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Old Norse LanguageOld Norse or Danish tongue is the Germanic language once spoken by the inhabitants of the Nordic countries (for instance during the Viking Age). Formally, it can be divided into three similar dialects: - West Norse
- a href="/encyclopedia/Old-Icelandic" title="Old Icelandic">Old Icelandic and Old Norwegian
- East Norse
- a href="/encyclopedia/Old-Danish" title="Old Danish">Old Danish and Old Swedish
- Old Gutnish
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In the 11th century, it was the most widely spoken European language, ranging from the Icelandic settlements in Vinland and Greenland to the Swedish settlements in Russia in the East, and to the Danish settlements in England and Normandy in the south. Its modern descendants are the West Nordic languages of Icelandic, Norwegian (nynorsk), Faroese and the extinct Norn language of the Orkney and the Shetland Islands as well as the East Scandinavian languages of Swedish, Danish and Norwegian (bokml/riksml). Norwegian was originally West Nordic, but was later heavily influenced by East Nordic (Scandinavian). Among these, Icelandic and the closely related Faroese have changed the least from Old Norse in the last thousand years, although with Danish rule of the Faroe Islands Faroese has also been influenced by Danish. Old Norse also had an influence on English dialects and particularly Scots which contains many Old Norse loanwords. It also influenced the development of the Norman language. The earliest inscriptions are runic, from the 1st century, and runes continued to be used for a thousand years. The main literary texts are in the Latin alphabet, the great sagas and eddas of medieval Iceland. Phonemes The standardized Old Norse spelling is for the most part phonemic. The most notable deviation is that the non-phonemic difference between the voiced and the unvoiced dental fricatives is marked. Vowels The vowel phonemes mostly come in pairs of long and short. The orthography marks the long vowels with an acute accent. The short counterpart of // is not a phoneme but an allophone of /e/. The long counterpart of // has merged with // in the classical (13th century) language. All phonemes have, more or less, the expected phonetic realization. Back vowels: /a/ // (pronounced as IPA ; the latter letter is o with an ogonek and a combining acute accent, but your browser may not display the combining accent properly.) /o/ // /u/ // Front unrounded vowels: // /e/ // /i/ // Front rounded vowels: // /œ/ (properly oe-ligature) /y/ // Stops Old Norse has six stop phonemes. Of these /p/ is rare word-initially and /d/ and /b/ do not occur between vowels. The /g/ phoneme is realized as a voiced fricative between vowels. /t/ /d/ /k/ /g/ /p/ /b/ Fricatives /f/ /θ/ (<>) // /s/ /h/ Liquids /l/ /r/ Semi-vowels /j/ /v/ Text Example The following text is from Egils saga. The manuscript is the oldest known for that saga, the so called θ-fragment from the 13th century. The text clearly shows, how little Icelandic has changed structurally. The last version is legitimate Modern Icelandic, although nothing has been altered but the spelling. The text also demonstrates, however, that a modern reader might have difficulties with the unaltered manuscript text, to say nothing of the lettering. | The manuscript text, letter for letter | The same text in normalized, Old Icelandic spelling | The same text in Modern Icelandic | | geiR blundr systor s egils v ar aingino & hafi gengit hart at liueizlo vi st. h ba egil & a stein coma ser t stafesto ut angat a myrar h bio ar fyr suNan huit a fyr nean blundz vatn Egill toc uel aui. oc fysti st at r leti h angat fa ra. Egill setti orgeir blund nir at ana brecko En stein fǫri busta siN ut yf lang . & settiz nir at leiro lǫk. En egill rei hei sur anes ept ingit m flocc siN. & skiloz r fegar m kęrleic | orgeirr blundr, systursonr Egils, var ar inginu ok hafi gengit hart at liveizlu vi orstein. Hann ba Egil ok orstein koma sr til stafestu t angat Mrar; hann bj r fyrir sunnan Hvt, fyrir nean Blundsvatn. Egill tk vel v ok fsti orstein, at eir lti hann angat fara. Egill setti orgeir blund nir at nabrekku, en Steinarr fœri bsta sinn t yfir Lang ok settisk nir at Leirulk. En Egill rei heim sur Nes eptir ingit me flokk sinn, ok skildusk eir fegar me krleik. | orgeir blundur, systursonur Egils, var ar inginu og hafi gengi hart a liveislu vi orstein. Hann ba Egil og orstein koma sr til stafestu t anga Mrar; hann bj ur fyrir sunnan Hvt, fyrir nean Blundsvatn. Egill tk vel v og fsti orstein, a eir ltu hann anga fara. Egill setti orgeir blund niur a nabrekku, en Steinar fri bsta sinn t yfir Lang og settist niur a Leirulk. En Egill rei heim suur Nes eftir ingi me flokk sinn, og skildust eir fegar me krleik. | See also References - Gordon, Eric V. and A. R. Taylor. Introduction to Old Norse. Second. ed. Oxford: Clarenden Press, 1981.
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