{"id":{"repo_id":"u-iceland","oai_identifier":"oai:skemman.is:1946/19557"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/u-iceland/oai:skemman.is:1946/19557","repository":{"repo_id":"u-iceland","name":"University of Iceland","base_url":"https://skemman.is/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Literacy in Scandinavia. A passage from orality influenced by runes","abstract":"After reading the recent studies about the traces of orality and the beginning of literacy in the oldest Scandinavian texts we preserve, the first conclusion to be drawn is that the problem is far from being solved. Even though some medievalists believe that orality can not be proven by reading the primary sources we have, most general linguists accept that oral texts should preserve certain features indicating their preliterate origins. However, the first texts we find written in the Latin alphabet do not show most of those generally accepted oral features. Then, maybe we must accept that the texts we preserve were not composed in an oral society. Runes were used centuries before the arrival of the Latin alphabet and they were used for noting down poems and memorial messages. Those inscriptions show an evolution not only in the type of messages written, but also in the complexity of the poems carved. Thus, a study on the Scandinavian texts, taking into account the runic inscriptions, could help us understand better the history of the passage from orality to literacy in this region and the role that runes would have played in this process.","abstract_html":"After reading the recent studies about the traces of orality and the beginning of literacy in the oldest Scandinavian texts we preserve, the first conclusion to be drawn is that the problem is far from being solved. Even though some medievalists believe that orality can not be proven by reading the primary sources we have, most general linguists accept that oral texts should preserve certain features indicating their preliterate origins. However, the first texts we find written in the Latin alphabet do not show most of those generally accepted oral features. Then, maybe we must accept that the texts we preserve were not composed in an oral society. Runes were used centuries before the arrival of the Latin alphabet and they were used for noting down poems and memorial messages. Those inscriptions show an evolution not only in the type of messages written, but also in the complexity of the poems carved. Thus, a study on the Scandinavian texts, taking into account the runic inscriptions, could help us understand better the history of the passage from orality to literacy in this region and the role that runes would have played in this process.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Seijas, Elena Miramontes, 1987-"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Háskóli Íslands"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014-09-05","date_published":"2014-09-05","updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:40:48Z","subjects":["Medieval Icelandic Studies"],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1946/19557","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Háskóli Íslands"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Seijas, Elena Miramontes, 1987-"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2014-09-05T10:05:16Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2014-09-05T10:05:16Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2014-09-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Medieval Icelandic Studies"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1946/19557"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["After reading the recent studies about the traces of orality and the beginning of literacy in the oldest Scandinavian texts we preserve, the first conclusion to be drawn is that the problem is far from being solved. Even though some medievalists believe that orality can not be proven by reading the primary sources we have, most general linguists accept that oral texts should preserve certain features indicating their preliterate origins. However, the first texts we find written in the Latin alphabet do not show most of those generally accepted oral features. Then, maybe we must accept that the texts we preserve were not composed in an oral society. Runes were used centuries before the arrival of the Latin alphabet and they were used for noting down poems and memorial messages. Those inscriptions show an evolution not only in the type of messages written, but also in the complexity of the poems carved. Thus, a study on the Scandinavian texts, taking into account the runic inscriptions, could help us understand better the history of the passage from orality to literacy in this region and the role that runes would have played in this process.","Nýlegar rannsóknir á tengslum munnlegrar hefðar og upphafs ritunar eins og þetta tvennt birtist í elstu varðveittu textum sýna að enn er margt óljóst í þeim efnum. Þó svo að ýmsir miðaldafræðingar haldi því fram að textar sem bera merki munnlegrar hefðar gefi það til kynna með ákveðnum þáttum. Hins vegar sýna elstu textar sem ritaðir eru á latínu ekki slík merki um munnlega hefð. Þannig verðum við kannski að líta svo á að textarnir sem varðveist hafa hafi ekki verið ritaðir í sterkri munnlegri hefð. Rúnir höfðu verið ristar í nokkrar aldir áður en latneskt stafróf, og voru þær helst notaðar til að skrá kvæði og eftirmæli. Unnt er að greina þróun í þess háttar áletrunum í átt að sífellt flóknari textum. Til að skilja betur þá þróun sem átti sér stað frá munnlegri hefð til ritunar, er þess vegna æskilegt að taka rúnaáletranir til athugunar samhliða og kanna sérstaklega hvaða hlutverki þær gengdu í ferlinu."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Literacy in Scandinavia. A passage from orality influenced by runes"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Háskóli Íslands"],"dc:creator":["Seijas, Elena Miramontes, 1987-"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2014-09-05T10:05:16Z"],"dc:date.available":["2014-09-05T10:05:16Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2014-09-05"],"dc:description.abstract":["After reading the recent studies about the traces of orality and the beginning of literacy in the oldest Scandinavian texts we preserve, the first conclusion to be drawn is that the problem is far from being solved. Even though some medievalists believe that orality can not be proven by reading the primary sources we have, most general linguists accept that oral texts should preserve certain features indicating their preliterate origins. However, the first texts we find written in the Latin alphabet do not show most of those generally accepted oral features. Then, maybe we must accept that the texts we preserve were not composed in an oral society. Runes were used centuries before the arrival of the Latin alphabet and they were used for noting down poems and memorial messages. Those inscriptions show an evolution not only in the type of messages written, but also in the complexity of the poems carved. Thus, a study on the Scandinavian texts, taking into account the runic inscriptions, could help us understand better the history of the passage from orality to literacy in this region and the role that runes would have played in this process.","Nýlegar rannsóknir á tengslum munnlegrar hefðar og upphafs ritunar eins og þetta tvennt birtist í elstu varðveittu textum sýna að enn er margt óljóst í þeim efnum. Þó svo að ýmsir miðaldafræðingar haldi því fram að textar sem bera merki munnlegrar hefðar gefi það til kynna með ákveðnum þáttum. Hins vegar sýna elstu textar sem ritaðir eru á latínu ekki slík merki um munnlega hefð. Þannig verðum við kannski að líta svo á að textarnir sem varðveist hafa hafi ekki verið ritaðir í sterkri munnlegri hefð. Rúnir höfðu verið ristar í nokkrar aldir áður en latneskt stafróf, og voru þær helst notaðar til að skrá kvæði og eftirmæli. Unnt er að greina þróun í þess háttar áletrunum í átt að sífellt flóknari textum. Til að skilja betur þá þróun sem átti sér stað frá munnlegri hefð til ritunar, er þess vegna æskilegt að taka rúnaáletranir til athugunar samhliða og kanna sérstaklega hvaða hlutverki þær gengdu í ferlinu."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/1946/19557"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:subject":["Medieval Icelandic Studies"],"dc:title":["Literacy in Scandinavia. A passage from orality influenced by runes"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T21:40:48Z"}