Norbert Wagner (12 February 1929 – 27 December 2023) was a German philologist who specializes in Germanic studies.

Biography

Norbert Wagner was born in

Straubing Straubing (; Central Bavarian: ''Strauwing'') is an independent city in Lower Bavaria, southern Germany. It is seat of the Districts of Germany, district of Straubing-Bogen. Annually in August the Gäubodenvolksfest, the second largest fair in Ba ...

, Germany on 12 February 1929. After gaining his

abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

in 1947, Wagner studied German philology under Ernst Schwarz, and also history and English, at the

University of Regensburg The University of Regensburg () is a public research university located in the city of Regensburg, Germany. The university was founded on 18 July 1962 by the Landtag of Bavaria as the fourth full-fledged university in Bavaria. Following groundbr ...

. Wagner transferred to the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

in 1948, where he studied under

Otto Basler Otto Basler (8 May 1892 in Kitzingen, Bavaria – 28 May 1975 in Freiburg im Breisgau) was a German philologist. Basler studied German, Romance studies, English and history at the University of Freiburg. In World War I, he was a reserve offic ...

and other scholars. Wagner received his Ph.D. in 1955 at the

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. Founded in 1402, it is one of the ol ...

under the supervision of Franz Rolf Schröder. His thesis was on the

Völsunga saga The ''Völsunga saga'' (often referred to in English as the ''Volsunga Saga'' or ''Saga of the Völsungs'') is a legendary saga, a late 13th-century prose rendition in Old Norse of the origin and decline of the Völsung clan (including the story ...

. After gaining his Ph.D., Wagner took courses in

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 ...

and

Indology Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies. The term ''Indology'' (in German, ''Indologie'') is ...

under Manfred Mayrhofer, and worked as a research assistant in the Department for Ancient Germanic Studies. Wagner completed his

habilitation 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 excelle ...

at Würzburg in 1967 under the supervision of . His thesis on ''

Getica ''De origine actibusque Getarum'' (''The Origin and Deeds of the Getae''), commonly abbreviated ''Getica'' (), written in Late Latin by Jordanes in or shortly after 551 AD, claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of the ori ...

'' and the early history of the

Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...

was published in 1967. Wagner subsequently served as Professor at the Institute for German Philology at the University of Würzburg. He retired from his duties in 1997, but has continued to teach and research. Wagner specializes in

Germanic philology Germanic philology is the philology, philological study of the Germanic languages, particularly from a Comparative method, comparative or historical perspective. The beginnings of research into the Germanic languages began in the 16th century, wi ...

and Germanic Antiquity, particularly

onomastics Onomastics (or onomatology in older texts) is the study of proper names, including their etymology, history, and use. An ''alethonym'' ('true name') or an ''orthonym'' ('real name') is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onom ...

and

Gothic language Gothic is an extinct language, extinct East Germanic languages, East Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from the ''Codex Argenteus'', a 6th-century copy of a 4th-century Bible translation, and is the only Ea ...

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 history.

Selected works

* ''Studien zu den ersten Kapiteln der Volsunga saga (Kapitel 2-8, 10-12),'' Universität Würzburg 1955. * ''Getica. Untersuchungen zum Leben des Jordanes und zur frühen Geschichte der Goten,'' de Gruyter, Berlin 1967. * Zahlreiche Beiträge in Fachperiodika, besonders in: Beiträge zur Namenforschung und Historische Sprachforschung.

Sources

* ''Kürschners Gelehrten-Kalender 2009''. K. G. Saur Verlag, München 2009

References

1929 births German male non-fiction writers German philologists Germanic studies scholars Linguists of Gothic 2023 deaths Old Norse studies scholars University of Würzburg alumni Academic staff of the University of Würzburg Writers on Germanic paganism {{Philologist-stub

Biography

See also

Selected works

Sources

References