Aartun was Research Fellow in West Berlin from 1965 to 1968, and Lecturer/Associate Professor at Stavanger lærerhøgskole from 1968 to 1992.
degree in 1978, with a dissertation on the Ugaritic language in two volumes titled Die Partikeln des Ugaritischen (Kevelaer, 1974/1978).
His book Runer i kulturhistorisk sammenheng (Pax Forlag, 1994) asserts that Runic inscriptions found in Scandinavia were written in a Semitic language.
These publications have made him a controversial figure among both non-linguists and mainstream linguists since the early 1990s, with critics accusing him of producing pseudoscience.
[2] She dedicated her sixth studio album Blómi to Aartun, incorporating excerpts of his works in the lyrics.