Hi there, Alec,

The pronunciation was originally the semivowel [w], in Proto-Germanic and Old Norse of the Viking Age, but later became [v]. The author of the First Grammatical treatise used the letter <u> both for the vowel [u] and the sound that's spelt <v> in normalised Old Norse editions and Modern Icelandic. Occasionally poets even alliterated the vowel with the semivowel.

"<v> in the 12th century was a voiced bilabial fricative, like German <u> in <Quelle> or Spanish <b> in <saber>; during the 13th century <v> became labiodental, like English <v>, the same sound as Icelandic <f> medial and final" (Gordon/Taylor: An Introduction to Old Norse, § 16).

"[w] (i.e. consonantal /u/), in inital position and generally after vowels, became a voiced bilabial fricative around 1200--probably only somewhat later after a consonant belonging to a different syllable--and developed from this into labiodental [v] ... Much later, and probably at very different times in different dialects, the same development occurred after a consonant belonging to the same syllable, e.g. <svartr> ... The sound [w] survives after <h> in some areas [of Iceland]" (Noreen: Altisländische und altnorwegische Grammatik, § 242 [
http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/png/oi_noreen/b0162.png ]).

LN

--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, CalecM@... wrote:
>
> Undoubtedly an old discussion which I, as a newcomer to the (autodidactic)
> study of ON have not yet heard: How is "v" pronounced? Is it as "w" per
> Barnes, or "v" per Gudlaugsson. Regionalism? Chronologically dependent?
>
> Or since I'm not likely to ever discourse with any Vikings (except Palo
> Alto High School's), can I pretty much pronounce it whichever way I want?
>
> Thanks,
> Alec MacLean
>