To the list!

While waiting and hoping that someone will turn up
to teach the students some more Old Norse grammar
and syntax, it is a good idea for them to expose
themselves to as much ON text as possible. Try to
find texts with parallel translation, and figure
out as much as you are able to. Of course you won't
understand *everything*, but every little thing helps,
just so you won't forget what you know already.

For learners of Ancient Greek and Latin, there is
a wonderful series of books called the Loeb library.
They contain texts with parallel translations, and
are excellent for simply browsing - you always
pick up something useful, even if you're only a
beginner. Unfortunately there is nothing similar for
students of Old Norse, but at least I can offer the
class one such text. It is called "Þorsteins þáttr
bæjarmagns", and it belongs to the "Fornaldarsögur".
These are primarily adventurous romances, but quite
interesting in many ways, especially as they often
contain a lot of mythological material. "Þorsteins
þáttr" is quite an interesting little novella, which
contains a wealth of mythological motifs from stories
about the god Þórr. There is a very strong parallel
to the story of Þórr's visit to giant Geirröðr. Note
that the hero of the story even has Þórr's name.

You'll find the story here, in ON and parallel English:

http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/meter/thorsten.html

Enjoy!!