Some Reflections on Writing a New History of Texts for the Scandinavian Middle Ages

Abstract

The present book is the first in a new series intended to provide the foundation for a new history of texts in transmission in the Scandinavian Middle Ages. It is therefore relevant to stress what is central to and new about this approach to medieval manuscript culture. The traditional synthesis in the form of literary history is generally presented as a chronological narrative formed around the production of works, primarily works at the centre of an accepted canon. Our contention is that it is more relevant to establish a dynamic model based on the dissemination, distribution, and reception of texts in motion rather than static works , while to some degree, however, retaining relevant aspects of the production of the original form. One central aim is to provide the theoretical and methodological framework for such a narrative of the history of texts. Our use of the concepts of genre and type of text will, for example, as a consequence also be determined by the actual reception of texts over time rather than by fixed and static categories. At the outset, it is also important to stress that the material taken into account will to a large extent involve texts that are traditionally placed outside of the canon. This enables us to form a more comprehensive view of the emerging literate culture in Latin and the vernacular. The literate Ages, manuscripts writing, has all levels, motifs larger textual units e.g. is obvious, however, that tendency earlier various fields study, and conflicting tendencies leading changes manuscripts to concept, and suggest the following hypotheses about central phenomena in the processes of