Henrik Williams

Professor of Runology at Uppsala University from 2021

• Professor of Scandinavian Languages at Uppsala University, 2002–2021
• Visiting scholar at the University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond 2017
• Fellow at Centre for Advanced Study at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, Oslo, 2013–2014
• Visiting Professor at University College London, 2005
• Visiting Professor at University of Kalmar, 2001
• Professor of Swedish at Uppsala University, 2000–2002
• Visiting Associate Professor at University of California at Berkeley 1998
• Senior Lecturer (tenured) of Swedish at Uppsala university, 1996–2000
• Junior research fellow at Dept. of Scandinavian Languages, 1993–97
• Associate Professor (non-tenured) of Scandinavian languages at Uppsala University, from 1992
• Various part-time research appointments (see past research projects below)
• Various part-time positions as Senior Lecturer (non tenured) in Swedish at Uppsala University 1990–1996
• Ph. D. Uppsala university 1990 Runrön 3

Teaching

Courses on basic, advanced and doctoral levels

Research interests

• The first translation of the New Testament into Swedish, 1526
• Communicative principles for decoding rune-stone texts
• The Social dimension of runestones
• Medieval accounts
• Old Swedish literature
• Old Icelandic mythological texts
• The origin of the runes
• Personal names
• Archaisms in Modern Swedish

• Runiform inscriptions in North America:

• Lecture and fundraising tour in the United States, 2016
• Lecture and fundraising tour in the United States, 2015
• Lecture tour in the United States, 2010
• Statement in response to Runestone Museum affidavit, 2011
• Report on examination by Henrik Williams of the so-called Larsson-papers, 2011
• Filmed inspection of Larsson papers, 2011
• Dotted runes: what are they and what significance do they have for the dating of the Kensington runestone?, 2011
• The Narragansett Stone, Rhode Island, 2014
• The Bourne Stone, Massachussetts, 2014
• Lecture tour in the United States, 2015
• Mustang Mountain Cave Stone, 2015

Ongoing research projects

Leader: Scandinavian Runic-text Data base now together with Marco Bianchi, Magnus Källström, and Jan Owe. Financed 1993–1997 by Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson's Foundation. Still in operation.

Past research projects

Leader: Digitala Birgitta together with Roger Andersson, Olle Ferm, and Ingela Hedström. Financed by Riksbankens jubileumsfond 2016–2019.

Leader: The original version of Edda Snorra Sturlusonar? Studies in Codex Upsaliensis together with Maja Bäckvall, Lasse Mårtensson, Heimir Pálsson, Jonatan Pettersson, and Daniel Sävborg. Financed 2008–2010(12) by The Swedish Research Council.

Co-Leader: Heliga Birgitta på fornsvenska together with Roger Andersson, Olle Ferm, and Zeth Alvered. Financed by Riksbankens jubileumsfond, Centre for Medieval Studies, and The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities 2011–2015.

Co-Leader: Medeltidens ekonomiska texter (Financial texts during the Middle Ages) together with Zeth Alvered, Göran Dahlbäck, Lennart Elmevik, Evert Melefors, and Janken Myrdal.
Financed 1997–1999 by The Swedish Research Council.

Sveriges kristnande (The Christianization in Sweden) together with Stefan Brink, Anne-Sofie Gräslund, Carl Fredrik Hallencreutz, Jan Arvid Hellström, Håkan Möller, and Bertil Nilsson. Financed 1990–1995 by The Swedish Research Council.

De vikingatida runinskrifternas kronologi (The Chronology of Viking Age Runic Inscriptions) together with Jan Axelson, Lennart Elmevik, Svante Lagman, Lena Peterson, and Marit Åhlén. Financed 1987–1989 by The Swedish Research Council.

Doctoral student supervision

Advisor for completed dissertations by:

• Marit Åhlén (Uppsala University) Runristaren Öpir. En Monografi. The rune-master Öpir. A monograph. 1997. (Co-advisor)
• Mindy MacLeod ( University of Melbourne, 1998) Bind-Runes. An Investigation of Ligatures in Runic Epigraphy. 2002
• Thorgunn Snædal (Uppsala University) Medan världen vakar. Studier i de gotländska runinskrifternas språk och kronologi. While the world wakes. Studies in the language and chronology of the runic inscriptions of Gotland. 2002
• Patrik Larsson (Uppsala University) Användning och ljudvärde i nordiska runinskrifter. The ýr-rune. Use and phonetic value in Scandinavian runic inscriptions. 2002
• Yair Sapir (Uppsala university) Modern Icelandic word formation. 2003
• Jessica Eriksson (Uppsala University) Metta Magdalena Lillies dagbok. En 1700-talstext och dess språk. 2004. (Co-advisor and examiner)
• Helena Wistrand (Uppsala University) Bebrevat i Närke. Medellågtyska importord i fornsvenska brev ur regionalt perspektiv. Verbrieft in Närke. Mittelniederdeutsche Lehnwörter in altschwedischen Urkunden aus einer regionalen Perspektive. 2007
• Lasse Mårtensson (Uppsala University) AM 557 4to. Studier i en isländsk samlingshandskrift från 1400-talet. AM 557 4to: Studies in a fifteenth century Icelandic compilation manuscript. 2007
• Charlotta Busing (Uppsala University) Licentiate thesis: Textbruk i en häradsrätt på 1500-talet. En receptionsfilologisk undersökning av Dalarnas äldsta dombok. 2009
• Marco Bianchi (Uppsala University) Runor som resurs. Vikingatida skriftkulturi Uppland och Södermanland. Runen als Ressource. Wikingerzeitliche Schriftkultur in Uppland und Södermanland. 2010
• Maja Bäckvall (Uppsala University) Skriva fel och läsa rätt? Eddiska dikter i Uppsalaeddan ur ett avsändar- och mottagarperspektiv. Scribal errors and proper readings? Eddic poetry in the Uppsala Edda from the perspective of sender and recipient. 2013
• Alexandra Petrulevich (Uppsala University) Namnanpassning som process: En undersökning av västslaviska ortnamn i Knýtlinga saga. Place-name adaptation as a process. An investigation of Wendish place-names and place-name variants in Knýtliga saga. 2016
• Agnieszka Backman (Uppsala University) Handskriftens materialitet. Studier i den fornsvenska samlingshandskriften Fru Elins bok (Codex Holmiensis D 3). 2017
• Sofia Pereswetoff-Morath (Uppsala University) Vikingatida runbleck. Läsningar och tolkningar. Viking-Age runic plates. Readings and interpretations. 2018
• Alessandro Palumbo (Uppsala University) Skriftsystem i förändring. En grafematisk och paleografisk studie av de svenska medeltida runinskrifterna. 2018
• Hanna Åkerström (Uppsala University) Visuella textkonventioner i den tidiga vikingatidens runristningar. 2020
• Tristan Mueller-Vollmer (University of Wisconsin–Madison) Personal Names on Swedish Viking Age Runestones. 2021. (Co-advisor)

Advisor for on-going projects:

• Simon Karlin Björk (Uppsala University) De nordiska ortnamnen på fsv. -arna(r) och -ærni(r). (Co-advisor)

• Charlotta Busing (Uppsala University) Textbruk i en häradsrätt på 1500-talet. En receptionsfilologisk undersökning av Dalarnas äldsta dombok. (Co-advisor)

Miscellaneous:

• Member of Svenska Bibelsällskapets huvudmannaråd, from 2021.
• Member of the advisory board of Futhark, from 2021.
• Co-editor of the Series Runrön: Runologiska bidrag utgivna av Institutionen för nordiska språk vid Uppsala universitet, from 2019.
• President of Språkvetenskapliga sällskapet, Uppsala, from 2015.
• Member of the editorial board of Scripta Islandica, from 2015.
• Board Member of Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social Sciences 2014–2019.
• Consultative committee for fundraising at Uppsala University, 2012.
• Member of the electoral college of the Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2011-2014.
• Co-editor of Futhark: International Journal of Runic Studies, 2010–2021.
• Director of Uppsala Runic Forum, from 2009.
• President of Isländska sällskapet (The Icelandic Society) 2007–2011.
• Member of the editorial board of Språktidningen 2007–2010.
• Member of The Bank of Sweden’s Tercentenary Foundation’s sector committee for research on pre-modernity, 2006–2011.
• Vice Dean, Faculty of languages, 2005–2007.
• Member of the electoral college of the Disciplinary Domain of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2002-2008, and its electoral committee, and president of said committee, 2005–2008.
• Editor of Scripta Islandica, 2003–2007.
• Board member of Institute for Language and Folklore, 2003–2004.
• Member of the faculty board, Faculty of languages, 2002–2008.
• Secretary of Isländska sällskapet (The Icelandic Society), 2002–2007.
• Member of faculty board equivalent at the University of Kalmar, 2002.
• Director of doctoral studies at the Department of Scandinavian studies, Uppsala University, 2000–04, 2018.
• Member of the Swedish Institute’s committee on the teaching of Swedish, 1996–2002.
• Treasurer of Isländska sällskapet (The Icelandic Society), 1986–1992.

Invited guest lecturer or keynote speaker at universities/institutions abroad:

• American Swedish Institute, Minneapolis, MN (2013, 2015, 2016, 2019)
• Augustana College, Rock Island, IL (2010, 2015)
• Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C (2010)
• Concordia College, Moorhead, MN (2015)
• Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (2010, 2015)
• Helsingfors universitet (2006)
• Københavns Universitet (2008)
• Lancaster University (2005)
• Minnesota History Center, St. Paul, MN (2010, 2016)
• Nordic Heritage Museum, Seattle, WA (2016)
• Nordic Museum, Seattle, WA (2019)
• North Eastern State University, Tahlequah, OK (2010)
• North Park University, Chicago, IL (2015)
• The Ohio State University, Columbus (1997, 2010)
• Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C (2010, 2015, 2016)
• Saint John's University, Collegeville, MN (2015)
• Università Ca'Foscari, Venezia (2013)
• Università degli Studi di Messina (2019)
• Universitetet i Agder, Kristiansand (2014)
• Universitet i Oslo (2010, 2020)
• University College London (1996, 2005, 2011)
• University of California, Berkeley (1997, 1998, 2010)
• University of California, Los Angeles (2010)
• University of Cambridge (2007, 2011)
• University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond (2015, 2016)
• University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (1994)
• University of Melbourne (1997)
• University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (2010, 2019)
• University of North Dakota, Grand Forks (2015)
• University of Nottingham (1996, 2017)
• University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia (2016)
• University of Sydney (1997)
• University of Toronto (2019)
• University of Wisconsin, Madison (1998)
• Yale University, New Haven, CT (2015)

Membership in learned societies

• Agder Vitenskapsakademi
• Kungl. Gustav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur
• Kungl. Humanistiska Vetenskaps-Samfundet i Uppsala

Awards

• The Rudbeck medal (2014)
• Pris ur Torsten Janckes minnesfond (2017)