○. Lexicon Poeticum Project Description
This is not currently part of the peer-reviewed material of the project. Do not cite as a research publication.
The Lexicon Poeticum project will develop a digital lexicographical resource framework for the corpus of Old Norse-Icelandic poetry, based on the corpus edited by the Skaldic Project.
It will also produce and commission dictionary entries for key sections of the lexicon, including common verbs; and semantic/social fields related to current projects in the field (e.g. pre-Christian religions, Christian literature). The framework developed will be extended to link or incorporate other lexical corpora, especially other poetic (eddic poetry and rímur), epigraphical (runic) and onomastic (place names) material. Quantitative analyses of the lexicon will also be produced, covering areas such as orthography and diachronic development.
This project is the first dictionary of a major medieval corpus to link the lexicon to its manuscript evidence. The user of the digital resource will be able to connect directly from words and senses to their material evidence, viewing images of the relevant manuscript pages, where available, or with page and line references to the manuscripts. In addition, it will be directly linked to the editions and translations of the poetry, allowing the user to understand the lexicon in its complex textual and literary contexts.
The project fills a major gap in the lexicography of Old Norse, namely, that of the skaldic corpus. It will add several thousand words to the lexicon established by the Dictionary of Old Norse Prose. It will add some 100,000 citations to ONP’s approximately 700,000 citations. It offers a substantial advancement in lexicographic methodology over the existing dictionary of the corpus.
The project uses new methods of collaborating on textual projects which I have developed — allowing international collaborators to access, edit and review the material, with direct and integrated online publication. It will also use cutting edge Linked Open Data methods of integrating the resource with other complimentary and supplementary resources, including, at the Department of Nordic Research: ONP, Danske Stednavne (Danish Place-Names), Danske Runer (Danish Runes), in addition to external databases.
The project implements Adaptive Web Design techniques for both the editing and publication interface, allowing contributors and end-users to access, edit and interact with the material on a variety of devices.