Pre-Modern Seminar No 24: Eldar Heide

On Monday April 29th Dr Eldar Heide from the University of Bergen gave a talk called:

“Learned Literature and Indigenous Heritage in Pre-Modern Cultures – Learned Literature as Comparative Material in Old Norse Studies”

The seminar took place in the library of Skandinavistika (Ülikooli 17, 3rd floor, room 305) at 18.15.

Eldar has sent us a short presentation of the lecture:

“To put it simplified, the Old Norse literature consists of two components: the indigenous heritage and elements borrowed in the High Middle Ages, of which the common European Medieval learned literature in a wide sense is most important. The preserved part of this literature is therefore invaluable as comparative material in Old Norse studies; comparison with this literature has dramatically increased our understanding of Old Norse literature and culture. In this seminar lecture, examples of this will be given, as well as examples of less convincing use of the learned literature, and methodological questions will be discussed: how can the learned literature be used, and how can it not be used? What can it tell us, and what can it not tell us? What are the risks, and what are the alternatives? Because the learned literature is attested in older manuscripts than the Old Norse ones, there is a fundamental risk that we assume it to be the source in too many cases. A wider comparative outlook is suggested as a solution to this problem – a comparison not only with the learned literature, but also with neighbouring cultures in northern Europe, and other pre-modern cultures throughout the world.”