Akademisk avhandling--Lund, 1908. / "Forteckning över använa litteratur": p. [103].

Thesis--Copenhagen.

No description available.

Some such as Schwink (2004) have analyzed diachronic developments in Germanic gender as a whole, while others like Steinmetz (1985, 2001) and Trosterud (2006) have looked at diachronic changes in grammatical gender in the North Germanic languages. Specifically within the history of Icelandic, Steinmetz and Trosterud both argue for a neuter-default gender system for Old Norse (and for Modern Icelandic). This report looks at loan words from the Old Norse period drawn from historical sources, such as the Heimskringla (History of the Kings of Norway) and Laxdœla Saga, and compares their gender assignment then with their gender in Modern Icelandic in order to see if any of their originally assigned genders changed in the modern language. That none of the loans analyzed in this report changed their gender assignment from neuter to masculine as in West Germanic supports Steinmetz' and Trosterud's notions of Icelandic having a neuter-default gender system. These findings also support Schwink's view (2004:99), when he writes that Icelandic's gender system remains relatively unchanged from that of Old Norse. / text

No description available.

This thesis tests and applies a new, physically based snow distribution and melt model at spatial scales of tens of metres and temporal scales of days across sub-arctic landscapes, in order to assess the significance of snow variability in sub-arctic human ecodynamics at resolutions relevant to human activities. A wider goal is to contribute to planning in the face of future climate change. Model tests are undertaken based on original field data collected in Sweden and Norway, and secondary data from Idaho, France and Greenland. Model applications focus on the ‘completed experiment’ of the medieval Norse in Greenland, a comparatively isolated population that relied on a combination of pastoralism and hunting for survival. A combination of local calibration based on contemporary meteorological data, customised climate reconstructions based on GCM data, new archaeological survey and new DEM are used in order to apply the model. This thesis shows, for the first time, the likely range of snow depth and duration experienced across the medieval Norse Greenland landscape as a result of climate and vegetation change. Results show that increases in snow cover could have been significant drivers of transformative change in Norse Greenland, and are therefore likely to be key in understanding the potential impact of future climate changes on similar sub-arctic and relatively marginal communities. Selected model analyses simulate the total spring (April-June) snow cover at the homefields to range from 32% cover lasting 6 days in the most favourable climate to 100% cover lasting 45 days in the most unfavourable climate at key elite inner fjord farms. At the more isolated outer fjord farms, total spring snow cover ranges from 33% cover lasting 10 days in the most favourable climate to 100% cover lasting 60 days in the most unfavourable climate. Increased climate variance and recovery times, as experienced by the Norse, are potential early warning signals of threshold-crossing change. Model results show that these signals could have been masked for the Norse decision making elite because they were located in the most favourable and least snow covered locations. Masking could have been further increased through the intensified seal hunting implemented by the Norse as an adaption strategy, and these actions could have developed into a rigidity trap. When the conjunctures of the 15th century developed in terms of increased sea ice, snow cover, storminess, culture contact, changing trade and sea level rise, it was too late to develop different responses. Whilst current populations have improved technology and knowledge relative to the Norse Greenlanders, there is a risk that adaptations will lack long-term utility, spatially restricted indications of change may be ignored, and rigidity traps develop. This thesis provides an additional tool for understanding a key element of both the past and possible futures of subarctic human ecodynamics.

The aim of this thesis is to examine the assumption that Norse settlement in western maritime Scotland was substantially less extensive and influential than in more northerly parts of the maritime zone. This assumption is based on comparison of the apparent ratios of Norse to Gaelic farm-names in these areas; and the observation that the inhabitants of the former were Gaelic-speaking in both the Early Historic and Later Medieval periods. In view of the virtual hiatus in the documentary record between c.AD 750 and c.AD 1150 and the unqualified nature of the place-name ratios, it is suggested that such evidence is misleading. The investigation which follows comprises a detailed case-study of the island of Islay. Although use is made of environmental, archaeological, historical and fiscal data, the main focus is on place-names. Emphasis is placed throughout on the processes by which names become implanted in the landscape and the factors which affect their survival afterwards. There are three sections. Background material for the study of Norse settlement is presented in the first. This includes: a detailed examination of the physical environment, an ethno-linguistic profile for the preNorse community and a review of the evidence for Norse activity in Islay specifically within the context of western maritime Scotland generally. Aspects of Dalriadan and Norse society are highlighted which prompt critical re-appraisal of theories on Norse settlement. It is suggested that this process was not without friction. It may have involved a certain amount of violent depopulation and almost certainly led to social dichotomisation between the Norse incomers and remaining natives. Section two comprises a theoretical and methodological introduction to place-name studies. Following an overview of basic theory, Islay sources and previous approaches to Norse settlement, a model is presented for the study of Islay's Norse place-names. While use is made of both habitative and nature names, the framework selected as most appropriate is Stephen MacDougall's map of 1749-51. As this provides typologically uniform coverage of all of the island's farm-districts from a period preceding the agrarian reforms and settlement re-organisation of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, it is more likely to reflect the settlement patterns and nomenclature of the Middle Ages than later yet more detailed sources. The third section, which constitutes the bulk of the thesis, concentrates on analysis of the place-name data presented in Appendices I and II. There are two main parts to this section. The linguistic back-ground, economic potential and spatial characteristics of individual farm-districts are examined in the first. Contrary to previous assumptions, it is noted that farm-districts with Norse names are spread fairly evenly across all land-types on the island. They are not primarily coastal, restricted to enclaves or less likely to include Iron Age fortifications than those with Gaelic names. Analysis of the distribution and linguistic categorisation of the nomenclature in view of post-Norse historical developments suggests that many of the island's Gaelic settlement names are the result of prestige immigration in the It century or later. This hypothesis is supported by linguistic investigation of the more common habitative generics shown on MacDougall's map. Magnus Olsen's User-group theory is then applied to the typology and distribution of ON nature-name material. It is argued that this too supports the idea of widespread Norse language use being replaced by a reintroduction of Gaelic and Gaelic naming practices. The second part of this section comprises an examination of land and territorial divisions. The fiscal 'extents' of later medieval and early modem Islay have long been considered anomalous in a Hebridean context. Examination of the historical and fiscal sources in conjunction with a geometric analysis of the farm-districts on MacDougall's map, suggests that Islay may once have been divided into the 'ounceland' units more familiar from surrounding areas. These findings are then developed in the context of ecclesiastic organisation. While certain aspects of Islay's later medieval parish system appear to reflect the military districts of the Senchus fer nAlban, it is argued that these survived through the intermediary of an Orcadian style leiðangr system of naval defence. It is concluded that while the Norse impact on Islay was less long-lived than in more northerly parts of maritime Scotland, it was not necessarily any less intense or destructive with regards to the pre-existing ethno-linguistic identity.

No description available.

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / I. PROBLEM: To construct three units in mythology, Greek, Norse and Hindu, in order to increase students' awareness of the nature of literature and of the influence of these three cultures as represented in their mythologies on English language and literature. II. SCOPE AND LIMITATION: The units were designed for use in the junior high school in the following sequence: Seventh year - Greek Eighth year - Norse Ninth year - Hindu to obtain the benefit of cumulative effect upon the learnings. Each section however, is a complete unit and can be used independently of the others. The units are not all inclusive, but the selection of materials in each unit is such that a logical framework is imposed. The units make no provision for formal instruction in language. The units are untested. III. PROCEDURE: The units were designed for use in a team teaching situation. Each unit is introduced with a lecture to the entire' group for the purpose of providing background information, motivational aids and distributing materials. Groups then read and discuss the various creation stories around certain themes in their separate classrooms. The activities are discussed and groups are formed according to three activity sections each under the direction of a different teacher, one for reading, one for writing, and one for oral activities. IV. MAJOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS: The "classical" literatures contain materials appropriate to the reading interests and abilities of junior high school students and by arranging this material in units the teacher has an opportunity to guide students toward realizing the goals of the English language arts. V. SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY: The writer recommends that these materials be tested both in independent and sequential units and in both traditional teaching and team-teaching situations for the purpose of evaluation and revision. The writer also suggests that similar materials be constructed from the biblical, classical, and medieval epics. / 2031-01-01

This thesis demonstrates how animals and humans are interconnected in Old Norse literature. The two categories are both constructed and challenged in a variety of ways, depending on the textual genre and animal species. It thus reveals medieval Norse-Icelandic ideas, values, and beliefs about animals. The thesis is theoretical, comparative, and interdisciplinary, yet firmly rooted in a close reading of the sagas and analysis of their cultural-historical context. The first chapter explores relationships between people and domestic animals, namely horses and dogs, and to a lesser extent, cats and livestock. The second chapter evaluates the limitations to the human-animal relationship: prohibitions against bestiality and the consumption of certain animals as meat. The third chapter studies animals in dreams, which reflect human characters and share their fate and defining characteristics. The fourth chapter investigates human-animal transformations, whether physical, psychological, or both. The fifth chapter analyses human-animal communication, with a particular focus on human comprehension of the language of birds. The sixth chapter considers relations between animals and gods in Norse mythology; these parallel the connections between humans and animals in the sagas. The thesis determines how the human/animal dichotomy might have been thought about differently before and after the conversion to Christianity, with boundaries between animal and human becoming more clearly delineated; it examines how medieval Icelandic authors wrote about animals in experiential terms, but also drew upon conventional symbolism from continental Europe; and it proves how these literary representations of animals reflect an environmental ideology that was actively engaged with the imaginative, the supernatural, and the animal.