| Abstract [eng] |
This dissertation deals with Viking Age Celtic and Scandinavian language and cultural contacts which resulted in profound changes in both societies. Viking Age rune-stones found in the Isle of Man contain some exceptional features and in many ways diverge from the rest of the Scandinavian runic corpus. Presence of the Ogam tradition in the Isle of Man might have been one of the factors why rune-stones were so well accepted and flourished in the isle during the Viking Age. One of the most unique features is the presence of bilingual runic-Ogam inscriptions which were carved at the same time as runic inscriptions and not earlier. Linguistic research of the Manx rune-inscriptions revealed the influence of Celtic upon Scandinavian language. First of all, rune-inscriptions contain a lot of Celtic personal names. Besides, there are many cases of inflectional confusion that is likely to arise in a bilingual society. The second part of the dissertation discusses Celtic elements in the only surviving ballad in Norn language Hildinavisen, which seems to have been created in continually changing linguistic, social and cultural conditions. The marine societies of Shetland and Orkney Islands generated various stories, where motifs and elements traveled from various directions. Hildinavisen is certainly of West Scandinavian origin, but it contains or rather is adorned with Celtic motifs. The analysis of the text of Hildinavisen seems to indicate that in the level of the story Hildinavisen borrows substantially from the Celtic narrative tradition. Various motifs are externally imposed and later adapted in Scandinavian material. Especially prominent is the appeal of ‘King and goddess theme’. But if there are some cases of borrowing, it is by no means direct, because Celtic motifs are adapted, transformed and melted in the text of Scandinavian ballad. |
