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 AU Library Subject guides Nordic Language, Literature and Media

Subject guide for Nordic Language, Literature and Media

On this page, you will find a selection of resources concerning Nordic language and literature and, to a certain extent also media. You are welcome to contact us in case you need any help or have suggestions for other information on the page.

Reference works

  • Litteraturleksikon
    Litteraturleksikon is a reference work which explains concepts, methods, phenomena and genres in literature. The reference work gives the reader an overview of the field of comparative literature, including literature references and suggestions for further reading. It is written and edited by specialists and covers both classic topics and new trends in literary research.

  • Den store danske
    This reference work is the most comprehensive general Danish encyclopedia with many articles concerning specific Danish matters (in Danish).
    The core version is the printed Encyclopedia which was published under the name of Den Store Danske Encyklopædi. It also gives access to Dansk Litteraturs Historie, Dansk Biografisk Leksikon, and many other reference works within the field of literature and culture.
  • Encyclopedia of Rhetoric
    This reference work gives a thorough overview of the broad subject of rhetoric.
    The articles are written by leading specialists, and the reference work includes the many subject areas within rhetoric: classical studies, philosophy, literature, literary theory, culture studies, communication and media.
  • Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism
    This reference work is a central source within literary theory and criticism. Entails a great number of articles concerning the essential theorists, critics, schools, subjects, and guidelines within literary theory, aesthetics, philosophy, cultural studies etc.

  • Kindlers Literatur Lexicon
    The classical Encyclopedia about world literature (in German). Helmut Kindler produced the first edition 1965-72, the second edition came out 1988-92 (by Walter Hens), and the third edition is now available in printed version and online. It is possible to search for authors, works, and literary information.

  • The Literary Encyclopedia
    International reference work about authors, works and subjects within world literature. The content is also conveyed in its historical context, as it is possible to search for historical subjects and events. Continually updated.
  • Literature Online
    Reference work about world literature and text archive with classical English fiction. Includes access to ‘Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature’ (ABELL) and access to a great number of full-text periodicals and introductions to literary classics. Access to the literary introductions: Click ’Publications’ on the front page and search for study guides.
  • The History of Nordic Women's Literature
    This reference work is a digitised version of Nordisk Kvindelitteraturhistorie which came out in 1993-98 (in Danish). It grants access to a great number of authorship analyses, articles concerning specific periods, bio-bibliographies, and references to secondary literature. Furthermore, it enables search via themes about women and literature.

  • Oxford Handbooks Online
    OHO is a collection of reference works written by leading scholars. Will be updated continuously. There is access to Business & Management, Economic and Finance, Law, Literature, Political Science, Psychology og Religion. Please note that there is not always access to all volumes of a specific reference work. Search tips:  Guided Tour

  • Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature
    The Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature (ORE) encompasses a wide range of literary topics from all over the world: literature from Africa, Asia, England, Ireland, North America and Western Europe as well as topics such as children's literature, cultural studies, poetry, drama, film, media, literary concepts, comparative literature, etc. All articles are peer-reviewed and written by literary experts. Contains literature references for further reading.

  • Salmonsens Konversationsleksikon
    The second edition of the comprehensive Danish encyclopedia which came out in 26 volumes in the period of 1915-1930. The profile of the work is thorough articles concerning classical topics within all subjects (in Danish).
  • Store Norske Leksikon
    Store Norske Leksikon is a companion to Den Store Danske (in Norwegian). It is a general encyclopedia, but with detailed articles about Norwegian literature, history, culture, society, geography, personal biographies etc. The core purpose of the reference work is articles from the printed work “Aschehoug og Gyldendals store norske leksikon” from 2003.

Bibliographies

  • Dansk Litteraturhistorisk Bibliografi
    Contains references to books and articles on Danish literature and Danish writers which have been published all over the world since 1967. Originally prepared by Aage Jørgensen, but will now be continued in an updated version by Det Danske Sprog- og Litteraturselskab.
  • Bibliography of Norwegian research in literature
    Bibliography of Norwegian research in literature after 1500, as well as literary criticism and literary theory. It is based on Leif Mæhle (red.): ’Bibliografi over norsk litteraturforskning 1965-1989 and Norsk litterær årbok’ (1990-98). Continually updated.
  • The International Ibsen Bibliography
    Bibliography of material of and about Henrik Ibsen. Includes references to books, articles, dissertations, scientific anthologies, conference reports, etc. Mainly based on primary recordings of documents in ‘Senter for Ibsen-studier’. Continually updated.

  • NORA Research Portal Denmark
    NORA is a gateway to the national research infrastructure. The portal is under construction, but the project  is aimed at collecting and organising data on Danish research as well as building up public user services. New data and features will be added on an ongoing basis. Note: The start date for research data is 2011.

  • MLA International Bibliography
    References to articles and books within literature- and language studies. Covers European, Asian, American, and African languages and literary areas. MLA is one of the leading international bibliographies within its field.
  • NORA (Norwegian Open Research Archives)
    Bibliographic database with references to academic work in full text (articles, dissertations, books, chapters of books, reports, theses etc.) from Norwegian universities as well as other higher educational establishments, sector research institutions, research councils etc.
  • SwePub.se
    Bibliographic database with references to Swedish research publications. The material originates from Swedish universities and other research institutions. The base covers all subject areas.

Article databases

  • Article search (Bibliotek.dk)
    This Danish article database is a part of bibliotek.dk. Brings references to articles and reviews mainly from Danish publications and newspapers from 1945- (reviews from 1990-) There is only full-text access to articles from e-publications. 
  • Idunn.no
    Norwegian database which covers Norwegian scientific journals, e.g. from Gyldendal Akademisk, Aschehoug, Samlaget and Universitetsforlaget. Articles published before 2004 may be missing since it has not been possible to obtain the rights from the authors.
  • JSTOR
    Journal database with full-text access to the leading academic journals within all subject areas. NB: it is usually not possible to access the most recent 3-5 volumes, but it is possible to access publications before that.

  • Norart
    This article database gives full-text access to articles and references to articles in Norwegian and Nordic scholarly journals and yearbooks from 1980 – 2020. The database is no longer updated.

Journals

Dictionaries

  • Ordnet.dk
    A website that gives access to several Danish online dictionaries and corpora. Den Danske ordbog, Ordbog over det danske Sprog (ODS) and KorpusDK.
  • Ordbogen.com
    Collection of dictionaries which contains Ordbogen.com and Gyldendals Ordbøger. The collection of dictionaries covers a large number of subject areas and languages. The list of all relevant dictionaries is obtained when you search a word.
  • Dansk Sprognævn
    Portal containing Retskrivningsordbogen, information about the use of the Danish language, grammar, comma rules and language aid. Also includes news and information about Danish language research and language policy (in Danish).
  • Gammeldansk Seddelsamling
    Gammeldansk Seddelsamling is a digitisation of a great number of notes. It is the basis for Gammeldansk dictionary - the scientific dictionary of the Danish language of the Middle Ages 1100-1515.
  • Otto Kalkar
    Digitalized version of Otto Kalkar’s classic dictionaries for the older Danish language (1300-1700), which came out in four volumes 1881-1907. The dictionary emphasizes the words of the older language which deviated from the language use of Kalkar’s age. Unfortunately, the result of the digitisation is of mixed quality.
  • Sproget.dk
    Grants collected access to official and authoritative reference works concerning the Danish language and language relations in Denmark. Furthermore, it helps with advice and guidance of linguistic issues. The target group is users of the language who work professionally with linguistic communication.
  • Språkrådet.no
    An overall entrance to information about Norwegian language, grammar, spelling conventions, language questions etc.
  • Språkrådet.se
    An overall entrance to information about Swedish language, grammar, spelling conventions, language concerns, etc.

  • Swedish-Danish Dictionarie
    The online version is an expanded version of the printed dictionary. It covers common Swedish vocabulary, commonly used technical expressions and everyday language. In addition, it marks words that are similar but mean something very different in Swedish and Danish, the so-called "false friends".

E-books and text archives

  • Arkiv for Dansk Litteratur (ADL)
    Text archive for the classical Danish literature. Contains texts of older Danish authors who have been dead for more than 70 years. All periods of literary history are represented, from the 1100s Saxo to Thøger Larsen (d. 1928). For each authorship, a page is attached with biographical, bibliographical, and text-critical data as well as a literary historical portrait of the author written by specialists within the field (in Danish).
  • Cambridge Companions Online
    Online edition of the esteemed series Cambridge Companions which applies to students and consists of fine introductions to classical and central authors, artists, philosophers, subjects, and periods. Continuously updated with new publications. The series has been published since 1986 and is released by Cambridge University.
  • Bokhylla
    Bokhylla is an e-book database containing Norwegian fiction, articles regarding Norwegian literature and theatre, literary histories and biographical and bibliographical overviews. The database is a part of Nasjonalbiblioteket’s project about digitalising all of the library’s titles. The individual title appears in a facsimile and you can turn over the pages with a click. Continually updated with new titles.
  • bokselskap.no
    This e-book database is developed by Det norske Språk- og litteraturselskap (NSL). The base gives access to a collection of texts by Norwegian authors who have been dead for more than 70 years. The collection consists of a great number of genres, and there are texts from the Middle Ages up to the 1900s. Furthermore, it gives access to author biographies, period-overviews, text explanations, and introductions to the works (in Norwegian). Links are given to more thorough articles in Store Norske leksikon (Great Norwegian encyclopaedia) and Norwegian Biographic Encyclopaedia. It is possible to access the articles in four formats. See information here.
  • Der literarische Expressionismus Online
    The text archive gives access to a great selection of leading German expressionistic literature in central German journals, yearbooks, and anthologies from the years 1910 to 1930. The texts are presented in accurate reproductions of the originals (facsimile) but are also searchable as full text. It is possible to choose either German or English version.
  • Grundtvigs værker
    ‘Grundtvigs værker’ is a critical and interpreted online version of the works that N.F.S. Grundtvig published during his lifetime. The database is based upon the first editions. Letters, diaries, manuscripts of sermons etc. are not included. Besides comments and variant notes, this edition also contains a historical timeline, a catalogue of Grundtvig’s papers, an inventory of his book collection, etc.
  • Intelex Past Masters
    E-book database which makes electronic classics available within e.g. philosophy. Grants access to works by Fichte, Hegel, Kant, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Peirce, Schelling, Schopenhauer, and Wittgenstein.
  • Litteraturbanken
    E-book database for classical Swedish fiction and literature studies. Furthermore, it contains presentations of special literary genres and themes, general introductions to specific authors and works, significant Swedish translations from other languages and modern scientific literature (in Swedish). All of it in trustworthy critical editions. Continually updated.
  • Ludvig Holbergs Skrifter
    Critical edition of Ludvig Holberg’s collected writings. The texts are searchable and equipped with introductions, references to secondary literature, text critical notes, and facsimiles of the first editions.
    Furthermore, it gives access to the Holberg dictionary, different resources on Holberg, and secondary literature.
    Search tip: Comments, text critical notes, variant notes, facsimiles and introductions about the text appear by clicking at the top of each page.
  • Projekt Runeberg
    Text archive which gives free access to older classical literature from all of the Nordic countries – however, mostly Swedish titles. Contains fiction, reference works, periodicals, newspapers, the Bible in Swedish, etc. Based on authors who have been dead for more than 70 years. Many titles are reproduced in facsimiles  and are therefore not searchable.
  • Søren Kierkegaards Skrifter
    Søren Kierkegaards Skrifter, shortened SKS, is a completely new edition of all that has been delivered from Søren Kierkegaard’s hand. SKS is published by Søren Kierkegaard Forskningscenteret.

Newspapers and media

  • Infomedia
    InfoMedia is a large newspaper database with full-text articles from a number of Danish nationwide, regional, and local daily newspapers, local weekly newspapers, journals, magazines, etc. The articles date back to about 1990, a few of them back to 1985. Click “Kilder” on the entrance page for more information about the media coverage of the database.
  • Kulturmonitor
    Kulturmonitor is a digital news media which covers the news, the debates and the analyses within the area of film, performing arts, art, music, literature and cultural politics.
  • Mediestream
    Available in English. Mediestream provides radio- and TV-shows from selected Danish channels since December 2005.
    Mediestream is continuously updated with the most recent radio and TV, however with a delay of about two weeks. Broadcasts sent before December 2005 can be found on DVD through the library. Continuously updated.
  • Retriever
    Newspaper database and media archive with a great number of Norwegian and Swedish newspapers as well as some TV, radio, blogs, and webpages. The access period varies for the different materials.
  • Timarit.is
    Database with newspapers and journals from the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Iceland from before 1920 until today. For some titles, there is not access to the last two to four years. Besides news and advertisements, the database brings journal articles about topics from all subjects. Continually updated.

Other relevant subject guides

Special collections at the Royal Danish Library - Aarhus

Websites

  • Service locations
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Det Kgl. Bibliotek - Aarhus

Editors

Lotte Thyrring Andersen

Senior Researcher
M
H 1360
P +4589462309
P +4551671326

Sofie Baungaard Hansen

Information Specialist
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P +4591356405

Courses

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Libraries online

Bibliotek.dk
Denmark’s national library database. Contains references to all Danish public libraries and research libraries’ materials. Gives the opportunity to order materials from all libraries and pick up at your own library.

National Library of Norway
Norway’s national library

National Library of Sweden
Sweden’s national library. This also grants access to Libris - Sweden’s national library system.

Oria.no (BIBSYS)

Oria is a united library database for the collected materials of the Norwegian subject and research libraries. Contains e.g. references to books, research publications, main tasks, music and notes, movies and electronic material from open sources.

Theses

Theses from Aarhus University

Reference management

It is important to refer correctly to the work of others in your own texts.

AU Studypedia

AU Studypedia is an academic tool for you to use in regard to writing assignments, searching for literature, and other approaches related to your studying. Here, you will find concrete advice, inspiration and exercises.

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Copyright

Do you know the rules about copyright, when you are studying and writing papers? Figure out how and when you can use pictures, video-recordings or other materials here.

Information seeking

We have collected some relevant information about information retrieval and on how to quickly and efficiently find the materials you need.

More for your studies

We have compiled the best resources for you as a student so you can get an easy overview of the services AU Library has to offer.    

Revised 06.09.2024
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