Specialist Literature
Approximately 400 pages; the following texts (approx. 250 pages) are obligatory:
Pulsiano, Phillip: Medieval Scandinavia. An Encyclopedia., 1993. Garland Publishing, Inc., New York & London. James Knirk & al: `Runes and Runic Inscriptions`, pp. 545-555.
Moltke, Erik: Runes and their origin. Denmark and Elsewhere., 1985. National Museum of Denmark. `Runic Writing`, pp. 21-73.
Antonsen, Elmer: Runes and Germanic Linguists, 2002. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin, New York. `Sacral or Secular?`, pp.169-205.
Knirk, James (ed.): Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Runes and Runic Inscriptions, 1994. Michael Barnes: `On types of Argumentation in Runic Studies`, pp. 11-29.
Duwel, Klaus (ed.): Runeinschriften als Quellen intersisziplinarer Forschung, 1998. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York. Michael Barnes: `The transitional Inscriptions`, pp. 448-461.
Jansson, Sven B.F. (ed.): Runor och runinskrifter, 1985. Almqvisr & Wiksell. Michael Barnes: `The Origin of the Younger Futhark - A Reappraisal`, pp. 29-45.
Foote & Strømback (eds) : Proceedings of the sixth Viking Congress, 1969. Aslak Liestøl: `The Literate Vikings`, pp. 69-78.
Duwel, Klaus (ed.): Runeinschriften als Quellen intersisziplinarer Forschung, 1998. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York. Judith Jesch: `Still Standing in Ågersta: Textuality and Literacy in Late Viking-Age Rune Stone Inscriptions`, pp. 462-475.
Duwel, Klaus (ed.): Runeinschriften als Quellen intersisziplinarer Forschung, 1998. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin - New York. K. Holman: `Scandinavian Runic Inscriptions as a Source for the History of the British Isles`, pp. 629-638.
Sawyer, Birgit: The Viking-Age Rune-stones. Customs and Commemoration in Early Medieval Scandinavia, Ch. 1: `The Rune-stones and their distribution`; Ch.2: `Presentation of the corpus and its subgroup; bases of analyses`; Ch.6: `Conversion`; Ch.7: `Conclusion and Future Research`.
Almqvist, B. and D. Green (eds): Proceedings of the Seventh Viking Congress , 1973. Einar Haugen: `The Dotted Runes`, pp. 83-92.
Seim, Karin Fjellhammer: The Bryggen Papers, Supplementary Series 2, 1988. `A Review of the Runic Material`, pp.10-23.
Higgitt, John & al.: Roman, Runes, and Ogham. Medieval Inscriptions in the Insular World and on the Continent, 2001. Shaun Tyas, Donington. Terje Spurkland: `Scandinavian Medieval Runic Inscriptions - an Interface Between Literacy and Orality?`, pp.121-128.
With the exceptions of James Knirks` article `Runes and Runic Inscription` in Medieval Scandinavia, and the excerpts from Birgit Sawyer`s book The Viking Age Rune-Stones, all these texts are to be found in the compendiums Runology I or II.
Students with reading capacity in Norwegian, might instead of these obligatory different papers read Terje Spurkland: I begynnelsen var futhark. Norske runer og runeinnskrifter. Oslo 2001.
In addition to this list, or I begynnelsen var futhark, the students are to read about 150 pages at their own option, in accordance with particular interests and personal inclinations. These selected items may all be taken from the compendiums Runology I or II.
Runic Inscriptions
The following inscriptions are to be studied in a certain detail:
Proto Norse:
- The Kylver stone,
- The Tjurkø bracteat,
- Øvre Stabu,
- Gallehus gold horn,
- Strøm whetstone,
- The Einang stone,
- The Kjølevik stone,
- The Tune stone,
- The Istaby stone,
- The Møjbro stone,
From Proto Norse to the Viking Age:
- The Ribe cranium,
- The Eggja inscription,
Viking Age:
- The Røk stone,
- The Gørlev stone,
- The Snoldelev stone,
- The Jelling stone,
- The Hedeby-stone III,
- The Gripsholm stone,
- The Taby stone (U164),
- The Ramsund Rock,
- The Forsa Ring (HS 7),
- The Skalby stone (U 279),
- The Alstad inscriptions I and II,
- The Dynna stone,
- The Vang stone,
- The Galteland stone,
- The Kuli stone,
Middle Ages:
- Vinje I (N 170),
- Tingvoll (N 446),
- Offer of Marriage from Lom (A74),
- Bryggen in Bergen N648,
- Bryggen in Bergen N650,
- The grave slab from Ukna in Sweden (SM 145),
Some of these inscriptions might be exchanged for another, any exchange must, however, be accepted by the teacher.