Current project
The MSCA-funded project “From Stick to Screen: Digital Editions of Runic Inscriptions as Research Tools” will create a born-digital, interactive and open-access critical corpus edition of the runic inscriptions from the four medieval Norwegian trading towns Bergen, Trondheim, Oslo and Tønsberg. In creating this edition, it will examine new ways of digitally editing and analysing runic inscriptions using photographic documentation and software like relational databases, Python and GIS. It will also address the challenges of proper digital representation of runes from a multidisciplinary perspective, aiming to present a solution to existing challenges.
The project will further examine how digital museums/editions can be actively used to conduct research. Two case studies will be undertaken to show how the new digital edition of the runic inscriptions from Bergen, Trondheim, Oslo and Tønsberg can immediately be used as a tool for research. The first case study focuses on the diachronic and geographical spread of runes and variations of runes within these four towns, and will try to identify regional differences in the use of certain runic characters in the material. The second case study will analyse the diachronic and geographical spread of the names appearing in the runic inscriptions from these four towns with a view to the identity, geographic mobility and gender distribution of the rune-carvers.
Images, interactive maps and data will be made accessible to everyone via web application post-project.