Sæll Arnljótr
Sæll Haukur
Sælir nemendur allir.

-- I have also found that out. I don't know exactly what you mean

> with Gutniska, it's still developing and will probably have a
> renaissance again if Propago turns out to manage in their struggle.

What I mean by Gutniska is the language of viking age Gotland, which
was called Gutland, and the dialects of Eastern and Western Gautland
in the same measure as they correspond to the tongue of the island,
but no more. Aren´t the oldest written records of Gutniska from the
13th century? Yes, but the tongue of the 10th century can be
restored by the analysis of runic inscriptions, a thorough study of
existing manuscripts, and by way of analogy with west norse.

Once upon a time there were two beautiful sisters. Their names were
Gutniska and Norroena. They were lovely and bright girls and spoke
with the same grammar, which they had both inherited from the tongue
of their parents. Although both sisters spoke the same language,
each had her own pronunciation. They were equally beautiful. In
addition to each having her own pronunciation, but the same grammar,
each sister used her tongue in her own way.

One rainy day while Norroena was out playing in the field, she heard
the cries of her sister Gutniska in the distance. Norroena ran to
help her sister, but she was nowhere to be found. She had been
abducted by the pirates of the black death, famine, and black-
hearted rulers who failed to protect her by building schools for her
children and teaching them how to read and write. Church reformers
had come, burned her monasteries and manuscripts, killed her priests
and raped her nuns, and pillaged the peasantry. While Norroena wept
for her sister, many of her own children suffered the same fate as
those of Gutniska.

Many centuries passed, but the living children of Norroena never
forgot what had happened to Gutniska and her children, nor what had
happened to their own brothers and sisters. And so the day came when
the children of Norroena came together and said "now we are full-
grown, and while the world has changed, we still speak much like our
mother, and now the time has come to avenge the death of our kin,
for we have heard their cries in the distance." And so they swore an
oath that they would together fight to save their dying kin and use
powerful magic to bring the dead back to life, for "as Gutniska
would have done for her sister Norroena, so shall we, the children
of Norroena, do for Gutniska - so help us the Gods of our mothers."

>
> -- I'm not too good at reading your written Icelandic dialect.

You will understand it with time, as the grammar is virtually
identical to that of ancient norse. If you speak nordic, then feel
free to post in your mother tongue, as we should all be able to
understand one another.

There are three Icelandic words which every student must learn:
Málfræði, Framburður, and Málnotkun. Of these three, Málfræði is the
king, for where Grammar holds sway, the language is said to be the
same. Framburður is the jester, for Pronunciation is an pleasant and
delightful fool who wears a different costume every day. Málnotkun
is the court poet, for Usage may differ and change with time, but he
must always serve the same king. I shall do my best to defend and
promote our Sovereign Monarch, the Lord of All Things Nordic and
Ruler of Norse. Hail to Good King Grammar!

> "Kveðja,
> Konráð."
>
> -- /Arnie