The Development of Education and Grammatica in Medieval Iceland By Ryder Patzuk-Russell A Thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of Doctor of Medieval History Department of History School of History and Cultures College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham November 2016 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract This study explores how education and the medieval intellectual and pedagogical discipline of grammatica developed in Iceland during the medieval period, defined roughly from the official conversion to Christianity c.1000 to the Reformation c.1550. The first chapter deals with social, institutional, and financial aspects of teaching and learning in medieval Iceland, surveying key figures and places, but also arguing that more attention should be paid to the costs of learning and the effect of that on poor students. The second chapter addresses Latin education, discussing the importance of Latinity in medieval Iceland and the types of education that would involve Latin. It also addresses the idea of bilingual education and suggests ways in which extant vernacular writings can provide evidence for how Latin was taught and learned using the vernacular, using the model of Old English bilingual education. Finally, the third chapter addresses vernacular topics of learning, focusing on the development of a vernacular grammatica which is focused on the interpretation and normalization of Old Norse texts, rather than the understanding and use of Latin. Discussing these three components of educational history together is fundamental to understanding the intellectual and pedagogical dynamics behind the extant medieval Icelandic textual corpus. Acknowledgements I have had an incomparable support network during this dissertation project, and there are more excellent people to whom I am indebted than I can enumerate: my supervisor Chris Callow for his advice, guidance, patience, and meticulous editing – all errors that remain are my own; my fellow PhDs at the University of Birmingham, above all Bernadette McCooey, for their support, company, and encouragement; the rising stars of Old Norse intellectual history, Dale Kedwards and Nik Gunn, for excellent discussions and the reminder that my work might not be that esoteric after all; James McMullen and Paul Peterson for keeping me humble; Rebecca Merkelbach, Joanne Shortt Butler, Ben Allport, David Baker, Caitlin Ellis, Moa Höijer, and all the rest of the Cambridge folk for good company, beer, and for making me feel like a part of the community; Margaret Cormack for sharing her work, interest, and excellent advice; Cassidy Patzuk-Russell and Lynne Russell for unfailing support and confidence; all the folks at the Munrow Sports Centre for keeping me sane. Finally, I would like to thank Haraldr Bernharðsson, Svanhildur Óskarsdóttir, Torfi Tulinius and everyone else at Háskoli Íslands and the Stofnun Árna Magnússonar for getting me into this, and convincing me that I might have something to contribute. Contents Introduction 1 I. Medieval Icelandic Society and Culture 2 II. Grammatica and Medieval Education 3 III. Primary Sources for Icelandic Education and Grammatica 7 IV. Outline of this Study 18 Chapter 1: Schools and Education in Iceland 21 1.1 The Historical Background and Sources of Icelandic Education 21 1.1.1 Education in the Commonwealth Period 22 1.1.2 Education after 1262 34 1.1.3 The Biskupasögur as Sources 44 1.2 Educational Contexts and Institutions 50 1.2.1 Fosterage and Education 53 1.2.2 Cathedrals and the Institutional Aspect of Education 60 1.2.3 Education in Monasteries 69 1.2.4 Education Abroad 72 1.3 Teachers, Patrons, and Students 79 1.3.1 Teachers and Patrons 79 1.3.2 Cost and Function of Education for Students 83 Conclusion 92 Chapter 2: Latinity and Bilingual Education 94 2.1 The Significance of Latin 96 2.1.1 Liturgy, Booklists, and the Missing Latin Corpus 97 2.1.2 Elite Latinity: Teaching, Communication, and Personal Devotion 106 2.2 A Bilingual Educational System: Elementary Education and Grammatica 116 2.2.1 Elementary Education: Alphabets and Music 117 2.2.2 Elementary Learning: Computus and Calendrical Lore 121 2.2.3 Elementary to Intermediate: Basic Reading, Grammatica, and the Clerical Curriculum 124 2.2.4 Grammatica, Booklists, and Advanced Learning 132 2.2.5 The Problem of Literacy: Quantitative Analyses and Qualitative Judgments 146 2.3 Latin and the Vernacular and the ON Grammatical Treatises 151 2.3.1 The English and German Models 152 2.3.2 Old English, German, and the Origins of Icelandic Grammatica 156 2.3.3 Grammatical Terminology in ON and OE 163 Conclusion 172 Chapter 3: The Development of Vernacular Grammatica 175 3.1 The Origins and Influences of Icelandic Vernacular Grammatica 176 3.1.1 The Precedent of Runacy, Poetics, History, and Law 177 3.1.2 The Development of Textualization and Vernacular Grammatica 190 3.1.3 Intersection of Developing Grammatical Traditions 200 3.2 Development of Interpretation in Vernacular Grammatica 213 3.2.1 Vernacular Normalization, Truth, and Interpretation 213 3.2.2 Complex Language and Interpretation 222 3.2.3 Simple Language and Interpretation 232 3.3 Teaching Vernacular Grammatica 239 3.3.1 The Pedagogical Functions of Vernacular Grammatica and of Latin Grammatica 239 3.3.2 Teaching Vernacular Grammatica to the Laity 245 Conclusion 249 Conclusion 251 Appendix 1: Diplomatic Evidence of Schools and Teaching 256 Appendix 2: Glossary of Old Norse Grammatical Terminology 311 Appendix 3: Excerpts of Old Norse Commentary on Language Use 347 Bibliography 365 Abbreviations 1GT: First Grammatical Treatise 2GT: Second Grammatical Treatise 3GT: Third Grammatical Treatise 4GT: Fourth Grammatical Treatise DI: Diplomatarium Islendicum DN: Diplomatarium Norvegicum MG: Málskrúðsfræði MS: Málsfræðinnar Grundvöllr OE: Old English ON: Old Norse ONP: Dictionary of Old Norse Prose Introduction Education is a key and often under-appreciated component of medieval culture, society, and textuality. The relationship between students, teachers, schools, ideologies and disciplines of learning, and pedagogical texts relates to many different aspects of history, affecting intellectual, social, institutional, and even economic issues. For the distinct social and cultural context of medieval Iceland, involving a unique corpus of vernacular literature produced in an unusually decentralized and rural society, questions of education are particularly pertinent: how did teaching and learning occur, what topics were important, who was involved and how did education affect individuals and society? This study will broadly examine the topic of education in medieval Iceland for the period from Christianization to the Reformation, roughly 1000-1550. Dealing with such a wide topic over such a long period means that this study cannot address in detail all aspects and issues of medieval Icelandic education. The goal is rather to open educational topics to new questions and research, to show the significance of education, Latinity, and grammatical learning to other fields of historical and literary study, and above all to argue for the complexity and diversity of educational contexts and practices. No previous study has attempted to deal with Icelandic education on this comprehensive level. To this end a wide diversity of sources will be examined: sagas and other narrative sources, legal codes, documents and liturgical writings, poetry, and grammatical treatises. The discipline of grammatica requires particular attention in the study of medieval Icelandic education for several reasons. First, it is the core discipline of medieval pedagogy, addressing basic Latin literacy and textual interpretation, but it also represents a body of ideology and philosophy about language and learning that affects many aspects of medieval culture. Second, the Icelandic grammatical treatises are one of the very few pieces of explicitly pedagogical writing surviving from medieval Iceland. Yet, as vernacular texts which deal primarily with Old Norse (ON) language and poetics, they are divergent from the core Latin grammatical tradition, and in their extant forms represent only one narrow aspect of education in Iceland. This dissonance between the wider discipline of grammatica and the 1 Icelandic grammatical treatises is fundamental to the core argument of this study, that Icelandic education is more complex and diverse than has hitherto been suggested. I. Medieval Icelandic Society and Culture Iceland was settled from Norway and other parts of Northern Europe in the later ninth century. It was governed by a group of chieftains known as goðar, along with a legislative body know as the Alþing. In the year 1000, with pressure from the king of Norway Óláfr Tryggvason, Christianity was accepted as the official religion of Iceland by agreement of the Alþing. Over the course of the eleventh and twelfth centuries the two bishoprics, Skálholt and Hólar, and a series of monasteries were established. In 1152 the archbishop of Níðaróss was established in Norway, and ecclesiastical reform began to spread from Norway into Iceland. In 1262, after a period of conflict between increasingly powerful and wealthy families, known as the Age of the Sturlungs, Iceland came under direct control of the Norwegian king. By the end of the thirteenth century, greater control over the Icelandic church from Níðaróss helped shift Icelandic churches from private ownership to episcopal control, and a system of benefices developed for the first time. In 1380, with the union between Norway and Denmark, Iceland switched from Norwegian to Danish rule, and papal influence over the Icelandic bishoprics increased.