I did my schooling in Germany and my higher education at universities in Germany (Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) and Iceland (Háskóli Íslands, Reykjavík).
Research-wise, my focus is on the language and culture of the Nordic countries, within a European and Indo-European setting. Technically speaking, my field of research is Germanic Philology, runology and Nordic language history.
Having strong contacts with scholars in Europe (including Iceland), North America and Egypt is an important factor in my academic life and I am collaborating with several institutions in Germany, Switzerland, Iceland, Italy, USA and Egypt within different projects and research groups. Among my research fora, the NOWELE network (Odense-Wien-Kristiansand-Fukuoka/Japan), founded by the late Hans Frede Nielsen, deserves particular mention.
One of my special hobbies is Icelandic film, the New Icelandic Wave and Art House Style. Outside of academia, I enjoy nature, highland walks, kayaking, cycling, and polar history.
I am married to Ragnhild S. Nilsen, climate psychologist and artist (URL www.klimapsykologene.no).
RESEARCH
My research is within the realm of pre-modern Nordic (Norwegian) language and language history: periodization in Nordic linguistics, runology, formulas, formulaic language and rune magic, historical sociolinguistics, pre-modern literacy and memory studies, Old Norse, Proto-Norse and early North Germanic, language-system and writing systems, the older and younger futharks, and modern linguistic theories (see also scientific publications)
RELATED ISSUES:
External affiliations: Adjunct professor (P-II):
· University of Iceland / Háskóli Íslands, Menninga- og Máladeild, Reykjavík. 2015‒2025
· Heliopolis University, Faculty of Humanities and Art, Kairo. 2019‒2027
Opponent speeches:
· opponent at the oral defence of Ragnar Ingi Aðalsteinsson: Alliteration. University of Iceland, Reykjavik, October 2010
· opponent at the oral defence of Haukur Þorgeirsson: Phonology and metrical system. University of Iceland, Reykjavik, November 2013
· opponent at the oral defence of Matteo Tarsi: Loanwords and native words in Middle Icelandic. University of Iceland, Reykjavik, June 2020.
· opponent at the oral defence of David Šimecek: The Rise of the Periphrastic Future. Charles University, Prague, October 2021
Awards:
· Fridtjof Nansens Award for Excellent Research, Historical-Philosophical Class, 2014, Academy of Sciences and Letters, Oslo
· Sørlandets Kompetansefonds Forskningspris, Agder Academy of Sciences and Letters, 2019
· FoU-Pris University College Volda and Møreforsking, 2009
Academy member:
· Member of The Academy of Europe / Academia Europaea, London, Graz, Brussel (since 2024)
· Fellow of The Royal Historical Society, London (since 2023)
· The Royal Norwegian Society of Siences and Letters, DKNVS, Trondheim (since 2012)
· The Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy for Swedish Folk Culture, KGAA, Uppsala (since 2012)
· Kungl. Humanistiska Vetenskaps-Samfundet i Uppsala (since 2021)
· Agder Academy of Sciences and Letters, AVA, Kristiansand (since 2006)
Editorial / scientific board member:
Teaching and supervision at different levels, including bachelor-, master- and phd supervision. Topics within Norwegian grammar, Old Norse, Icelandic, modern linguistic theories, European and American structuralism, poststructuralism and Cognitive Grammar, Construction Grammar
Organizer - international symposium From Fyn to Rök: New discoveries and new insights into early Nordic language history, funded by The Royal Gustavus Adolphus Academy, Uppsala, 4.11.‒5.11.2024. URL https://www.uia.no/arrangementer/fra-fyn-til-roek-nye-oppdagelser-og-nye-innsikter-i-eldre-nordisk-spraakhistorie (web page of the symposium)
NORDPLUS Grammar Project: Toward a new Old Norse Grammar. University of Iceland - Uppsala universitet - University of Agder, 2023 - 2024
Organizer of the Conference «From the Maya Script to the Germanic Runes ‒ Case Studies on the Typology of Scripts and Research on Writing Systems.» SoundScriptLanguage. LautSchriftSprache [= LSS-5], University of Agder, Kristiansand‒Fevik, 25.10.‒28.10.2022. Host and organizer: Michael Schulte. See: https://www.uia.no/arrangementer/internasjonal-grafematikk-konferanse-ved-uia-scriptandsound-5
International cooperation partner of the RuneS-project, „Runic writing in the Germanic languages“, funded by the Union of the German Academies of Sciences and based at the Academy of Sciences in Göttingen, Research Centre Eichstätt ‒ Munich, Institute for English Philology & Scandinavian Department, University of Munich. 2015–2025
HistLing UiA, Historical linguistics: Historisk lingvistikk (HistLing) - Universitetet i Agder (uia.no)
Book project (anthology): Reinhard Hennig, Emily Diana Lethbridge & Michael Schulte (eds.), Ecocriticism and Old Norse Studies (= The North Atlantic World). Turnhout: Brepols (Open Access; publ. 2023)
Recent publications, and those forthcoming:
[Proceedings, in progress] Michael Schulte in cooperation with Kerstin Kazzazzi and Gaby Waxenberger (eds.), From the Maya Script to the Germanic Runes. Case Studies on the Typology of Scripts and Research on Writing Systems (ScriptandSound / LautSchriftSprache-5). Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag.
[Anthology, in progress] Michael Schulte in collaboration with Carla Falluomini, Stephen Laker & Robert Nedoma (eds.), Germanic Interrelations. Studies in Honour of Hans Frede Nielsen (NOWELE Supplement Series). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins (due 2024 - Open Access). [299 pages plus index]
[Article] «Stationen der frühen urnordischen Sprachgeschichte: Zu einer neuen Periodisierung des Urnordischen.» I: NOWELE 77.1 (2024):51-82 [Open Access - CC BY].
[Article] «Nochmals zur Metrizität der älteren Runeninschriften.» I: Carla Falluomini, Stephen Laker, Robert Nedoma & Michael Schulte (eds.), Germanic Interrelations. Studies in Honour of Hans Frede Nielsen (NOWELE Supplement Series). Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Benjamins (due 2024 - Open Access).
[Article] «Nye runefunn og nye muligheter? Nyfunn fra Svingerud og den eldste nordisks språkhistorien.» Saga och sed. Kungl. Gustav Adolfs Akademiens Årsbok 2023 (due 2024) [in press].
[Article] «Nochmals zum Runenwort urnord. rūnō: Ein Beitrag zur Periodisierung des Urnordischen.» I: (Paul und Braunes) Beiträge zur Geschichte der Deutschen Sprache und Literatur (PBB) 146.2 (2024):237-258 [Open Access - CC BY].
[Anthology] Ecocriticism and Old Norse Studies. Nature and the Environment in Old Norse Literature and Culture, ed. by Reinhard Hennig, Emily Lethbridge & Michael Schulte (The North Atlantic World 7). Turnhout: Brepols, 2023. URL: Ecocriticism and Old Norse Studies (brepolsonline.net)
[Article] «Runica metrica. Die metrischen Gestalt der älteren Runeninschriften und ihre Grundeinheit der Langzeile.» I: Metro e ritmo nei testi germanici medievali / Meter and Rhythm in Medieval Germanic Texts. Eds. Patrizia Lendinara, Letizia Vezzosi & Loredana Teresi, Filologia Germanica ‒ Germanic Philology. Journal of the Italian Society for Germanic Philology 15 (2023):223-248..
[Article] «Toward a typology of runic formulas – With a focus on the one-word formula in the older runic inscriptions.» I: New Light on Formulas in Oral Poetry and Prose (Utrecht Studies in Medieval Literacy [USML] 57). Ed. Daniel Sävborg & Bernt Øyvind Thorvaldsen. Turnhout: Brepols, 2023, pp. 191–225.
[Introductory chapter / article] In collaboration with Reinhard Hennig & Emily Lethbridge] «Combining Ecocriticism and Old Norse Studies: Opportunities and Challenges.» I: Ecocriticism and Old Norse Studies, utg. av Reinhard Hennig, Emily Lethbridge & Michael Schulte (The North Atlantic World 7). Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 11-36. URL: Combining Ecocriticism and Old Norse Studies: Opportunities and Challenges | Ecocriticism and Old Norse Studies (brepolsonline.net)
[Review article] «Der Rökstein im ökokritischen Trend.» In: NOWELE. North-Western European Language Evolution. 2023. ISSN: 0108-8416. 76 (1). pp. 100–111.
[Article] «Geschwind wie der IrilaR. Zum Neufund des Rakkestadsteines aus Ostnorwegen und zu den ek IrilaR-Inschriften.» In: Germanische Altertumskunde und europäisches Mittelalter. Gedenkband für Heinrich Beck. Eds. Jan Alexander van Nahl & Wilhelm Heizmann. (Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 146). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2023:403–425.
[Article] «Bauprinzipien runischer Formeln – Zur Lexis und Morphosyntax der urnordischen Formelsprache.» I: (Paul und Braunes) Beiträge zur Geschichte der Deutschen Sprache und Literatur (PBB) 145.1 (2023), pp. 1–34 [Open Access - CC - BY].
[Article] «From pagan charms to pious prayers? A case study of two runic formulas.» I: Maal og Minne [114], 2022(1):85–121.
Opponent speech at the doctoral defence of David Šimeček: «The Old Norse Periphrastic Future: The Origin, Grammaticalization and Meaning.» Department of Germanic Studies, Charles University in Prague, Czechoslovakian Republic, Prague, October 13, 2021 [opponent speech to be published in Prague].
«Magie in den älteren und jüngeren Runeninschriften? ‒ Zum Status magischer Konzepte in der Runologie.» I: The Magic Text in Medieval Germanic Traditions: editions, writings, formulas. Ed. Maria Christina Lombardi et al. Filologia Germanica ‒ Germanic Philology. Journal of the Italian Society for Germanic Philology 13 (2021):307–327.
Michael Schulte, in collaboration with Gudlaug Nedrelid: «Hølibǫrvar på Grønland – Bidrag til tolkning av en runepinne fra Austerbygda på Grønland.» I: Norsk språk i rom og tid, utg. av Ernst Håkon Jahr og Gro-Renée Rambø. HistLing-publikasjon. Oslo, Novus, 2021:9–28.
«The thistle-mistle formula in Buslubæn and versatility in runes.» In: Wege zur Konfiguration der Zeichen-Phonem-Beziehung, utg. av Gaby Waxenberger & Alessia Bauer. (LautSchriftSprache [LSS] 4). Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag, 2021:223–235.
«Tistel-mistel-formelen i vikingtid og nordisk middelalder. Form, funksjon og symbolverdi.» I: Maal og Minne [112], 2020(2):97–126.
«Wain, wagon, and wayfarer. Names of speed, agility and alertness in the corpus of the older runic inscriptions.» I: NOWELE 73.2 (2020):276–298. URL: https://benjamins.com/catalog/nowele.00043.sch.
«On the history of the dotted runes and the connexion to the British Isles.» I: (Paul und Braunes) Beiträge zur Geschichte der Deutschen Sprache und Literatur (PBB) 142.1 (2020):1‒22. URL: https://doi.org/10.1515/bgsl-2020-0001.
Norwegian, Nordic and international channels, in particular chronicles, debate posts and media coverage in Norway (Fædrelandsvennen, Klassekampen, TEFT) and in Germany (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Deutsche Universitätszeitung)
articles on new runic finds, in particular recent discoveries in Norway: GAO - Germanische Altertumskunde Online (Berlin: De Gruyter)
Last changed: 14.04.2024 20:04