Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.10.2003, Page 355
9 Summary
Middle Low German loanwords in
Icelandic charters until 1500
The main aim of this study is to throw light on the occurrence and use of
loanwords of Middle Low German (MLG) origin in Icelandic charters
etc. from the period c. 1200-1500, and at the same time to test the hy-
pothesis that MLG influence on the languages of Scandinavia also made
itself felt in Iceland by the first half of the fourteenth century, i.e. earlier
than is often supposed. For this purpose all Icelandic charters and letters
as well as inventories from churches and convents, statutes issued by
bishops and archbishops, and a few other texts from the period c. 1200-
1500 have been investigated. The result is 1150-1200 words and word-
forms of which over 600 (c. 310 stems) originate in or have been con-
veyed through MLG, or are formed from MLG words. The investigation
has been as exhaustive as possible; altogether 2600-2800 instances of
words were recorded.
After the introductory Chapter 1, where previous research is discussed
together with the methodology, working hypothesis, and goal of the pre-
sent work, Chapter 2 provides a discussion of the source material used
and its characteristics. The most reliable sources with respect to dating
and form of language are the charters proper, i.e. private and official con-
tracts of various kinds, bilis of sale, receipts, marriage settlements, and
the like. They make up the main part of the material; especially important
are, of course, those documents of which the originals are preserved. The
dating of inventories from churches and religious houses is less safe and
instances from these texts must be treated with certain reservations.
Statutes of Icelandic bishops and Norwegian archbishops are, as regards
genre, related to the charters but their basis is church law. The Icelandic
bishops’ statutes were written in Iceland, and though the language is Ice-
landic the text as such is chiefly of Norwegian origin; the archbishops’
statutes were presumably originally written in Latin, later to be translated
into Old Norse, some of them probably in Iceland.