Magnus Olsen
Encyclopedia
Magnus Bernhard Olsen was a Norwegian
linguist and a professor in Norse
philology
at the University of Oslo
from 1908 to 1948. His writings on Norse paganism
and interpretations of the names of Norwegian farms and other placenames were influential.
in 1896, Olsen studied at the University of Oslo and received his Candidatus philologiæ
degree in 1903. From 1899 onwards, he worked as an assistant at the University Library
; from 1902 he was assistant to the almost blind Sophus Bugge
. After 1904 he received a stipend. In 1908, at the age of 30, he was chosen to succeed Bugge as Professor of Old Norse and Icelandic Language and Literature; in 1921 the department was renamed Norse Philology.
During his lifetime, Olsen was one of the most prominent and best known scholars in his field. His publications included 7 volumes of Eddic
and skald
ic poetry with commentary, and also several volumes on runic inscriptions: after assisting Sophus Bugge in completing publication of the inscriptions in the Elder Futhark
, he published the first 5 volumes on the inscriptions in the Younger Futhark
. Although he took magical interpretations of runic inscriptions further than do later scholars, they were always on a reasoned basis. He assisted as joint editor and editor of 3 volumes in the completion of Oluf Rygh
's Norske Gaardnavne
. He is best known for the framework he established for dating placenames and relating them to religion and society in the pre-Christian era, which he presented in two books, Hedenske Kulturminder i Norske Stedsnavne ("Heathen Cultural Remnants in Norwegian Placenames" - 1915) and Ættegård og Helligdom, Norske Stednavn Sosialt og Religionshistorisk Belyst (1926, translated into English as Farms and Fanes of Ancient Norway: The Place-Names of a Country Discussed in Their Bearings on Social and Religious History, 1928). Hva våre stedsnavn lærer oss ("What Our Placenames Teach Us" - 1934) is a succinct introduction to the subject.
Olsen founded the journal Maal og Minne in 1909, and edited it for 40 years. His article in the first issue, "Fra gammelnorsk myte og kultus," was in itself an important contribution to the study of Germanic religion, interpreting "Skírnismál
" in terms of the hieros gamos
. His inaugural lecture in 1908 had had the same title and topic. In 1941, during World War II
, Magnus Olsen was chosen dekanus (Dean) at the university after Francis Bull
was arrested. In 1952 he was honoured with a state pension.
from 1904, a member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters
, and a Knight in the Icelandic Order of the Falcon
and the Swedish Order of the Polar Star
.
In 1912 he married Gjertrud Mathilde Kjær, daughter of Albert Kjær, librarian at the Oslo Public Library
and head librarian at the University Library. Ludvig Holm-Olsen
, professor of Old Norse philology at the University of Bergen
, was his nephew.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
linguist and a professor in Norse
Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
philology
Philology
Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
at the University of Oslo
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...
from 1908 to 1948. His writings on Norse paganism
Norse paganism
Norse paganism is the religious traditions of the Norsemen, a Germanic people living in the Nordic countries. Norse paganism is therefore a subset of Germanic paganism, which was practiced in the lands inhabited by the Germanic tribes across most of Northern and Central Europe in the Viking Age...
and interpretations of the names of Norwegian farms and other placenames were influential.
Biography
After finishing schoolExamen artium
Examen artium was the name of the academic certification conferred in Denmark and Norway, qualifying the student for admission to university studies. Examen artium was originally introduced as the entrance exam of the University of Copenhagen in 1630...
in 1896, Olsen studied at the University of Oslo and received his Candidatus philologiæ
Candidatus Philologiæ
Candidatus philologiae or Candidata philologiae , often abbreviated cand.philol. is an academic degree in Arts and Letters at Danish and Norwegian universities. A cand.philol. is generally considered equivalent to the British Master of Philosophy, the French diplôme d'études approfondies or the...
degree in 1903. From 1899 onwards, he worked as an assistant at the University Library
University Library of Oslo
The University Library of Oslo is a library connected to the University of Oslo.Like the University, it was established in 1811 with Georg Sverdrup as the first head librarian. It originally doubled as the Norwegian national library, and was located at the old University of Oslo campus.In 1913 the...
; from 1902 he was assistant to the almost blind Sophus Bugge
Sophus Bugge
Sophus Bugge was a noted Norwegian philologist and linguist. His scientific work was directed to the study of runic inscriptions and Norse philology. Bugge is best known for his theories and his work on the runic alphabet and the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda. -Background:Elseus Sophus Bugge was...
. After 1904 he received a stipend. In 1908, at the age of 30, he was chosen to succeed Bugge as Professor of Old Norse and Icelandic Language and Literature; in 1921 the department was renamed Norse Philology.
During his lifetime, Olsen was one of the most prominent and best known scholars in his field. His publications included 7 volumes of Eddic
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...
and skald
Skald
The skald was a member of a group of poets, whose courtly poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking Age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry .The most prevalent metre of skaldic poetry is...
ic poetry with commentary, and also several volumes on runic inscriptions: after assisting Sophus Bugge in completing publication of the inscriptions in the Elder Futhark
Elder Futhark
The Elder Futhark is the oldest form of the runic alphabet, used by Germanic tribes for Northwest Germanic and Migration period Germanic dialects of the 2nd to 8th centuries for inscriptions on artifacts such as jewellery, amulets, tools, weapons and runestones...
, he published the first 5 volumes on the inscriptions in the Younger Futhark
Younger Futhark
The Younger Futhark, also called Scandinavian runes, is a runic alphabet, a reduced form of the Elder Futhark, consisting of only 16 characters, in use from ca. 800 CE...
. Although he took magical interpretations of runic inscriptions further than do later scholars, they were always on a reasoned basis. He assisted as joint editor and editor of 3 volumes in the completion of Oluf Rygh
Oluf Rygh
Oluf Rygh was a noted Norwegian archeologist, philologist and historian. Oluf Rygh is recognized as one of the founders of professional archeology in Norway.-Background:...
's Norske Gaardnavne
Norske Gaardnavne
Norske Gaardnavne is a 19 volume set of books based on a manuscript prepared from 1897 to 1924 by Professor Oluf Rygh, a noted professor of archeology, philology and history at the University of Oslo...
. He is best known for the framework he established for dating placenames and relating them to religion and society in the pre-Christian era, which he presented in two books, Hedenske Kulturminder i Norske Stedsnavne ("Heathen Cultural Remnants in Norwegian Placenames" - 1915) and Ættegård og Helligdom, Norske Stednavn Sosialt og Religionshistorisk Belyst (1926, translated into English as Farms and Fanes of Ancient Norway: The Place-Names of a Country Discussed in Their Bearings on Social and Religious History, 1928). Hva våre stedsnavn lærer oss ("What Our Placenames Teach Us" - 1934) is a succinct introduction to the subject.
Olsen founded the journal Maal og Minne in 1909, and edited it for 40 years. His article in the first issue, "Fra gammelnorsk myte og kultus," was in itself an important contribution to the study of Germanic religion, interpreting "Skírnismál
Skírnismál
Skírnismál is one of the poems of the Poetic Edda. It is preserved in the 13th century manuscripts Codex Regius and AM 748 I 4to but may have been originally composed in heathen times...
" in terms of the hieros gamos
Hieros gamos
Hieros gamos or Hierogamy refers to a sexual ritual that plays out a marriage between a god and a goddess, especially when enacted in a symbolic ritual where human participants represent the deities. It is the harmonization of opposites...
. His inaugural lecture in 1908 had had the same title and topic. In 1941, during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Magnus Olsen was chosen dekanus (Dean) at the university after Francis Bull
Francis Bull
Francis Bull was a Norwegian literary historian, professor at the University of Oslo for more than thirty years, essayist and speaker, and magazine editor.-Early and personal life:...
was arrested. In 1952 he was honoured with a state pension.
Personal life
He became a Commander of the Order of St. Olav in 1945. He was a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and LettersNorwegian Academy of Science and Letters
The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway.-History:The University of Oslo was established in 1811. The idea of a learned society in Christiania surfaced for the first time in 1841. The city of Throndhjem had no university, but had a learned...
from 1904, a member of the Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters
Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters
The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters is a learned society based in Trondheim, Norway.-History:DKNVS was founded in 1760 by bishop of Nidaros Johan Ernst Gunnerus, headmaster at the Trondheim Cathedral School Gerhard Schøning and Councillor of State Peter Frederik Suhm under the name...
, and a Knight in the Icelandic Order of the Falcon
Order of the Falcon
The Order of the Falcon or Hin íslenska fálkaorða is a national Order of Iceland, established on July 3, 1921 by King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland.-History and appointments:...
and the Swedish Order of the Polar Star
Order of the Polar Star
The Order of the Polar Star is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I of Sweden on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim....
.
In 1912 he married Gjertrud Mathilde Kjær, daughter of Albert Kjær, librarian at the Oslo Public Library
Oslo Public Library
Oslo Public Library, formally known as the Deichman Library , is the municipal public library serving Oslo, Norway.It is the country's first and largest library. In addition to the main office, it has sixteen branches throughout the city. It also contains several that serve the whole country,...
and head librarian at the University Library. Ludvig Holm-Olsen
Ludvig Holm-Olsen
Ludvig Holm-Olsen was a Norwegian philologist.He was born in Tromøy as a son of shipmaster and accident investigator Peter Olsen and Louise Holm . He was a nephew of Magnus Olsen...
, professor of Old Norse philology at the University of Bergen
University of Bergen
The University of Bergen is located in Bergen, Norway. Although founded as late as 1946, academic activity had taken place at Bergen Museum as far back as 1825. The university today serves more than 14,500 students...
, was his nephew.
Major publications
- Hedenske Kulturminder i Norske Stedsnavne. Kristiania 1915.
- Ættegård og Helligdom, Norske Stednavn Sosialt og Religionshistorisk Belyst. Oslo 1926, 2nd ed. Oslo 1978.
- Farms and Fanes of Ancient Norway: The Place-Names of a Country Discussed in Their Bearings on Social and Religious History. Tr. Th. Gleditsch. Oslo 1928.
- Hva Våre Stedsnavn Lærer Oss. Oslo 1934, 2nd ed. Oslo 1971, 1973.
Editions
- Norges innskrifter med de ældre runer volumes 1 - 4. Oslo 1891–1924. with Sophus Bugge.
- Norges innskrifter med de yngre runer volumes 1 - 5. Oslo 1941, 1951, 1954, 1957, 1960. — Volumes 3 - 5 with Aslak Liestøl.
- Völsunga saga ok Ragnars saga loðbrókar, Copenhagen 1906–1908. Samfund til udgivelse af gammel nordisk litteratur 36.
- (editor) Oluf Rygh. Stavanger Amt. Norske gaardnavne 10, Oslo 1915.
- (editor) Oluf Rygh. Søndre Bergenhus Amt. Norske gaardnavne 11. Oslo 1910.
- (editor with Just Knud QvigstadJust Knud QvigstadJust Knud Qvigstad was a Norwegian philologist, linguist, ethnographer, historian and cultural historian. He was also a headmaster in Tromsø, and a politician for the Conservative Party who served as mayor of Tromsø and as Minister of Education and Church Affairs.-Personal life:He was born in...
) Oluf Rygh. Finmarkens Amt. Norske gaardnavne 18. Oslo 1924.
Further reading
- Ole-Jørgen Johannessen. Magnus Olsen: En Bibliografi (Oslo: Samlaget, 1977) ISBN 82-521-0650-1