Manuel,

The classic Old Norse textbooks expect an advanced student or
classroom learning. They are fine to use on your own, but will not
provide you with extensive paradigms or very much translation
assistance. You will probably need to immerse yourself in the grammar
deeply. Check out this schoolmarmish method for reading and parsing
Old Norse (or any ancient language) at UT's Early IE Languages Online:

http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/norol-6-X.html

This method takes a lot of time at first, but before you know it, you
will be able to read in Old Norse without doing any translation in
your head. If you have any questions, the group is a great resource.

I second the learning of German. After French, it is probably the
most important modern language for any Western academic to learn, and
the most important for someone specifically studying Germanic
languages, literature, and culture. German will give you access to
the largest corpus of modern Germanic literature, both popular and
academic. That said, learning ANY Germanic language is a great primer
for learning any other. Feel free to explore whatever tongue suits
your fancy.

Also - learn to pronounce ON sounds before you look at any grammar or
vocabulary. While you are first getting started, look over the
phonology every day before your lessons, practicing your
pronounciation according the guidelines in your text. When you are
comfortable pronouncing the words, you will find it easier to learn
vocabulary and achieve appropriate intonation while reading, and you
will more readily recognize connections between ON words and words in
English and other Germanic languages.

That's all from me.
-Ian

On Fri, Nov 21, 2008 at 8:09 AM, S <drakaran@...> wrote:
> If the Gordon book is what I'm thinking it is (small, dark blue cover),
> it basically assumes that you know a Scandinavian language already. The
> dictionary/glossary in the back only gives one tense of verbs, and only
> proper nouns, and also doesn't include words that haven't changed since
> those days. So, yes, studying a modern Scandinavian would be helpful.
> Especially Icelandic, as I hear it's not much different from the OI. I
> studied Swedish myself, thinking that the ON references would be more
> helpful to understanding the old ways.
>
> S
>
> Justin Farwell wrote:
>>
>> hey man! history! way to go!
>>
>> well, if you've taken Latin, at least you are aware of noun
>> declensions, which is always confusing to new folk (although the form
>> of Latin noun declensions wont help you much with Old Norse).
>>
>> first of all, the standard intro that universities use is Gordon's
>> "Introduction to Old Norse" and many other Old Norse books resemble
>> it; its basically a selection of readings followed by a grammar
>> followed by a glossary. unfortunately you are not going to find any
>> textbooks that are chapter-by-chapter easy grammar lessons; though you
>> can probably find a lot of such things online:
>> http://www3.hi.is/~haukurth/norse/
>>
>> here's a smaller, classic textbook, Sweet's "Old Icelandic Primer"
>>
>> http://books.google.com/books?id=hWoJAAAAQAAJ&pg=PP9&dq=old+icelandic+primer#PPP5,M1
>> , the dictionary (a HUGE dictionary)
>>
>> http://books.google.com/books?id=RnEJAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=icelandic+dictionary
>> and a site with lots of Old Norse texts:
>> http://www.heimskringla.no/original/index.php
>>
>> you could also consider learning modern Icelandic first; Old Norse and
>> Old Icelandic are pretty much synonymous, and Old Norse/Icelandic
>> grammar is almost EXACTLY the same as modern Icelandic, and of course
>> about 80% of the mundane vocab is the same (except for poetic words,
>> obviously). you could try Einarsson Icelandic
>>
>> http://www.amazon.com/Icelandic-Grammar-Glossary-Stefan-Einarsson/dp/0801863570/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226861263&sr=8-3
>> or Colloquial Icelandic (less authoritative and professional, but
>> slightly easier to use):
>>
>> http://www.amazon.com/Colloquial-Icelandic-Complete-Course-Beginners/dp/041542707X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1226861263&sr=8-2
>>
>> another thought: Old Norse/Icelandic is probably the toughest of the
>> historical germanic languages (though it also has the biggest corpus);
>> have you considered starting with Old english? old english grammar is
>> a good bit easier, the vocab is even more familiar as it is the root
>> of English, and there are A LOT more learning resources out there for
>> Old English.
>>
>> final thought: learn German! naturally, German is related to modern
>> and Old Icelandic since it is also a Germanic language, but also most
>> of the most important grammars and studies on historical Germanic
>> stuff are written in German
>>
>> lots of luck mate! -Justin
>>
>> --- On *Sun, 11/16/08, orkboyz4000 /<orkboyz4000@...>/* wrote:
>>
>> From: orkboyz4000 <orkboyz4000@...>
>> Subject: [norse_course] On Getting Started
>> To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com
>> Date: Sunday, November 16, 2008, 7:44 AM
>>
>> Hello,
>> I am an undergraduate history student. I have a great love for
>> Norse mythology and would very much like to focus on the study of
>> these myths as a means of better understanding Norse culture.
>> Unfortunately my only experience with other languages have been
>> Spanish (at the Intermediate level) and Latin (at something of a
>> Beginner level). How hard do you think it will be for me to learn old
>> Norse? Also, are there any resources that you may recommend for me to
>> attempt to familiarize myself with the subject and possibly better
>> prepare myself for study of the Norse at the graduate level? Thank you
>> for your help.
>>
>> Manuel
>>
>>
>>
>
>