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...

In 1705 George Hickes published his book Linguarum vett. Septentrionalium Thesaurus (A Treasury of Ancient Northern Tongues) which contained, among other things, an Anglo-Saxon Grammar. In the final six chapters of this grammar, Hickes includes a history of the Anglo-Saxon language. It is the first recorded history of the English language; however, it is written in Latin, and so unavailable to many English speakers. Therefore, I have produced a sample translation of the third of the six chapters for this thesis (chapter 21, or Caput XXI), entitled De dialecto poetica, praesertim de dialecto poetica Dano-Saxonica (On the poetic dialect, especially the Dano-Saxon poetic dialect), marking the first stage in making these chapters available to English speakers today.

In 1705 George Hickes published his book Linguarum vett. Septentrionalium Thesaurus (A Treasury of Ancient Northern Tongues) which contained, among other things, an Anglo-Saxon Grammar. In the final six chapters of this grammar, Hickes includes a history of the Anglo-Saxon language. It is the first recorded history of the English language; however, it is written in Latin, and so unavailable to many English speakers. Therefore, I have produced a sample translation of the third of the six chapters for this thesis (chapter 21, or Caput XXI), entitled De dialecto poetica, praesertim de dialecto poetica Dano-Saxonica (On the poetic dialect, especially the Dano-Saxon poetic dialect), marking the first stage in making these chapters available to English speakers today.

Narratives of Nordic pre-history are common in textbooks of the Swedish 'folk school'. This thesis discusses them from an ideological critical perspective and analyses them as textbook myths. This analytic concept of myth is constructed and used as a tool for studying ideological expressions in pedagogical texts. It is compatible with a historical materialist, social constructivist and Gramsci inspired perspective towards folk schooling and can handle questions of selection and re-organisation of ancient narrative material. The study shows how a paternalistic ethnic ideology which showed the pupils how their ancestors immigrated and set up society and order is replaced by nationalistic myths where the Swedes are projected on the totality of the past. Idealisation of farmers and expressions that neutralise poverty and legitimates subordination are used continuously throughout the study period. After 1868 a national folk concept is established. Textbook myths with a euhemeristic portrayal of civilisation are replaced by other scientific ways of handling pre-historic religions including elements from nature mythology and evolutionary theory. The myths handle religions both through Christian polemics and theological projections. The results of the analyses are interpreted in the light of the contemporary socio-economic changes where a feudal agrarian society's principles for classifications and hierarchies are challenged and broken by the principles of a class society with a nationalistic ideology. In the concluding chapters the myths are discussed and interpreted in relation to curriculum codes and in a Gramsci inspired perspective as expressions of a passive bourgeois revolution, where intellectuals of the middle class conquered the school and the textbook myths by making alliances with the farming class and trying to neutralise the poor and the working class. The thesis contributes to research in the use of history, representation in pedagogical texts and to research in nationalism.