GRADUATE
FULL-YEAR COURSE 2003-4
OLD
ICELANDIC LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
Course outline
Introduction
Whether
you wish to learn about runes; Viking voyages and raids; Scandinavian
settlements in North America; myths about Óðinn, Þórr, Freyja, and other
gods; or the adventures of saga heroes such as the poet-warrior-farmer Egill
Skalla-Grímsson or the outlaw-trickster Grettir Ásmundarson, this course
offers you access to first-hand knowledge through the Old Icelandic language.
Old Icelandic is very close to the language spoken by the Vikings, and, more
remarkably still, it has persisted with few major changes down to the present
century. For example, today’s weather forecast on the website for Morgunblaðið,
the morning newspaper, could have been understood (and used) by Grettir almost
as well as by a present-day farmer.
Class
details
Location
University College Room 377
Meeting
times
Tuesday 9am - 12noon
Instructor
information
Russell
Poole
Information
updates and other material are available on the instructor’s webpage:
Office
location University
College Room 76
Phone
661-2111 ext. 85782
Office
hours are Tuesdays 2-4pm; Wednesdays 2-4pm. Tuesday 2-3pm is held in UC 181 and
is primarily intended for undergraduate counselling but you are welcome to call
in at that time.
You are
also welcome to phone and (if necessary) leave voice-mail messages outside
office hours or to send a brief e-mail. If either type of communication is made
on a normal working day within business hours it will usually receive a reply
within the day.
Please
do not send e-mail attachments of any kind (not even signatures) without prior
consultation. Essays or other assignment work must not be submitted by
attachment.
Objectives
of the course
¨
Language
acquisition towards a good reading knowledge of Old Icelandic prose
¨
A limited
introduction to modern Icelandic, spoken and written
¨
A limited
introduction to Old Icelandic poetry
¨
Reading in
translation to provide some familiarity with the wider literature, culture, and
society
¨
Practice in
and enhancement of conceptual, research, and communication skills relevant to
this material
Programme
The
language will be presented step by step, with weekly readings from the
literature. It is not necessary to have studied a foreign language prior to
admission to the course.
Course
resources
Compulsory
1.
Course-pack: Language/literature primer/reader.
2. Gordon,
E.V. An Introduction to Old Norse. 2nd edn A.R. Taylor.
Oxford: Clarendon, 1957, and reprints. ISBN 0-19-811184-3.
3. Egils
saga Skalla-Grímssonar, ed. Bjarni Einarsson, an edition for English
speaking students transl. Anthony Faulkes with short foreword and afterword,
explanatory notes, maps and full glossary, ISBN 0903521601 (hardback); ISBN
0903521547 (card covers). NB: If this text is not available by January 2004 a
course-pack will be issued instead.
4. Egil’s
Saga, transl. Hermann Pálsson and Paul Edwards. Penguin Classics. London:
Penguin, 1976. ISBN 0140443215. OR Egil’s
saga, transl.
Christine Fell, with John Lucas. Everyman. London: Dent, 1975. ISBN
0-460-11251-1. Other recent translations are also acceptable.
Optional
readings
1. Byock, Jesse L., Viking Age Iceland. London: Penguin, 2001. ISBN 0140291156.
2.
Snorri Sturluson, Edda, transl.
Anthony Faulkes. Everyman. London: Dent, 1992+. ISBN 0-460-87616-3. NB: this
text has been downgraded from “compulsory” to “optional”.
Other
resources
1.
Pronunciation tapes (“Icelandic for Beginners”), available from the
bookseller Mál og Menning in Reykjavík (see their web page, accessible in
English and Icelandic, where orders can be placed).
2.
Radio broadcasts on http://www.ruv.is
(Ríkisútvarpið, Rás eitt = State Broadcasting Service, channel 1). News is
broadcast local time at 10am, 12.20pm, 4pm, 6pm, 10pm, and 12am. Rás tvö is
also available, with a more colloquial style of announcing.
3. TV
broadcasts (via the same website).
Supplemental
and background reading
See the
instructor’s webpage for a preliminary handlist of books available from the
UWO libraries. It will be improved and updated from time to time.
Assessable
work
¨
Translation
and other language exercises during the year, to be assessed by short tests and
quizzes, each potentially worth 5% of the total grade. Dates for all such
assessment exercises will be notified in advance. Eight will be set, with your
best six to count. In each, seven or eight questions will be set, with your best
five to count. Proportion of total grade: 30%.
¨
A seminar
presentation, to be made during a scheduled class session (compulsory) and
written up in the form of speech notes (the written form due 16 April 2004 but
you may submit it at any earlier time if you wish to know your grade). You
should develop your topic in consultation with the instructor. Speaking time:
ca. 45 minutes. Proportion of total grade: 30%.
¨
A research
project, due 16 April 2004. As above, you should develop your topic in
consultation with the instructor. Word limit: ca. 4000 words. Proportion of
total grade: 40%.
You may
choose, in consultation with the instructor, whether to develop your seminar
presentation into the larger research project or to do two independent pieces of
work.
Grades
will be assessed additively, in other
words your grades for the three types of assessable work will be simply added
together to produce your final grade.
Seminar
and research topics (with indication of those already spoken for)
NB:
these are preliminary topic formulations only, and can be modified and redefined
in consultation with the instructor. Some of the topics not spoken for by
students in the course will be covered informally by the instructor and possibly
also by guest speakers.
1.
The sagas of
Icelanders as historical and/or ethnographic evidence.
2.
The settlement
of Iceland.
3.
Narrative
technique in the sagas of Icelanders. (Luke, 28 Oct 2003)
4.
Feuding,
vendettas, and vengeance in the sagas of Icelanders.
5.
Law,
assemblies, and hearings in the sagas of Icelanders. (Megan, with topic 4, 13
Jan 2004)
6.
The livelihood
of a local goði (chieftain) as shown in the sagas of Icelanders.
7.
Wooing, love,
marriage, and divorce in the sagas of Icelanders. (Conrad, 17 Feb 2004)
8.
Son-father
tensions, rivalries, and disputes in the sagas of Icelanders.
9.
Skalds and
skaldic poetry, with some examples (e.g., from Egils saga). (Carmen, 10 Feb 2004)
10.
Wisdom poetry,
gnomic poetry (e.g., Hávamál).
11.
Valkyries,
“shield-maidens”, Brynhildr, and other strong women in the sagas and the Poetic
Edda. (Aviva, 2 Dec 2003)
12.
Attitudes to
the supernatural in the shape of ghosts, the undead, witchcraft, and sorcery.
(Sean, 4 Nov 2004)
13.
The
Christianization of Iceland. (Mark, 3 Feb 2004)
14.
Attitudes to
pre-Christian mythology as revealed in Snorra
Edda. (Michael, 3 Feb 2004)
15.
Folklore and
folktales in Iceland.
16.
Evidence
(archaeological and literary) for Viking contacts with North America. (Lilian, 6
Jan 2004)
17.
Traditions
held by Icelanders about mainland Scandinavian countries and/or Ireland before
the settlement of Iceland.
18.
Icelandic
manuscript culture.
19.
The Icelandic
language (e.g., its relation to other Indo-European languages). (Gabe, 9 Mar
2004)
20.
Runes and
runic inscriptions, especially from Sweden, Denmark, and/or Norway.
21.
William
Morris’s response to Iceland, in his translations or his letters and other
writings.
22.
W.H. Auden’s
response to Iceland, in his translations or his travels (e.g., his Letters from
Iceland). (Kevin, 27 Jan 2004)
23.
Wagner’s use
of Icelandic sources for his “Ring of the Nibelungen”. (Jody, 2 Mar 2004)
24.
The sagas as a
formative influence on the modern Icelandic sense of nationhood.
Protocols
for the course
1.
Course-related contributions, whether in-class or in correspondence, should take
account of sensitivities that might arise because of the diverse backgrounds and
beliefs of participants.
2. The ruling of the Senate of the University of Western Ontario that plagiarism is a “serious Scholastic Offence” will be upheld in this course.