This semester the course in Current Issues will focus on two of the most well-known poems from Old Norse Skaldic Poetry, Sonatorrek and Sólarljó?. The students will work with aspects of origin, tradition and transmission in oral and written form. The origin of the two poems is traditionally placed in different settings, where Sonatorrek is considered to be an orally composed poem from the 10th century, while Sólarljó? is seen as a written composition from the 13th century. The course will therefore address questions concerning oral tradition and its transmission into the manuscript culture of the Middle Ages.
Sonatorrek is today generally read in connection to the Icelandic family saga Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar which has as its main character the skald Egill who allegedly composed the poem. In the medieval versions of the saga, however, there is only one single stanza preserved of Sonatorrek, while the full poem is only extant in two manuscripts from the 17th century. A similar situation is the case for Sólarljó? which is extant only in a large number of manuscripts from the 17th and 18th centuries. This means that an understanding of the origin and tradition of these two poems also needs to involve the manuscript transmission in post-medieval manuscripts.
The course will work as a research seminar where the students are expected to contribute by searching for and establish a bibliography of relevant literature, investigating the manuscript transmission and discuss critically the implications of the source situation. The students are expected to learn how to approach a research material, form research questions, and carry out investigations in order to further their insights. The seminar will further offer training in working in a team to achieve the results of a research project. In order to reach this goal the students will be expected to present their individual research tasks in the seminar throughout the semester. The course will be examinated in the form of a ten page semester assignment.