Intermediate Languages Portal

Designed for students who have completed an introductory Latin textbook and wish to explore real Latin texts at a gentle pace, this class will walk students through a selection of Psalms from the Latin Vulgate, adapting the quantity of texts and homework to meet the needs of the enrolled students. We will parse passages and read the psalms clause by clause, moving somewhat slowly to allow ample time for grammatical review as students test different translation techniques and absorb new abbreviations, grammatical quirks, and irregular or new forms.

Note: Students who took this module in 2023 are welcome to repeat it; the 2024 module will feature different psalms than its predecessor.

The Anglo-Saxon monk, priest and bishop Wulfstan (†1023) is, after Ælfric of Eynsham, the most famous author of Old English homilies. His alliterative prose, inventive vocabulary, and – most importantly – his fire-and-brimstone preaching style make him a joy to read. The scenes he invokes are both terrifying and captivating, and his descriptions of the invading Vikings as God’s punishment offer a unique glimpse into the mentality of a terrified English people in the 10th and 11th centuries. Come join us for a month of Anglo-Saxon “Old Time Religion” and see if you can master reciting the Old English phrase “Leofan men” with a Johnny Cash accent (suede tunic optional).

This unit is open to anyone who has a basic familiarity with the Old English language. We will begin by reading Wulfstan’s most famous sermon, the “Sermon of the Wolf” (Sermo Lupi ad Anglos), to gain familiarity with his style and to see some Viking action. After that, we will continue on to “On False Gods” for a bit more Christian vs. Pagan Linguistic Bloodsports before moving on to his more pious eschatological work. Wulfstan’s oeuvre is large, so each iteration of this module can focus on a different facet of his work.

The Old English poem The Phoenix, a 677-line alliterative reworking of the Latin De Ave Phoenice, combines striking similes and intricate (if somewhat overworked) allegories with a simple, formulaic style that renders the poem a classic example of Anglo-Saxon wrestling with Classical ideas. The result is an intermediate-level work which offers Old English students a chance to move beyond coursebook Old English and into reading scholarly textual editions. Join Dr. Isaac for a relaxed reading group experience as we work through the text and engage with it on every level: reading closely, interpreting on a literary level, and (time permitting) comparing it with other texts in Old and Middle English, Old Norse, and Latin.

There are currently two good editions of The Phoenix, one from the Exeter Series of Medieval texts (978-0859893428; originally published in 1964 but republished in 1990) and a dual-language (Old English/Modern English) one with Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library series in the volume Old English Shorter Poems, Volume I: Religious and Didactic (ISBN: 978-0674057890). Either edition is fine.

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:

Intermediate Old Norse Poetry allows students to translate complete versions of several of the most famous works of medieval Old Norse literature in the original language.

Students will develop existing translation skills by reading complex texts at the intermediate level. The course also includes a significant amount of Old Norse paleography, i.e. reading digital images of original medieval manuscripts written in the language.

Reading Eddic poetry provides a foundation for continued exploration of Old Norse literature in the original language. Since the Eddic corpus is the most famous and broadly read, it allows an expert level exploration into scholarly issues within Old Norse studies and Germanic philology.

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:

Intermediate Old Norse Poetry allows students to translate complete versions of several of the most famous works of medieval Old Norse literature in the original language.

Students will develop existing translation skills by reading complex texts at the intermediate level. The course also includes a significant amount of Old Norse paleography, i.e. reading digital images of original medieval manuscripts written in the language.

Reading Eddic poetry provides a foundation for continued exploration of Old Norse literature in the original language. Since the Eddic corpus is the most famous and broadly read, it allows an expert level exploration into scholarly issues within Old Norse studies and Germanic philology.

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:

Intermediate Old Norse Poetry allows students to translate complete versions of several of the most famous works of medieval Old Norse literature in the original language.

Students will develop existing translation skills by reading complex texts at the intermediate level. The course also includes a significant amount of Old Norse paleography, i.e. reading digital images of original medieval manuscripts written in the language.

Reading Eddic poetry provides a foundation for continued exploration of Old Norse literature in the original language. Since the Eddic corpus is the most famous and broadly read, it allows an expert level exploration into scholarly issues within Old Norse studies and Germanic philology.

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:

Intermediate Old Norse Poetry allows students to translate complete versions of several of the most famous works of medieval Old Norse literature in the original language.

Students will develop existing translation skills by reading complex texts at the intermediate level. The course also includes a significant amount of Old Norse paleography, i.e. reading digital images of original medieval manuscripts written in the language.

Reading Eddic poetry provides a foundation for continued exploration of Old Norse literature in the original language. Since the Eddic corpus is the most famous and broadly read, it allows an expert level exploration into scholarly issues within Old Norse studies and Germanic philology.

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:

Intermediate Old Norse Poetry allows students to translate complete versions of several of the most famous works of medieval Old Norse literature in the original language.

Students will develop existing translation skills by reading complex texts at the intermediate level. The course also includes a significant amount of Old Norse paleography, i.e. reading digital images of original medieval manuscripts written in the language.

Reading Eddic poetry provides a foundation for continued exploration of Old Norse literature in the original language. Since the Eddic corpus is the most famous and broadly read, it allows an expert level exploration into scholarly issues within Old Norse studies and Germanic philology.

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.

This series will help introduce students to the breadth and depth of Greek texts available for intermediate-level study. Each month, Dr. Larry Swain surveys the group to see which text students are most interested in exploring next.

Some of the texts we could explore in a given month include:
• Stump the Swain: Easy Classical Greek Readings
• Easy Koine Greek Readings
• Advanced Greek Readings: Gospel of Matthew
• Advanced Greek Readings: Gospel of John Series
• Advanced Greek Readings: Paul's Letter to the Galatians

Note: Please refer to the Required Texts section on a month's iteration page to see which texts the group has decided upon for a given month.

This series will help introduce students to the breadth and depth of Latin texts available for intermediate-level study . Each month, our preceptors survey the group using the Intermediate Latin Series survey form to see which text students are most interested in exploring next.

Some of the texts we could explore in a given month include:
• Latin: The Vulgate Gospel of Matthew
• Latin: Plautus' Miles Gloriosus (the Braggart Soldier)
• Latin: Augustine's Confessions
• Intermediate Latin Readings: Catullus
• Intermediate Latin Readings: The Vulgate Bible 1
• Intermediate Latin Readings: The Vulgate Hester
• Intermediate Latin Readings: Caesar’s Gallic Wars
• Intermediate Latin Readings: Martial’s Epigrammata
• Intermediate Latin Readings: Gesta Romanorum
• Intermediate Latin Readings: Horace
• Advanced Latin Readings: Cicero's Pro Archia Oration
• Advanced Latin Readings: Aesop's Fables
• Advanced Latin Readings: Hobbitus Ille
• Advanced Latin Readings: Silius Italicus' 'Punica'
• Advanced Latin Readings: Vergil's Aeneid in a Year

Note: Please refer to the Required Texts section on a month's iteration page to see which texts the group has decided upon for a given month.