Södermannalagen, 1327 Hälsingelagen, 1320-1330 Smålandslagen (Tiohäradslagen), 1340 Dalalagen, 1248–1350 Västmannalagen, 1296–1350 Magnus Erikssons landslag, 1347–1352 Magnus Erikssons stadslag, c.1350 -What does the association between outlawry and specific spaces (e.g. towns, farms, churches, etc.) say about the social importance of these spaces, and how might it have influenced legal behaviour? -What relationship existed between secular outlawry and religious excommunication, and how might this interplay have affected legal behaviour? -Building on the answers to these first two questions, how then might 'judicial space’ be defined in Medieval Scandinavia? What differences can be identified as having existed between the provinces, towns and states under examination in this study, and what reasons might be given to account for these? Iceland: Grágás, c.1260/1280 Járnsíða, c.1271 Jónsbók, 1281 Norway: Bjarkøyretten, c.1160 Gulatingsloven, 1220 Frostatingsloven, 1220 Magnus Lagabøtes landslov, 1274 Magnus Lagabøtes bylov, 1276 Hirdskråen, 1273-1277 -As with elsewhere in Europe at this time, I expect to find that outlawry as a punishment becomes increasingly outdated and replaced by fines in younger laws, indicating a growing monopoly on violence by the sovereign power. How did this change impact the quality of judicial space in 13th and 14th century Scandinavia? -How distinct was the judicial space of towns compared to the surrounding countryside, and what was the relationship between outlawry in the provincial codes and banishment in the town laws? Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Workshop 29th-30th October 2019 University of Bergen Magnus Erikssons landslag/Östgötalagens kyrkobalk in Uppsala, Uppsala University Library, B 68, Folio 19v. Photo: Alvin.org. Religious ‘Stuff’ The Cognitive Science of Ritual Props in the Romanisation of Britain and the Christianisation of Iceland Luke John Murphy University of Iceland ljm@hi.is Introduction Religion today is often presented as a matter of intangibles like sin, charity, or nirvāṇa. Changing from one religion to another is thus regarded as an internal personal change, rather than a new set of material circumstances. Nonetheless, ‘stuff’ has always played a significant role in religious praxis, taking forms as diverse as icons, jewellery, costumes, musical instruments, foodstuffs, and even animals. This new project will examine the role of such paraphernalia in two periods of religious change in order to test a recently-developed theory in the Cognitive Science of Religion: Romano-British Rider God 1 Cognitive Resource Depletion theory. Its comparative structure will allow the drawing of theoretical, localised empirical, and comparative conclusions. Romano-British ‘Plate Brooches’: Roman-style devotional jewellery with changing iconography for Roman deities, and new iconography for British deities Mercury Andraste -Diana? Epona The Theory Cognitive Resource Depletion (CRD) theory appears to solve a long-standing paradox in the study of ritual: how can ritual be both a deeply communicative act that transmits ideologies, beliefs, and world views, but simultaneously also an activity that requires focus on the tiny details of the here-and-now? CRD proposes that it is this very complexity that makes ritualised behaviour such an effective medium for communication. It argues that the intense concentration required of ritual participants depletes their cognitive resources, supressing individuals’ ability to form their own impressions of a religious experience, and thereby enhancing the effectiveness of a specialist’s after-the-fact explanations. Image Credits . 2 Methodology If CRD theory is correct, we would expect rituals to become more complex – seeking to further deplete the cognitive resources of their participants – during times of religious competition. This project will therefore analyse a range of textual and archaeological evidence for the ways in and extent to which so-called ‘ritual props’ were used during two periods of early-Medieval religious change: the Romanisation of Iron-Age ‘Celtic’ culture in the Roman province of Britannia (c. 43–410 CE) and the Christianisation of Germanic paganism in the Nordic region (c. 870–1100 CE). 4 1) Plate Brooches linked with Romano-British cults. After Mackreth 2011, ‘Brooches in the Late Iron Age & Roman Britain’. Reproduced with permission. 2) Illumination showing monks singing from a hymnal(?), 3. verso, MS 24, Getty Museum. NE Italy. c. 1420. Getty Museum, CC 4.0. 3) Altar showing Diana as huntress, RIB 2343. Goldsmiths' Hall, London, UK. C1-4th. Image Credit: The Goldsmiths’ Company. Photographer: Richard Valencia. 4) Beaker of bronze, silver, and gold foil (L), and glass bowl (R). House 2, Uppåkra, Sweden. ©LUHM, reproduced with permission. Research Questions 1) what role did ritual props play in Iron-Age Britain?; 2) how did this change during Romanisation?; 3) what role did ritual props play in the pre-Christian Nordic region?; 4) how did this change during Christianisation?; 5) what comparative conclusions may be drawn about the role and effectiveness of ritual props during inculturative religious change? Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Workshop 29th-30th October 2019 University of Bergen 3 REFERENCES Latour, Bruno. 2005. Reassembling the Social. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Rappaport, Roy A. 1979. Ecology, Meaning, and Religion. Berkeley: North Atlantic Books. Schjoedt, Uffe, et al. 2013. ‘Cognitive Resource Depletion in Religious Interactions’. Religion, Brain & Behaviour 3(1): 39–86 [Institutional logo] If you want to include your institutional logo it should be placed in this area. Food Anxiety: Crying over Spilled Milk in Medieval Iceland This research explores the cultural importance of dairy products in medieval Iceland, which it argues was due in large part to general scarcity of resources and feelings of food anxiety in the medieval period through to the mid-20th century Bethany Rogers University of Iceland blr3@hi.is ABSTRACT Theory This project is an examination of the importance, purposes and meanings of dairy products in medieval Iceland, c. 1000–1500. This research is grounded in close textual analysis of key primary sources – notably Íslendingasögur that feature motifs of animal husbandry and dairy production and use. It argues that milk products were intrinsic to cultural identity of Icelanders due to their relative abundance, and these products (particularly skyr) are an ‘emblem of culture’ as defined by historian Fernand Braudel. In addition to the 5 criteria put forth by Fernand Braudel to suggest a food is emblematic of a particular culture (see below), this work will also analyze dairy according to the frameworks created by Roland Barthes and Claude Lévi-Strauss. In his work, Barthes describes food as “a system of communication, a body of images, a protocol of usages, situations and behavior” (2008: 24), and Lévi-Strauss specifically argues that cooking is the means by which humans begin to create a unique culture (1966). A State of Strict Bondage Ritual in the Collection, Eating & Use of Dairy Relative Abundance The Law The Milk-Stealing Witch In Grettis saga The Icelandic law code Grágás underlines the importance of milking work, even on Sundays, a holy day of rest: “Men may drive livestock out and in again, women may do milking and may carry the milk … between the farm and the milking place, and women may begin to see to the milk.” Food anxiety in the form of a dairy-obsessed crone emerges at least as early as the 10th century, where warnings against women using incantations to take milk which is not their own appear in Decretum by Burchard of Worms, bishop of the Holy Roman Empire. Auðunn tosses the skyr bag to Grettir, and “Grettir varð allr skyrugr” [“Grettir became all slathered in skyr”] (Guðni 1936: 96). Witch milking the handle of an axe, Wellcome Library, London, Wellcome Images. Woodcut from Dr. J.G Von Kaisersberg's Die emeis, 1517. The witch is not “milking” the axe itself; in folklore that speaks of this phenomenon, she has enchanted the axe to flow with milk she takes from a specific source, such as the neighbor’s cow. Space to Grow Ritual in the Collection, Use & Eating A Land of Farmers On arrival to the country in the 9th century, Landnámabók describes Icelanders’ attempts to replicate huge, wealthy Norwegian farms with livestock which quickly devastated the ecology of the new land, forcing continual reliance on dairy products. A “State of Strict Bondage” Space to Grow Relative Abundance A Braudelian Analysis Refinement Over Time Refinement Over Time Natural Regional Flavors Over time, regional flavors developed due to the bacteria naturally present in hay, which was digested by the milk-producing livestock and thus present in their milk. “In the Northeast, it was sometimes done that fresh eggs, either whole or just the whites, were stirred together with sour milk or sour cream and used for a condenser [to make skyr]” (Hallgerður 1999: 69-70). REFERENCES Roland Barthes. 2008. “Toward a Psychosociology of Contemporary Food Consumption,” 23-30. In Food and Culture: A Reader. Ed. Carole Counihan and Penny van Esterik. New York: Routledge. Braudel, Fernand. 1982. Civilization and Capitalism, 15th-18th Century. vol. 1. The Structures of Everyday Life: The Limits of the Possible. Translated by Sian Reynolds. New York: Harper and Row. Guðni Jónsson (ed). 1936. Grettis Saga Ásmundarsonar. Íslenzk Fornrit VII. Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag. Hallgerður Gísladóttir. 1999. Íslensk matarhefð. Reykjavík: Mál og menning. Hastrup, Kirsten. 1989. ‘Saeters in Iceland 900–1600’. View on farm fields from Kerið crater rim, Iceland, Wikimedia Commons. Photo by Alexander Grebenkov, 2019. In 1754, the Danish king issued a decree to remind Icelanders of their tradition of transhumance, but the food supply was too precarious by then. Fishing was now the norm. Acta Borealia: A Nordic Journal of Circumpolar Societies 6 (1): 72–85. IMAGE CREDITS (Dairy Products below Abstract) Skyr: Strawberry Ísey skyr, Iceland, MS Iceland Dairies. Photo used with permission. Cheese: Swiss semi-hard cheese, from thermised cow’s milk, Wikimedia Commons, Vacherin Fribourgeois mi-salé, 2015. Milk: Milk is cool from olly claxton, Wikimedia Commons, No author, 2007. Butter: Butter and a butter knife, from Renee Comet, Wikimedia Commons via National Cancer Institute, 1994. Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Workshop 29th-30th October 2019 University of Bergen Lévi-Strauss, Claude. 1966. “The Culinary Triangle.” New Society 22: 937–940. Jochens, Jenny M. 1995. Women in Old Norse Society. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Mitchell, Stephen A. 2011. Witchcraft and Magic in the Nordic Middle Ages. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. The Main Manuscript of Konungs skuggsjá: What a discussion about the world tells us about communication strategies Old Norwegian and Old Icelandic are often treated as one under the broader category of ‘Old Norse’. A close-up study of Old Norwegian material, however, shows that information is in fact expressed differently in Old Norwegian than in Old Icelandic very early in the history of these language(s). Juliane Tiemann University of Bergen Juliane.tiemann@uib.no Adjective position In DPs containing one or more adjectives, Old Norwegian (as OI) shows a great range of alternation in the positioning of the adjective. These relate to a number of parameters such as definiteness of the NP (def/indef), form of the adjective (strong/weak), information status of the NP (new/ given), or prosodic weight. In total, three general patterns can be described: 1) strong/weak postposed A, 2) strong/weak preposed A, and 3) split construction. Form Konungs skuggsjá in Copenhagen, Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, AM243 bα fol, f. 1r. Photo: Handrit.is ABSTRACT The way a message is linguistically “packaged” varies across languages, media, and time. Old Norwegian shows syntactic variation as one strategy to mark focused or backgrounded elements. For Old Norse, studies on Old Icelandic have shown that prosodic weight seems to be the decisive factor for word ordering that can overwrite information structural factors. However, examining the influence of information status and prosodic weight of a constituent in clauses for Old Norwegian shows that word ordering is dependent on both factors. The results taken from my study thus imply that there are syntactic differences within Old Norse early in the history of the language(s). These results also reflect the syntactic development in the history of Norwegian as a change in the way information structure categories are displayed in grammar. Object position Old Norwegian (as Old Icelandic) has various possibilities for the positioning of an object in a clause relative to the lexical verb V (OV vs VO). 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 OAuxV OVAux Total Strong Adjective 86.06% (395) 11.33% (52) 2.61% (12) 100% (459) Weak Adjective 87.10% (54) 12.90% (8) 0.0% (-) 100% (62) Total 86.18% (449) 11.52% (60) 2.30% (12) 100% (521) Faarlund (2004) found that postposed adjective would be the predominant order in Old Norse. The data, however, shows that postnominal adjectives are already very much reduced in their use. Overall, the data for Old Norwegian shows an overwhelming tendency for prepositioning of the adjective. 180 AuxVO Split Tab. 1: Adjective position in Old Norwegian. 200 AuxOV Preposed Postposed VAuxO OV Fig. 1: Distribution of objects. These various orders were tested for their information status (given/new), and their prosodic weight (type of the object & number of syllables). The results in fig. 2 show that light given objects occur predominantly in OV surface order, while relatively heavy given objects are predominantly post-verbal. New objects in correlation with prosodic weight show an overall tendency for VO. But even though VO is preferred with new information, weight can overwrite this requirement if the object is heavy. VO thus shows a more diverse picture in terms of information status of the object. Light objects, on the other hand, are distributed over OV/VO according to their information status. 60 50 Fig. 3: Adjective agreement in Old Norwegian. Turning to agreement within the clause, as expected, strong adjectives appear predominantly in indefinite DPs and weak adjectives appear predominantly in definite DPs. The weak form is usually called for by the insertion of a determiner (the definite article hinn or the demonstrative sá). However, there are also some instances of disagreement, where strong adjectives appear in definite and possessive contexts, as well as weak adjectives in indefinite constructions. A closer examination of these cases might give explanations for the disagreement, as e.g. all cases of weak adjectives in indefinite contexts show the usage of the comparative form, which does not have a strong declension. A rather rare construction shows flanking of the adjectives (here split constructions), with both an adjective to the left and to the right of the noun. This surface pattern seem to be the result of a correlation between information structure and prosodic principles, as it is found with the strong form of the adjectives, even if a determinative is used. As the corpus data shows that the prenominal position is already the preferred order in all contexts, it reflects the slow loss of the significance of information status as a word-ordering strategy in Norwegian. However, we can still see remnants of the influence of information structure on the distribution and positioning of adjectives in Old Norwegian. 40 REFERENCES 30 20 10 0 Light DPs OV-new Bare NPs VO-new OV-giv Heavy DPs VO-giv Fig 2: Object position in correlation with information status and prosodic weight. Network of Early Career Researchers in Old Norse Workshop 29th-30th October 2019 University of Bergen Faarlund, Jan Terje. 2004. The Syntax of Old Norse. Oxford: Oxford University Press Hinterhölzl, Roland. & Svetlana Petrova. 2018. ‘Prosodic and information-structural factors in word order variation’. In: Clause Structure and Word Order in the History of German. 277–288. Hróarsdóttir, Thorbjörg. 2009. ‘Information Structure and OV order’. In: Information Structure: Theoretical, Typological and Experimental Perspectives. 258–281. Mørck, Endre. 2016. ‘Syntaks’. In: Norsk språkhistorie I. Mønster. 317–445. NECRON 2019: List of Participants Juliane Tiemann Miriam Tveit Julián Valle Ben Allport Rosie Bonté Ingvil Brügger Budal Stefan Drechsler Beñat Elortza Patrick Farrugia Deniz Cem Gülen Katarzyna Anna Kapitan Jonas Koesling Jan Kozák Sven Kraus Tommy Kuusela Helen Leslie-Jacobsen Tom Lorenz Giulia Mancini Fraser Miller Luke John Murphy Synnøve Myking Leiv Olsen Friederike Richter Beth Rogers Laura Saetveit Miles Daria Segal Zuzana Stankovitsová 43