----- Original Message -----

From: llama_nom

To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Thursday, December 08, 2005 12:17 AM

Subject: [norse_course] Re: Tutorial materials

--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Jakob Feddersen" <jakob@......>
wrote:

> I was wondering, is there one of the two that is easier learning
that the
> other, Old Norse or Old Icelandic?
> Or are they equally hard :) I'm danish of origin, so I see a lot
of the
> similarities...


Hey there, Jakob,

Here´s how the terms are used nowadays in English, in my experience.

Old Norse, in its broader sense, is used to mean the language spoken
all over Scandinavia during the Middle Ages, roughly from the Viking
Age to the Reformation.  During this time, there was an early split
into two dialects called (Old) West Norse--spoken in Norway and its
colonies (Iceland, Greenland, the Faroes)--and (Old) East Norse. 
East Norse  developed during this time into the distinct dialects of
Old Danish, Old Swedish and Old Gutnish (spoken on Gotland).

In West Norse, the dialects of Old Icelandic and Old Norwegian
became gradually more distinct from each other in the later Middle
Ages, but were still very similar and essentially the same language
at the time when the classical sagas were being composed, in the
13th and 14th centuries.

Because most of what survives of what we call Old Norse literature
was written in Iceland during this period, or preserved in Icelandic
manuscripts, people often use the words Old Norse and Old Icelandic
interchangeably/synonymously.  So you will find the term "Old Norse"
used in this narrower sense to mean exactly the same thing as "Old
Icelandic".  For example, English etymological dictionaries usually
cite "Old Norse" words in their Old Icelandic form, even though most
of the Old Norse loan-words in English really came from an early
form of Old Danish.

Text books and courses that offer to teach "Old Norse" typically
teach the Old Icelandic form of Old Norse, because there´s so much
more to read of it, and thus more evidence for the grammar.  This is
the same reason for concentrating on the language of the 12th-15th
centuries, rather than say the language of the Viking Age. 
(*Confusingly enough, you might also find some older books which use
the term "Norse" to mean specifically "Norwegian", as opposed to
Icelandic.*)

That said, there are some online resources for the study of other
varieties of Old Norse, although most of these are not aimed at
beginners.  Come to think of it, most of those I know about with
varieties of Old Swedish.  So if anyone has any Old Danish links I´d
be interested to hear.

Otto Kalkar: Ordbog til det ældre danske sprog (1300-1700)
http://www.hist.uib.no/kalkar/

Folkebøker fra 1500- og 1600-tallet
http://www.skramstad.no/folkebok/folkebokintro.htm

As I mentioned, the differences between Old Icelandic and Old
Norwegian are very small, no more striking really than the different
spelling practices used in Icelandic manuscripts at various times.

See also: http://www.hi.is/%7Ehaukurth/norse/olessons/lesson7.php?
colors=0

Llama Nom