Old Norse, a Germanic language similar to modern Icelandic, was spoken in Northern Europe until the 14th century. It influenced modern Scandinavian languages and some English words. Preserved sagas and poems provide valuable literary history. The language is still understood by Icelanders and some Scandinavians.
Old Norse is a Germanic first language that is roughly similar to modern Icelandic. It was preceded by Proto-Norse around the 8th century and was spoken in many Northern European countries until around the 14th century. Some words from this language migrated to the English language via Anglo-Saxon, but there are distinctions between Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon.
Old Norse speakers can be found in most of Scandinavia, Greenland and Iceland. Due to Northern European achievements in the UK, you could also have found speakers in Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales during that time. The language would be discarded in England in preference to Anglo-Saxon and then transform into Middle English with a huge influx of French words due to the Norman invasions. The language also inspires modern languages spoken in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and a language spoken by a small percentage of people in Denmark living in the Faroe Islands called Faroese.
We understand this language mostly because it underwent very little change to become Icelandic. There are some differences in pronunciation and spelling. Also, the initial versions were written in a runic alphabet, but later, influenced by Western Europe, it was written in Latin letters. Therefore, an Icelandic person, given a time machine or an Old Norse text in the Latin alphabet, would be very likely to understand what is being said or written.
You can definitely recognize some Old Norse in modern English. Words like “earth” are unchanged. Other words we get from this language include birth, husband, sky, trust, window, apartment, happy, wrong, pillage, gasp, shed, seem, and take.
Gradually the language began to change, with Danish speakers making slight changes to it first. These differences would eventually lead to quite a few distinctions between languages like Danish and Swedish, for example, making the two languages quite separate and not fully understood by speakers of the different languages. However, many of the Scandinavian languages have similarities that can be understood by most Scandinavians, regardless of their primary language. A person from Denmark would understand much more of what is being said by a Swedish speaker, than an English speaker would.
Perhaps one of Old Norse’s greatest values is the number of preserved sagas and poems written in the language. These keep scholars keenly interested in understanding the language, as writing can be beautiful, feature extraordinary adventures, and references both real and fictional people. Most texts written in this language are based on much older myths or stories that were probably preserved through oral tradition, and thus hold a valuable place in the literary canon and in literary history.
If you are not interested in learning this language, you can of course read translations of some of these works, including:
Volsunga Saga (sometimes called Volsunga Saga)
Saga di Re Harald
The saga of Erik the Red
The Bjorn Saga
The Orkney Saga.
Most of the sagas are written in prose, and in translation they are surprisingly approachable to the modern reader. If you are a fan of poetry, myth and short stories, the other important Norse literature is the Eddas. Look for the Elder Edda, which is a collection of poems and myths. Also a writer you’ll come across frequently is Snorri Sturlsson, one of the greatest scholars of the 13th century. There is an Edda by Snorri that is really important if you want to broaden your knowledge of Norse literature and mythology. These two works alone represent most of the modern information we have on Norse mythology and are exceptionally interesting.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
