I am an associate professor of runology and Scandinavian language history. From 2023 to 2024, I serve as Head of Research at the Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies.
Research interests
- Runology and medieval epigraphy
- Historical sociolinguistics
- Linguistic landscapes
- Bilingualism and biscriptality
- Graphemics
Background
- Associate professor, runology and Scandinavian language history, Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies, University of Oslo (2020–)
- Head of Research, Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies, University of Oslo (2023–2024)
- Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow, Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies, University of Oslo (2020–2023)
- Postdoc in the project Runic Writing in the Germanic Languages, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, funded by the Göttingen Academy of Sciences and Humanities (2018)
- PhD in Scandinavian languages, Department of Scandinavian Languages, Uppsala University (2014–2018). Changing writing systems: a graphematic study of the Swedish medieval runic inscriptions
Ongoing projects
Past projects
Teaching
- Runology - General introduction (BA NFI1100 and MA NFI4100)
- Runic inscriptions of the Middle Ages (BA NFI2102 and MA NFI4122)
- Runic Inscriptions from the Migration Period to the Viking Age (BA NFI2101 and MA NFI4123)
- Hands-on Runology – Documenting, editing, and curating runic inscriptions (BA NFI2105 and MA NFI4105)
- Philology in an interdisciplinary perspective (MA VMS4200)
Previously, I have held courses in runology and Swedish as a foreign language at Uppsala University, as well as guest lectures and seminars at Ca' Foscari University of Venice and at L'Orientale University of Naples.
Upcoming publications
- Palumbo (in press). "From the Vernacular to Latin: Social Functions and Indexicalities in Bilingual and Biscriptal Epitaphs of Medieval Scandinavia." Speculum: A Journal of Medieval Studies 100/4.
- Palumbo (in press). "Between written and visual cultures: the funerary monument from Botkyrka church, Sweden." Minima medievalia.
- Palumbo & Harjula (in press). "Material and Written Culture in Medieval Turku: Runic Inscriptions from an Urban Environment." In Runes in Finland, ed. Kendra Willson. Helsinki: Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland.
Tags:
Runology,
Epigraphy,
Old Norse Philology,
Historical sociolinguistics,
Multilingualism,
Linguistic Landscapes
Publications
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Palumbo, Alessandro
(2023).
Analysing bilingualism and biscriptality in medieval Scandinavian epigraphic sources: A sociolinguistic approach.
Journal of Historical Sociolinguistics.
ISSN 2199-2908.
9(1),
p. 69–96.
doi:
10.1515/jhsl-2022-0006.
Full text in Research Archive
Show summary
Written culture in high and late medieval Scandinavia is characterized by a long and complex relationship between the Latin written tradition and the older native runic one. One product of the intersection of these traditions are several epigraphs where Latin, vernacular, Latin alphabet, and runes are combined. The aim of this paper is to propose a framework for analysing such bilingual and biscriptal inscriptions which takes into account two fundamental aspects of language and script choice: (1) the literacy of those involved in the production and reception of the texts, and (2) the role of the indexicality of languages and scripts in the shaping and representation of identities. The paper draws on epigraphic analyses and modern sociolinguistic approaches to written multilingualism and shows that an interdisciplinary method can further our understanding of the relationship between the Latin and vernacular written cultures, their status relative to each other, and their social functions in medieval Scandinavia.
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Palumbo, Alessandro
(2022).
Medeltida runristade lösföremål från Uppsala län.
In Zachrisson, Torun & Källström, Magnus (Ed.),
Tyde den som kan: en upptäcktsfärd bland Upplands runstenar.
Upplandsmuseet.
ISSN 9789186145415.
p. 179–198.
Full text in Research Archive
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Blennow, Anna & Palumbo, Alessandro
(2022).
Epigrafiska områden i medeltidens Västergötland: ett samspel mellan latinsk och runsk skriftkultur.
Fornvännen.
ISSN 0015-7813.
117(3),
p. 181–197.
Full text in Research Archive
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Blennow, Anna; Palumbo, Alessandro & Pettersson, Jonatan
(2022).
Literate Mentality and Epigraphy.
In Heiniger, Anna Katharina; Merkelbach, Rebecca & Wilson, Alexander (Ed.),
Þáttasyrpa – Studien zu Literatur, Kultur und Sprache in Nordeuropa.
Narr Francke Attempto Verlag.
ISSN 978-3-7720-8769-1.
doi:
10.24053/9783772057694-003.
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Palumbo, Alessandro
(2020).
Same script, different rules? On the alleged different spelling of names compared to other words in runic inscriptions.
In Löfdahl, Maria; Waldispuhl, Michelle & Wenner, Lena (Ed.),
Namn i skrift. Names in Writing. Handlingar från NORNAs 48:e symposium i Göteborg den 29–30 november 2018.
Norna.
ISSN 978-91-7276-098-1.
p. 263–287.
Full text in Research Archive
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Palumbo, Alessandro
(2016).
Among Demons and Ave Marias: Runes and the Supernatural on Swedish Amulets.
Annali - Istituto Universitario Orientale. Sezione Gemanica.
ISSN 1124-3724.
26(1-2),
p. 85–102.
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Palumbo, Alessandro
(2014).
Ett fragment av Barlaams saga ok Josaphats: Diplomatarisk utgåva av AM 231 VII fol. med en paleografisk och ortografisk undersökning.
Annali - Istituto Universitario Orientale. Sezione Gemanica.
ISSN 1124-3724.
24(1-2),
p. 271–294.
View all works in Cristin
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Aurora, Federico; Gasparini, Andrea Alessandro & Palumbo, Alessandro
(2022).
ENCODE - Bridging the
<gap> in ancient writing
cultures, enhance
competences in the digital
era.
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Aurora, Federico & Palumbo, Alessandro
(2020).
ENCODE: Bridging the <gap> in Ancient Writing Cultures: ENhance COmpetences in the Digital Era.
Show summary
This paper presents a newly started Erasmus+ project, whose overarching aim is to promote the use of digital methods in the preservation and study ofpre-modern written texts. Traditional disciplines in the humanities like philology, palaeography and epigraphy are increasingly embracing digital change, developing and using new tools and methods to approach their objects of study. However, these innovations require new competences and training both for students and researchers in the rapidly evolving field of Digital Humanities and AI. The ambition of the ENCODE project is to establish a collaborative and shared platform for the teaching and learning of these digital competences. To reach this goal, a partnership has been established between six universities (Bologna, Parma, Würzburg, Leuven, Hamburg, Oslo), that will organize a series of events, conferences and training sessions during the period 2020-2023, which will also be open to participants from institutions outside of the six project partners. The project and the events planned will lead to three main outcomes:1) The surveying of existing competences and practices in the teaching of digital methods applied to the study of pre-modern texts.2) The formulation of a shared definition of digital competencies needed by academic staff and students involved in programmes focusing on written cultural heritage.3) The design and testing of teaching modules,both basic and advanced, paired with guidelines and examples of best practices for their employment at other universities, making the modules customizable and transferable.
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Palumbo, Alessandro
(2020).
Review of Lisbeth M. Imer. Peasants and Prayers: The Inscriptions of Norse Greenland. Copenhagen: University Press of Southern Denmark, 2017.
Futhark: International Journal of Runic Studies.
ISSN 1892-0950.
9-10,
p. 287–294.
doi:
10.33063/diva-402191.
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Palumbo, Alessandro
(2015).
Recension av Carla Cucina 2013 “Libri runici del computo: Il calendario di Bologna e i suoi analoghi europei”.
Futhark: International Journal of Runic Studies.
ISSN 1892-0950.
5,
p. 199–206.
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Palumbo, Alessandro
(2012).
Gutarunor: studie i runformernas bruk och utveckling på Gotland under medeltiden och reformationstiden.
Institutionen för nordiska språk, Uppsala universitet.
View all works in Cristin
Published
Jan. 11, 2019 12:23 PM
- Last modified
Feb. 25, 2024 9:46 AM