Gordon 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? Does that mean that all of you are opposed to the
>idea? Does it mean that you don't care one way or the other? Does
>it mean that you missed my message? Or does it mean that you were
>waiting for the group's moderator(s) to make a decision?
>
>I'd like to have some place online where I can ask questions about
>modern Icelandic. If the general response to my request is negative,
>I'd appreciate it if any of you know of and could tell me about an
>Internet web site that supports discussions of modern Icelandic
>language and literature. Thanks! Gordon
>

Hi Gordon,
I enjoyed your letters, and thought you had some good points!
The way I have understood it, it has always been okay to ask
about Modern Icelandic on this list. At least, I never saw any
complaints, neither from listmembers nor moderators, and some
questions were asked and answered on several occasions.
However, it was stressed that the list was primarily for Old Norse
and while some people said they were *only* interested in Old Norse,
I guess most people are only *mainly* interested in Old Norse, but
do not mind an occasional comparison with Modern Icelandic.

For me, it is also difficult to see them as two different languages,
since discussion of the either one of them, will sooner or later have
to touch upon topics within the other.

In the same way, I often find it useful to refer to the Nynorsk language,
or even Danish or Swedish, in order to better understand Old Norse.
If your mother language is English, I can imagine that you yourself
stand in the same relationship to Old English. i.e. I think your understanding
of Old Norse might sometimes benefit from comparisons with Old English.

keth