Rune Forsberg Explained

Rune Forsberg (1908–20 September 1997) was a Swedish scholar of Old English.

Life

Forsberg matriculated at Uppsala University in 1927, graduating with a master's degree (Fil.mag.) in 1932, a licentiate (Fil.lic.) in 1938, and a doctorate (PhD) in 1950.[1] His thesis, A Contribution to a Dictionary of Old English Place-names, Nomina Germanica; arkiv för germansk namnforskning, 9 (Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell), had begun as a contribution to a planned place-name dictionary by Forsberg's teacher Robert Eugen Zachrisson, but Zachrisson's early death prevented the realisation of the dictionary itself. Yet Forsberg's work offered important insights into the origins of a range of place-names, and into the dating of Anglo-Saxon charters. Forsberg went on to work in Uppsala University's English department until his retirement in the mid-1970s. His final monograph, The Place-name Lewes: A Study of its Early Spellings and Etymology, Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis: Studia Anglistica Upsaliensia, 100 (Uppsala: Uppsala University, 1997), was published posthumously, seen through the press by Karl Inge Sandred and Bengt Lindström.

Notes and References

  1. Karl Inge Sandred, 'Rune Forsberg 1908–1997', Journal of the English Place-Name Society, 30 (1997–98), 158–59.