Article ID: CBB000931928

A Puzzle Rhyme from 1782 (2009)

unapi

A puzzle of thirty birds, known in many ancient cultures, is found in an Icelandic spelling book for children from 1782, transposed into Icelandic context so well that it seemed genuinely domestic. Its form is a three-verse rhyme governed by complex Old-Germanic rules of prosody. The birds are sold for units typical for Icelandic middle-age trade commodities, used up to recent times. The composition is completely adjusted to the Icelandic culture and may therefore be considered as Icelandic ethnomathematics of early modern times.

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Description Argues that the puzzle-rhyme is Icelandic in origin.


Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB000931928/

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Authors & Contributors
Perrone Capano, Lucia
Bjarnadóttir, Kristín
Corry, Leo
D'Ambrosio, Ubiratan
Garrod, Raphaële
Gilsdorf, Thomas E.
Journals
British Journal for the History of Mathematics
Apeiron: Journal for Ancient Philosophy and Science
British Journal for the History of Science
Circumscribere: International Journal for the History of Science
Configurations: A Journal of Literature, Science, and Technology
Notices of the American Mathematical Society
Publishers
UTET
Bollati Boringhieri
Carocci Editore
Holzberg
Icelandic Literary Society
Makadam Publishers
Concepts
Mathematics
Poetry and poetics
Science and literature
Science and culture
Ethnomathematics
Puzzles; riddles
People
Calvino, Italo
Alighieri, Dante
Musil, Robert
Novalis
Pálsson, Sveinn
Tenge, Oskar
Time Periods
18th century
19th century
20th century
20th century, early
Medieval
16th century
Places
Iceland
Germany
Africa
Denmark
Europe
Italy
Comments

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