--- In norse_course@..., gfross@... wrote:

> No one has commented on my earlier request to include modern
> Icelandic as a part of this group. Does that mean that none of you
> are interested?

Being an Icelander myself, I'm not really in a position
to answer your questions. Generally, Icelanders don't
really see Modern Icelandic and Old Norse as two languages.
You cannot possibly learn one without learning a huge lot
of the other. Personally I am of the opinion that the two
should always be taught together, and that this would
ultimately save the student an extraordinary amount of time
and effort, but I don't think anyone on this list (owners
included) agree with me on that. However, I know quite a
few foreigners, who have become fluent ON readers (some of
them teachers and translators), and all of them automatically
learned to read Modern Icelandic as well.

For some reason, it seems to be "fashionable" to separate
the two languages strictly (and even to claim that modern
Icelanders have no better grasp on Old Norse than the rest
of the world). I have never understood why, because they
are far too close. It would be somewhat like claiming that
Modern English and Shakespeare's English are two separate
languages (and that modern speakers of English have no better
grasp on Shakespeare's English than non-speakers). If you
want to learn to read and understand Shakespeare's English,
you are in the best position to do so if you are fluent in
Modern English to begin with. The same is, of course, true
of ON and MI.

I know I've done this before, but if there are still members
around, who are firmly convinced that ON and MI are only
tenuously related, I would advise them to compare, word by
word, the two texts below. On the left you see, in Old Norse,
the first few lines of Snorri's Skáldskaparmál (the second
part of the Prose Edda). The spelling is strictly diplomatic
ON, except that I've had to replace the o-with-tail with the
letter ö. On the right you see the same text, as published
in a Modern Icelandic "everyman's edition", which is
perfectly understood by any Icelandic child (I've just
tested it on an eight-year-old of normal intelligence):

Einn maðr er nefndr Ægir Einn maður er nefndur Ægir
eða Hlér. Hann bjó í ey eða Hlér. Hann bjó í ey
þeiri er nú er kölluð þeirri er nú er kölluð
Hlésey. Hann var mjök Hlésey. Hann var mjög
fjölkunnigr. Hann gerði fjölkunnugur. Hann gerði
ferð sína til Ásgarðs, en ferð sína til Ásgarðs, en
er Æsir vissu ferð hans er Æsir vissu ferð hans
var honum fagnat vel ok var honum fagnað vel og
þó margir hlutir með þó margir hlutir með
sjónhverfingum. Ok um sjónhverfingum. Og um
kveldit, er drekka skyldi, kveldið, er drekka skyldi,
þá lét Óðinn bera inn í þá lét Óðinn bera inn í
höllina sverð, ok váru svá höllina sverð, og voru svo
björt at þar af lýsti, ok björt að þar af lýsti, og
var ekki haft ljós annat var ekki haf ljós annað
meðan við drykkju var setit. meðan við drykkju var setið.

Having said that (once again), I should state that I am
quite willing to remain on this list (despite a member or
two who would rather see me gone), and that it is all the
same to me whether the subject is called Old or New
Icelandic - the two being very similar versions of the
same subject.

I'm pretty sure I can answer most questions about Modern
Icelandic (and quite a lot about Old Norse) correctly.
Whenever I have the time, that is. And if someone asks.

Best wishes to all,
Eysteinn