Sophus Bugge
Encyclopedia
Sophus Bugge was a noted Norwegian
philologist and linguist. His scientific work was directed to the study of runic inscriptions and Norse philology. Bugge is best known for his theories and his work on the runic alphabet
and the Poetic Edda
and Prose Edda
.
, in Vestfold
county, Norway
. His ancestors had been merchants, ship owners and captains of the Larvik for several generations. Bugge was a cand.mag.
(1857) and research fellow in comparative linguistics and Sanskrit
(1860). He was educated in Christiania
, Copenhagen
and Berlin
.
, Romance
, Oscan
, Umbrian
and Etruscan
languages. His scientific work was of fundamental importance for the Norse philology and runic research.
In his 1880 work Studies about the origin of Nordic mythological and heroic tales, Bugge theorized that nearly all myths in Old Norse
literature derive from Christian
and late classical
concepts. Bugge's theories were generally vehemently rejected, but have had some influence.
Bugge was the author of a very large number of books on philology and folklore
. His principal work, a critical edition of the Poetic Edda
(Norroen Fornkvoedi), was published at Christiania in 1867. He maintained that the Eddic poems and the earlier sagas were largely founded on Christian and Latin tradition imported into Scandinavian literature
by way of England
. His writings also include Gamle Norske Folkeviser (1858), a collection of Old Norse folk-songs; Bidrag til den aeldste skaldedigtnings historie (Christiania, 1894); Helge-digtene i den Aeldre Edda (Copenhagen, 1896, Eng. trans., The Home of the Eddic Poems, 1899); Norsk Sagafortaelling op Sagaskrivning i Island (Christiania, 1901), and various books on runic inscriptions.
Dating from 1902, Bugge's vision was so poor that he could no longer read. Professor and linguist Magnus Olsen
, who was Bugge's assistant and his successor, would read and describe new discoveries of inscriptions. Bugge's final works regarding original rune scripture were not completed before he died. They were released between 1910 and 1913 through the efforts of Professor Olsen.
(1865) and a number of foreign societies. He was made honorary doctor at Uppsala University
in 1877. He was appointed a Knight of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1877, Commander Grand Cross 1890 and 1896.
became a noted historian.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
philologist and linguist. His scientific work was directed to the study of runic inscriptions and Norse philology. Bugge is best known for his theories and his work on the runic alphabet
Runic alphabet
The runic alphabets are a set of related alphabets using letters known as runes to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter...
and the Poetic Edda
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...
and Prose Edda
Prose Edda
The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda or simply Edda, is an Icelandic collection of four sections interspersed with excerpts from earlier skaldic and Eddic poetry containing tales from Nordic mythology...
.
Background
Elseus Sophus Bugge was born in LarvikLarvik
is a city and municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Larvik. Larvik kommune - has about 41 364 inhabitants and covers 530 km2....
, in Vestfold
Vestfold
is a county in Norway, bordering Buskerud and Telemark. The county administration is in Tønsberg.Vestfold is located west of the Oslofjord, as the name indicates. It includes many smaller, but well-known towns in Norway, such as Larvik, Sandefjord, Tønsberg and Horten. The river Numedalslågen runs...
county, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. His ancestors had been merchants, ship owners and captains of the Larvik for several generations. Bugge was a cand.mag.
Cand.mag.
Candidatus magisterii , Candidata magisterii , i.e. Latin Candidate of Arts, abbreviated cand.mag., is an academic degree used in Denmark, and formerly in Norway and Iceland, roughly corresponding to an American Master of Arts and officially translated as such...
(1857) and research fellow in comparative linguistics and Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
(1860). He was educated in Christiania
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
and Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
.
Career
In 1866 he became professor of comparative philology, comparative Indo-European linguistics and Old Norse at Christiania University now the University of Oslo. In addition to collecting Norwegian folksongs and traditions and writing on Runic inscriptions, he made considerable contributions to the study of the CelticCeltic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
, Romance
Romance languages
The Romance languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family, more precisely of the Italic languages subfamily, comprising all the languages that descend from Vulgar Latin, the language of ancient Rome...
, Oscan
Oscan language
Oscan is a term used to describe both an extinct language of southern Italy and the language group to which it belonged.The Oscan language was spoken by a number of tribes, including the Samnites, the Aurunci, the Sidicini, and the Ausones. The latter three tribes were often grouped under the name...
, Umbrian
Umbrian language
Umbrian is an extinct Italic language formerly spoken by the Umbri in the ancient Italian region of Umbria. Within the Italic languages it is closely related to the Oscan group and is therefore associated with it in the group of Osco-Umbrian languages...
and Etruscan
Etruscan language
The Etruscan language was spoken and written by the Etruscan civilization, in what is present-day Italy, in the ancient region of Etruria and in parts of Lombardy, Veneto, and Emilia-Romagna...
languages. His scientific work was of fundamental importance for the Norse philology and runic research.
In his 1880 work Studies about the origin of Nordic mythological and heroic tales, Bugge theorized that nearly all myths in Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
literature derive from Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and late classical
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
concepts. Bugge's theories were generally vehemently rejected, but have had some influence.
Bugge was the author of a very large number of books on philology and folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
. His principal work, a critical edition of the Poetic Edda
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...
(Norroen Fornkvoedi), was published at Christiania in 1867. He maintained that the Eddic poems and the earlier sagas were largely founded on Christian and Latin tradition imported into Scandinavian literature
Scandinavian literature
Scandinavia literature or Nordic literature is the literature in the languages of the Nordic countries of Northern Europe. The Nordic countries include Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway , Sweden and associated autonomous territories .The majority of these nations and regions use North Germanic...
by way of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. His writings also include Gamle Norske Folkeviser (1858), a collection of Old Norse folk-songs; Bidrag til den aeldste skaldedigtnings historie (Christiania, 1894); Helge-digtene i den Aeldre Edda (Copenhagen, 1896, Eng. trans., The Home of the Eddic Poems, 1899); Norsk Sagafortaelling op Sagaskrivning i Island (Christiania, 1901), and various books on runic inscriptions.
Dating from 1902, Bugge's vision was so poor that he could no longer read. Professor and linguist Magnus Olsen
Magnus Olsen
Magnus Bernhard Olsen was a Norwegian linguist and a professor in Norse philology at the University of Oslo from 1908 to 1948...
, who was Bugge's assistant and his successor, would read and describe new discoveries of inscriptions. Bugge's final works regarding original rune scripture were not completed before he died. They were released between 1910 and 1913 through the efforts of Professor Olsen.
Honors
Bugge was a member of the Scientific Society of Christiania (now The Norwegian Academy of Science) from 1858 (vice president 1884), The Royal Norwegian Scientific Society in TrondheimTrondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
(1865) and a number of foreign societies. He was made honorary doctor at Uppsala University
Uppsala University
Uppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of...
in 1877. He was appointed a Knight of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in 1877, Commander Grand Cross 1890 and 1896.
Personal life
He was married during 1869 to Karen Sophie Schreiner (1835-1897). His son Alexander BuggeAlexander Bugge
Alexander Bugge was a Norwegian historian. He was professor at the Royal Frederick University from 1903–1912, and his main fields of interest were culture and society in the Viking era and the development of trade and cities in Norway in mediaeval times.-Personal life:Alexander Bugge was son...
became a noted historian.
Selected Works
- Gamle norske Folkeviser (1858)
- Norrøne Skrifter af sagnhistorisk Indhold (1864–73)
- Norrœn Fornkvæði (1867)
- Studier over de nordiske Gude- og Heltesagns Oprindelse. Første Række (1881–89)
- Om Runeindskrifterne paa Rök-stenen i Östergötland og paa Fonnaas-Spænden fra Rendalen i Norge, Stockholm (1888)
- Bidrag til den ældste Skaldedigtnings Historie (1894)
- Hønen-Runerne fra Ringerike, hf. 1 i Norges Indskrifter med de yngre Rune (1902)
- Runerne paa en sølvring fra Senjen, hf. 2 i Norges Indskrifter med de yngre Runer (1906)
- Norges Indskrifter med de ældre Runer. Indledning: Runeskriftens Oprindelse og ældste Historie (with M. Olsen), (posthumt) 1905–13
- Der Runenstein von Rök in Östergötland (with M. Olsen), (posthumt) 1910