Editing Olaus Rudbeck (section)

==Historical linguistics==
[[Image:Rudbeck Atlantis.jpg|thumb|180px|An illustration from 1689 in Olof Rudbeck's book ''Atlantica'' where he shows himself surrounded by [[Hesiod]], [[Plato]], [[Aristotle]], [[Apollodorus of Athens|Apollodorus]], [[Tacitus]], [[Odysseus]], [[Ptolemy]], [[Plutarch]] and [[Orpheus]].]]

Between 1679 and 1702, Rudbeck dedicated himself to contributions in historical-linguistics patriotism, writing a 3,000-page treatise in four volumes called ''{{ill|Atlantica (book)|lt=Atlantica|sv|Atlantica}}'' where he purported to prove that Sweden was [[Atlantis]], the cradle of civilization, and Swedish the [[Adamic language|original language of Adam]] from which [[Latin]] and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] had evolved.<ref>Auroux, Sylvain, ed. (2006). ''History of the Language Sciences: An International Handbook on the Evolution of Language Sciences''. Walter de Gruyter, {{ISBN|3-11-016735-2}}, pp. 1125-1126.</ref> His work was criticized by several Scandinavian authors, including the Danish professor [[Ludvig Holberg]], and the Swedish author and physician [[Andreas Kempe]], both of whom wrote satires based on Rudbeck's writings. His work was later used by [[Denis Diderot]] in the article "Etymologie" in ''[[Encyclopédie]]'' as a cautionary example of deceptive linking of [[etymology]] with mythical history.<ref>Bandle, Oskar et al. (2002). ''The Nordic Languages: An International Handbook of the History of the North Germanic Languages''. Volume I. Walter de Gruyter, {{ISBN|3-11-014876-5}}, p. 109.</ref>

[[David King (historian)|David King]], in his biography of Rudbeck, notes that he developed a system for measuring the age of old monuments and graves by the thickness of the [[humus]] accumulated over them&nbsp;– which, though many of his conclusions were erroneous, anticipated the methods of modern archaeology and was far in advance of most historians and antiquarians of his time.{{sfn|King|2005|loc=Epilogue}}

Despite the criticism targeting his linguistic theories and despite the [[priority dispute]] with Bartholin, Rudbeck remained a national icon in Sweden for many years. His son, [[Olof Rudbeck the Younger]], continued his linguistic work and also became involved in providing an "intellectual reason" for power during a period when Sweden aspired to a position as one of the [[great power]]s of Europe. Rudbeck the Younger added speculations about the relationship between [[Sami languages|Sami]] and Hebrew languages to his father's long list of fantastical linguistic relationships.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ekman|first=Ernst|date=March 1962|title=Gothic Patriotism and Olof Rudbeck|url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/238996|journal=The Journal of Modern History|language=en|volume=34|issue=1|pages=52–63|doi=10.1086/238996|s2cid=143910175|issn=0022-2801}}</ref> A nephew of Olaus the Elder, Petter Rudebeck, also wrote antiquarian books going even further, purporting to locate the scene of the [[Trojan War]] and ancient city of [[Troy]] in southern Sweden.

The above-mentioned David King noted that, while specific conclusions of father and son Rudbeck about the relationships of various languages to each other were disproven, they anticipated the later systematic study of [[Indo-European languages]], and the scientific proof that languages distant from each other geographically and historically are indeed related.