Papers
Formation and Resolution of Ideological Contrast in the Early History of Scandinavia
PhD dissertation; 1999; Dept. of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, & Celtic; Faculty of English; University of Cambridge. (This is not the world's greatest dissertation, but it did teach me a lot about what not to do in future! As a whole, it tried to do too much, and the result is a bit scattered. Nevertheless, there are lots of parts and sections which I still think are kind of OK on their own.)
Some recent studies concerning early medieval Europe have suggested that Scandinavia and Francia represented two ideological poles with which other populations within the Germanic world might have intended to align themselves. While such a view sometimes may be useful, it may also over-simplify a more complex situation. Scandinavians must have recognised cultural distinctions between themselves and Christian Europeans, but may not have viewed these distinctions necessarily as emblems of opposition unless faced by a direct political or military threat. Indeed, ideological contrasts concerning the way society was structured and power was wielded may have cut across apparent ethnic boundaries.
Roman influences on early Germanic society may have assisted in the creation of a ‘Germanic’ identity. Roman pressure also may have affected the development of Germanic governmental structures, encouraging king-centred governmental ideologies that contrasted with possibly older, assembly-centred systems. Scandinavia, never threatened by Roman domination, may have retained assembly-centred structures longer than other Germanic societies. Southern Scandinavia’s ‘central places’ of the Early Germanic Iron Age, such as Gudme, may have had functions comparable with those of the later Old Saxon Assembly and Icelandic Alþingi. Such sites may have provided a focus for an emergent Scandinavian identity. This assembly-centred system may have been disrupted as chieftains struggled to attain the kind of power enjoyed by their counterparts in king-centred societies (much as happened in medieval Iceland), perhaps explaining the poverty of archaeological finds in the region from the Late Germanic Iron Age.
The growing Frankish threat to Scandinavia in the eighth century may have both spurred further consolidation of power in the hands of the élite and, initially, provoked an ideological reaction against Christian Europe. Yet while wary of domination by Christian European kingdoms, the Viking-Age Scandinavian élite may have envied their powerful model of lordship and had an interest in accessing elements of their culture. Such a situation may be reflected in historical legends, particularly the Scylding-Skjöldung cycle, which perhaps developed during the Viking Age. These legends might represent not source material for historical glimpses of early northern Europe (as is often assumed) but rather Scandinavian attempts at self-definition in relation to the burgeoning and powerful cultures of Christian Europe. Scandinavia’s eventual adoption of Christianity and Christian lordship in the course of the Viking Age largely resolved the ideological contrasts that had existed both within Scandinavian society and between Scandinavia and Christian Europe.
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"Let It Snow ...": Considerations on terms for "snow" and "ice" in the Arhuacan languages of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia..
A working paper (intended, hopefully and eventually, for possible publication).
This article considers relationships between various words for “snow” and “ice” in the Arhuacan languages of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, South America—both in still living modern languages and reconstructed proto-forms—in an effort to clarify and amplify the efforts of previous scholars. Particular emphasis is given to Frank’s (1993) comparison of three forms for “snow”, Ika dʒʌn, Kogi nu’wabi, and Damana dɨm, on the basis of which he proposes a Proto-Arhuacan *dub, and to three forms for “ice” in Huber and Reed (1992): Ika dʒwábu, Kogi nəbbu-gəldə, Damana dɨmɨ-ngɨna. Although the evidence for any forms in these languages is generally poor and inconsistent, the analysis of the noted forms presented in the current study suggest that we must regard the Kogi nab’gala and Damana dɨmɨngɨna (both “ice”) as suffixed forms of a proto-word for “snow” that survives directly in Damana dɨm and Ika dʒəN (perhaps, in contrast with Frank’s suggested form *dub, from a form like *dəb-). Additionally, the Kogi word for “snow”, nu’abi, seems likely to be directly cognate with Ika dʒwábu “ice”, perhaps from a proto-form like *duab-, evidently distinct from (but not necessarily unrelated to) Ika dʒəN and Da dɨm (both “snow”) as well as the Kogi element nab- in nab’gala (“ice”).
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