Data and metadata

Preposition

As stated above, spatial references are frequently attested within prepositional phrases. Prepositions show the spatial (and temporal) relationship between nouns and other words in a sentence. In Figure 2, the original form til anthiochiam contains a preposition, til 'to', and an attestation of the place name Antiochia (linked to the standard form Antakya or Antioch on the Orontes) declined as a Latin accusative, anthiochiam. Preposition data are gathered separately for Old Swedish and Old Danish attestations.

The original form metadata does not include part-of-speech tagging or grammatical tagging, since the textual context provided varies and in many cases is limited to the attestation of the spatial reference itself. Information on prepositions (excluding some other lexical categories, see 'Type of non-name' in 'Data and related metadata: spatial references and spatial data') is thus the only searchable part of speech or lexical category in the database.

Variant form

The variant form is a slightly normalised form of the spatial reference (place name or non-name) based on one or more similar original forms that occur in one or more sources of one or more works. The variant form contains none of the textual context provided for the original form. In Figure 2, Anthiochia is the variant form for the original form til anthiochiam.

The normalisation of the variant form varies slightly depending on the type of spatial reference, place name, or non-name. For both place names and non-names, variant forms retain their original spelling and declension according to definiteness and (grammatical) number. However, variant forms are always provided in the nominative irrespective of their case declension in the original form.

For place names, the initial letter of the place-name variant is capitalised. Compound place names are written as one word even if the original form suggests other spellings. For non-names, variant forms are written in lowercase letters and the spelling of compounds varies in accordance with authoritative dictionaries, see 'Lemma form' below.

To sum up, different spellings and declension according to definiteness and (grammatical) number give new variant forms. For examples and further discussion, see 'Normalisation' under 'Editing principles'.

The detailed view for variant form (Figure 3) makes it possible to see all of the original forms linked to a specific variant form, here Anthiochia, by clicking on 'Show attestations linked to Anthiochia'. Furthermore, the detailed view contains information on language provenance, standard form, and a list of all variant and lemma forms linked to a specific standard form. Thus, Anthiochia is presented as an Old Swedish variant form linked to the standard form Antakya.

Lemma form

The lemma form is a normalised form of the spatial reference (place name or non-name) that is constructed on the basis of the collected variant forms and original forms, as well as attestations of the word found in other sources not covered by the project. In Figure 2, Antiochia is the lemma form for the original form til anthiochiam and the variant form Anthiochia.

The normalisation of the lemma form varies depending on the type of spatial reference, place name, or non-name. For place names, we follow the principle that a new place-name formation gives a new lemma form. Thus, we retain declension according to definiteness and/or (grammatical) number because such declension implies a new name formation. Lemma forms are always provided in the nominative case and their spelling is normalised according to the principles outlined in 'Normalisation' under 'Editing principles'. For examples and further discussion, see 'Normalisation' under 'Editing principles'.

For non-names, we take lemma forms from the authoritative dictionaries, Söderwalls Ordbok öfver svenska medeltids-språket (1884–1973) for Old Swedish and Gammeldansk Ordbog for Old Danish. Non-names are thus provided in the singular, nominative, indefinite form. For examples and further discussion, see 'Normalisation' under 'Editing principles'.

The detailed view for lemma form (Figure 4) makes it possible to see all original forms linked to a specific lemma form, here Antiochia, by clicking on 'Show attestations linked to Antiochia'. Furthermore, the detailed view contains information on language provenance, standard form, and a list of all variant and lemma forms linked to a specific standard form. Thus, Antiochia is presented as an Old Swedish lemma form linked to the standard form Antakya.

Old Gutnish forms from the manuscript Stockholm, National Library of Sweden, B 64 are normalised according to Old Gutnish phonology and morphology, e.g. dagaiþi is normalised as Dagaiþ. The lemma forms are then marked by “[OGut.]”. There is no filter for Old Gutnish in the Norse World resource. However, the Old Gutnish material consisting of 13 attestations from the manuscript B 64 can be filtered via the Source filter.

Standard form

The standard form comprises the standard form of the non-name or the most commonly used form of the place name in the English language. In certain cases Old Swedish and/or Old Danish forms are used as standard forms. In Figure 2, Antakya is the standard form that the original form til anthiochiam, the variant form Anthiochia and the lemma form Antiochia are linked to. Furthermore, the detailed view for the original form provides information on the type of locality of the geographical entity that the standard form denotes, in this case (city). This helps to distinguish between geographical entities with homonymous names, e.g. Apolis (city) and Apolis (country), or homonymous non-names, e.g. Russian(inhabitant designation) and Russian (adjective). For a detailed view for standard form and further discussion, see 'Data and related metadata: spatial references and spatial data' below.

Work

A work is a text preserved in one or more sources from which the data are collected. In Figure 2, we can see that the original form til anthiochiam has been excerpted from a text called Själens tröst (in Swedish) and Consolation of the Soul (in English). Furthermore, the detailed view for the original form provides information on the language provenance of the text and thus, the original form itself, in this case Old Swedish. The project collects data from texts written in East Norse. Here, East Norse covers the two languages Old Swedish (incl. Old Gutnish) and Old Danish before 1530. For a detailed view for work and further discussion, see 'Work and related metadata' below.

Source

A source is a manuscript, early print, or runic inscription from which the data has been excerpted. In Figure 2, we can see that the original form til anthiochiam has been excerpted from the manuscript A 108, page 23. Since the Norse World data includes three types of sources (manuscripts, early prints, and runic inscriptions), the source type is specified in parentheses after the "name" of the source, i.e. the title of the print for early prints, the shelfmark for manuscripts, or the signum for runic inscriptions; here (manuscript). For a detailed view for source and further discussion, see 'Source and related metadata' below.

Edition

An edition is an edited text of a work or a source published in book form or digitally. For paper editions, we provide edition references linked to bibliographical details in national search services such as Libris. For digital editions, a link to the edition and, where appropriate, a link to the edition page is provided. According to Figure 2, the original form til anthiochiam has been excerpted from a paper edition, Henning 1954, page 30.

Level of certainty

Each original form, i.e. attestation of a spatial reference (place name or non-name), is provided with a level of certainty. The level of certainty is based on how difficult the attestation is to read in the source and/or the certainty of the spatial reference identification. The level of certainty comprises three levels: i) commonly attested and known, ii) educated guess, and iii) unknown.

i) Reading of the attestation does not cause any difficulties and/or the identification and location of the place name or non-name is commonly attested and known. For example, original forms containing the Old Danish lemma form Cypren have level of certainty 'Commonly attested and known' because Cypren is a commonly attested lemma form for Cyprus. Original forms linked to the Old Swedish variant form rytzsker with a corresponding lemma form ryzker have level of certainty 'Commonly attested and known' since the lemma form is taken from the authoritative dictionary and is linked to the adjective Russian.

ii) Reading of the attestation causes minor difficulties and/or the identification and location of the place name or non-name is an educated guess. For example, original forms containing the Old Swedish variant form Bonononia have level of certainty 'Educated guess' because comparison with parallel texts suggests that this is a scribal error for Bononia referring to Bologna. Another example is the identification of the place name Blamannaland mentioned in the work Själens tröst (Consolation of the Soul) in Old Swedish. In another context in the same work the term blaman is used as an inhabitant designation denoting people from Ethiopia. For this reason, the otherwise unspecified Blamannaland is identified as Ethiopia here.

iii) Reading of the attestation causes major difficulties and/or the identification and location of the place name or non-name is unknown. For example, original forms containing the Old Swedish lemma Apolisborgh or the Old Danish lemma Aplesburgh from the work Floris and Blancheflour have level of certainty 'Unknown' because we do not know the location of the castle that the names are referring to. The castle is called Aples in Old Norse and Naples in Old French and is believed to be the fictional Spanish city Nople (also written Noples) in the Chanson de Roland epos (Grieve 1997:46–47).

Notes

In some cases, it has been desirable to include miscellaneous or contextual information concerning the original form and its metadata. This information can be of a linguistic nature, a cultural/historical nature, an interpretative nature, or it can include comments on editorial choices e.g. concerning variant and lemma forms. In Figure 2, the 'Notes' for the original form til anthiochiam include a comment on the case declension of the place-name attestation. As for formatting, we use italics for marking place names and citations of different types, e.g. from sources such as manuscripts. When referencing secondary literature we follow the Author-date system. Furthermore, we provide links to bibliographical details in national search services such as Libris.

Place name/Non-name

The Norse World resource collects two types of spatial references, place names and non-names. Place names are names of topographical, physical, and cultural features and they constitute the largest group of the project's spatial referents. Place names in the East Norse corpus are identified contextually by means of close reading.

For example, France and Lake Ladoga are place names that are relatively easy to identify as such. The place name Mæret mentioned in Själens tröst (Consolation of the Soul) is homonymous with the common noun mær 'sea' in the definite form. In this case, it is the context of the source that justifies the identification of the spatial reference as a name. The same goes for multiple place names that represent phrases containing spatial references from Vejleder for Pilgrimme (Guide for Pilgrims), e.g. Thæn øthken, i hvilik Kristus mættethe fæm thusend mæn (Desert where Jesus fed five thousand men). These phrases do not constitute prototypical place names. However, we consider them to be a part of the project material, because they denote places of Christian worship that we assume were meaningful for the medieval audience.

Another problematic case is distinguishing between the choronym (country name) Israel and the homonymous personal name denoting a biblical patriarch. When the name does not directly indicate the person (formerly known as Jacob), then we consider the name to refer to the nation or territory and include relevant references into the database, cf. e.g. Old Swedish attestations badh han innirlika israels gudh och æn israels folk hafdhe ther aff enga nødh.

In some cases the denotation of the place name is ambiguous. For example, the Old Swedish Babilonia is attested in a variety of East Norse sources denoting either the city of Babylon, the Neo-Babylonian Empire, or the Babylon Fortress. There are thus three standard forms and corresponding localities to account for these attestations in the database: Babylon (city), Babylonia (Neo-Babylonian Empire) (country), and BabylonFortress (castle). In the same way, the Old Swedish and Old Danish lemma forms Rom can denote both the city of Rome and the Roman empire. In the attestations containing a monarchy title such as queen, king, emperor, and the like, or a church title such as bishop, the context, in our opinion, implies that the spatial reference is a choronym and denotes the area over which the person has jurisdiction (e.g. kingdom, empire, bishopric). In this way, the attestation keysaren aff rom is linked to the standard form Roman Empire(country), while the attestation j room is linked to the standard form Rome (city).

Non-name is a collective term for spatial references that are not covered by the category place names. The category is heterogenous and comprises adjectives, adverbs, coin designations, inhabitant designations, language designations, noun bynames, and origin designations. Examples of non-names include florin, Tavastian, Greek language, and Sunamitis (of Shunem).

The standard form Antakya (Antioch on the Orontes) is identified as a place name according to Figure 5.

Real/Fictional

Spatial references (place names and non-names) are sorted into two groups according to contextual identification: real or fictional. Place names and non-names are sorted under real by default if they do not match the requirements for fictional. Place names referring to biblical places and other places associated with Christianity such as churches or other places of Christian worship are classified as real, since we assume that the medieval (Christian) audience perceived the places as being real.

Place names and non-names are sorted under fictional when they are impossible to identify or if the actual context of the attestation contradicts the assumed identification of the spatial reference. For example, the place name Mundin sorted under fictional is impossible to identify. Another place name classified as fictional is Apolisborgh, Aplesburgh (Apolis Castle) from Floris and Blancheflour. There is a European tradition of identifying corresponding place names in other vernacular versions of the text as the fictional Spanish city Nople (also written Noples) (Grieve 1997:46–47). However, the context of the Old Swedish and the Old Danish attestations contradicts the assumed identification of the place name.

The standard form Antakya (Antioch on the Orontes) is sorted under real according to Figure 5.

Type of place name

Each collected place name is assigned a type of place name depending on what locality the name refers to. In other words, types of place name correlate with types of localities, so that each type of place name corresponds to one or more types of locality.

• choronym: the name of any significant area, region, or province (natural, historical, administrative). Choronyms comprise the names of archbishoprics, continents, countries, larger regions, and regions in the corpus, e.g. Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen (Fürsterzbistum Bremen), Africa, France, and Normandy.
• field name: the name of a field (meadows, grazing lands, etc.). Field names comprise the names of fields in the corpus, e.g. Karildols Heth (Carduel Heath).
• hodonym: the name of a transportation route. Hodonyms comprise the names of roads and passes in the corpus, e.g. Orreaga (Roncevaux, Roncesvalles).
• hydronym: the name of a body of water. Hydronyms comprise the names of canals, fjords, gulfs, lakes, rivers, seas, springs, straits, and wells in the corpus, e.g. Lake Ladoga.
• name of a man-made feature comprises the names of fortifications in the corpus, e.g. Danevirke.
• name of another natural feature comprises the names of caves, deserts, forests, harbours, marshes, islands, peninsulas, and valleys in the corpus, e.g. Cyprus, Asiant, and Haukadalur.
• oronym: the name of an elevated topographical feature. Oronyms comprise the names of hills, mountains, and volcanoes in the corpus, e.g. Alps.
• sacral name: the name of a place of worship (ekklesionym). Sacral names comprise the names of churches, monasteries, mosques and other sites of Muslim worship, synagogues and other sites of Jewish worship, as well as other places of worship in the corpus, e.g. Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.
• settlement name: the name of any settlement (oikonym). Settlement names comprise the names of cities and villages in the corpus, e.g. Antakya (Antioch on the Orontes) and Cölbigk (Ilberstedt).
• urban name: name of a feature in an urban area (urbanonym). Urban names comprise the names of bridges, castles, cemeteries, gardens, gates, graves, houses, markets, streets, towers, and urban areas in the corpus, e.g. Golden Gate and Lateran.

In this context, it is necessary to point out that the term name of a man-made feature is somewhat ambiguous since it can include many different categories of names, e.g. church names or bridge names. In the Norse World resource the term is reserved for classifying the names applied to man-made referents that are not already included into other types of place names, e.g. fortifications.

In Figure 5, the standard form Antakya (Antioch on the Orontes) belongs to the type of place name settlement name.

Type of non-name

Each collected spatial reference belonging to the non-name category is assigned a type of non-name depending on the nature of the spatial reference in the context of the source.

• adjective: adjectival forms that refer to foreign places (typically, nations and cities of origin), e.g. Armenian, English, Russian, and German.
• adverb: adverbs denoting foreign places, e.g. Abroad.
• coin designation: nouns used to designate coins of a particular geographical provenance, e.g. Florin.
• inhabitant designation: nouns used to designate the inhabitants of a city, region, or country, e.g. Judean (Jew), Roman, Tavastian, and Wend.
• language designation: nouns used to designate languages, e.g. Greek language, Latin, and German language.
• noun byname: a noun spatial reference that constitutes a byname or is a part of a byname, e.g. Sunamitis (of Shunem), Frisian, and Rome-traveller. It is important to point out that the noun byname is collected if the byname has an obvious/unambiguous connection to a geographical locality or if the byname is explicitly explained as having a connection to a geographical locality in the context of the source, e.g. the noun byname Skariot in the Old Swedish attestation Aff the landeno scharioth fik han sith widhernampn | Thy kalladhis han iwdas scharioth.
• origin designation: nouns based on a place name that describe the geographical origin of the referent, e.g. Gum arabic. This category includes even the words whose etymology in the text of the source is explicitly explained as being connected to a geographical locality. For example, according to the Old Danish attestation the stone designation agate has received its name from a river with a homonymous name: Achates ær en ærlyk steen. oc kombær af en floth hetær achates.

Type of locality

Each collected place name is assigned a type of locality depending on what locality the name refers to. The type of locality is assigned in accordance with the context of the source irrespective of what the actual type of locality a place name or a non-name might have. For example, Tuskia (Tuscany) is identified as a city rather than a region in the context of Själens tröst (Consolation of the Soul).

Types of locality correlate with types of place name, so that each type of locality corresponds to one type of place name.

• archbishopric corresponds to the type of place name choronym.
• bridge corresponds to the type of place name urban name.
• canal corresponds to the type of place name hydronym.
• castle corresponds to the type of place name urban name, e.g. Hämeenlinna(Tavastehus).
• cave corresponds to the type of place name name of another natural feature, e.g. En hule i jorthen al stenigh, i hvilik Jesus intrath thrithje sinne ok bath til sin helaghe father (The cave where Jesus prayed three times).
• cemetery corresponds to the type of place name urban name.
• church corresponds to the type of place name sacral name., e.g. Basilica dei Santi Bonifacio ed Alessio.
• city corresponds to the type of place name settlement name, e.g. Paris.
• continent corresponds to the type of place name choronym, e.g. Africa.
• country corresponds to the type of place name choronym, e.g. France.
• desert corresponds to the type of place name name of another natural feature, e.g. Thæn øthken, i hvilik Kristus mættethe fæm thusend mæn (Desert where Jesus fed five thousand men).
• field corresponds to the type of place name field name, e.g. Karildols Heth (Carduel Heath).
• fjord corresponds to the type of place name hydronym, e.g. Bømlafjorden (Bømla Fjord).
• forest corresponds to the type of place name name of another natural feature, e.g. Asiant.
• fortification corresponds to the type of place name name of a man-made feature, e.g. Danevirke.
• garden corresponds to the type of place name urban name, e.g. Gethsemane.
• gate corresponds to the type of place name urban name, e.g. Golden Gate.
• grave corresponds to the type of place name urban name, e.g. Holy Sepulchre.
• gulf corresponds to the type of place name hydronym.
• harbour corresponds to the type of place name name of another natural feature.
• hill corresponds to the type of place name oronym, e.g. Mount Zion.
• house corresponds to the type of place name urban name, e.g. Joachims Hus (House of Joachim, Church of Saint Anne).
• island corresponds to the type of place name name of another natural feature, e.g. Cyprus.
• lake corresponds to the type of place name hydronym, e.g. Lake Ladoga.
• larger region corresponds to the type of place name choronym.
• market corresponds to the type of place name urban name.
• marsh corresponds to the type of place name name of another natural feature.
• monastery corresponds to the type of place name sacral name.
• mosque corresponds to the type of place name sacral name.
• mountain corresponds to the type of place name oronym, e.g. Mount Sinai.
• other place of worship corresponds to the type of place name sacral name, e.g. Calvary.
• other site of Jewish worship corresponds to the type of place name sacral name.
• other sites of Muslim worship corresponds to the type of place name sacral name.
• pass corresponds to the type of place name hodonym, e.g. Orreaga (Roncevaux, Roncesvalles).
• peninsula corresponds to the type of place name name of another natural feature, e.g. Eiderstedt.
• region corresponds to the type of place name choronym, e.g. Aquitaine (Guyenne).
• river corresponds to the type of place name hydronym, e.g. Neva River.
• road corresponds to the type of place name hodonym.
• sea corresponds to the type of place name hydronym, e.g. Mediterranean Sea.
• spring corresponds to the type of place name hydronym, e.g. Varfrue Kælde(Fountain of Our Lady).
• strait corresponds to the type of place name hydronym, e.g. Fær.
• street corresponds to the type of place name urban name.
• synagogue corresponds to the type of place name sacral name.
• tower corresponds to the type of place name urban name, e.g. Møiar kastel (Tower of Maidens).
• urban area corresponds to the type of place name urban name, e.g. Lateran.
• valley corresponds to the type of place name name of another natural feature, e.g. Haukadalur.
• village corresponds to the type of place name settlement name, e.g. Cölbigk(Ilberstedt).
• volcano corresponds to the type of place name oronym, e.g. Erciyes Dagi (Mount Erciyes, Argaeus).
• well corresponds to the type of place name hydronym, e.g. Pool of Bethesda.

When it comes to types of localities corresponding to choronyms, it is necessary to point out that we make a very rough distinction between countries and regions. The type of locality region includes both larger and smaller, more or less precisely delimited areas without a clear political or administrative status, as well as provinces, i.e. subordinate political and administrative entities. The type of locality country is reserved for independent political and administrative entities. Even in this case, it is the actual context of the source that helps the editor to assign type of locality irrespective of the actual political situation at one or another point in history. In this way, Aragon or Kingdom of Aragon, Iceland and Scotland are sorted under country, while Orkney and Shetland Islands, as well as Friesland (Frisia) are sorted under region.

In Figure 5, the standard form Antakya (Antioch on the Orontes) is identified as a city.

Geodata link

Each identifiable place name is provided with a stable link to spatial data (including latitude and longitude), a geodata link. Spatial data for collected spatial references are taken from external gazetteers such as Geonames, iDAI, or GeoHack.

The geodata link provides access to an array of spatial data about the locality such as coordinates. We provide the numerical values for latitude and longitude in decimal number format when the standard form metadata are exported as a CSV-file, see 'Exporting the data'. However, the coordinates are not explicitly shown in the detailed view for standard form.

It is not always possible to provide coordinates for historical (political) entities simply because the coordinates of such places are not always available (unless, for example, the coordinates of a ruin or lost town are available). For this reason, the coordinates of modern-day (political) entities are used. For more information, see 'Data visualisation'.

For example, we provide coordinates for the modern Turkish city of Antakya when assigning a geodata link to the standard form Antakya (Antioch on the Orontes), because the ruins of the ancient city lie near the modern city of Antakya (Figure 5).

Located in

Located in shows the closest geographical and/or administrative entity in the hierarchical spatial data structure. Geographical entities below the level of a country (cities, regions, rivers, hills, etc.) are tagged to a relevant country or countries; countries are tagged to a larger region or regions (Eastern Europe, Middle East, Northern Africa, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, and Western Europe); and larger regions are tagged to a continent or continents (Africa, Asia, Europe). We use modern country or countries when we assign located in values to standard forms and their localities; for more information, see 'Geodata link' above and 'Data visualisation'. For example, the locality associated with the standard form Antakya (Antioch on the Orontes) is located in Turkey (Figure 5).

Show as

If a spatial reference lacks coordinates for some reason (e.g. because it is a fictional or an unidentified biblical spatial reference) it can still be visualised via the Show as field. Show as includes information on the geographical entity that the spatial reference in question is assumed to be a part of. It thus reflects geographical contextualisation of the spatial reference in the East Norse corpus. For example, all biblical places (in the Middle East) that lack generally accepted identification and coordinates are visualised as located in the Middle East. Another example is the visualisation of non-names linked to geographical localities, e.g. inhabitant designations. Thus, the inhabitant designation Russian has a show as value 'Russia' for visualisation purposes. For more information, see 'Data visualisation'.

Notes

In some cases, it has been desirable to include miscellaneous or contextual information concerning the standard form and its metadata. Notes can e.g. include comments on the place-name identification, the choice of coordinates for visualisation, and other editorial choices. As for formatting, we use italics for marking place names and citations of different types. When referencing secondary literature, we follow the Author-date system. Furthermore, we provide links to bibliographical details in national search services such as Libris.

Wikipedia link

The knowledge-sharing community Wikipedia includes many useful articles with spatial and historical data. By linking to its pages, we provide the user with direct access to geographical and contextual information about the locality. Although Wikipedia has a number of shortcomings – some factual errors, poor structure, bias, incompleteness (however, cf. Giles 2005) – it constitutes the most widely consulted reference work on the Internet, and by linking directly to it, we increase the user-friendliness of the index.

In Figure 5, the standard form Antakya (Antioch on the Orontes) is linked to a Wikipedia page concerning the relevant locality.

Lemma forms

The standard form detailed view includes information on all the lemma forms and all the variant forms linked to the standard form in question. The lemma form is a normalised form of the spatial reference (place name or non-name) that is constructed on the basis of the collected variant forms and original forms, as well as attestations of the word found in sources not covered by the project; for more information, see 'Data and related metadata: attestations'. According to Figure 5, there is one Old Swedish lemma form, Antiochia, linked to the standard form Antakya (Antioch on the Orontes).

Variant forms

The standard form detailed view includes information on all the lemma forms and all the variant forms linked to the standard form in question. The variant form is a slightly normalised form of the spatial reference (place name or non-name) based on one or more similar original forms that occur in one or more sources of one or more works; for more information, see 'Data and related metadata: attestations'. According to Figure 5, there are three Old Swedish variant forms, Anthiochia, Antichia, and Antiochia, linked to the standard form Antakya (Antioch on the Orontes).

Finally, the detailed view for standard form (Figure 5) makes it possible to see all of the original forms linked to a specific standard form, here Antakya (Antioch on the Orontes), by clicking on 'Show attestations linked to Antakya (Antioch on the Orontes)'.

Title of print

When available, the title of print is taken from the original medieval publication. The title is then supplemented with a catalogue number taken from the standard bibliography of Danish prints before 1600, Lauritz Nielsen. Dansk bibliografi 1482-1600 (2. ed. 1996). In Figure 6, the title of print, Hær begynner then danskæ Kronnickæ well offuerseet oc ræth, is supplemented with the catalogue number LN 232.

When the title of the medieval publication is not available, early prints receive a description in English as a title, e.g. Fragment of The Rhymed Chronicle, LN 233.

Dating

When available, the dating of early prints is taken from medieval publications. In other cases, we employ secondary literature to establish the dating, see 'Notes' below. The early print in Figure 6 is dated to 1495.

Number of pages

A page is a single side of a leaf. Early prints are paginated, i.e. provided with page numbers. The early print in Figure 6 has 184 pages.

Place of publication

The place of publication provides information on where an early print was or is thought to have been published. In Figure 6, we can see that Hær begynner then danskæ Kronnickæ well offuerseet oc ræth, LN 232 was published in Copenhagen.

Printer

A printer is a person credited with printing an early print. The early print in Figure 6 was printed by Gotfred of Ghemen.

Included works

Included works list the texts in the source that data are excerpted from. In Figure 6, we can see that Hær begynner then danskæ Kronnickæ well offuerseet oc ræth, LN 232 includes one text, Rimkrøniken (The Rhymed Chronicle).

Other texts in the source

Other texts in the source list the texts in the source that data are not excerpted from. The early print in Figure 6 does not include any other texts.

Notes

In some cases, it has been desirable to include miscellaneous or contextual information concerning the early print and its metadata. Notes can e.g. include comments on the dating and other editorial choices. As for formatting, we use italics for marking place names and citations of different types. When referencing secondary literature, we follow the Author-date system. Furthermore, we provide links to bibliographical details in national search services such as Libris.

Links

When available, we provide links to other relevant resources concerning the selected source such as a link to a source description, a link to a digitised source, and a link to an electronic edition.

Generally, the descriptive information about the manuscripts is taken from available catalogues (e.g. Kaalund 1888; Gammeldansk Ordbog; Handrit.is; Fornsvensk bibliografi) and the editions used. If necessary, the editors' own observations are included, see 'Notes' below.

Shelfmark

The shelfmark for each manuscript is taken from relevant secondary literature such as catalogues. In Figure 7, the shelfmark of the manuscript is A 108.

Repository

A repository is an institution that stores historically valuable sources such as manuscripts. The manuscript A 108 is stored at the National Library of Sweden in Stockholm, see Figure 7.

Dating

As a rule, the information on the dating of the manuscripts is taken from Patrik Åström's drafts for the cataloguing project Text till tiden the results of which are currently being published at Manuscripta – A Digital Catalogue of Manuscripts in Sweden. Furthermore, we have consulted the data on Old Swedish and Old Danish manuscripts in the standard work The Nordic Languages (2005: 1067–1075).

The dating is usually given in the format of a span (e.g. from 1400 to 1449). In cases when the information on the dating is worded as the beginning of or the first half of the 14th century, we adapt the information to the span format using similar principles as in the Register till Samlingar utgivna av Svenska fornskriftsällskapet 1844–2000 (2003). In the Norse World corpus, the span ends in -49 or -99 instead of -50 or -00 as in the Register to allow effective filtering by dating.

The manuscript A 108 is dated to 1400–1449, see Figure 7.

Type of support

The type of support specifies a writing support material, i.e. the material that a manuscript is written on. Manuscripts can be written on either membrane (parchment or vellum), paper, or a combination of membrane and paper. The manuscript A 108 is a membrane manuscript, see Figure 7.

Number of pages/folios

A manuscript can be either paginated, i.e. provided with page numbers, or foliated, i.e. provided with folio numbers. A page is a single side of a leaf. A folio is a leaf of a manuscript. As a rule, we provide the number of medieval pages/folios excluding the pages/folios that were added to the manuscript at later stages. The manuscript A 108 contains 166 pages, see Figure 7.

Place of origin

The place of origin provides information on where a manuscript was or is thought to have been written. In most cases, we can only provide information on which country the manuscript is thought to have been written in. For example, the manuscript A 108 is thought to have been written in Sweden, see Figure 7. Only in the few cases it is possible with certainty to locate a manuscript at a particular scriptorium, e.g. Vadstena.

Included works

Included works list the texts in the source that data are excerpted from. Since we only excerpt the data from Old Swedish and Old Danish literary texts, see 'Material' in 'Project', the texts of other genres or the texts written in other languages are excluded from the corpus. In Figure 7, we can see that the manuscript A 108 includes only one work, Själens tröst (Consolation of the Soul). However, most of the manuscript sources include multiple texts. For example, D 4 contains 15 works, Ivan Lejonriddaren (Yvain, the Knight of the Lion), Hertig Fredrik av Normandie (Duke Frederick of Normandy), Om Danmarks kungar (Gesta danorum), Flores och Blanzeflor (Floris and Blancheflour), and others.

Other works in the source

Other texts in the source list the texts in the source that data are not excerpted from. Since vi only excerpt the data from Old Swedish and Old Danish literary texts, see 'Material' in 'Project', the texts of other genres or the texts written in other languages are excluded from the corpus. Common languages are Latin and Middle Low German. The list is as complete as possible using available literature but the order of other works may not necessarily follow the order of the manuscript. Short works like spells or poems are gathered into one entry, for example “spells in Low German”. For the manuscript D 4 we exclude e.g. three spells (two in Middle Low German), excerpts from the Farmer's Almanac, chronological notes, Story of the Meeting at Danaholm in Old Swedish, List of Västergötland's border towns and common lands in Old Swedish, Christian Kings in Sweden in Old Swedish, and biblical riddles etc. In Figure 7, we can see that the manuscript A 108 does not include any other texts.

Notes

In some cases, it has been desirable to include miscellaneous or contextual information concerning the manuscript and its metadata. Notes can e.g. include comments on the dating and other editorial choices. As for formatting, we use italics for marking place names and citations of different types. When referencing secondary literature, we follow the Author-date system. Furthermore, we provide links to bibliographical details in national search services such as Libris.

Links

When available, we provide links to other relevant resources concerning the selected source such as a link to a source description, a link to a digitised source, and a link to an electronic edition.

Signum

The signa for medieval runic inscriptions are taken from the Scandinavian Runic-text Database.

Language

The project collects data from East Norse texts. Here we use East Norse to mean the two languages Old Swedish (incl. Old Gutnish) and Old Danish before 1530. The medieval runic inscriptions in the corpus are written in Old Swedish, as can be seen in Figure 8.

Dating

The information on the dating of medieval runic inscriptions is taken from the Scandinavian Runic-text Database. The runic inscription G 126 is dated to 1400–1499 (Figure 8).

Notes

In some cases, it can be desirable to include miscellaneous or contextual information concerning the runic inscription and its metadata. Notes can e.g. include comments on the dating and other editorial choices. As for formatting, we use italics for marking place names and citations of different types. When referencing secondary literature, we follow the Author-date system. Furthermore, we provide links to bibliographical details in national search services such as Libris.

Link to source description

When available, we will provide a link to the description of the runic inscriptions in the Evighetsrunor resource.

Title

A title of work or a text name is a standardised reference largely taken from Gammeldansk Ordbog for Old Dansh works or Fornsvensk bibliografi for Old Swedish works. Occasionally, another title is used if we consider it to be more precise; for example, I mitt hjärta (instead of Kärleksvisa). If a work is known by one or more alternative titles, these are listed in the notes; for example, Herr abboten is also known as Skämtan om alla abbotar or just Skemptan. Usually, Old Swedish works receive titles in modern Swedish, and Old Danish ones in modern Danish. Furthermore, we provide an English translation of the title in parentheses after the title. In Figure 9, the title of the Old Swedish work is Själens tröst which is rendered as Consolation of the Soul in English.

Dating of composition

Each work entry is provided with information on date of composition which often is different from the manuscript dating. For example, the text of Mandeville’s Travels in the manuscript M 307 is dated to 1434 (Kroman 1962: XXI–XXII), while the manuscript itself dates from 1459 (Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder, vol. 11, col. 310). In order to date a work, standard reference books have been consulted. If, however, it has been impossible to locate a dating for the work, then the oldest manuscript’s latest possible dating has been used instead as an end date (terminus ante quem). In 'Notes', we provide comments on the date of composition and references to relevant secondary literature such as Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder fra vikingetid til reformationstid. In Figure 9, the composition of Själens tröst (Consolation of the Soul) is dated to 1420–1442 according to Henning 1954.

Language

The project collects data from East Norse texts. Here we use East Norse to mean the two languages Old Swedish (incl. Old Gutnish) and Old Danish before 1530. In Figure 9, we can see that the work Själens tröst (Consolation of the Soul) is written in Old Swedish.

Old Gutnish forms from the manuscript Stockholm, National Library of Sweden, B 64 are normalised according to Old Gutnish phonology and morphology, e.g. dagaiþi is normalised as Dagaiþ. The lemma forms are then marked by “[OGut.]”. There is no filter for Old Gutnish in the Norse World resource. However, the Old Gutnish material consisting of 13 attestations from the manuscript B 64 can be filtered via the Source filter.

Genre

The texts from which the data has been excerpted are categorised into the following genres:

• chronicles and histories: e.g. Olav den heliges saga (The Saga of Saint Olaf), and Erikskrönikan (The Chronicle of Duke Erik) in Old Swedish, as well as Rimkrøniken (The Rhymed Chronicle) in Old Danish.
• devotional works: e.g. Själens tröst (Consolation of the Soul) in Old Swedish, as well as Sjælens Trøst (Consolation of the Soul) and Mariaklagen (The Lament of the Virgin Mary) in Old Danish.
• encyclopaedic and didactic works: e.g. Lucidarius (Lucidarius) in Old Swedish, as well as Kvinders Urtegård (Women's Herb Garden) and Vejleder for Pilgrimme (Guide for Pilgrims) in Old Danish.
• miscellaneous: e.g. Herr abboten (A Satire about Abbots) in Old Swedish.
• poems: e.g. Skriververs: En verdslig Frue (Scribe’s Ditty: A Worldly Lady) in Old Danish.
• preaching and mass: e.g. Predikningar (Sermons) in Old Swedish.
• romances: e.g. Flores och Blanzeflor (Floris and Blancheflour) in Old Swedish, as well as Dværgekongen Laurin (The Dwarf-King Laurin) and Den Kyske Dronning (The Chaste Queen) in Old Danish.
• travel tales: e.g. Vejleder for Pilgrimme (Pilgrims’ Guide to the Holy Land) and Mandevilles rejser (The Travels of Sir John Mandeville) in Old Danish.
• visions and revelations: e.g. Heliga Birgitta, Uppenbarelser (Birgitta of Sweden, Revelations) and Tungulus (Visio Tnugdali) in Old Swedish.

In Figure 9, we can see that Själens tröst (Consolation of the Soul) is sorted under devotional works.

Short description

In the short description field, we provide a basic description of the work and its contents. In Figure 9, the short description for Själens tröst (Consolation of the Soul) includes information on the text's background, inception, and contents.

Notes

In some cases, it has been desirable to include miscellaneous or contextual information concerning the work and its metadata. Notes can e.g. include comments on the dating of composition and other editorial choices. As for formatting, we use italics for marking place names and citations of different types. When referencing secondary literature, we follow the Author-date system. Furthermore, we provide links to bibliographical details in national search services such as Libris.

Link to bibliographical details

When available, we link each work entry to relevant bibliographies at e.g. Fornsvensk bibliografi and Middelaldertekster.dk. In Figure 9, the work entry on Själens tröst (Consolation of the Soul) is linked to bibliographical details at Fornsvensk bibliografi.

Finally, the work detailed view makes it possible to view all attestations in a selected work by clicking on 'Show all attestations in Själens tröst (Consolation of the Soul)', see Figure 9.