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Thyle
A thyle ( OE ''þyle'', ON ''þulr'') was a member of the court associated with Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon royalty and chieftains in the Early Middle Ages, whose precise role is uncertain but probably had to do with the preservation of knowledge of the past and the judging of present statements against it. Most literary references are found in Icelandic and Old English literature like the ''Hávamál'', where the term ''Fimbulþulr'', "the great thyle", presumably refers to Odin himself, and ''Beowulf''. In ''Gautreks saga'', Starkad is referred to as a þulr after he sacrifices a king.Michael J. Enright, "The Warband Context of the Unferth Episode", ''Speculum'' 73.2 (1998) 297–337, , . The word also appears on the runic inscription of the Snoldelev Stone. Frederiksberg's original name was ''Tulehøj'' ("Thyle Hill"). The Old English term is glossed as Latin ''histrio'' "orator" and ''curra'' "jester"; ''þylcræft'' means "elocution". ''Zoëga's Concise Dictionary of Old ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unferð
In the Old English epic poem ''Beowulf'', Unferth or Hunferth is a thegn (a retainer, servant) of the Danish lord Hrothgar. He appears five times in the poem — four times by the name 'Hunferð' (at lines 499, 530, 1165 and 1488) and once by the appellation "the son of Eclafes" (at line 980). The name ''Unferth'' does not appear in any Old English manuscript outside of the Nowell Codex, which contains ''Beowulf'', and the meaning of the name is disputed. Several scholarly theories about Unferth have been proposed. Unferth is also the name of a character in the modern novel '' Grendel'' by John Gardner, based upon the ''Beowulf'' epic. Etymology Unferth's name can be understood in a number of ways. A common reading, by Morton W. Bloomfield is to see it as ''un'' + ''frith'', "mar peace": similarly, J. R. R. Tolkien considered the name to mean Unpeace/Quarrel, or perhaps 'Unfriend'. However, Searle's ''Onomasticon Anglo-Saxonicum'' lists several mentions of medieval historic per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snoldelev Stone
The Snoldelev Stone, listed as DR 248 in the Rundata catalog, is a 9th-century runestone that was originally located at Snoldelev, Ramsø, Denmark. Description The Snoldelev Stone, which is 1.25 meters in height, is decorated with painted scratches depicting a design of three drinking horns interlocking as incomplete Borromean rings (similar to the Diane de Poitiers three crescents emblem). The stone was first noted in 1810, and was turned over to the national Antiquities Commission in 1811. The runestone is now housed at the National Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen, Denmark. The inscription on the Snoldelev Stone shows an early version of the Younger Futhark. Like the late Elder Futhark Björketorp Runestone, it uses an a-rune which has the same form as the h-rune has in the long-branch version of the younger futhark. This a-rune is transliterated with capital A below. The Snoldelev runestone also retains the elder futhark haglaz rune () for the h-phoneme and this is represente ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frederiksberg
Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less than 9 km2 and had a population of 103,192 in 2015. Frederiksberg is an enclave surrounded by Copenhagen Municipality. Some sources ambiguously refer to Frederiksberg as a quarter or neighbourhood of Copenhagen, being one of the four municipalities that constitute the City of Copenhagen (the other three being Copenhagen, Tårnby and Dragør). However, Frederiksberg has its own mayor and municipal council, and is fiercely independent. Frederiksberg is an affluent area, characterised by its many green spaces such as the Frederiksberg Gardens, Søndermarken, and Hostrups Have. Some institutions and locations that are widely considered to be part of Copenhagen are actually located in Frederiksberg. For example, Copenhagen Zoo as wel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anglo-Saxon Paganism
Anglo-Saxon paganism, sometimes termed Anglo-Saxon heathenism, Anglo-Saxon pre-Christian religion, or Anglo-Saxon traditional religion, refers to the religious beliefs and practices followed by the Anglo-Saxons between the 5th and 8th centuries AD, during the initial period of Early Medieval England. A variant of Germanic paganism found across much of north-western Europe, it encompassed a heterogeneous variety of beliefs and cultic practices, with much regional variation. Developing from the earlier Iron Age religion of continental northern Europe, it was introduced to Britain following the Anglo-Saxon migration in the mid 5th century, and remained the dominant belief system in England until the Christianisation of its kingdoms between the 7th and 8th centuries, with some aspects gradually blending into folklore. The pejorative terms ''paganism'' and ''heathenism'' were first applied to this religion by Christian Anglo-Saxons, and it does not appear that these pagans had a nam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Symbel
Symbel ( OE) and sumbl ( ON) are Germanic terms for "feast, banquet". Accounts of the ''symbel'' are preserved in the Anglo-Saxon ''Beowulf'' (lines 489-675 and 1491–1500), ''Dream of the Rood'' (line 141) and '' Judith'' (line 15), Old Saxon ''Heliand'' (line 3339), and the Old Norse ''Lokasenna'' (stanza 8) as well as other Eddic and Saga texts, such as in the ''Heimskringla'' account of the funeral ale held by King Sweyn, or in the ''Fagrskinna''. Paul C. Bauschatz in 1976 suggested that the term reflects a pagan ritual which had a "great religious significance in the culture of the early Germanic people".First proposed at the Third International Conference of Nordic and General Linguistics, at the University of Texas at Austin, April 5–9, 1976 (published in 1978), elaborated in Bauschatz, "The Germanic ritual feast" and ''The Well and the Tree''; Pollington, ''Mead-hall''. Etymology The prevalent view today is that Old English ''symbel'', Old Saxon ''symbal, sumbal'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skald
A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditionally composed on one occasion, sometimes extempore, and include both extended works and single verses ('' lausavísur''). They are characteristically more ornate in form and diction than eddic poems, employing many kennings and heiti, more interlacing of sentence elements, and the complex ''dróttkvætt'' metre. More than 5,500 skaldic verses have survived, preserved in more than 700 manuscripts, including in several sagas and in Snorri Sturluson's ''Prose Edda'', a handbook of skaldic composition that led to a revival of the art. Many of these verses are fragments of originally longer works, and the authorship of many is unknown. The earliest known skald from whom verses survive is Bragi Boddason, known as Bragi the Old, a Norwegian skald of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jester
A jester, court jester, fool or joker was a member of the household of a nobleman or a monarch employed to entertain guests during the medieval and Renaissance eras. Jesters were also itinerant performers who entertained common folk at fairs and town markets, and the discipline continues into the modern day, where jesters perform at historical-themed events. During the Middle Ages, jesters are often thought to have worn brightly colored clothes and eccentric hats in a motley pattern. Their modern counterparts usually mimic this costume. Jesters entertained with a wide variety of skills: principal among them were song, music, and storytelling, but many also employed acrobatics, juggling, telling jokes (such as puns, stereotypes, and imitation), and performing magic tricks. Much of the entertainment was performed in a comic style. Many jesters made contemporary jokes in word or song about people or events well known to their audiences. Etymology The modern use of the English w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christianization
Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, continued through the Middle Ages in Europe, and in the twenty-first century has spread around the globe. Historically, there are four stages of Christianization beginning with individual conversion, followed by the translation of Christian texts into local vernacular language, establishing education and building schools, and finally, social reform that sometimes emerged naturally and sometimes included politics, government, coercion and even force through colonialism. The first countries to make Christianity their state religion were Armenia, Georgia, Ethiopia and Eritrea. In the fourth to fifth centuries, multiple tribes of Germanic barbarians converted to either Arian or orthodox Christianity. The Frankish empire begins during this same per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedicate their life to serving other people and serving God, or to be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live their life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many religions and in philosophy. In the Greek language, the term can apply to women, but in modern English it is mainly in use for men. The word ''nun'' is typically used for female monastics. Although the term ''monachos'' is of Christian origin, in the English language ''monk'' tends to be used loosely also for both male and female ascetics from other religious or philosophical backgrounds. However, being generic, it is not interchangeable with terms that denote particular kinds of monk, such as cenobite, hermit, anchor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comitatus (classical Meaning)
''Comitatus'' was in ancient times the Latin term for an armed escort or retinue. The term is used especially in the context of Germanic warrior culture for a warband tied to a leader by an oath of fealty and describes the relations between a lord and his retainers, or thanes (OE þegn). The concept is generally considered by scholars to be more of a literary trope rather than one of historical accuracy. Scholars Bruce Mitchell and Fred C. Robinson describe the ''comitatus'' more fully:An heroic warrior brought up in this 'comitatus''tradition would show a reckless disregard for his life. Whether he was doomed or not, courage was best, for the brave man could win ''lof'' lory among menwhile the coward might die before his time. This is the spirit which inspired the code of the ''comitatus''. While his lord lived, the warrior owed him loyalty unto death. If his lord were killed, the warrior had to avenge him or die in the attempt. The lord in his turn had the duty of being genero ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scop
A ( or ) was a poet as represented in Old English poetry. The scop is the Old English counterpart of the Old Norse ', with the important difference that "skald" was applied to historical persons, and scop is used, for the most part, to designate oral poets ''within'' Old English literature. Very little is known about scops, and their historical existence is questioned by some scholars. Functions The scop, like the similar gleeman, was a reciter of poetry. The scop, however, was typically attached to a court on a relatively permanent basis. There, he most likely received rich gifts for his performances. The performances often featured the recitation of recognisable texts such as the "old pagan legends of the Germanic tribes." However, the scop's duties also included ''composing'' his own poetry in different situations, the eulogizing of his master. While some scops moved from court to court, they were (generally speaking) less nomadic than the gleemen and had positions of gre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rígsþula
''Rígsþula'' or ''Rígsmál'' (Old Norse: 'The Lay of Ríg') is an Eddic poem, preserved in the manuscript (AM 242 fol, the Codex Wormianus), in which a Norse god named Ríg or Rígr, described as "old and wise, mighty and strong,", fathers the social classes of mankind. The prose introduction states that Rígr is another name for Heimdall, who is also called the father of mankind in ''Völuspá''. However, there seems to be some confusion of Heimdall and Odinn, see below. In ''Rígsþula'', Rig wanders through the world and fathers the progenitors of the three classes of human beings as conceived by the poet. The youngest of these sons inherits the name or title "Ríg" and so in turn does his youngest son, Kon the Young or ''Kon ungr'' ( on, konungr, king). This third Ríg was the first true king and the ultimate founder of the state of royalty as appears in the ''Rígsþula'' and in two other associated works. In all three sources he is connected with two primordial Danish r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
