This thesis examines the use and distribution of seven core adjectives for wisdom in the Old Norse poetic corpus, those being: fróðr, horskr, snotr, spakr, svinnr, víss, and vitr, as well as their adjectival compounds. Scholarship concerning wisdom in the Old Norse poetic corpus often includes only those poems whose primary subject is wisdom. This study approaches the subject differently, addressing the semantic field of wisdom in Old Norse poetry and examining the issue beginning at the level of the word, thus presenting a different and broader view of how wisdom was presented in the corpus.
This thesis consists of an introduction, two main chapters, and a conclusion. The introduction discusses scholarship that exists on wisdom in the Old Norse corpus, reviews my methodology, and outlines the etymology of each of the core adjectives. The first chapter considers the words in the eddic corpus, and the second considers them in the skaldic corpus. Considering the different size and nature of these two poetic corpora – if, indeed, they ought to be thought of as such – the approach taken to each chapter necessarily differs. In the eddic chapter, every instance of each of the adjectives and their adjectival compounds will be addressed and examined. In the skaldic chapter, due to the much higher volume of poetry, trends will be established and only select occurrences will be addressed in detail. The conclusion is in three parts, the first addressing and comparing the use of the core adjectives in the corpus of Christian poetry, the second the use of words for women’s wisdom, and the third the distribution of the words in eddic and skaldic poetry. This project demonstrates the benefits of addressing a subject based on the distribution of its semantic field, and allowing the lexicon to guide our lines of inquiry.
