Abstract
The paper discusses a number of versified runic inscriptions, mainly from Scandinavia, and from ca. 400 to 1400 AD, to explore what they reveal about the forms and functions of early Scandinavian poetry outside the manuscript tradition. With a particular focus on ‘authors’ and ‘audiences’, as defined by Bredehoft in his work on Anglo-Saxon inscriptions, the paper elucidates the potential oral contexts of Scandinavian runic verse and concludes that, although runic writing is a form of literacy, the examples show that for most of its history it is associated with various kinds of oral context. Runic verse shows that inscriptions provide one of the best ways into understanding the Scandinavian oral tradition, not only before the arrival of manuscript literacy, but also during its infancy.
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© 2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Scolding the Skald: The Construction of Cultural Memory in Morkinskinna’s Sneglu-Halla þáttr
- What did the Future hold for them? Different Types of Foreshadowing in Various Saga Genres
- Spieler oder Schachfigur? Schach als epistemologisches Modell bei Solvej Balle
- Beundring og opposisjon. Forholdet mellom Knut Hamsun og Johannes V. Jensen
- Når forfatteren snakker med. Metalepsis og disclosure i Karen Blixens fortællinger
- „Henne ensam lagen fällde“. Zur literarischen Verhandlung der Kindstötung und der Frage nach der (Mit-)Schuld der Väter
- Changierender Artist. Zu Carl Larssons Positionierung im bildkünstlerischen und literarischen Feld
- Saga Conference
- Sagas and Space – Thinking Space in Viking Age and Medieval Scandinavia
- ‘Á Kálfskinni’: Sagas and the Space of Literature
- Runes and Verse: The Medialities of Early Scandinavian Poetry
- The Mind’s Eye: The Triad of Memory, Space and the Senses in Old Norse Literature
- Mythical and Metaphorical Landscapes in Skaldic Poetry
- Book Reviews
- Klaus Düwel:Runica minora. Ausgewählte kleine Schriften zur Runenkunde
- Lasse Mårtensson:Skrivaren och förlagan: Norm och normbrott i Codex Upsaliensis av Snorra Edda
- Lill-Ann Körber, Ebbe Volquardsen (eds.):The Postcolonial North Atlantic. Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands
- Jenny Wikström:Fotografiet bleknar, hon försvinner. Materia, begär och Gilles Deleuzes litteraturfilosofi i Henry Parlands ’Sönder’
- Michael Schäfer/Werner Schäfke:Sprachwissenschaft für Skandinavisten. Eine Einführung
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Research Articles
- Scolding the Skald: The Construction of Cultural Memory in Morkinskinna’s Sneglu-Halla þáttr
- What did the Future hold for them? Different Types of Foreshadowing in Various Saga Genres
- Spieler oder Schachfigur? Schach als epistemologisches Modell bei Solvej Balle
- Beundring og opposisjon. Forholdet mellom Knut Hamsun og Johannes V. Jensen
- Når forfatteren snakker med. Metalepsis og disclosure i Karen Blixens fortællinger
- „Henne ensam lagen fällde“. Zur literarischen Verhandlung der Kindstötung und der Frage nach der (Mit-)Schuld der Väter
- Changierender Artist. Zu Carl Larssons Positionierung im bildkünstlerischen und literarischen Feld
- Saga Conference
- Sagas and Space – Thinking Space in Viking Age and Medieval Scandinavia
- ‘Á Kálfskinni’: Sagas and the Space of Literature
- Runes and Verse: The Medialities of Early Scandinavian Poetry
- The Mind’s Eye: The Triad of Memory, Space and the Senses in Old Norse Literature
- Mythical and Metaphorical Landscapes in Skaldic Poetry
- Book Reviews
- Klaus Düwel:Runica minora. Ausgewählte kleine Schriften zur Runenkunde
- Lasse Mårtensson:Skrivaren och förlagan: Norm och normbrott i Codex Upsaliensis av Snorra Edda
- Lill-Ann Körber, Ebbe Volquardsen (eds.):The Postcolonial North Atlantic. Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands
- Jenny Wikström:Fotografiet bleknar, hon försvinner. Materia, begär och Gilles Deleuzes litteraturfilosofi i Henry Parlands ’Sönder’
- Michael Schäfer/Werner Schäfke:Sprachwissenschaft für Skandinavisten. Eine Einführung