Almost everyone has used a guidebook, when travelling or in the armchair at home. But how and whe... more Almost everyone has used a guidebook, when travelling or in the armchair at home. But how and when was the guidebook born? In this book, seven scholars from various disciplines argue that the guide ...
Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, 2011
In Sweden, the future of Classical Philology and the study of the ancient past remain uncertain a... more In Sweden, the future of Classical Philology and the study of the ancient past remain uncertain a century after the first Swedish university course in Rome, led by Vilhelm Lundström, Professor of Latin at Gothenburg, and the simultaneous establishment of the study of Classical Archaeology and Ancient History in Swedish academia in 1909. The institutionalisation of the Swedish scholarly presence in Rome materialised with the establishment of the Swedish Institute in Rome (SIR) in 1925, and its inauguration the following year—partly as a result of Lundström’s pioneering initiative. The present article discusses the implications of Lundström’s course in Rome as well as in Sweden, and sheds light on his neohumanist vision of an integrated study of antiquity; with Classical Archaeology and Ancient History as integral elements of Classical Philology. This vision lay abandoned throughout the twentieth century, but deserves to be taken into account when discussing how philology relates to a...
Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, 2011
In Sweden, the future of Classical Philology and the study of the ancient past remain uncertain a... more In Sweden, the future of Classical Philology and the study of the ancient past remain uncertain a century after the first Swedish university course in Rome, led by Vilhelm Lundström, Professor of Latin at Gothenburg, and the simultaneous establishment of the study of Classical Archaeology and Ancient History in Swedish academia in 1909. The institutionalisation of the Swedish scholarly presence in Rome materialised with the establishment of the Swedish Institute in Rome (SIR) in 1925, and its inauguration the following year—partly as a result of Lundström’s pioneering initiative. The present article discusses the implications of Lundström’s course in Rome as well as in Sweden, and sheds light on his neohumanist vision of an integrated study of antiquity; with Classical Archaeology and Ancient History as integral elements of Classical Philology. This vision lay abandoned throughout the twentieth century, but deserves to be taken into account when discussing how philology relates to a...
In this article, runic and Latin monumental epigraphy from early medieval Västergötland is studie... more In this article, runic and Latin monumental epigraphy from early medieval Västergötland is studied in order to answer three questions regarding the establishment and development of these two written traditions: 1. Which were the geographical domains of runic and Latin epigraphy, and to what extent did they overlap? 2. How did the two traditions' geographical spread change during the period under scrutiny? 3. How do the two traditions compare with regard to socio cultural context, number and type of inscriptions, and the stonecutters' literacy level? The study has yielded two main results. The first concerns the establishment, in the early 12th century, of a Latin epigraphic tradition in the area around Kinnekulle, which remained a hub of almost exclusively Latin epigraphy for the whole period, in contrast to-or as a continuation of-the late Viking-Age runic tradition attested there. The second result concerns the strong presence of both runic and Latin epigraphy in an area around today's Falköping, close to the monasteries of Gudhem and Varnhem. Here, the two traditions seem to have flourished together, establishing a bilingual and biscriptal epigraphic culture. The considerable number of inscriptions and their high level of literacy, in particular on funerary monuments, indicate that this area was a sociocultural centre in early medieval Västergötland, where some individuals had the means, education and ambition necessary to take part in the literary and intellectual discourse of the time.
The Meaning of Media: Texts and Materiality in Medieval Scandinavia, Anna Catharina Horn & Karl G. Johansson (ed.). Walter de Gruyter., 2021
The late eleventh and early twelfth century constituted a pivotal period for the development of l... more The late eleventh and early twelfth century constituted a pivotal period for the development of literacy in medieval Sweden. The Latin script and the Latin language, previously unattested in this part of Scandinavia, were gradually introduced into local writing practices that for centuries had been dominated by the use of the runic script and the vernacular language. The arrival of Latin written culture, particularly manifest in the emerging manuscript culture, did not, however, cause the runic tradition to be abandoned, but led instead to several centuries of coexistence.
This paper presents a pilot study on the development of runic and Latin epigraphy, epigraphic habit, and literacy in medieval Sweden. It compares the establishment of the two epigraphic traditions in the Swedish province of Västergötland duringthe twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Central questions addressed in this investigation are whether the runic and the Latin epigraphic traditions occurred in the same areas or whether they had separate geographical domains, and whether the epigraphic areas identified resembled or differed from one another with regard to the number and kind of inscriptions attested, as well as the level of literacy and professionalism shown by thecarvers. We also investigate whether the relation between these epigraphic areas remained constant or rather changed over time, and whether their developments affected one another. Moreover, special attention will be given to the inscriptions where both Latin and runes are used together, and to the question of whether it is useful to talk about two separate script cultures, or if the literacy practices in the region are better understood as part of a single two-script culture.
Rome and the Guidebook Tradition from the Middle Ages to the 20th Century, 2019
To this day, no comprehensive academic study of the development of guidebooks to Rome over time h... more To this day, no comprehensive academic study of the development of guidebooks to Rome over time has been performed. This book treats the history of guidebooks to Rome from the Middle Ages up to the early twentieth century. It is based on the results of the interdisciplinary research project Topos and Topography, led by Anna Blennow and Stefano Fogelberg Rota. From the case studies performed within the project, it becomes evident that the guidebook as a phenomenon was formed in Rome during the later Middle Ages and early Renaissance. The elements and rhetorical strategies of guidebooks over time have shown to be surprisingly uniform, with three important points of development: a turn towards a more user-friendly structure from the seventeenth century and onward; the so-called ’Baedeker effect’ in the mid-nineteenth century; and the introduction of a personalized guiding voice in the first half of the twentieth century. Thus, the ‘guidebook tradition’ is an unusually consistent literary oeuvre, which also forms a warranty for the authority of every new guidebook. In this respect, the guidebook tradition is intimately associated with the city of Rome, with which it shares a constantly renovating yet eternally fixed nature.
Ur antologin ”Klassisk filologi i Sverige. Reflexioner, riktningar, översättningar, öden”, redakt... more Ur antologin ”Klassisk filologi i Sverige. Reflexioner, riktningar, översättningar, öden”, redaktörer Eric Cullhed och Bo Lindberg, Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien Konferenser 89, 2015, ss. 81–98.
Gotländskt Arkiv, 2013, 137–146.
Abstract: The Romanesque gravestone, which has been built into t... more Gotländskt Arkiv, 2013, 137–146. Abstract: The Romanesque gravestone, which has been built into the north portal of Dalhem parish church on Gotland, is to the memory of the rural dean Nicholaus, and dates from the 12th century. The centre panel bears a portrait of Nicholaus himself, accompanied by Christ, and an edging border, running around the entire perimeter, bears a Latin epitaph in verse. Latin epitaphs were still uncommon in the region cor- responding to present day Sweden in the 12th century, and their quality regarding language and letter forms varies considerably. In this respect, the gravestone in Dalhem, in keeping with just a few other medieval epitaphs, is a monument well in class with the superior quality of the most prominent examples of the Romanesque period in Europe. This article analyses the Dalhem monument in its contemporaneous context and discusses which factors were the driving forces behind the creation of epitaphs on grave monuments in early medieval Scandinavia.
Almost everyone has used a guidebook, when travelling or in the armchair at home. But how and whe... more Almost everyone has used a guidebook, when travelling or in the armchair at home. But how and when was the guidebook born? In this book, seven scholars from various disciplines argue that the guide ...
Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, 2011
In Sweden, the future of Classical Philology and the study of the ancient past remain uncertain a... more In Sweden, the future of Classical Philology and the study of the ancient past remain uncertain a century after the first Swedish university course in Rome, led by Vilhelm Lundström, Professor of Latin at Gothenburg, and the simultaneous establishment of the study of Classical Archaeology and Ancient History in Swedish academia in 1909. The institutionalisation of the Swedish scholarly presence in Rome materialised with the establishment of the Swedish Institute in Rome (SIR) in 1925, and its inauguration the following year—partly as a result of Lundström’s pioneering initiative. The present article discusses the implications of Lundström’s course in Rome as well as in Sweden, and sheds light on his neohumanist vision of an integrated study of antiquity; with Classical Archaeology and Ancient History as integral elements of Classical Philology. This vision lay abandoned throughout the twentieth century, but deserves to be taken into account when discussing how philology relates to a...
Opuscula. Annual of the Swedish Institutes at Athens and Rome, 2011
In Sweden, the future of Classical Philology and the study of the ancient past remain uncertain a... more In Sweden, the future of Classical Philology and the study of the ancient past remain uncertain a century after the first Swedish university course in Rome, led by Vilhelm Lundström, Professor of Latin at Gothenburg, and the simultaneous establishment of the study of Classical Archaeology and Ancient History in Swedish academia in 1909. The institutionalisation of the Swedish scholarly presence in Rome materialised with the establishment of the Swedish Institute in Rome (SIR) in 1925, and its inauguration the following year—partly as a result of Lundström’s pioneering initiative. The present article discusses the implications of Lundström’s course in Rome as well as in Sweden, and sheds light on his neohumanist vision of an integrated study of antiquity; with Classical Archaeology and Ancient History as integral elements of Classical Philology. This vision lay abandoned throughout the twentieth century, but deserves to be taken into account when discussing how philology relates to a...
In this article, runic and Latin monumental epigraphy from early medieval Västergötland is studie... more In this article, runic and Latin monumental epigraphy from early medieval Västergötland is studied in order to answer three questions regarding the establishment and development of these two written traditions: 1. Which were the geographical domains of runic and Latin epigraphy, and to what extent did they overlap? 2. How did the two traditions' geographical spread change during the period under scrutiny? 3. How do the two traditions compare with regard to socio cultural context, number and type of inscriptions, and the stonecutters' literacy level? The study has yielded two main results. The first concerns the establishment, in the early 12th century, of a Latin epigraphic tradition in the area around Kinnekulle, which remained a hub of almost exclusively Latin epigraphy for the whole period, in contrast to-or as a continuation of-the late Viking-Age runic tradition attested there. The second result concerns the strong presence of both runic and Latin epigraphy in an area around today's Falköping, close to the monasteries of Gudhem and Varnhem. Here, the two traditions seem to have flourished together, establishing a bilingual and biscriptal epigraphic culture. The considerable number of inscriptions and their high level of literacy, in particular on funerary monuments, indicate that this area was a sociocultural centre in early medieval Västergötland, where some individuals had the means, education and ambition necessary to take part in the literary and intellectual discourse of the time.
The Meaning of Media: Texts and Materiality in Medieval Scandinavia, Anna Catharina Horn & Karl G. Johansson (ed.). Walter de Gruyter., 2021
The late eleventh and early twelfth century constituted a pivotal period for the development of l... more The late eleventh and early twelfth century constituted a pivotal period for the development of literacy in medieval Sweden. The Latin script and the Latin language, previously unattested in this part of Scandinavia, were gradually introduced into local writing practices that for centuries had been dominated by the use of the runic script and the vernacular language. The arrival of Latin written culture, particularly manifest in the emerging manuscript culture, did not, however, cause the runic tradition to be abandoned, but led instead to several centuries of coexistence.
This paper presents a pilot study on the development of runic and Latin epigraphy, epigraphic habit, and literacy in medieval Sweden. It compares the establishment of the two epigraphic traditions in the Swedish province of Västergötland duringthe twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Central questions addressed in this investigation are whether the runic and the Latin epigraphic traditions occurred in the same areas or whether they had separate geographical domains, and whether the epigraphic areas identified resembled or differed from one another with regard to the number and kind of inscriptions attested, as well as the level of literacy and professionalism shown by thecarvers. We also investigate whether the relation between these epigraphic areas remained constant or rather changed over time, and whether their developments affected one another. Moreover, special attention will be given to the inscriptions where both Latin and runes are used together, and to the question of whether it is useful to talk about two separate script cultures, or if the literacy practices in the region are better understood as part of a single two-script culture.
Rome and the Guidebook Tradition from the Middle Ages to the 20th Century, 2019
To this day, no comprehensive academic study of the development of guidebooks to Rome over time h... more To this day, no comprehensive academic study of the development of guidebooks to Rome over time has been performed. This book treats the history of guidebooks to Rome from the Middle Ages up to the early twentieth century. It is based on the results of the interdisciplinary research project Topos and Topography, led by Anna Blennow and Stefano Fogelberg Rota. From the case studies performed within the project, it becomes evident that the guidebook as a phenomenon was formed in Rome during the later Middle Ages and early Renaissance. The elements and rhetorical strategies of guidebooks over time have shown to be surprisingly uniform, with three important points of development: a turn towards a more user-friendly structure from the seventeenth century and onward; the so-called ’Baedeker effect’ in the mid-nineteenth century; and the introduction of a personalized guiding voice in the first half of the twentieth century. Thus, the ‘guidebook tradition’ is an unusually consistent literary oeuvre, which also forms a warranty for the authority of every new guidebook. In this respect, the guidebook tradition is intimately associated with the city of Rome, with which it shares a constantly renovating yet eternally fixed nature.
Ur antologin ”Klassisk filologi i Sverige. Reflexioner, riktningar, översättningar, öden”, redakt... more Ur antologin ”Klassisk filologi i Sverige. Reflexioner, riktningar, översättningar, öden”, redaktörer Eric Cullhed och Bo Lindberg, Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien Konferenser 89, 2015, ss. 81–98.
Gotländskt Arkiv, 2013, 137–146.
Abstract: The Romanesque gravestone, which has been built into t... more Gotländskt Arkiv, 2013, 137–146. Abstract: The Romanesque gravestone, which has been built into the north portal of Dalhem parish church on Gotland, is to the memory of the rural dean Nicholaus, and dates from the 12th century. The centre panel bears a portrait of Nicholaus himself, accompanied by Christ, and an edging border, running around the entire perimeter, bears a Latin epitaph in verse. Latin epitaphs were still uncommon in the region cor- responding to present day Sweden in the 12th century, and their quality regarding language and letter forms varies considerably. In this respect, the gravestone in Dalhem, in keeping with just a few other medieval epitaphs, is a monument well in class with the superior quality of the most prominent examples of the Romanesque period in Europe. This article analyses the Dalhem monument in its contemporaneous context and discusses which factors were the driving forces behind the creation of epitaphs on grave monuments in early medieval Scandinavia.
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Papers by Anna Blennow
This paper presents a pilot study on the development of runic and Latin epigraphy, epigraphic habit, and literacy in medieval Sweden. It compares the establishment of the two epigraphic traditions in the Swedish province of Västergötland duringthe twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Central questions addressed in this investigation are whether the runic and the Latin epigraphic traditions occurred in the same areas or whether they had separate geographical domains, and whether the epigraphic areas identified resembled or differed from one another with regard to the number and kind of inscriptions attested, as well as the level of literacy and professionalism shown by thecarvers. We also investigate whether the relation between these epigraphic areas remained constant or rather changed over time, and whether their developments affected one another. Moreover, special attention will be given to the inscriptions where both Latin and runes are used together, and to the question of whether it is useful to talk about two separate script cultures, or if the literacy practices in the region are better understood as part of a single two-script culture.
Abstract: The Romanesque gravestone, which has been built into the north portal of Dalhem parish church on Gotland, is to the memory of the rural dean Nicholaus, and dates from the 12th century. The centre panel bears a portrait of Nicholaus himself, accompanied by Christ, and an edging border, running around the entire perimeter, bears a Latin epitaph in verse. Latin epitaphs were still uncommon in the region cor- responding to present day Sweden in the 12th century, and their quality regarding language and letter forms varies considerably. In this respect, the gravestone in Dalhem, in keeping with just a few other medieval epitaphs, is a monument well in class with the superior quality of the most prominent examples of the Romanesque period in Europe. This article analyses the Dalhem monument in its contemporaneous context and discusses which factors were the driving forces behind the creation of epitaphs on grave monuments in early medieval Scandinavia.
This paper presents a pilot study on the development of runic and Latin epigraphy, epigraphic habit, and literacy in medieval Sweden. It compares the establishment of the two epigraphic traditions in the Swedish province of Västergötland duringthe twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
Central questions addressed in this investigation are whether the runic and the Latin epigraphic traditions occurred in the same areas or whether they had separate geographical domains, and whether the epigraphic areas identified resembled or differed from one another with regard to the number and kind of inscriptions attested, as well as the level of literacy and professionalism shown by thecarvers. We also investigate whether the relation between these epigraphic areas remained constant or rather changed over time, and whether their developments affected one another. Moreover, special attention will be given to the inscriptions where both Latin and runes are used together, and to the question of whether it is useful to talk about two separate script cultures, or if the literacy practices in the region are better understood as part of a single two-script culture.
Abstract: The Romanesque gravestone, which has been built into the north portal of Dalhem parish church on Gotland, is to the memory of the rural dean Nicholaus, and dates from the 12th century. The centre panel bears a portrait of Nicholaus himself, accompanied by Christ, and an edging border, running around the entire perimeter, bears a Latin epitaph in verse. Latin epitaphs were still uncommon in the region cor- responding to present day Sweden in the 12th century, and their quality regarding language and letter forms varies considerably. In this respect, the gravestone in Dalhem, in keeping with just a few other medieval epitaphs, is a monument well in class with the superior quality of the most prominent examples of the Romanesque period in Europe. This article analyses the Dalhem monument in its contemporaneous context and discusses which factors were the driving forces behind the creation of epitaphs on grave monuments in early medieval Scandinavia.
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