--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, Isabelle Brisset <rydia_29@...> wrote:

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> Hi everyone!

Hi Isabelle,

> I am currently doing an essay on Old Icelandic or Old Norse, and I was wondering : what is the difference between the two of them?
> I read that Old Icelandic is a dialect from Old Norse, and that the majority of the literature was written in Old Icelandic (in Introduction to Old Norse, by Gordon).

That's right. Old Norse, in its broadest sense, is the name given to a certain historical stage of the North Germanic branch of the Germanic family of languages. The term is usually applied to the Germanic language spoken by the inhabitants of Scandinavia (including its colonies in Iceland, the Faroes and the British Isles) during the Viking Age (8th to 11th centuries) and for two to four centuries after that, depending on the region. Dialectal differences developed over this time, the most significant division being between Old West Norse (spoken in Norway and its Atlantic colonies) and Old East Norse (spoken in Denmark, Sweden and the Baltic).

This is what Gordon means by Old Norse. As you say, most of what is now considered the classic Old Norse literature--Snorri's Edda (Prose Edda), the Elder Edda (Poetic Edda), the Royal and Family Sagas (Kings' Sagas and Sagas of Icelanders)--was written in Iceland. Skaldic poetry too is most extensively preserved in Icelandic sources. Because of this, Gordon, as is the common practice, uses a normalized spelling system based on the Icelandic variety of Old Norse when making general statements about Old Norse, and represents the grammar of Old Norse by the grammar of Old Icelandic, that is, Old Norse as spoken in Iceland. On the other hand, he also offers a selection of texts in other dialects of Old Norse (XVII-XXI). Further examples of other dialects can be found in the third section: Runic Inscriptions. (Similarly, when etymologists typically cite Old Norse words in their Icelandic form, where differences exist between dialects. This is the practice of the Oxford English Dictionary, for example.)

Some authors, however, prefer a narrower definition; for Faarlund Old Norse is synonymous with Old West Norse, or as he called it "Medieval West Nordic. It is the language spoken in the western part of Scandinavia during the last part of the Middle Ages. More precisely it is the language used from the early 9th till the late 14th century in Norway, Iceland, and the Faroes, and in the Norse [i.e. Norwegian] settlements in the British Isles and Greenland" (Faarlund: The Syntax of Old Norse).

Whichever definition is adopted, names like Old Icelandic, Old Norwegian, Old Danish, Old Swedish are used too, to be more precise about the origins of a particular text, or about differences between dialects, even though, in the case of, say, Old Icelandic and Old Norwegian, these differences were slight during the Old Norse period.

Another reason why the name Old Icelandic is often used almost interchangeably with Old Norse is the fact that Icelandic has changed very little since the Middle Ages compared to other Scandinavian dialects. So while Old Icelandic and Old Norwegian were essentially the same language till the 14th century, Norwegian began then to undergo significant changes, whereas Modern Icelandic kept the morphology of Old Norse pretty much intact. The main differences between Modern and Old Icelandic are a great increase in vocabulary associated with the modern world, and some changes in the pronunciation of vowels, generally not reflected in spelling. In fact, Old Icelandic and Old Norwegian texts are often read, even outside of Iceland, using the Modern Icelandic pronunciation.

> Is the Prose Edda, by Snorri Sturluson, written in Old Icelandic or Old Norse? Are these two languages very similar?

It was written by an Icelander at a time when there was not very much difference between Old Icelandic and Old Norwegian. It would be true to say it was written in Old Icelandic, and equally true to say that it was written in Old Norse.

If you have access to a copy of Gordon's Introduction to Old Norse, you can see an example of Old Norwegian in extract XVII, "Fagrskinna: The Battle of Stamford Bridge." See also §§ 187-190 for a discussion of differences between Old Icelandic and Old Norwegian.

> I am confused, because it sometimes seems that authors uses Old Norse and Old Icelandic as synonyms...

Old Icelandic means the medieval language of Iceland in contrast to Modern Icelandic. Since the medieval language of Iceland was Old Norse (in either sense), the context often makes it possible to use either term.

> Thank you for your help! (And sorry if my english is bad, it is not my first language!)

You're welcome! I hope my answer wasn't too confusing. Your English is very good. The only mistake I can see is <authors uses>, which should be <authors use>.

LN