IMC 2023: Sessions
Session 1032: Lexical Networks in Old Norse Poetry
Wednesday 5 July 2023, 09.00-10.30
| Organiser: | James Parkhouse, Faculty of English, University of Oxford |
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| Moderator/Chair: | Alicia Maddalena, Department of English & Related Literature, University of York |
| Paper 1032-a | Lexical Networks in Old Norse Skaldic Poetry: A Quantitative Study (Language: English) Index terms: Computing in Medieval Studies, Language and Literature - Scandinavian |
| Paper 1032-b | Regin-Rǫk and Skǫp-skjǫldungr: Two 'Fate' Collocations in the Poetic Edda (Language: English) Index terms: Language and Literature - Scandinavian, Pagan Religions |
| Abstract | Old Norse poetry presents complex and exciting opportunities to explore lexical networks and relationships. Approached with caution, phraseological correspondences can be adduced to support the influence of one poem on another, whilst temporal and regional differences in lexis can help indicate the date and provenance of anonymous poetry. We can take into consideration how the lexicon functions within the confines of metre, alliteration, and rhyme, and, no less important, how these boundaries can be transgressed and manipulated. As in other early Germanic vernaculars, the alliterative verse-forms of Old Norse poetry led to the development of pairs and larger sets of words which are repeatedly collocated, the study of which can yield invaluable insights into the semantic fields of collocating words and the worldviews of poets and primary audiences. |