When did Icelanders use Latin and how good were they?

Approximately half of the Icelandic medieval manuscripts is written not only the native language, but contains also Latin. The Latin text can be part of the main text, but can also appear in the margins, where it was added either by the scribe or by a user many years later. In each case there is a connection between the Latin and the Icelandic, indicating how the producer and the reader used language in their everyday life. As a phenomenom, bilingual manuscripts show how language was used in Icelandic society, which rules it followed and which competences it expected.

Astrid Marner is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow at the University of Copenhagen. More information about her research is available at the website of the research project www.invisibilia.dk.

NB: This lecture will be held in Danish.

All interested parties are welcome!