Sæll Terje!

--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Terje Ellefsen"
<radiorabia@...> wrote:

>
> "With sout Norwegian I mean the dialects spoken not in the south

east, but rather in the extreme south and south west. In this area
people speak with a very strong Danish accent, which makes the
classifications quite difficult."

>
> I come from a small town near Kristiansand in Aust-Agder, so I

speak south norwegian. Yet to me, it's not that much Danish. True,
many of us use soft consonants rather than hard (e.g. d instead of
t), but I think there's a common misconception that down south, we
speak almost Danish.

You speak Danish. I have relatives from Aust-Ögðum and have visited
and stayed in the area. I also inherited a lot of books published in
southern Norway during roughly the 17th - 19th centuries. Prior the
Norwegian independence, the published language of southern Norway
(usually called 'Bokmål') was actually called Danish (which is the
'correct' term for the language). The name 'Bokmål' was chosen after
independence, largely for political reasons. Originally, 'Bokmål'
was a term used by Norwegians to refer to the Danish language as it
appeared in books - this was before most Norwegians had learned to
read or speak this new 'Bokmål', in the aftermath of the protestant
reformation. The Danish-speaking merchant class in southern Norway
had grown tremendously in power and prestige since the Black Death
nearly destroyed Norway roughly two centuries earlier. West Norse
(the original language) as a living language was dead in most of
southern Norway by the reformation. Those who still spoke it were
looked down on by the gentile 'upper' classes, who spoke the 'educa-
ted' 'book'-language of the Danes, who were then in charge of the
country. There were few schools, especially in the poorer outlying
areas where the language was still descended from Norse rather than
Modern Danish. While the Black Death left Norway reeling and close
to linguistic extinction, it was the reformation that delivered the
death-blow to Norse in Norway. The fatal decision was made by the
wealthy ruling elite in the south of the country - it was a decision
made purely in their own self-interest (they could not understand
the Norse language), a decision which would later greatly anger the
rural population of their country after indepence, a decision which
would damn their own country to linguistic extinction - the Danish
Bible. Yes, that´s right - the Danish Bible and the thousands of
Biblical tracts and commentaries printed and disributed to every
home in the Danish language. The Danish Bible - read every Sunday at
church, every day at home. Did they have a choice? Yes, they did.
They had a choice and they made the wrong decision - they chose the
Bible only they could read (the fancy 'bokmål' one) over the one the
rest of their impoverished countrymen would be able to understand.
They rejected the excellent New Testament translation made by Oddur
Gottskálsson into Norse, which became the basis for all of the later
Icelandic versions. Oddur was 1/2 Norwegian and 1/2 Icelandic - and,
most importantly, he offered both countries his translation (more
correctly, others did his bidding for him). Oddur translated the New
Testament into Norse secretly as he laboured away secretly night
after night in a 'fjós' (Norse for 'cow-house', older 'féhús'). He
had to hide his work from the Bishop of Skálholt - fourtunately for
Oddur, the bishop was old and going blind. To this day, Norway is
the only Scandinavian country not to have a Bible in its language -
for this we have the Danish-speaking ruling class to thank, a class
which did not care for the welfare and education of their countrymen
until long after independence from Denmark. Truely, they still don´t
care - they never have. Only Ireland lost a higher percetage of its
native population than Norway to the United States and Canada. Why?
Need we ask? Their ARE real West Norse words for what was happing in
Norway from the Black Death (svarti dauðinn) down to our times - a
few are 'lénsmennska', 'lénsríki' and 'lénssjórn'. There is a class
of cold and cruel robber-barons in every Scandinavian country (there
is no exception to this rule), but in no Scandinavian country have
they committed worse crimes against their own countrymen than in Nor-
way. I have heard it said 'they should have been hung for treason'.
Without taking sides on the issue of capital punishment, I will say
that I am firmly opposed to their plans for the 'Norwegian' language.

Oddur Gottskálksson þýddi - en honum enginn hlýddi

Kveðja,
Konráð.

P.S. I once recall hearing a rather well-educated Norwegian woman
complain about all of the mideaval Norwegian art and valuables now
sitting in Danish Museums. I told her, 'One can take a ferry and
visit friends and museums in Denmark - one cannot take a ferry to
visit the language of Norway'. As she obviously had no clue what I
was even talking about, I informed her that Norwegians can now stop
blaming the Danes - nothing happened without the full co-operation
of the self-interested and guilty in back home in Norway.

Ask any educated Icelander and you will likely receive a similar
answer about what went on in Iceland during the long years leading
up to independence - 'you know, connections, money to be made, etc.'

May we have happier Nordic tides in years to come.

Regards,
Konrad.