Selv wrote:

>Well, some reconstructions sound more ridiculous than others, but the
>problems I have with the attempts at using any reconstructed pronounciation
>are that we simply cannot be certain of its accuracy, and that this means
>any scholar can use a slightly different set of rules to pronounce the
>language according to their theories of reconstruction.

If one wants to read it aloud, (or even silently) one HAS to use SOME
scheme of pronounciation. And even if the original ON prononciation
is no longer known, it IS known to a certain approximation.

I think it is also clear that there were variations in pronounciation even
then. An example is the initial V before an R.

Modern Icelandic pronounciation is fine if you already know modern Icelandic.
But if you don't know modern Icelandic, and decide to begin a study of OLD
Norse,
then the modern Icelandic vowels do not seem to be the most natural choice.

One thing that I have difficulty with, for example, is that the modern
Icelandic pronounciation of "æ" (= a-e ligature) no longer corresponds
to the way this letter was pronounced in Medieval Latin, where it was
known from such words as "Cæsar" etc. I am sure the monks who first
used the Latin letters to describe the sounds of Old Norse, did pick
the Latin letters that corresponded most closely to the actual sounds
used!

Thus we can expect that the Old Norse "æ" was prononced in approximately
the same way as the "æ" in Cæsar was pronounced.

As an example, take the name "Laxd¦lir" (= inhabitant of the valley Laxárdalr),
I would pronounce this like "Laxdølir", where the "ø" is pronounced like
the "eu" in French "feu". But in modern Icelandic this sound has apparently
changed into a diphtong, and would, in my Norwegian system of describing sounds,
be written like "Laxdailr", i.e. the original "¦" (= o-e ligature) has changed
into an a-i diphtong.

Another example of the same sound is the ON name for Greenland,
which in normalized ON is written as "Gr¦nland" (with o-e ligature).
But from an Icelandic book I see that they write, for example,
"Atlamál in grænlensku", i.e. with an a-e ligature,
BUT and here comes the difficulty: This a-e ligature is no longer
pronounced as an a-e ligature, but as an a-i diphtong. (or so I understand it.
please correct if wrong)

Of course, such things are not very important, since one can simply
make a choice, and stick to that, or even change the pronounciation
whenever one feels like it.

As a reference for the sound "æ" I should like to offer the "è" in
the French word "père". At least, that is how I learned it in school,
and it works fine when I am in France.

As reference for the diphtong "ai" I should like to offer the name
of the German city "Mainz".

Oskar will no doubt be able to correct me if I am wrong.

Best regards
Keth