Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2003. / Includes bibliography.

Written broadly within a Lexical Functional Grammar Framework, this thesis provides a descriptive and theoretical account of definiteness in Insular Scandinavian from a synchronic and diachronic perspective. Providing evidence from Ancient Germanic to Old Norse to Modern Faroese, it is argued that the weak feature on the adjective has an important part to play in the historical narrative of definiteness marking in Faroese, alongside more traditional elements like the bound and free definite articles and demonstratives. Each of the features is read within the context of its nominal syntax and it is observed that there are recurrent pathways of change which each time result in the growth of syntactic structure and the redistribution of features. One of my principal findings for the Old Norse period was that the noun phrase had developed a FOC slot to the left edge of phrase. It is this focus domain which helps to explain the distribution of definiteness markers and which provides an account for the grammaticalization of the free and bound marker hinn. It is also this focus domain which eventually leads to the development of dedicated definite slots in the prenominal space and eventually to functional DP projection in Modern Faroese. This thesis provides new and detailed descriptive data on the definite noun phrase in Modern Faroese, a lesser studied Insular Scandinavian language. Since Faroese is widely reported to have ‘lost’ the genitive case in recent times, the above changes are read against a background of morphosyntactic change. A key finding of the thesis for the Modern language is that Faroese is becoming increasingly reliant on analytic marking, despite the fact that is is still a highly inflected language. It is this reliance on syntax which has rendered the genitive redundant, not, as has been suggested, the ‘loss’ of case which has led to the development of periphrastic alternatives.

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Comparison of Old Norse and Proto-Norse Noun Declension The purpose of this thesis is to follow the development of noun declensions from Proto-Norse to the Old Norse (Old Icelandic) language. The first of the three chapters seeks to give a comprehensive overview of Proto-Norse noun declensions. This overview is based on the evidence of the older runic inscriptions and on reconstruction using relevant linguistic literature. Each of the declensions is presented in the form of a paradigm accompanied by commentary and quotations of preserved grammatical forms. The second and largest chapter presents a survey of Old Norse (Old Icelandic) noun declensions. The survey has two aims. The first aim is to provide a synchronic description of the Old Norse noun declension system which would not be encumbered by an excess of diachronic approach as is often the case in the traditional grammars of Old Norse. At the same time, however, it should show how Old Norse inflectional exponents and classes continue the Proto-Norse declensions as presented in the first chapter. There is also a discussion of some of the systemic causes leading to morphological changes in inflection. The third chapter sums up the previous diachronic analysis and questions the validity of the traditional designations of declension classes based on...

The essay has its beginning in the source material that deal with ancient Norse religion before the people in the Nordic countries became Christian. The fact that there are no contemporary written or authentic sources available that can tell us something about the Norse religion during the Viking age is problematic. Archeological source materials is available, but tend to talk more about power relationships and social status than the old Norse religion and the way people practiced their faith. Medieval Christian writers are a source of knowledge of the Norse religion; however, they can only highlight the Norse religion from a Christian point of view and ways of evaluating the pagan faith, making them less reliable. The written sources of this paper are based on the written by two medieval Christian writers, Saxo Grammaticus and Snorri Sturluson. These sources are among the first to treat the Norse religion process after the introduction of Christianity in Scandinavia. The survey is based on the Saxo Grammaticus history work "Gesta Danorum" as in the ninth book "Ragnar Lodbrok story" portrays the Amazon Ladgerd, the figure which the thesis directs its focus against, and Snorri Sturluson written collection of ”Heimskringla" which deals with Earl Haakon and his patron goddess Torgerd Holgabrud in battle of Hjoerungavaag year 986. The survey is also influenced by the Icelandic poetry from which Saxo Grammaticus' and Snorri Sturluson´s history writing originates. In this essay, I use source criticism and a comparative method to study the relationships between the two sources and the way they depict the Amazon Ladgerd and Torgerd Holgabrud in the historic context. The essay can help to give a better understanding of the Amazon and the role women warriors have had in the ancient Norse religion, which future research can benefit from. With the support from earlier research on the ancient Norse religion, I can show that there is a connection between the two sources Saxo Grammaticus' “Gesta Danorum” and Snorri Sturluson’s "Heimskringla ". Both sources depict the Amazon and women warriors’ role in the ancient Norse religion - based on a Christian world view and feminine ideal. The study shows several similarities between the Amazon Ladgerd and Torgerd Holgabrud, which can indicate that the two women warriors is the same History fairytale figure. The sources lead me on the track by another female, giantess Gerd, which proves Ladgerd´s and Torgerd Holgabrud's real character and origin. Saxo Grammaticus, Snorri Sturluson and the Icelandic poetry depictions of Ladgerd, Torgerd Holgabrud and Gerd is simultaneously a reflection of a pre-Norse ritual, the "blot", and a Norse royal ideology.

This thesis examines the figure of the oral storyteller as depicted in various Old Norse literary sources written down during the High Middle Ages, the majority in Iceland, between the mid-twelfth and early fourteenth centuries. It comprises a literary-critical discussion of how storytellers and the art of storytelling are imagined, interpreted and represented within these texts. Where possible, connections are drawn between genres, and across considerable temporal and geographical distances, in order to illustrate the strength and endurance of cultural preoccupations with disguise, narrative structure and the role of intermediaries in different historical and creative contexts. The central contention is that the eddic poets and saga authors shared a common and profound sensitivity to the metatextual dimension of the storytelling endeavour in which they were engaged, and that this sensitivity manifested itself in strikingly similar ways across the whole period. The thesis is structured thematically, rather than chronologically, in order to foreground enduring cultural trends. The first chapter discusses the metatextual tendencies of the eddic poets, noting their recurring interest in disguise and the assertion (or appropriation) of an identity by characters who feature in their stories. It also includes an analysis of Vǫluspá which suggests that the poem lends itself to recitation by multiple performers. Chapter Two analyses depictions of public storytelling in the sagas and the relationship between writer and oral reciter as presented in the prologues and epilogues composed to ‘frame’ a number of these texts. Chapters Three and Four contain close readings of passages from the Sagas of Icelanders and eddic poetry, which demonstrate how certain characters, often of low social status, temporarily take on the mantle of a storyteller and perform their accounts of events so as to illuminate the texts' broader interest in the mechanics of literary narrative.

Syftet med studien var att validera den svenska översättningen av självskattningsinstrumentet Norwegian Outcome Response System for Evaluation (NORSE), ett instrument som används för att mäta psykiskt mående. Data har samlats in genom en digital enkät. Urvalet var icke-kliniskt och bestod av totalt 228 individer. Av de 228 individerna gjorde 30 personer enkäten vid två tillfällen för att testa instrumentets stabilitet över tid. För att validera NORSE användes ett redan validerat och etablerat instrument, Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) som standardreferens. Resultatet visade att den svenska översättningen av NORSE har hög intern konsistens och god test-retest reliabilitet, såväl som god reliabilitet och validitet. Resultaten visade även att NORSE och CORE-OM täcker liknande områden men är samtidigt långt ifrån identiska. Föreliggande studie indikerar att det kan finnas ett användningsområde för den svenska översättningen av NORSE i den svenska primärvården. / The aim of this study was to validate the Swedish translation of the self-report instrument Norwegian Outcome Response System for Evaluation (NORSE), an instrument used to evaluate psychological well-being. Data was collected using a digital questionnaire. The sample was non-clinical and consisted of a total of 228 individuals. Out of the 228 individuals, 30 participants took the questionnaire on two occasions to test the stability of the instrument over time. In order to validate NORSE, an already validated and established instrument, Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation Outcome Measure (CORE-OM) was used as a reference standard. The results showed that the Swedish translation of NORSE has a high internal consistency and good test-retest reliability, as well as a good internal reliability and concurrent validity. Results also showed that NORSE and CORE-OM cover similar areas but are far from identical, thus indicating that there could be a use for NORSE in Swedish primary health care.

This thesis is the first study to examine the interaction between gods and giants in Old Norse mythology from the perspective of Iron Age halls. Its central aim is to contextualise Old Norse mythological narratives that describe the interactions between gods and giants in a hall environment, and to show how the mythological depictions can be compared to the norms and rules found in Iron Age hall culture, especially in connection with its warrior ideology. The relationships observed also apply to the Iron Age’s aristocratic sovereigns and their dynamic dealings – both peaceful and martial – found in the connection and rivalry between different halls and hall owners. The giants are related to the concept of “the Other”, and as hall-owners can thus be contextualised with real social relations in Iron Age society. The investigation centers arounds key topics from the perspective of a hall setting, departing from mythic traditions regarding Óðinn and Þórr as guests in the halls of giants. These topics include grið within the hall; the good and generous host; the dangerous and hostile guest; the hall as an arena for knowledge and mead; and finally the destruction of halls as an attack on the hall owner’s fame and honour. Similarities and differences between myths about Óðinn’s and Þórr’s interaction with hall-owning giants are examined in depth, and it is argued that Óðinn embodies wisdom and extracts knowledge or valuables from the giants by cunning tricks or manipulation, having (usually) travelled there alone and in disguise. Þórr, on the other hand, is argued to embody physical strength, honour, glory and courage, and his dealings with the giants revolve around these issues. He seldom seems to travel alone or under cover, and when his courage or honour is threatened, his response is to kill his host (and his retinue) and to destroy the giant’s hall. It is argued that the Old Norse conception of the world is to be understood as neither dualistic or monistic. Instead, it is proposed that the myths can be understood from a perspective of conflicts that are temporal and not permanent in nature.

Thesis advisor: Michael J. Connolly / Old English, Old Norse (both Danish and Norwegian variants), Latin, Old French and various Celtic languages have influenced the development of the Scots language in different ways than they have British Standard English due to Scotland’s unique political relationships with each of these cultures. This paper explores the linguistic developments of these interactions, drawing examples from the Scottish poem Sir Patrick Spence, place names in Scotland, and other sources, with especial focus on the Germanic languages. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2009. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: College Honors Program. / Discipline: Slavic and Eastern Languages.

Thesis advisor: Philip O'Leary / This paper takes the opportunity to examine some of the lesser known roots the fictional world, Middle Earth, and its accompanying mythology, both created by J.R.R. Tolkien. It is concerned with tracing the elements of Celtic myth and legend that appear to have influenced Tolkien’s work. While he is ambiguous on the subject – flatly denying Celtic influences in one letter, while stating that his stories of Elves are rather Celtic – consulting the text yields a world rife with Celtic underpinnings. This paper makes no claims that such Celtic elements are the only myths Tolkien borrowed from, but attempts to give a compelling case that they some of the elements Tolkien used when creating Middle Earth and, consequently, are worthy of being introduced into the discussion of Tolkien’s extraordinary mythology. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2010. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: English Honors Program. / Discipline: English.