God afton, bäste Hök Torgersson.

> Hey, Sjuler.
>
> > I think that the most important reason to make a recording in a
> > reconstructed Old Norse is that the metre recitation will be more
> > accurate (in theory). E.g., Modern Icelandic often has an extra
> > syllable (Eirikur instead of Eirikr) which makes a recitation
> > somewhat invalid.
>
> Yes. I suppose. Another metrical issue is syllable length which
> is important in the dróttkvætt metres. In Old Norse, as in Latin
> and Greek, there should be short and long syllables. In modern
> Icelandic, however, all syllables are "long".

This is perhaps even more important in a reconstruction since
syllable addings (bátr > bátur) are less common than syllable
lengthenings (bera > beera).

>
> So, in theory, there may be something to gain from an accurate
> reconstructed pronunciation. But to get the syllable length
> right it would probably be best to get a Finnish speaker to
> read. Finnish (and I think Estonian too) distinguishes
> syllables like: at, aat, att and aatt by length of the sounds.
>

How about the grave accent in Old Norse, did it exist? Or to be more
specific, did a 13th century icelander use the grave accent. If so,
was this feature of importance in metres? And if it was, a Finnish
guy shouldn't really make the recording. I know only two areas in
modern Scandinavia which have preserved both the syllable lengths
(short, long and "super long") and the grave accent, and they are
Dalecarlian and Österbottniska. Maybe we should let someone from
Älvdalen record Old Norse metres? (the grave accent makes it sound
more alive in my ears - icelanders, like e.g. Haukur, tend to
resemble Arnold Scwarzenegger in the ears of a Scandinavian which
uses the grave accent)

(Note: Many areas in Sweden and Finland have preserved both the short
syllables and the grave accent; my own dialect is to some extent one
of them)

> Any takers?
>

Maybe we should contact Bengt Åkerberg from Ulum Dalska (We shall
speak Dalecarlian)?
Email to Ulum Dalska: ulumdalska@...
Here are some recordings in Dalecarlian of some poems which Bengt has
performed:
http://www.geocities.com/jepe2503/hogsvenska/dalska_dikter.html

If you like the Österbottnish accent better, maybe we should let one
from Österbotten make the recording. This is how the dialect sounds
like:
http://swedia.ling.umu.se/Finland/Osterbotten/Vora/ow.html

> Kveðja,
> Haukur

Hälsningar,
Sjuler