Summary Anyone familiar with the Modern Icelandic language will know that the country's policy is to avoid borrowing lexemes from other languages, and instead to draw on their own vocabulary. This often results in the formation of a word pair, consisting of a loanword and its respective native equivalent, as the process of borrowing systematically eludes the tight tangles of language policy. But how did this phenomenon develop in the Middle Ages, before a purist ideology was formed? This volume offers a unique analysis of a previously unexplored area of Old Norse linguistics by investigating the way in which loanwords and native synonyms interacted in the Middle Ages. Through a linguistic-philological investigation of texts from all medieval Icelandic prose genres, the book maps out the strategies by which the variation and interplay between loanwords and native words were manifested in medieval Iceland and suggests that it is possible to identify the same dynamics in other languages with a comparable literary tradition. In doing so, new light is shed on language development and usage in the Middle Ages, and the gap between case-study and general linguistic theory is bridged over. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures List of Tables Preface Abbreviations Languages Icelandic Prose Works, Skalds, and Poems Other Abbreviated Bibliographical Sources Abbreviated Dictionaries, Lexica, and Corpora Other Introduction Aim and Scope Review of Previous Research Research Hypothesis Loanwords in Old and Middle Icelandic: A Brief Sketch Theoretical Framework and Methodology of Analysis Corpus, Rationale, and Data Elicitation Terminology Structure of the Present Work Chapter 1: Religious Texts Introduction The Icelandic Homily Book The Old Norse Translation of Honorius Augustodunensis's Elucidarius Stj rn I Oddur Gottsk lksson's Translation of the New Testament Comparative Analysis and Conclusions Chapter 2: Law Texts and diplomata Introduction Gr g s J nsb k and Relative r ttarboetr Diplomata Comparative Analysis and Conclusions Chapter 3: Treatises Introduction Grammatical Treatises (1-4) Medical Texts Algorismus Astronomical and Computistic Texts Comparative Analysis and Conclusions Chapter 4: Historiographical Texts Introduction slendingab k Veraldar saga Kristni saga Comparative Analysis and Conclusions Chapter 5: Hagiographical Texts Introduction Hungrvaka orl ks saga helga Laurentius saga byskups Nikul ss saga af T lent n Comparative Analysis and Conclusions Chapter 6: Sagas of the Icelanders Introduction Egils saga Droplaugarsona saga G sla saga Gunnlaugs saga Grettis saga V glundar saga Comparative Analysis and Conclusions Chapter 7: Kings' Sagas Introduction Sverris saga lafs saga helga (Heimskr.) Kn tlinga saga Comparative Analysis and Conclusions Chapter 8: Chivalric and Legendary Sagas Introduction Alexanders saga Erex saga Fl res saga ok Blankifl r Gibbons saga Sigur ar saga ?gla Sigrgar s saga froekna D nus saga drambl ta V?lsunga saga orsteins saga V kingssonar Hr lfs saga kraka Comparative Analysis and Conclusions Conclusions General Results Word Pair Dynamics Lexical Strategies through the Centuries Word Pairs from 1550 Onwards General Bibliography Manuscripts Primary Sources Dictionaries, Lexica, and Corpora Secondary Works Index verborum