Hail Óskar !

I am glad to see you are back ! (was it from China?)
I haven't been able to follow very much of [norse_course]
for the last six months or so. So please excuse me, if
I am not updated.

I agree with you that Old Norse should be left alone,
since it is a "historic" language, and as such cannot
change - and that is a definition, really.

I have noted, though, that some people have been working
on the ancient Gothic language, and invented a lot of words
for it, so that the thus "ameliorated" language, may be used for
various toy purposes. (e.g. historical re-enactors -- or
maybe even 21st century "Goths" - with black garments,
sharp teeth and the works)

The same thing also seems to be happening to Old Norse,
where various "ritualistic" groups use it at mass rallys.
(shudder)

>Okay, this is a little something that we should all try to prevent
>from turning into an "international incident" of some kind ;)
>
> Personally, I'm not really offended by your making up ON nonsense
>words. Must say though, that it's not entirely true that it's taboo
>to make up words in Icelandic. Quite untrue, actually. The 20th
>century has seen an extensive process of deliberate creation of
>words in order to enrich the language and maintain its vitality. The
>commonly cited example of "tölva", an artificial fusion of "tölu-
>völva" ("number-prophetress"), meaning 'computer', is in a sense

The Swedes also created "dator" for computer.
That seems like a good choice.

>created in the same spirit as Dæg's word "norondr". The main
>difference is that Dæg's mastery of the language (truly no offence
>meant) is most likely not comparable to the native-speaker linguists
>who created "tölva". Or at least "norondr" does not betray that
>mastery (again, no offence).

In Norwegian, this construction would not really fit
into the language. From "nord" + "ånd" and then
make up a word "nordånd", wouldn't really work well.

"Nordens ånd" would work, but it already sounds as if it was from
the 19th century. (which it is)
"Verdensånden" = "the world spirit" (anima mundi)
(= "andi heimsins", most likely)

You *can* however say "nordmann" (=norðmaður).
But somehow it doesn't work so well for "nordånd" (=norðandi).
Maybe because "ånd" is an abstract concept. (?)

>What is taboo, then, or just not particularly impressive to anyone,
>is people making up words without being qualified to do so. Would
>you honestly be positive to foreigners making up English words
>without even being fluent in English?
>
>The most important point is, however:
>
>*Please do NOT provide false, deliberately made-up words without
>explicit warning*
>
>People were, to my knowledge, asking for a real word. It really
>undermines the work of both the teachers and the students to have
>false information floating around.
>
>As to an ON word to express the concept of "Spirit of the North"...
>quite tricky, because that is to my mind a rather vague, romantic
>concept, quite foreign to the ON mindset as I'm familiar with it.
>This much must be clear, IMO.

In classical antiquity they had all kinds of spirits.
And so the concept does predate romanticism by quite
a few centuries. But those were spirits of planets
or of trees, etc. I am not sure they had land spirits.
What I see as a typically romantic concept is the idea
of a "folkesjel" (=the spirit of a nation).
(þjóðarsál? þjóðsál? which of the two?)
In the Trojan war, for example, it seems both nations
had the same gods. But maybe different gods supported
different sides ?

> "Andi norðrsins" means literally "spirit of the north", but such a
>phrase is, ironically, very unlike the spirit of the north. Reading
>the sagas, you will find the language in them to be much more down-
>to-earth, generally unromantic (some sagas are markedly more
>romantic than others). When romanticism occurs, it is not for "the
>North", but rather for kings, heroes, and honour. Nationalism and
>cultural romanticism are modern concepts, remember :)

Anything that ends in -ism is of course modern :)

Best regards
Keth