>I am a new subscriber to this group and would like to introduce
>myself. I am an American of Norwegian-American ancestry. After 38
>years in parish ministry in Canada and the U.S., I have since 1999
>have been serving on the faculty of Evangelical Theology
>at the University of Klaipeda, Klaipeda, Lithuania, on the Baltic
>coast. I teach Hebrew and Historical and Systematic Theology. My
>theological training included work in Latin, Greek, German, and
>Syriac, and some reading in Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian - in
>addition to a bit of secondary school French.

Welcome to the group. Your background is a
rather unique one - and quite interesting.
From the perspective of historical theology
the study of Old Norse certainly has a lot to
offer. It is very interesting to see how the
old heathen oral literature tradition takes
on Christian subjects while maintaining the
old heathen forms in many aspects.

This strophe from Lilja (The Lily) is well known.
The author compares the role of a Christian
poet with that of his heathen predecessors.

Fyrri menn er froeðin kunnu
forn ok klók af heiðnum bókum
slungin mjúkt af sínum kóngum
sungu lof með danskri tungu.
Í þvílíku móðurmáli
meir skyldumk ek en nokkurr þeirra
hroerðan dikt með ástarorðum
allsvaldanda kóngi at gjalda.

Former men who had their wisdom
ancient and clever from heathen books
sung softly praise for their kings
with the Danish tongue.
In such a mother tongue
it is more my duty than it was any of theirs
to pay a passionate poem with words of love
to an all-powerfull king.

Kveðja,
Haukur