The Development of Education in Medieval Iceland

329 Pages·2021·1.807 MB·English

by  Ryder Patzuk-Russell

RyderPatzuk-Russell
TheDevelopmentofEducationinMedievalIceland
The Northern Medieval World
On the Margins of Europe
Editorial Board
CarolyneLarrington,St.John’sCollege,Oxford(Chair)
OrenFalk,CornellUniversity
DawnHadley,UniversityofSheffield
KateHeslop,UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley
JanaSchulman,WesternMichiganUniversity
JónViðarSigurðsson,UniversitetetiOslo
Ryder Patzuk-Russell
The Development
of Education in
Medieval Iceland
ISBN978-1-5015-1855-3
e-ISBN(PDF)978-1-5015-1418-0
e-ISBN(EPUB)978-1-5015-1443-2
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2020947125
BibliographicinformationpublishedbytheDeutscheNationalbibliothek
TheDeutscheNationalbibliothekliststhispublicationintheDeutscheNationalbibliografie;
detailedbibliographicdataareavailableontheinternetathttp://dnb.dnb.de.
©2021WalterdeGruyterGmbH,Berlin/Boston
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Acknowledgements
I have had an incomparable support network during the seven years it took to
complete this book and it would be impossible to sufficiently thank everyone.
Particular gratitude goes to those who endured reading the manuscript in full at
some point or another: David Cole, Margaret Cormack, Chris Callow, Elizabeth
AshmanRowe,andGottskálkJensson.ThankstomyfellowBrumOldNorsespe-
cialists,DaleKedwardsandBernadetteMcCooey,forhelpingmefeellikeapartof
thecommunity,andalwaysbeingtheretoencourageme.Thankstomymomand
sister, Lynne and Cassidy; I would not have even been able to start this process
without their support. Thanks to James McMullen, Rebecca Merkelbach, Tiffany
Nichole White, and all the friends around the world that have continued to hold
offthelonelinessandisolationofacademicwork.Toanyonenotlistedherewho
shouldhavebeen:Ioweyouabeer.
Finally, I would like to thank Haraldur Bernharðsson and everyone at the
Stofnun Árna Magnússonar and Háskóli Íslands for providing the resources it
tooktofinishthisproject.
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501514180-202

Contents
Acknowledgements V
Abbreviations XI
Introduction 1
MedievalIceland 4
MedievalEducation 8
PrimarySourcesforIcelandicEducationandGrammatica 13
OutlineofthisStudy 23
Chapter1
Pre-ChristianandSecularEducation 27
WhatisaSchoolinMedievalIceland? 28
SubjectsofPre-ChristianandSecularEducation 32
Law 33
MagicalArtsandLore 37
Runes 41
Hannyrðir 44
HistoryandGenealogy 46
TheEnigmaofPoeticEducation 48
TheIntersectionsofSecularSubjects 53
FosterageandEducationalContexts 56
StudentsandTeachers 59
TheValueandRoleofEducationinFosterage 62
Conclusion 64
Chapter2
ClericalandChristianEducationI:ContextsandPeople 67
SourcesforMedievalIcelandicSchools 69
TheBiskupasögurandNarrativeSources 70
DocumentarySources 72
LawCodes 74
EducationOutsidetheMonasteriesandCathedrals 75
MissionaryEducationandApprenticeRelationships 76
EducationatMajorChurches 81
ChristianEducationintheHome 89
CathedralSchools 92
Skálholt 94
VIII Contents
Hólar 100
MonasticSchools 107
TheFirstTwoCenturiesofMonasticFoundationsand
Education 110
MonasticFoundationsandEducationfromtheLateThirteenth
Century 116
EducationAbroad 125
FinanceandSocietyinEducation 133
ThePriceofanEducation 133
TheValueofTeachingandLearning 139
Conclusion 144
Chapter3
ClericalandChristianEducationII:TheLatinandBilingual
Curriculum 147
IcelandicLatinity 148
Liturgy,Booklists,andtheMissingLatinCorpus 150
LatininDevotion,Prestige,andInternationalCommunication 156
ABilingualEducationalSystem:GrammaticaandtheClerical
Curriculum 159
ElementaryEducation:AlphabetsandMusic 160
ElementaryLearning:ComputusandCalendricalLearning 165
ElementarytoIntermediate:BasicReading,Grammatica,andthe
ClericalCurriculum 167
Grammatica,Booklists,andAdvancedLearning 177
Latin,theVernacular,andtheONGrammaticalTreatises 191
TheEnglishandGermanModels 191
OldEnglish,German,andtheOriginsofIcelandic
Grammatica 196
GrammaticalTerminologyinONandOE 202
Conclusion 209
Chapter4
VernacularGrammatica 213
TheOriginsandInfluencesofIcelandicVernacularGrammatica 214
ThePrecedentofRunacy 215
TheDevelopmentofTextualizationandVernacular
Grammatica 221
IntersectionofDevelopingGrammaticalTraditions 232
DevelopmentofInterpretationinVernacularGrammatica 245
Contents IX
VernacularNormalization,Truth,andInterpretation 245
ComplexLanguageandInterpretation 250
SimpleLanguageandInterpretation 262
TeachingvernacularGrammatica 269
ThePedagogicalFunctionsofVernacularGrammaticaandof
LatinGrammatica 270
TeachingVernacularGrammaticatotheLaity 274
Conclusion 278
Bibliography 285
IndexofNames 303
GeneralIndex 309