Learn Old Norse with Me

I don't teach Old Norse professionally; I have no degree. I'm learning as I write this blog. Take advantage of the hours I spend ignoring my family by digesting, one at a time, small snippets of Old Norse that I've learned well enough to share.

[learnoldnorse]

Hi, um, I'd like to preface this by saying that I know a lot of students of actual history and linguistics look down on this, but.. I'm a BIG fan (and a student) of both that and Marvel comics and well.. I'm working on a female Thor cosplay and I wanted to add something more eh, ~substantial~ to it, namely the hammer inscription "Whosoever holds this hammer, if they be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor" in actual Old Norse and I was wondering if you'd care to transl. it for me, please?

Marvel’s version of the Norse pantheon is super fun. A pox on those who look down on you for liking it!I’m not 100% proficient in this language, yet, but I’ll give your translation my best thought. Others’ corrections/comments are welcome!Maðr gildr er haldar hamar þenna skal hafa afl Þórs

“A worthy person who holds this hammer shall have Thor’s power.” Spell the above out using the Elder Futhark and you should be all set!

[learnoldnorse]

What sort of old norse do you speak ? From what time and region? Is it guter? Göta? Svea? Danish? Fornorsk? Älvdalska? Or the one from the end of the Viking age that was spoken on Iceland ? Like you write "em" instead of "er" And "er" later bicamde "ae" Then "æ" and then the "ä" that we havd today. I know old Närkemål from the Svea region. Also known as one of the Sveamål. PS. Sory for bad English, it's not My first languish

I am learning the Icelandic dialect from the turn of the millennium, so “I” is “em”, and “who/which” is “er”. So I take it Närkemål is basically “Old Swedish”? Do you speak modern Swedish as your first language?

[learnoldnorse]

How well do you know old norse?

Not super well, yet! I have picked it back up and am about half-way through Jesse Byock’s “Viking Language” series. Are you learning, or do you speak it?

[learnoldnorse]

'Segja Hvaða!': Insults in Old Norse-Icelandic Literature - Medievalists.net

"...we are looking at níð, the telling or making of slander about another man.”

[learnoldnorse]

Hunting Hunts

In Old Norse, the present simple tense (e.g. "we hunt") is the same as the present continuous tense (e.g. "we're hunting").

English: we hunt ≠ we’re hunting

Old Norse: vér veiða = we hunt = we’re hunting

Vocab

we: vér

to hunt: at veiða

we hunt: vér veiða

Learn this vocabulary

Pronunciation

I prefer to pronounce v as English w. Ð (ð) is a voiced th like in then. The é is just an e (like in pet) but voiced for longer; just draw out the sound, don't change the vowel.

[learnoldnorse]

Not

To make an Old Norse statement negative, all you have to do is add eigi somewhere in the sentence.

Positive: I am evil. → Ek em illr.

Negative: I am not evil. → Ek em illr eigi.

You can place eigi pretty much wherever you like as long as you keep the verb (in this case, em, meaning am) as the first or second word. For instance, both of these also mean “I am not evil”:

Ek em eigi illr.

Eigi em ek illr.

Pronunciation

Eigi sounds almost like the middle of bagel, where the ei is like hate and the i is like pin.

[learnoldnorse]

Visit Original Link

Ek vil vega þik! → I want to kill you! Hví þú vilt vega mik? → Why do you want to kill me? Því at þú ert illr! → Because you’re evil! Eigi em ek illr, þú ert illr því at þú vilt vega mik!→ I’m not evil, you’re evil because you want to kill me!

Hear this spoken more slowly

Vocab

evil: illr (as in, house of ill repute)

not: eigi

why: hví

because: því at

Pronunciation

I pronounce v like English w. Eigi has ei like in “hate” and i like “lit”.

[learnoldnorse]

Viking Inventory

The Viking named Snaerr has a full set of viking equipment (except for a boat; he'll have to borrow that from his jarl).

Snaerr owns a shield. → Snærr á skjold.

The word for shield is skjoldr. Notice, though, that there's no "r" at the end of it when it appears in the sentence above; this is because it's in the accusative case, meaning it's being acted upon (it's being owned by Snaerr).

Vocab

Apply this structure to the various nouns below and try to list all the things Snaerr owns:

Snærr á [noun - "r"].

helm: hjálmr

spear: geirr (only remove one "r"; keep the other)

sword: brandr

shield: skjoldr

Other:

owns: á

Bonus:

earl: jarl

boat: bátr

The earl owns a boat. → Jarlinn á bát. (The inn serves for the definite article.)

Snaerr owns many swords. → Snærr á marga branda.

Learn this vocabulary

Pronunciation

Æ sounds like the vowels in pear. Roll your r's. Between these two rules, Snærr ends up sounding like "snare" but with a very trilled r. Remember to pronounce j like English y. Say á like in father, but drawn out in length because it's accented. The ei combo is said like in lay.

[learnoldnorse]

Just Another Murder Lunch

"I'm eating food and slaying you."

It's something any Viking might say during a particularly rowdy food fight. In Old Norse, she'd say it like this:

Ek et mat ok veg þik.

Vocab

I'm eating food and slaying you. → Ek et mat ok veg þik.

I eat: ek et

I slay: ek veg

you (accusative): þik

food: matr

and: ok

You may have noticed that I define food as matr but it appears as mat in the sentence. This is because mat is accusative; in other words, the food is being eaten. If the food were eating me, the sentence would begin matr et mik (the food is eating me), with matr being nominative. Generally, in Old Norse, if you see an "r" at the end of the noun, that means it's the thing acting.

Learn this vocabulary

Pronunciation

I like to pronounce v as an English w, which is one legitimate option. The þ is a voiced th like in than. All vowels here are short: e as in pet, a as in father, i as in thick, o as in box.

[learnoldnorse]

Nominative Eats Accusative

I eat him. He eats me. Why are we eating each other? It's not important. The words to pay attention to here are I, he, me, and him. The first two (I and he) are nominative, roughly meaning they're doing something; the second two are accusative, roughly meaning they're having something done to them.

I (nominative) eat him (accusative).

He (nominative) eats me (accusative).

As this illustrates, English usually distinguishes between nominative and accusative pronouns. Old Norse does the same.

Vocab

I: ek

me: mik

he: hann

him: hann

she: hon

her: hana

Notice that the nominative and accusative for he/him are the same.

I eat him: Ek et hann.

He eats me: Hann etr mik.

She eats her: Hon etr hana. (These are two different people; she's not eating herself.)

Learn this vocabulary

Pronunciation

E is short like in help (which is what you'd say if you were being eaten). Say a like in father. Say o like in box. Say i like in thick.

The word etr comes out like two syllables when I say it, like "better" without the b, keeping that second e a schwa. Remember to trill the r at the end.

[learnoldnorse]

Hello, Ladies and Gentlemen

Old Norse and Old English both sprang from Germanic roots. As a result, modern English has Old Norse cognates, or words that have changed very little on their respective journeys down different branches of the Germanic language family tree. English's "hail" is one of those words; it's very similar to how you say hello in Old Norse.

Vocab

The word differs depending on whom you're addressing:

A man: Heill

A woman: Heil

Some men: Heilir

Some women: Heilar

Some men and women: Heil

Learn this vocabulary

Pronunciation

I pronounce the ei like in heirloom. The difference between l and ll is probably holding it longer (the difference between "pal" and "he'll like it"). Say a like in father. Say i like in limbo (except when it's part of ei). Trill your r's.