Following studies in
Iceland from 1825 to 1827, Rudolf Keyser was appointed as a docent at the
Royal Frederick University in
Christiania, Norway in 1828. From the same year he worked with, and held lectures on, his theory on immigration to Norway. This theory was inspired by the works of
Gerhard Schøning, who had released
Afhandling om de Norskes og endeel andre Nordiske Folkes Oprindelse in 1769, and was first published in 1839 under the name
Om Nordmændenes Herkomst og Folke-Slægtskab. In short, his theory stated that Norway as well as northern Sweden had been populated by indigenous people from the north, whereas Denmark and southern Sweden (south of
Götaland) had been populated from the south. In other words, Norway was especially influenced by "
Norse" people and culture, whereas parts of Sweden and particularly Denmark were influenced by "
Gothic" peoples and culture. Norse people had, according to Keyser, drifted south towards Denmark as well, but here they had been mixed with Goths. He later supplemented the theory with a series of lectures in literary studies, printed posthumously, under the name
Nordmændenes Videnskabelighed og Literatur i Middelalderen. Here, he stated that
Norse literature was not
Nordic but Norwegian.
Peter Andreas Munch was a student of Keyser, and fellow proponent of the theory. He remarked that Gothic people inhabited some of
South Norway as well. He too based the theory partly on
linguistic traits, and also stated that the two groups had different approaches to liberty versus hierarchy. ==Reaction==