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A Study in Textual Transmission: Egils rímur and the “Younger Egla”
(University of Iceland, School of Humanities, Faculty of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies, 2026-02-28) Macháčková, Nikola; Svanhildur Óskarsdóttir; Íslensku- og menningardeild (HÍ); The Faculty of Icelandic and Comparative Cultural Studies (UI); Hugvísindasvið (HÍ); School of Humanities (UI)
Egils saga er varðveitt í allnokkrum handritum og handritsbrotum og er elsta brotið frá miðri þrettándu öld (AM 162 A θ fol.). Viðfangsefni þessarar ritgerðar eru hinsvegar mun yngri birtingarmyndir sögunnar, Egils rímur frá miðri sautjándu öld, og „Yngri Egla“, prósaverk sem er að miklu leyti byggt á rímunum. Yngri Egla er varðveitt í fjórum handritum frá sautjándu og átjándu öld. Þrátt fyrir ótvírætt mikilvægi þeirra hafa þessar síðari alda umritanir ekki notið jafnmikillar fræðilegrar athygli og hin forna saga. Í þessari rannsókn er fjallað um aðlögun og viðtökur Egils sögu innan þeirrar breytilegu bókmenntamenningar sem ríkti á fyrri hluta nýaldar á Íslandi. Með því að rannsaka sex lykilhandrit sameinar rannsóknin hefðbundna textafræði og efnislega textafræði til að kanna textatengsl og það menningarlega samhengi sem hafði áhrif á þessar aðlaganir. Sá gjörningur að snúa sögum í bundið mál og svo aftur í prósa er algengur í íslenskri bókmenntahefð en þetta fyrirbæri hefur ekki verið rannsakað ítarlega hingað til, sérstaklega ekki í sambandi við Íslendingasögur. Varðveisla og endursköpun texta þessarar vinsælu sögu á sautjándu og átjándu öld getur gefið okkur innsýn í viðtökur sögunnar, samfélag þessa tíma og breytingar á bókmenntasmekk. Greiningin kortleggur tengslin milli Egils rímna og handrita af C-grein Egils sögu hinnar eldri, auk þess að rannsaka endursköpun þessara rímna í prósaverkinu „Yngri Eglu“. Í rannsókninni er sjónum einnig beint að félags- og efnahagslegu baksviði handritanna, ætlaður tilgangur þeirra og lesendahópur er skoðaður og sú algenga skoðun dregin í efa að „Yngri Egla“ sé „ómerkilegra“ verk en miðaldasagan. Þess í stað er leitast við að setja þetta prósaverk í stærra samhengi endurritunar yfir á ný form og bókmenntasmekks á fyrri hluta nýaldar á Íslandi. Þessi ritgerð felur í sér útgáfu (þá fyrstu sem unnin hefur verið) og greiningu á Egils rímum og endurmat á „Yngri Eglu“ og er þannig til þess fallin að auka skilning á þróun bókmenntagreina á tímum mikilla menningarbreytinga. Hún er bæði framlag til handritafræða og til íslenskrar bókmenntasögu og niðurstöðurnar varpa ljósi á flókin endurritunarferli og viðtökur sem einkenna bókmenntalandslagið á Íslandi eftir siðbreytingu.
Verk
Folklore as Intellectual Property: Attempts to Create an International Convention to Protect Traditional Culture
(University of Iceland, School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, Anthropology and Folkloristics, 2026-03-19) Karlsson, Áki Guðni; Valdimar Tr. Hafstein; Félagsfræði-, mannfræði- og þjóðfræðideild; Faculty of Social Sciences, Anthropology and Folkloristics; Félagsvísindasvið; School of Social Sciences
This dissertation is a study of approaches to the protection of traditional cultural expressions as intellectual property, debated at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) since 2001. The research focuses on the history of intellectual property for traditional culture, and the various ways in which the debate is framed. I analyse these frames in the context of geopolitical power struggles and groups fighting for cultural self-determination, while identifying stakeholder interests and the key actors involved. Based on my findings, I argue that the difficulty of defining traditional cultural expressions as intellectual property derives from the way intellectual property was conceived, by distinguishing modern art and the modern bourgeois artist, mostly based in the metropoles of European empires, from traditional art, created by people living in the provinces and colonies of the former. Intellectual property regulations created a situation where the former category of artists was able to benefit financially by creating art derived from the latter, but not the other way around. This imbalance lies at the root of repeated attempts to accommodate traditional culture within current standards of intellectual property. I argue that without substantial revision of those standards, such attempts are doomed to fail. My research is based on participant observation at meetings of WIPO’s Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) in Geneva, Switzerland, in depth interviews with its delegates, as well as an extensive study of related historical archives, to lay bare the genealogy of these 21st century debates in the context of the legal, cultural, and political history of the 20th century, as well as the intertwined histories of copyright and the field of folklore in the 19th century. This brought me to examine the long document trail left by decades of meetings, while focusing on the current talks in the IGC. I have attempted to identify the voices behind different policy positions. I have also endeavoured to trace the development of these positions, which sometimes extend far back in time. In many parts of the world, we find examples of conflict between people involved in traditional cultures that fall outside the purview of intellectual property law, and people whose cultural productions and inventions are directly derived from these traditions yet are protected as intellectual property. The rift that was put between these two types of creativity, is also the founding moment of “folklore” as a concept dedicated to the traditional arts. While attempts to settle the matter within WIPO have at the time of writing (in 2025) largely been in vain, the long intergovernmental debate (extending back more than 60 years) has led to several international conventions related to folklore, traditional culture vi and traditional knowledge, and a proliferation of literature dealing with the concept of cultural property from the standpoint of different scholarly disciplines. The present study is my contribution to a growing field of inquiry related to fundamental questions of cultural rights, cultural property, the possibility of balanced cultural exchanges, and the place and value of tradition in modern society.
Verk
Landslag í mótun: Örnefni og ferli nafngifta í Surtsey
(Háskóli Íslands, verkfræði og náttúruvísindasvið, líf- og umhverfisvísindasvið, 0026-03-04) Lárusdóttir, Birna; Edda R. H. Waage; Líf- og umhverfisvísindadeild (HÍ); Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences (UI); Verkfræði- og náttúruvísindasvið (HÍ); School of Engineering and Natural Sciences (UI)
Markmið rannsóknarinnar er að varpa ljósi á örnefni sem hreyfanlegt og síbreytilegt afl og að draga upp mynd af því hvernig þessi hreyfanleiki hefur áhrif á landslag og sýn okkar á það. Nafngiftaferlið er í forgrunni, þ.e. að skoða hvernig örnefni og söfn örnefna verða til í tengslum við ýmsa aðra þætti. Til að draga fram inntak örnefnahugtaksins og hvernig það hefur þróast í fræðilegu ljósi eru sögu örnefnarannsókna á Íslandi gerð skil. Grafist er fyrir um viðhorf til örnefna, nafngiftaferla og örnefnasöfnunar og þar með könnuð tilurð gagna um örnefni eins og við þekkjum þau. Þá eru þekkt nafngiftaferli úr nútímanum notuð til að auka skilning á því hvernig örnefni verða til, hvernig þau endurspegla og hafa áhrif á heimsmynd okkar og varpa ljósi á menningarlegt vald yfir landfræðilegu rými og stöðum. Aðalrannsóknarefnið er örnefni í Surtsey, en hún varð til í eldsumbrotum haustið 1963. Þar gefst fágætt tækifæri til að rannsaka örnefnamyndun í nýju landi frá upphafi, en byggt er á ýmiss konar ritheimildum, vettvangskönnun og viðtölum. Aðferðafræðilegur grunnur verkefnisins er þverfræðilegur og stuðst við nálganir úr menningarlandfræði, félagslegri örnefnafræði og heimspeki. Þannig er horft á félagslegt umhverfi örnefna og m.a. hvernig þau eru ekki alltaf hlutlausir merkimiðar heldur gildishlaðin og jafnvel hápólitísk
Verk
Early Pleistocene environment and climate of the Nihewan Basin, NE China
(University of Iceland, School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Faculty of Earth Sciences, 2026-03-02) Moghazi, Ahmed H.; Steffen Mischke; Jarðvísindadeild (HÍ); Faculty of Earth Sciences (UI); Verkfræði- og náttúruvísindasvið (HÍ); School of Engineering and Natural Sciences (UI)
The Nihewan Basin in northern China preserves abundant Early Pleistocene Palaeolithic sites and represents one of the earliest locations of hominins outside Africa. Sediments from three excavation trenches at the Dachangliang ridge in the northeastern part of the Nihewan Basin were investigated in the PhD study to reconstruct the environmental and climatic changes and assess their relationship with hominin activities during the Early Pleistocene. A multi-proxy approach was applied, integrating field-based observations with grain-size, magnetic susceptibility and ostracod assemblage (bivalved micro-crustacean) analyses, as well as parameterized grain-size end-member modeling, cyclostratigraphic analysis and stable isotope analysis of ostracod shells (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values). The studied sediments were mostly interpreted as fluvially reworked, originally aeolian deposits which accumulated through six depositional cycles, alternating between dominantly a wetland with periods of lake and alluvial plain settings. The grain-size distributions of the synthetic NH-T composite section were attributed to a mixture of four distinct end members (EMs 1-4). EMs 1-3 were used to infer the history of East Asian winter/summer monsoons (EAWM/EASM) in the region. Inferred EASM conditions dominated during periods from ca. 1.66-1.62 Ma, 1.52-1.25 Ma and after 0.82 Ma, whereas EAWM conditions prevailed from ca. 1.62-1.52 Ma and during the Mid-Pleistocene transition (MPT) 1.25-0.82 Ma. The unexpectedly high δ¹⁸O-δ¹³C covariance suggests that the basin was mostly hydrologically closed, and waters affected by evaporation. Hydrological state shifts between more standing and flowing waters were detected. Assessed together with the synthetic archaeological record, hominins apparently occupied the basin during periods of prevailing EASM climate and more standing waters. Collectively, these insights refine our current perspectives of the favorable and less favorable climatic conditions that shaped the Early Pleistocene hominin activities in the region. Thus, this study establishes a foundation for continued research on the palaeoenvironments of Early Pleistocene hominins in East Asia.
Verk
Renewable conversion of CO2 to green fuels
(University of Iceland, School of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Faculty of Physical Science, 2026-03-16) Ashraf, Naveed; Dr Younes Abghoui; Raunvísindadeild (HÍ); Physics (UI); Verkfræði- og náttúruvísindasvið (HÍ); School of Engineering and Natural Sciences (UI)
The excessive release of greenhouse gases has significantly endangered the Earth's ecosystem and resulted in major environmental impacts. The increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil fuel usage disturb natural cycles, increase global warming, cause glacial melting, and lead to climate change. Therefore, prompt actions are required to capture CO2 and transform it into renewable energy fuels to mitigate this problem. For decades, researchers and scientists have pursued the development of systems that can capture CO2 and transform it into valuable chemical molecules. Several techniques exist for the conversion of CO2 into valuable products, including biochemical, thermochemical, and photochemical processes; however, electrochemical approaches are particularly advantageous as they can utilize renewable energy, hence reducing the degradation of the environment. Electrocatalysis is considered a key and efficient technique for the sustainable generation of fuels and chemicals from renewable energy sources. These technologies not only diminish atmospheric CO2 levels but also serve as effective methods to meet the rapidly increasing energy demands by converting the captured CO2 into a fuel such as methane, methanol, ethanol, etc. in a renewable manner. This thesis employed the state-of-the-art Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations to model more than 30 different surfaces in the rock-salt structured transition metal carbides (TMC) and in three dominant facets of (100), (110), and (111) as catalyst material for CO2 reduction reactions (CO2RR) and carbon monoxide reduction reactions (CORR). In addition to the conventional mechanism, the Mars van Krevelen (MvK) mechanism was investigated, a mechanism that is unique for these TMCs due to their crystallographic compositions. For CO2 reduction via a conventional mechanism, the (100) facet of vanadium carbide (VC) was found to enable formic acid production at an onset potential of 0.0 V. The (100) facet of wolfram carbide (WC) was identified as showing high activity for methanol synthesis at -0.36 V. From the (110) facets, tantalum carbide (TaC) demonstrated outstanding activity for C1 products, enabling formic acid formation at 0.0 V and methane formation at -0.21 V. The VC (110) facets showed relatively high activity for formic acid (-0.36 V) and methanol (-0.50 V) formation. The WC (110) was found to be a better option for generating C2 products, such as ethanol, ethane, and ethylene, with a comparatively low onset potential of -0.65 V. For CORR, our study demonstrates that CO is exergonically adsorbed on the surface of carbides, where TaC (100) and TaC (110) were predicted to have catalytic activity for methane formation at -0.32 V and -0.26 V, respectively. Overall, the analysis of CO2 and CO adsorption indicates that CO adsorption is more exergonic than CO2, hence making CORR more interesting than CO2RR on TMC catalysts. In addition, the (111) facets were found less interesting for CO2 reduction when compared with (100) and (110) facets.

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