Helmut Birkhan (born 1 February 1938) is an Austrian philologist who is

Professor Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

of Old High

German Language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

and

Literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

and the former Managing Director of the Institute for

Germanic Studies Germanic philology is the philological study of the Germanic languages, particularly from a comparative or historical perspective. The beginnings of research into the Germanic languages began in the 16th century, with the discovery of literary te ...

at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

. Having studied at Vienna under

Otto Höfler Otto Eduard Gottfried Ernst Höfler (10 May 1901 – 25 August 1987) was an Austrian philologist who specialized in Germanic studies. A student of Rudolf Much, Höfler was Professor and Chair of German Language and Old German Literature at the Un ...

, Birkhan specializes in

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

, Germanic, and

Indo-European studies Indo-European studies () is a field of linguistics and an interdisciplinary field of study dealing with Indo-European languages, both current and extinct. The goal of those engaged in these studies is to amass information about the hypothetical p ...

, particularly the study of

- Germanic contacts,

Germanic linguistics Germanic philology is the philological study of the Germanic languages, particularly from a comparative or historical perspective. The beginnings of research into the Germanic languages began in the 16th century, with the discovery of literary te ...

and

Medieval German literature Medieval German literature refers to the literature of Medieval Germany. It can be subdivided into two main periods: *Old High German literature (750–1050) is the product of the monasteries and is almost exclusively religious in nature *Middle H ...

from an interdisciplinary perspective, on which he has published numerous influential works. He has taught generations of students at Vienna, as is well known as a popularizer of scholarship for the broader Austrian public, particularly young people. Birkhan has tutored many influential scholars, including Hermann Reichert,

Rudolf Simek Rudolf Simek (born 21 February 1954) is an Austrian philologist and religious studies scholar who is Professor and Chair of Ancient German and Nordic Studies at the University of Bonn. Simek specializes in Germanic studies, and is the author ...

, , Melitta Adamson, and Alfred Ebenbauer, and continues to teach, write and research.

Early life and education

Helmut Birkhan was born in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, Austria on 1 February 1938, the son of Josef Birkhan, a

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

, and Maria Müller. After graduating from gymnasium in Vienna, Birkhan studied philosophy, psychology,

classical philology Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek and Roman literature and their original languages, ...

and

Germanistics The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as sta ...

at the

, and eventually specialized in Germanicstics, particularly Ancient Germanistics. Birkhan received his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1962 under the supervision of

, with the dissertation ''Die Verwandlung in der Volkserzählung''. Along with Otto Gschwantler,

Peter Wiesinger Peter Wiesinger (15 May 1938 – 23 June 2023) was an Austrian philologist who specialized in Germanic studies. Biography Peter Wiesinger was born in Vienna, Austria on 15 May 1938. He received his PhD at the University of Vienna, was subseque ...

and Erika Kartschoke and other future prominent scholars, Birkhan belonged to a circle of Höfler's favourite students who called themselves the ''Drachenrunde''. Höfler, who is named in

Max Weinreich Max Weinreich ( ''Maks Vaynraych''; , ''Meyer Lazarevich Vaynraykh''; 22 April 1894 – 29 January 1969) was a Russian- American-Jewish linguist, specializing in sociolinguistics and Yiddish, and the father of the linguist Uriel Weinreich, who ...

's '' Hitler's Professors'', and Höfler's questionable stances to Nazi ideology, may have had undue influence on the field in post-war Austria. The ''Drachenrunde'' teacher's degree of influence on young Germanistik research after WWII, a sensitive topic, has however, been discussed. Birkhan lectured at the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

from 1961 to 1962. At Wales, his teacher was the prominent Celtologist

Proinsias Mac Cana Proinsias Mac Cana (6 July 1926 – 21 May 2004) was an academic and Celtic scholar. He held professorships at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and University College Dublin. Career Proinsias Mac Cana was born in Belfast on 6 July 192 ...

. Since 1963 he lectured at the Institute for

at the University of Vienna as an assistant of Höfler. In Birkhan, Höfler saw the same capabilities for interdisciplinary learning which was characteristic of his own teacher, the famed

Rudolf Much Rudolf Much (7 September 1862 – 8 March 1936) was an Austrian philologist and historian who specialized in Germanic studies. Much was Professor and Chair of Germanic Linguistic History and Germanic Antiquity at the University of Vienna, d ...

. In 1968 Birkhan received the prestigious two-year Humboldt Research Fellowship to pursue further studies at the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...

, and subsequently studied archaeology with

Herbert Jankuhn Herbert Jankuhn (8 August 1905 – 30 April 1990) was a German archaeologist who specialized in the archaeology of Germanic peoples. He is best known for his excavations at the Viking Age site of Hedeby, and for his instrumental role in the publ ...

with Oswald Szemerényi,

Celtic studies Celtic studies or Celtology is the academic discipline occupied with the study of any sort of cultural output relating to the Celts, Celtic-speaking peoples (i.e. speakers of Celtic languages). This ranges from linguistics, literature and art h ...

with Josef Weisweiler, and Scandinavistics with Heinrich Beck. In January 1970, Birkhan

habilitated Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellen ...

in Ancient Germanistics with a thesis on the relationship between

Celts The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

and

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts of ...

classical antiquity Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...

Career

Birkhan was appointed Professor of Ancient German Language and Literature at the University of Vienna in 1972. He was subsequently appointed Managing Director of the Institute for Germanic Studies at the University of Vienna. In 1988, Birkhan established as a distinct course at Vienna, and subsequently secured the appointment of Herbert van Uffelen to teach this subject. In 1997, Birkhan completed an additional habilitation in Celtic studies with the thesis ''Kelten. Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung ihrer Kultur''. Together with David Stifter, he subsequently established Celtology as a distinct course at Vienna. After Birkhan's retirement, the teaching of Celtology was suspended at Vienna, despite great opposition from students. For almost half a century, Birkhan has taught generations of students at Vienna, where he has become well known for his breath of knowledge and friendly personality. He has also dedicated himself towards making scholarship available to the broader public, notably appearing as a

druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...

on the children's television program on the ''

Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF ; , ) is the national public broadcaster of Austria. Funded from a combination of television licence fee revenue and limited on-air advertising, ORF is the dominant player in the Austrian broadcast media. Austria was the last country in ...

''. Many scholars of prominence have gained their degrees under the supervision of Birkhan, including Hermann Reichert,

, Manfred Kern, , Melitta Adamson, Sang Bea Pack, and Alfred Ebenbauer. Drachenrunde on the Danube

Birkhan has been a visiting professor at several universities, including the universities of Picardy Jules Verne (1980),

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

(1993-1994) and

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

(1994-1995). Birkhan has received many awards for his scholarship, and was in 1990 made an Officer of the

Order of Orange-Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau () is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has performed acts of special merits for ...

(1990). He his a member of several distinguished learned societies, including the

Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde The Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde (, , often abbreviated ''MNL'') is a prestigious and exclusive literary society. The MNL was established in Leiden in 1766 and is still located there. At the moment, the society has approximately 1,6 ...

(1991),

Austrian Academy of Sciences The Austrian Academy of Sciences (; ÖAW) is a legal entity under the special protection of the Republic of Austria. According to the statutes of the Academy its mission is to promote the sciences and humanities in every respect and in every fi ...

(1994), the

Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway. History The Royal Frederick University in Christiania was establis ...

(2002) and the

Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (German: ''Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften''), established in 1909 in Heidelberg, Germany, is an assembly of scholars and scientists in the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. The acade ...

(2005). He has had two

festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...

's published in his honor, ''Ir Sult Sprechen Willekomen'' (1998), which was edited by Christa Agnes Tuczay, and ''Kulturphilologie.'' (2015), which was edited by his former students Manfred Kern and Florian Kragl. Birkhan retired from the University of Vienna as Professor Emeritus in October 2006, but continues to teach and research there, and has continued to publish.

Research

Birkhans research centers on Old High and

Middle High German literature Middle High German literature refers to literature written in German between the middle of the 11th century and the middle of the 14th. In the second half of the 12th century, there was a sudden intensification of activity, leading to a 60-year " ...

, Indo-European linguistics, Celtic studies and

Arthurian According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a leader of the post-Ro ...

literature. He also researches archaeology, religious history, fairy tales, alchemy and psychoanalysis. Birkhan cultivates interdisciplinary research, and has cooperated extensively with historians, philosophers and other scholars. He sees Celtic and Germanic studies as primarily a study of culture. Birkhan is also known for his translations of works from various languages, including

Middle Welsh Middle Welsh (, ) is the label attached to the Welsh language of the 12th to 15th centuries, of which much more remains than for any earlier period. This form of Welsh developed directly from Old Welsh (). Literature and history Middle Welsh is ...

and Middle High German works. Birkhan is the author of hundreds of scholarly books and articles in German, English and other languages. He is also the works of numerous works intended for popular audiences, some of them of humorous nature. Many of Birkhan's research projects have been carried out at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, such as the ' (supervised together with Hermann Reichert and

Robert Nedoma Robert Nedoma (born 1961) is an Austrian philologist who is Professor at Department for Scandinavian studies, Scandinavian Studies at the University of Vienna. He specializes in Germanic studies and Old Norse studies. Biography Robert Nedoma was ...

), and ''Motif-Index of German Secular Narratives from the Beginning to 1400'' (together with Christa Tuczay and others), which was published in seven volumes.

Awards

* 1990: Officer of the

* 1992: * 2000: * 2006: Silbernes Komturkreuz für Verdienste um das Land Niederösterreich

Festschrift In academia, a ''Festschrift'' (; plural, ''Festschriften'' ) is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during their lifetime. It generally takes the form of an edited volume, containing contributions from the h ...
s

* ''Ir sult sprechen willekomen. Grenzenlose Mediävistik''. Fs. f. H. Birkhan zum 60. Geburtstag, hg. Christa Tuczay, Ulrike Hirhager, Karin Lichtblau, Peter Lang Bern – Berlin – Frankfurt a.M. ...1998, 863S * Kulturphilologie. Vorträge des Festcolloquiums zum 75. Geburtstag von Helmut Birkhan, hg. Manfred Kern - Florian Kragl (= Philologica germanica 37), Fassbaender Wien 2015,

Memberships

* 1991:

* 1994:

* 2002:

* 2005:

Personal life

Birkhan married Ingvild Birkhan (née Bach), a prominent philologist and philosopher, in 1965. Helmut and Ingvild have two daughters, Barbara Rhiannon Xochitl and (born Ines Obilot Papalotl). Ines is a distinguished author, dancer and choreographer. Their daughters were given

Nahuatl Nahuatl ( ; ), Aztec, or Mexicano is a language or, by some definitions, a group of languages of the Uto-Aztecan language family. Varieties of Nahuatl are spoken by about Nahuas, most of whom live mainly in Central Mexico and have smaller popul ...

names, as Helmut and Ingvild have a great interest for the

Aztecs The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the ...

. Birkhan's hobbies include botany, photography, music (including

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

), cooking, dancing,

mountain sport Mountain sport () or Alpine sport ) is one of several types of sport that take place in hilly or mountainous terrain. Notable major classes of mountain sports (with sub-classes) include: * Climbing-based: Mountaineering (including alpine climbin ...

s, skiing and sailing.

Selected works

* Germanen und Kelten bis zum Ausgang der Römerzeit. Der Aussagewert von Wörtern und Sachen für die frühesten keltisch-germanischen Kulturbeziehungen (= Sitzungsberichte d. Österr. Akad. d. Wiss., phil.-hist. Kl. 272), Wien 1970, 638 S. * Reimar, Walther und die Minne. Zur ersten Dichterfehde am Wiener Hof, in: PBB (Tübingen) 93 (1971), 168 - 212. * Zur Datierung, Deutung und Gliederung einiger Lieder Neidharts von Reuental (= Sitzungsberichte d. Österr. Akad. d. Wiss., phil.-hist. Kl. 273, 1. Abh.), Wien 1971, 64 S. * Das Historische im 'Ring' des Heinrich Wittenweiler (= Sitzungsberichte d. Österr. Akad. d. Wiss., phil.-hist. Kl. 287), Wien 1973, 67 S. * Das "Zipfsche Gesetz", das schwache Präteritum und die germanische Lautverschiebung (= Sitzungsberichte d. Österr. Akad. d. Wiss., phil.-hist. Kl.348), Wien 1979, 106 S. * Jean Renart. Der Roman von der Rose oder Wilhelm von Dole. Eine Erzählung von Liebe und Intrige aus dem frühen 13. Jahrhundert'. Mit einer Einleitung aus dem Altfranzösischen übersetzt v. Helmut Birkhan (= Fabulae mediaevales 1), Wien 1982, 243 S. * Neidhart von Reuental und Sigmund Freud. Allgemeines und Spezielles zur psy-choanalytischen Interpretation mittelalterlicher Texte, in: Neidhart von Reuental. Aspekte einer Neubewertung, hg. Helmut Birkhan (= Philologica Germanica Bd. 5), Wien 1983, 34 - 73. * Heinrich Wittenwiler, Der Ring. Übers. u. hg. v. Helmut Birkhan, nach d. Ausgabe Edmund Wießners (= Fabulae Mediaevales 3), Wien 1983. 311 S. * Etymologie des Deutschen (= Langs Germanistische Lehrbuchsammlung, Bd. 15), Bern – Frankfurt am Main – New York 1985, 343 S. * Keltische Erzählungen vom Kaiser Arthur I, II. Aus dem Mittelkymrischen übertragen, mit Einführungen, Erläuterungen und Anmerkungen (= Erzählungen des Mittelalters Bd. 1, Teil I und II), 2 Bde., Essen 1989. 271 + 271 S.; 2. korrigierte und aktualisierte Auflage Wien 2004. * Daniel von dem Blühenden Tal. Ein höfischer Unterhaltungsroman von dem Stricker (= Erzählungen des Mittelalters 4), Essen 1991, 248 S. + Farbtafeln * Die Juden in der deutschen Literatur des Mittelalters, in: Die Juden in ihrer mittelalterlichen Umwelt. Protokolle einer Ring-Vorlesung gehalten im Sommerse-mester 1989, hg. Helmut Birkhan (= WAGAPh 33), Bern 1992, 143 - 178. * Die alchemistische Lehrdichtung des Gratheus filius Philosophi in Cod. Vind. 2372. Zugleich ein Beitrag zur okkulten Wissenschaft im Spätmittelalter, 1. Bd.: Einleitung, Untersuchungen, Kommentar; 2. Bd.: Textedition, Übersetzung, Register (= Sitzungsberichte d. Österr. Akad. d. Wiss., phil.-hist. Kl. 591), Wien 1992, 494 + 342 S. + 7 S. Bildanhang * Kelten. Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung ihrer Kultur, Wien 1997, 1267 S.; 2. korrigierte und erweiterte Auflage: Wien 1997, 1275 S.; 3. korrigierte Auflage 1999; Übersetzung des ersten Drittels ins Russische durch Nina Chekhonadskaja als: Kelty. Istorija i Kul'tura, Moskwa Agraf 2007, 512 S. * Kelten. Bilder ihrer Kultur (= Celts. Images of their Culture), Wien 1999, 454 S. * Leben und Abenteuer des großen Königs Apollonius von Tyrus zu Land und zur See. Ein Abenteuerroman von Heinrich von Neustadt, verfaßt zu Wien um 1300 nach Gottes Geburt. Übertragen mit allen Miniaturen der Wiener Hs C, mit An-merkungen und einem Nachwort von Helmut Birkhan, Bern ‒ Berlin ‒ Bruxelles ‒ Frankfurt a.M. ‒ New York ‒ Oxford ‒ Wien 2001, 463 S.; Neuausgabe 2005. * Der Traditionsraum der altdeutschen Literatur in kulturwissenschaftlicher Sicht (Plenarvortrag am IVG Kongreß Wien 2000), in: Akten des X. Internationalen Germanistenkongresses Wien 2000. "Zeitenwende ‒ Die Germanistik auf dem Weg vom 20. ins 21. Jahrhundert", hg. P. Wiesinger unter Mitarbeit von Hans Derkits, Band I: Grußworte und Eröffnungsvorträge ‒ Plenarvorträge ‒ Diskussionsforen ‒ Berichte hg. P. Wiesinger, Bern ‒ Berlin ‒ Bruxelles ‒ Frankfurt am Main ‒ New York ‒ Oxford ‒ Wien 2001, 65 - 96. * Geschichte der altdeutschen Literatur im Licht ausgewählter Texte. Teil I: Alt-hochdeutsche und altsächsische Literatur, Wien 2002, 230 S. * Geschichte der altdeutschen Literatur im Licht ausgewählter Texte. Teil II: Mit-telhochdeutsche vor- und frühhöfische Literatur, Wien 2002, 281 S. * Geschichte der altdeutschen Literatur im Licht ausgewählter Texte. Teil III: Min-nesang und Sangspruchdichtung der Stauferzeit, Wien 2003, 271 S. * "Altgermanistik" und germanistische Sprachwissenschaft, in: Cognitio humana. Geschichte der österreichischen Humanwissenschaften, hg. Karl Acham, Wien 2003, 115 - 192. * Geschichte der altdeutschen Literatur im Licht ausgewählter Texte. Teil IV: Ro-manliteratur der Stauferzeit, Wien 2003, 277 S. * Geschichte der altdeutschen Literatur im Licht ausgewählter Texte. Teil V: Nach-klassische Romane und höfische "Novellen", Wien 2004, 296 S. * Geschichte der altdeutschen Literatur im Licht ausgewählter Texte. Teil VI: Hel-denepik der Staufer- und vom Anfang der Habsburgerzeit, Wien 2004, 233 S. * Geschichte der altdeutschen Literatur im Licht ausgewählter Texte. Teil VII: Min-nesang, Sangspruchdichtung und Verserzählung der letzten Staufer¬ und ersten Habsburgerzeit, Verlag praesens Wien 2005, 339 S. * Geschichte der altdeutschen Literatur im Licht ausgewählter Texte. Teil VIII: Lehrhafte Dichtung zwischen 1200 und 1300, Verlag praesens Wien 2005, 373 S. * ...swer des vergêze, der tête mir leide. Walther-Gedächtniskultur in den Gästebüchern des Vogelweidhofes in Lajen, in: der achthundertjährige Pelzrock. Walther von der Vogelweide – Wolfger von Erla – Zeiselmauer, Vorträge gehalten am Walther-Symposion der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften vom 24. bis 27. September 2003 in Zeiselmauer (Niederösterreich), hg. Helmut Birkhan unter Mitwirkung von Ann Cotten, Verlag der ÖAW Wien 2005, 25 - 82. * Preface, in: Motif-Index of German Secular Narratives, ed. Austrian Academy of Sciences. Under the direction of Helmut Birkhan, ed. by Karin Lichtblau and Christa Tuczay in collaboration with Ulrike Hirhager and Rainer Sigl, vol. 1: Matiére de Bretagne, De Gruyter Berlin - New York 2005. * "Germanistisches Narren=Häubel". Das ist: minima ridicula tetriciana oder: Curieuse Nebenproducte der nimmermüden Feder des Wiener Philologen Doctor Helmut J. R. Birkhan, weiland Professor publicus ordinarius an der Hohen Schule zu Wien, Mitglied verschiedener Gelehrter Gesellschaften &c&c, Wien im mmvj-ten Jahre raesens Verlag Wien 2006 316 S. * Vom Schrecken der Dinge, in: Faszination des Okkulten. Diskurse zum Übersinnlichen, hg. Wolfgang Müller-Funk – Christa Agnes Tuczay, francke Verlag Tübingen 2008, 11 - 41. * Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, ''Daz prinzelîn mit den bilden des tihtæres''. Mittelhoch-deutsch. ''Ûz dem franzois gediutschet von Helmut Birkhan'', Tintenfaß Neckarstein-ach 2008 * Nachantike Keltenrezeption. Projektionen keltischer Kultur, Verlag praesens Wien 2009, 898 S. * Magie im Mittelalter (in: Beck'sche Reihe), München 2010, 205 S. * Pflanzen im Mittelalter. Eine Kulturgeschichte, Wien – Köln – Weimar 2012; 310 S. Böhlau * ''Trug Tim eine so helle Hose nie mit Gurt?'' Zur Arkansprache besonders im Spätmittelalter und der frühen Neuzeit, in: Sprache und Geheimnis. Sondersprachenforschung im Spannungsfeld zwischen Arkanem und Profanem, hg. Christian Braun (= Lingua Historica Germanica, hg. von Stephan Müller, Jörg Riecke, Claudia Wich-Reif und Arne Ziegler Bd. 4), Akademie Verlag, Berlin 2012, 123-139 * Von der Gurke, den Reiternomaden und C3H6O3, in: Linguistica culinaria. Festgabe für Heinz-Dieter Pohl zum 70. Geburtstag, hg. Hubert Bergmann ‒ Regina M. Unterguggenberger, Wien 2012, 107-129 * Das Geheimwissen der Kelten. marixverlag Wiesbaden 2014, * Die Idee der Verwandlung von Lebewesen, in: Mitteilungen der Anthropologischen Gesellschaft in Wien 145 (2015), 201-236 () umgearbei-tete Kurzform der Dissertation V 1* Spielendes Mittelalter, Böhlau Verlag Wien Köln Weimar 2018 * Der Beginn volkssprachlicher Schriftlichkeit im alten Britannien, in: Norbert Kössinger, Elke Krotz, Stephan Müller, Pavlína Rychterová rsg. Anfangsgeschichten ‒ Origin Stories. Der Beginn volkssprachlicher Schriftlichkeit in komparatisti-scher Perspektive. The Rise of Vernacular Literacy in a Comparative Perspective (= Mittelalterstudien 31), Paderborn 2018 , S. 219–257. * ''Kindheit in Wien: Weltkriegs- und Nachkriegs-Zeit aus Kindersicht'', Vitalis 2021

References

External links

Helmut Birkhan
at the website of the

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birkhan, Helmut 1938 births Austrian male non-fiction writers Austrian philologists Celtic studies scholars Linguists of Germanic languages Austrian Germanists Germanic studies scholars Living people Members of the Austrian Academy of Sciences Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Scandinavian studies scholars University of Vienna alumni Academic staff of the University of Vienna