Abstract
This article investigates the usage of Old Nordic supernatural concepts in the Old Norse translations of Old French and Anglo-Norman chivalric romances and courtly lais from the twelfth to fourteenth centuries. This paper focuses on the usage of the term dvergr as a translation for the Old French nain, reflecting not only the narrative purposes involved in the choice of this word as a translation, but also the possible consequences it could have had on Icelandic folk belief when these works were read out loud alongside other works that formed part of Icelandic literature and Icelandic oral tradition.
Funding statement: This paper has been funded by the Rannsóknasjóður Háskóli Íslands/The Doctoral Grant of the Univeristy of Iceland Research Fund.
Acknowledgment
I would like to offer my particular gratitude to my research supervisors Professor Terry Gunnell and Professor Sif Ríkharðsdóttir (both Háskóli Íslands) as well as Professor Rudolf Simek (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) for their constructive advice and constant assistance.
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