Giorgio Basciu

About me

My research focuses on Old Norse literature, with a particular emphasis on poetry. My main areas of interest include:

• Poetic language, including formulas and stylistic/rhetorical devices;
• Structural patterns, including metrics and sound patterns;
• Translation, particularly from Latin to Old Norse;
• Digital Humanities, with an emphasis on corpus-based research and on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) – especially large language models (LLM) – in the study of historical texts.

My background in Germanic philology, acquired in Italy, is reflected in a comparative perspective on the Old Norse material, which explores its connections to the broader Germanic alliterative tradition, including for example Old English and Old High German poetry. I have an interest in both qualitative and quantitative research, which are integral to my doctoral research. My engagement with textual analysis has also extended to scholarly editing, where I have gained knowledge in creating digital editions and employing XML and the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) guidelines for encoding historical texts.

Current Research

In April 2025 i will defend my PhD dissertation, which explores word pairs and other syndetic constructions in Old Norse poetry. My study examines the properties of these constructions within a corpus of over 850 stanzas preserved in the Icelandic sagas known as fornaldarsögur, proposing a new framework to analyze their role in poetic composition.

Teaching

I have taught various courses at Stockholm University. I have lectured on Old Norse language and literature, translation theory and practice, digital text editing, and grammar. In the upcoming autumn term, I will teach Old Icelandic and Historical Sociolinguistics.

Parallel to my academic work in Scandinavian studies, I have a strong interest in language teaching. I am a certified teacher of Italian as a foreign language and have taught numerous Italian language courses at the Department of Romance Studies and Classics at Stockholm University.

Background

Originally from Italy, I completed both my BA and MA degrees before moving to Sweden, where I embarked on my doctoral studies. My first encounter with Old Norse literature occurred within the framework of Germanic philology, which embraces the entirety of the medieval Germanic tradition. This background has shaped my approach to Norse philology, keeping me attuned to the broader linguistic and literary landscape of Old Norse material. Before entering academia, I worked for many years as a professional translator. My academic training also includes studies in translation and interpretation, which have further enriched my perspective on philological, linguistic, and textual analysis.