I had a large Old Norse dictionary and an Old Norse grammar and no background in Old Norse

when I tackled Egil Skallagrimsonnar: it was fun.

 

N. Scott Catledge, PhD/STD

Professor Emeritus

history & languages

 


From: norse_course@yahoogroups.com [mailto: norse_course@yahoogroups.com ] On Behalf Of Edgar Widlund
Sent: Tuesday, September 01, 2009 8:46 PM
To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [norse_course] Old Norse grammar

 

 

Hi Everyone,

 

I need some advice and information of ON grammar.I am beginning lesson 8 in the Norse course.

So far, I have not seen where the course covers topics like past tense of verbs,subjunctive tense,

feminine nouns,etc.Is there some information about topics like the foregoing in a concise manner available like a book on topics not covered in the 9 lessons in the course?

 

After being made aware of the numerous declensions, of various nouns,for instance;It seems all these

different declensions and endings require a vast vocabulary in order to translate the sagas,or Old Norse

literature fairly accurate.This may appear a stupid question but how does one deal with the incredible

amount of all this information ? I guess I can assume a lot of looking up for all these words,items is of course  necessary.To summarize, I wonder how much of a vocabulary one should have before reading tON literature?

 

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

                                                                 Ed Widlund