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This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course

The Beginning Old Norse series is designed to learn the basics of reading and translating Old Norse from the ground up. Old Norse is a term used broadly to refer to languages and dialects of Viking Age and Medieval Scandinavia, and sometimes more specifically to refer to Old Icelandic, the form of the language used in Medieval Iceland. It was in Old Icelandic that the largest body of pre-modern Scandinavian literature was written, including the prose sagas and a wealth of mythological and legendary poetry. No prior knowledge of the language or study of historical languages is assumed or required.

Beginning Old Norse 1 provides a complete overview of Old Norse grammar, while also starting to explore assisted readings in the original Old Norse language.This course begins with a focus on Old Norse-Icelandic grammar, with the immediate aim of helping students develop basic reading abilities in the language, while also highlighting connections to other Germanic languages as a gateway to Germanic philology. We begin by gently learning the grammar through exercises, synthesizing basic knowledge of building blocks of the Old Norse grammatical system.

Format: 2 hours of lectures per week; 2 hours of live class meetings per week, for 7 weeks, with an assessment week at the end.

Assessments: Ungraded exercises reviewed in class; one graded exam at the end of the module

Goals and Skills:

This series is graduate level in intensity.

Fee: 3 Signum Tokens

This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course

The Beginning Old Norse series is designed to learn the basics of reading and translating Old Norse from the ground up. Old Norse is a term used broadly to refer to languages and dialects of Viking Age and Medieval Scandinavia, and sometimes more specifically to refer to Old Icelandic, the form of the language used in Medieval Iceland. It was in Old Icelandic that the largest body of pre-modern Scandinavian literature was written, including the prose sagas and a wealth of mythological and legendary poetry. No prior knowledge of the language or study of historical languages is assumed or required.

Beginning Old Norse 2 continues where Beginning Norse 1 leaves off, and where we dive head first into reading authentic Old Norse texts in the original. Students start to use this linguistic and grammatical knowledge to read from a selection of Old Norse prose and poetic texts, and to look beyond Old Norse to selected Viking Age runic texts in conclusion.

Format: 2 hours of lectures per week; 2 hours of live class meetings per week, for 7 weeks, with an assessment week at the end.

Assessments: Ungraded exercises reviewed in class; one graded exam at the end of the module

Goals and Skills:

This series is graduate level in intensity.

Fee: 3 Signum Tokens

This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course

Beginning Old Norse is designed to learn the basics of reading and translating Old Norse from the ground up. Old Norse is a term used broadly to refer to languages and dialects of Viking Age and Medieval Scandinavia, and sometimes more specifically to refer to Old Icelandic, the form of the language used in Medieval Iceland. It was in Old Icelandic that the largest body of pre-modern Scandinavian literature was written, including the prose sagas and a wealth of mythological and legendary poetry. No prior knowledge of the language or study of historical languages is assumed or required.

Goals and Skills:

This series is graduate level in intensity

This course is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course or any of its modules.

This course and all modules within it have prerequisites. Please read all details before enrolling in this course or its modules.

The world-famous Old Norse Eddic poetry corpus was collected in medieval Iceland, and represents a world literary treasure capturing a variety of mythic and legendary narratives from early Scandinavia and the wider Germanic tradition. This four-module course focuses on reading selections from this poetic literature in the original Old Norse, providing students with not only the opportunity to practice their skills in translating the Old Norse language but also to become more familiar with these narratives as windows into early medieval culture.

Goals and Skills:

This series is graduate level in intensity

All modules in this course assume competency with Old Norse vocabulary and grammar. Students should complete the Beginning Old Norse series before attempting these intermediate modules. Students who have passed Introduction to Old Norse in the Signum MA program may bypass this requirement. Students who have familiarity with Old Norse from another scholarly experience may apply for an independent evaluation of their Old Norse skills, which, if passed satisfactorily, will also permit direct enrollment in this module.

This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course or any of its modules.

This module is part of the Intermediate Old Norse Poetry series.

This module has prerequisites. Please read all details before enrolling.

Course Description

Old Norse Heroic Eddic Poetry 1 focuses primarily on reading legendary poetry of the world-famous Eddic corpus. The poems we will read in this module include: Hlöðskviða and Fáfnismál. Special attention will be paid to reading Fáfnismál in its original manuscript.

Format: 4 weeks of live classes with 2 hours of live class meetings per week. Translation in a group setting.

Assessments: Critique of translations in class and in a summative exercise.

Materials: No additional books or materials required.

Fee: 2 Tokens.

Goals and Skills:

This course is graduate level in intensity.

This module assumes general competency with Old Norse vocabulary and grammar. Students should complete the Beginning Old Norse series before attempting these intermediate modules. Students who have passed Introduction to Old Norse in the Signum MA program may bypass this requirement. Students who have familiarity with Old Norse from another scholarly experience may apply for an independent evaluation of their Old Norse skills, which, if passed satisfactorily, will also permit direct enrollment in this module.

This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course or any of its modules.

This module is part of the Intermediate Old Norse Poetry series.

This module has prerequisites. Please read all details before enrolling.

Course Description

Old Norse Heroic Eddic Poetry 2 focuses on the legendary cycle of Eddic poetry, including the poems Sigrdrífumál and Guðrúnarkviða I. In addition to translating each of these poems in full, special attention will be paid to reading the texts in their original medieval manuscripts.

Format: 4 weeks of live classes with 2 hours of live class meetings per week. Translation in a group setting.

Assessments: Critique of translations in class; oral presentation at the end of the module

Materials: No additional books or materials required.

Fee: 2 Tokens.

Goals and Skills:

This course is graduate level in intensity

This module assumes general competency with Old Norse vocabulary and grammar. Students should complete the Beginning Old Norse series before attempting these intermediate modules. Students who have passed Introduction to Old Norse in the Signum MA program may bypass this requirement. Students who have familiarity with Old Norse from another scholarly experience may apply for an independent evaluation of their Old Norse skills, which, if passed satisfactorily, will also permit direct enrollment in this module. Students are encouraged but not required to take "Old Norse Heroic Eddic Poetry 1" before taking this related module.

This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course or any of its modules.

This module is part of the Intermediate Old Norse Poetry series.

This module has prerequisites. Please read all details before enrolling.

Course Description

Old Norse Mythological Eddic Poetry explores three of the mythological poems of Old Norse, The poems in this module include: Grímnismál, Völuspá, and Skírnismál. Similarly to other Old Norse modules, we will explore and read the original medieval manuscripts of these poems secondarily to the main translation assignments.

Format: 4 weeks of live classes with 2 hours of live class meetings per week. Translation in a group setting.

Assessments: Critique of translations in class; summative writing assignment (c. 3000 words)

Materials: No additional books or materials required.

Fee: 2 Tokens.

Goals and Skills:

This course is graduate level in intensity.

This module assumes general competency with Old Norse vocabulary and grammar. Students should complete the Beginning Old Norse series before attempting these intermediate modules. Students who have passed Introduction to Old Norse in the Signum MA program may bypass this requirement. Students who have familiarity with Old Norse from another scholarly experience may apply for an independent evaluation of their Old Norse skills, which, if passed satisfactorily, will also permit direct enrollment in this module.

This module is part of the Academic Mastery program. Please apply to the AM program before enrolling in this course or any of its modules.

This module is part of the Intermediate Old Norse Poetry series.

This module has prerequisites. Please read all details before enrolling.

Course Description

Old Norse Skaldic and Runic Poetry introduces two of the more difficult areas of Old Norse poetry: skaldic poetry, and runic inscriptions. For skaldic poetry, less attention will be paid to the manuscripts, but runic inscriptions with poetic text will be examined visually using digital images to learn how to decipher the original text.

Format: 4 weeks of live classes with 2 hours of live class meetings per week. Translation in a group setting.

Assessments: Critique of translations in class and summative project of the student's choice.

Materials: No additional books or materials required.

Fee: 2 Tokens.

Goals and Skills:

This course is graduate level in intensity.

This module assumes intermediate competency with Old Norse vocabulary and grammar. Students should complete the Beginning Old Norse series and at least one Intermediate Old Norse module (Old Norse Heroic Eddic Poetry 1 or 2, or Old Norse Mythological Eddic Poetry) before attempting this module. Students who have familiarity with Old Norse from another scholarly experience may apply for an independent evaluation of their Old Norse skills, which, if passed satisfactorily, will also permit direct enrollment in this module.