The study of ON metrics is at present a highly dynamic field, rapidly expanding our understanding not only of the system itself, but also of its implications for the dating and evolution of the early ON textual tradition.
Due to recent testing, the essential correctness of Eduard Sievers’ four-position system, as presented in his Altgermanische Metrik (1893), is now beyond reasonable doubt.
An understanding of this system provides the ON scholar with a vast array of tools for the evaluation of poetic texts and thus also for the evaluation of the first three centuries of ON literature.
In spite of their immense analytical value, Sieversian metrics are often disregarded in ON scholarship. One reason is that the demonstration of their essential correctness is recent, but another is that few accessible overviews exist. This course therefore offers a rare opportunity for you to develop your metrical skills. These will enable you to make qualified evaluations of dating criteria (cf. Haukur Þorgeirsson 2012; Myrvoll 2020), but also to develop your proficiency in textual criticism using all the tools at the scholar’s disposal (cf. Haukur Þorgeirsson 2020; Neidorf 2016).
In addition, you will gain an understanding of recent advances in the field (e.g., Haukur Þorgeirsson 2012 and 2017; Myrvoll 2020 and forthcoming; Fulk 2002; Pascual 2013–14 and 2016a), as well as some insight into the possible background of early Germanic verse (Pascual 2016b). The course thereby opens the door to an area of discovery that has far too long remained closed to the majority of ON scholars.
Do not miss this opportunity to learn to evaluate what we can plausibly know about ON literature before c. 1150! The teachers are two of the most respected specialists of the younger generation of scholars, Haukur Þorgeirsson and Klaus Johan Myrvoll.
You will find information about how to sign up, full content description and syllabus on the course page.