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  Nativename dnsk tunga, norrœnt mál
  Region Scandinavia , Iceland , Greenland , the Faroes , Scotland , Ireland , England And Wales , Isle Of Man , Vinland , the Volga and places in between
  Extinct developed into the various North Germanic Languages by the 14th Century
  Familycolor Indo-European
  Fam2 Germanic
  Fam3 North Germanic
  Script Runic , later Latin Alphabet


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 B. STRONG VERBS, i.e. Verbs in which the Preterite and Participle Passive are formed by changing the Root Vowel.
  Ist Class, 2nd Class, 3rd Class, 4th Class, 5th and 6th Class, 7th Class,
interchange of ''i'' (''e''), ''a'',
''u''.		 of ''í'', ''ei'', ''i''. of ''jó'', ''au'', ''u''. of ''a'', ''ó''. of ''e'', ''a'', ''á'',
and ''a'', ''á'', ''o''.		 of ''á'', ''é'',
and ''au'', ''jó.''
INDIC. ''Pres.'' Sing. 1. brenn rís býð fer gef ber græt hleyp
2. brenn-r rís-s býð-r fer-r gef-r ber-r græt-r hleyp-r
3. brenn-r rís-s býð-r fer-r gef-r ber-r græt-r hleyp-r
Plur. 1. brenn-um rís-um bjóð-um för-um gef-um ber-um grát-um hlaup-um
2. brenn-ið rís-ið bjóð-ið far-ið gef-ið ber-ið grát-ið hlaup-ið
3. brenn-a rís-a bjóð-a far-a gef-a ber-a grát-a hlaup-a
''Pret.'' Sing. 1. brann reis bauð fór gaf bar grét hljóp
2. brann-t reis-t baut-t fór-t gaf-t bar-t grét-st hljóp-t
3. brann reis bauð fór gaf bar grét hljóp
Plur. 1. brunn-um ris-um buð-um fór-um gáf-um bár-um grét-um hljóp-um
2. brunn-uð ris-uð buð-uð fór-uð gáf-uð bár-uð grét-uð hljóp-uð
3. brunn-u ris-u buð-u fór-u gáf-u bár-u grét-u hljóp-u
IMPERAT. brenn rís bjóð far gef ber grát hlaup
SUBJ. ''Pres.'' Sing. 1 brenn-a rís-a bjóð-a far-a gef-a ber-a grát-a hlaup-a
2. brenn-ir rís-ir bjóð-ir far-ir gef-ir ber-ir grát-ir hlaup-ir
3. brenn-i rís-i bjóð-i far-i gef-i ber-i grát-i hlaup-i
Plur. 1. brenn-im rís-im bjóð-im far-im gef-im ber-im grát-im hlaup-im
2. brenn-ið rís-ið bjóð-ið far-ið gef-ið ber-ið grát-ið hlaup-ið
3. brenn-i rís-i bjóð-i far-i gef-i ber-i grát-i hlaup-i
''Pret.'' Sing. 1. brynn-a ris-a byð-a fœr-a gæf-a bær-a grét-a hlyp-a
2.  brynn-ir ris-ir byð-ir fœr-ir gæf-ir bær-ir grét-ir hlyp-ir
3. brynn-i ris-i byð-i fœr-i gæf-i bær-i grét-i hlyp-i
Plur. 1. brynn-im ris-im byð-im fœr-im gæf-im bær-im grét-im hlyp-im
2.  brynn-ið ris-ið byð-ið fœr-ið gæf-ið bær-ið grét-ið hlyp-ið
3.  brynn-i ris-i byð-i fœr-i gæf-i bær-i grét-i hlyp-i
INFIN. brenn-a rís-a bjóð-a far-a gef-a ber-a grát-a hlaup-a
PART. ''Act.'' brenn-andi rís-andi bjóð-andi far-andi gef-andi ber-andi grát-andi hlaup-andi
PART. ''Pass.'' Masc. brunn-inn ris-inn boð-inn far-inn gef-inn bor-inn grát-inn hlaup-inn
Fem. brunn-in ris-in boð-in far-in gef-in bor-in grát-in hlaup-in
Neut. brunn-it ris-it boð-it far-it gef-it bor-it grát-it hlaup-it

































































































THE VERB SUBSTANTIVE
INDIC. ''Pres''. Sing. 1. em ''Pret''. var (vas) IMPERAT.   SUBJ. ''Pres''. sjá, sé ''Pret''. vær-a INFIN. ver-a PAST PART. ver-it
2. er-t var-t ver (ver-tu)   sé-r vær-ir    
3. er (es) var (vas)     sé vær-i    
Plur. 1. er-um vár-um     sé-m vær-im    
2. er-uð vár-uð verið   sé-ð vær-ið    
3 er-u vár-u     sé vær-i    





































































































































































































































































TEN VERBS WITH
PRESENT IN PRETERITE FORM.
INDIC. ''Pres.'' Sing. 1. á kná má skal kann mun (mon) man þarf ann veit
2. á-tt kná-tt má-tt skal-t kann-t mun-t man-t þarf-t ann-t veiz-t
3. á kná má skal kann mun man þarf ann veit
Plur. 1. eig-um kneg-um meg-um skul-um kunn-um mun-um mun-um þurf-um unn-um vit-um
2. eig-uð kneg-uð meg-uð skul-uð kunn-uð mun-uð mun-ið þurf-ið unn-ið vit-uð
3. eig-u kneg-u meg-u skul-u kunn-u mun-u mun-a þurf-a unn-a vit-u
''Pret''. Sing. 1. á-tta kná-tta má-tta   kunn-a mun-da mun-da þurf-a unn-a vis-sa
  as regular weak verbs  
IMPERAT. eig       kunn   mun   unn vit
SUBJ. ''Pres''. Sing. 1. eig-a knega meg-a skyl-a kunn-a myn-a mun-a þurf-a unn-a vit-a
  as regular weak verbs  
  ''Pret''. Sing. 1. ætt-a knætt-a mætt-a skyl-da kynn-a myn-da myn-da þyrf-ta ynn-a vis-sa
  as regular weak verbs  
INFIN. ''Pres''.     eig-a   meg-a skyl-u kunn-a mun-u mun-a þurf-a unn-a vit-a
''Pret''.       knúttu   skyl-du   mun-du        
PART. ''Act''.     eig-andi   meg-andi   kunn-andi   mun-andi þurf-andi unn-andi vit-andi
PART. ''Pass''. Neut.   ú-tt   má-tt   kunn-at   mun-at þurf-t unn-(a)t vit-at




























































































































































EIGHT VERBS WITH THE PRETERITE IN -''ra''.
INDIC. ''Pres.'' Sing. 3. rœ-r grœ-r sæ-r gný-r sný-r frý-r kýs-s slæ-r veld-r
Plur. 3. ró-a gró-a sá gnú-a snú-a frjós-a kjós-a slá vald-a
''Pret.'' Sing. 3. rö-ri grö-ri sö-ri gnö-ri snö-ri frö-ri kö-ri slö-ri ol-li
(or re-ri gre-ri se-ri gne-ri sne-ri fre-ri ke-ri sle-ri)  
IMPERAT. ró gró sá gnú snú frjó-s kjós slá vald
SUBJ. ''Pret''. Sing. 3. rö-ri grö-ri sö-ri gnö-ri snö-ri frö-ri kö-ri slö-ri yll-i
INFIN. ró-a gró-a sá gnú-a snú-a frjós-a kjós-a slá vald-a
PART. ''Pass''. ró-inn gró-inn sá-inn gnú-inn snú-inn fros-inn kos-inn sleg-inn vald-it
frör-inn kör-inn






















































































































D. '''V'''ERBS WITH THE '''R'''EFLEXIVE OR '''R'''ECIPROCAL '''S'''UFFIX -''sk'', -''z'', -''st''
(-''mk'').
    ''Present''. ''Preterite''. ''Present''. ''Preterite''.
''Indic''. ''Subj''. ''Indic''. ''Subj''. ''Indic.'' ''Subj.'' ''Indic.'' ''Subj.''
Sing. 1. kalla-st kalli-st kallaði-st kallaði-st læzt láti-st lézt léti-st
2. kalla-st kalli-st kallaði-st kallaði-st læzt láti-st lézt léti-st
3. kalla-st kalli-st kallaði-st kallaði-st læzt láti-st lézt léti-st
Plur. 1. köllu-mk kalli-mk kölluðu-mk kallaði-mk látu-mk láti-mk létu-mk léti-mk
2. kalli-zt kalli-zt kölluðu-zt kallaði-zt láti-zt láti-zt létu-zt léti-zt
3. kalla-st kalli-st kölluðu-st kallaði-st láta-st láti-st létu-st léti-st
PART. ''Pass''. Neut. kalla-zt, láti-zt, (glað-zt, gefi-zt, bori-zt,)
&c.		  
















































































E. '''V'''ERBS WITH THE '''N'''EGATIVE
SUFFIX.
''Pres.'' ''Pret.'' ''Pres.'' ''Pret.'' ''Pres.'' ''Pret.'' ''Pres.'' ''Pret.''
INDIC. Sing. 1. em-k-at var-k-at(vas-k-at) skal-k-at skyldi-g-a mon-k-a mundi-g-a hyk-k-at átti-g-a
2. ert-at-tu vart-at-tu skalt-at-tu skyldir-a mont-at-tu mundir-a hyggr-at áttir-a
3. er-at (es-at) var-at (vas-at) skal-at skyldi-t mon-at mundi-t hyggr-at átti-t
Plur. 3. eru-t váru-t skulu-t skyldu-t monu-t mundi-t hyggja-t áttu-t
IMPERAT. ver-at-tu (''be not thou!''), lát-at-tu (''let not thou!''), grát-at-tu (''weep not thou!''), &c.



TEXTS


The earliest inscriptions in Old Norse are Runic , from the 8th Century . Runes continued to be commonly used until the 15th century and has been recorded to be in use in some form as late as the 19th century in some parts of Sweden. With the conversion to Christianity in the 11th century came the Latin Alphabet . The oldest preserved texts in Old Norse in the Latin alphabet date from the middle of the 12th century. Subsequently, Old Norse became the vehicle of a large and varied body of Vernacular literature, unique in medieval Europe. Most of the surviving literature was written in Iceland. Best known are the Norse Saga s, the Icelanders' Sagas and the mythological literature, but there also survives a large body of religious literature, translations into Old Norse of Courtly Romance s, classical mythology, the Old Testament, as well as instructional material, grammatical treatises and a large body of letters and official documents.''See, e.g.,'' O'Donoghue 22-102.


RELATIONSHIP TO ENGLISH


Old English and Old Norse were closely related languages, and it is therefore not surprising that many words in old Norse look familiar to English speakers, e.g. ''armr'' (arm), ''fótr'' (foot), ''land'' (land), ''fullr'' (full), ''hanga'' (to hang), ''standa'' (to stand), etc. This is because both English and Old Norse date back to Proto-Germanic . In addition, a large number of common every day Old Norse words mainly of East Norse origin were adopted into the Old English language during the Viking age, becoming Loanword s. A few examples of Old Norse loanwords in modern English are (English/Viking age Old East Norse):

(Nouns) ''anger'' (angr), ''bag'' (baggi), ''bait'' (bæit, bæita, bæiti), ''band'' (band), ''bark'' (brkR, stem bark-), ''birth'' (byrðr), ''dirt'' (drit), ''dregs'' (dræggiaR), ''egg'' (ægg, related to OE. cognate "æg" which became Middle English "eye"/"eai"), ''fellow'' (félagi), ''gap'' (gap), ''husband'' (húsbóndi), ''cake'' (kaka), ''keel'' (kilR, stem also kial-, kil-), ''kid'' (kið), ''knife'' (knífR), ''law'' (lg, stem lag-), ''leg'' (læggR), ''link'' (hlænkR), ''loan'' (lán), ''race'' (rs, stem rás-), ''root'' (rót), ''sale'' (sala), ''scrap'' (skrap), ''seat'' (sæti), ''sister'' (systir, related to OE. cognate "sweostor"), ''skill'' (skial/skil), ''skin'' (skinn), ''skirt'' (skyrta vs. the native English ''shirt'' of the same root), ''sky'' (ský), ''slaughter'' (slátr), ''snare'' (snara), ''steak'' (stæik), ''thrift'' (þrift), ''tidings'' (tíðindi), ''trust'' (traust), ''window'' (vindauga), ''wing'' (væ(i)ngR).

(Verbs) ''blend'' (blanda), ''call'' (kalla), ''cast'' (kasta), ''clip'' (klippa), ''crawl'' (krafla), ''cut'' (possibly from ON kuta), ''die'' (døyia), ''gasp'' (gæispa), ''get'' (geta), ''give'' (gifa/gefa, related to OE. cognate "giefan"), ''glitter'' (glitra), ''hit'' (hitta), ''lift'' (lyfta), ''raise'' (ræisa), ''ransack'' (rannsaka), ''rid'' (ryðia), ''run'' (rinna, stem rinn-/rann-/runn-, related to OE. cognate "rinnan"), ''scare'' (skirra), ''scrape'' (skrapa), ''seem'' (søma), ''sprint'' (sprinta), ''take'' (taka), ''thrive'' (þrífa(s)), ''thrust'' (þrysta), ''want'' (vanta).

(Adjectives) ''flat'' (flatr), ''happy'' (happ), ''ill'' (illr), ''likely'' (líklígR), ''loose'' (lauss), ''low'' (lágR), ''meek'' (miúkR), ''odd'' (odda), ''rotten'' (rotinn/rutinn), ''scant'' (skamt), ''sly'' (sløgR), ''weak'' (væikR), ''wrong'' (vrangR).

(Adverbs) ''thwart/athwart'' (þvert).

(Prepositions) ''till'' (til), ''fro'' (frá).

(Conjunction) though/tho (þó).

(Interjections) ''hail'' (hæill), ''wassail'' (ves hæill).

(Personal pronoun) ''they'' (þæiR), ''their'' (þæiRa), ''them'' (þæim) (for which the Anglo-Saxons said ''híe O'Donoghue 190-201; Lass 187-188., hiera, him'').

(Pronominal adjectives) ''same'' (sami).

In a simple sentence like "They are both weak" the extent of the Old Norse loanwords becomes quite clear (Old East Norse with archaic pronunciation: "ÞæiR eRu báðiR wæikiR" while Old English "híe syndon bégen (þá) wáce"). The words "they" and "weak" are both borrowed from Old Norse, and the word "both" might also be a borrowing, though this is still disputed by some. While the number of loanwords adopted from the Scandinavians wasn't as numerous as that of Norman French or Latin, their depth and every day nature make them a substantial and very important part of every day English speech as they are part of the very core of the modern English vocabulary.

Words like "bull" and "Thursday" are more difficult when it comes to their origins. "Bull" may be from either Old English "bula" or Old Norse "buli" while "Thursday" may be a borrowing, or it could simply be from the Old English "Þunresdæg" which could've been influenced by the Old Norse cognate. The word "are" is from Old English "earun"/"aron" as well as the Old Norse cognates.


DIALECTS



A second difference was that Old West Norse lost certain combinations of consonants. The combinations -''mp''-, -''nt''-, and -''nk''- were assimilated into -''pp''-, -''tt''- and -''kk''- in Old West Norse, but this phenomenon was limited in Old East Norse.

However, these differences were an exception. The dialects were very similar and considered to be the same language, a language that they sometimes called the Danish tongue (dnsk tunga), sometimes Norse language (norrœnt mál), as evidenced in the following two quotes from Heimskringla by Snorri Sturluson :

''Móðir Dyggva var Drótt, dóttir Danps konungs, sonar Rígs er fyrstr var konungr kallaðr á danska tungu''. {Link without Title}
Dyggve 's mother was Drott , the daughter of king Danp, Ríg 's son, who was the first to be called king in the Danish tongue.

''...stirt var honum norrœnt mál, ok kylfdi mJk til orðanna, ok hfðu margir menn þat mJk at spotti''. {Link without Title}
...the Norse language was hard for him, and he often fumbled for words, which amused people greatly.

Here is a comparison between the two dialects as well as Old Gutnish. It is a transcription from one of the Funbo Runestones (U990) meaning : ''Veðr and Thane and Gunnar raised this stone after Haursi, their father. God help his spirit'':

: Veðr ok Þegn ok Gunnarr reistu stein þenna at Haursa, fður sinn. Guð hjalpi nd hans. (OWN)

: Veðr ok Þegn ok Gunnarr ræistu stæin þenna at Haursa, faður sinn. Guð hialpi and hans (OEN)

: Veðr ok Þegn ok Gunnarr raistu stain þenna at Haursa, faður sinn. Guð hialpi and hans (OG)

The OEN original text above is transliterated according to traditional scholar methods meaning u-umlaut is not regarded in runic Old East Norse even though more recent studies have shown that the positions where it applies are the same as for runic Old West Norse. An alternative and probably more accurate transliteration would therefore render the text in OEN as such:

: Veðr ok Þegn ok Gunnarr ræistu stæin þenna at Haursa, fður sinn. Guð hialpi nd hans (OEN)


Old West Norse



The earliest body of text appears in Runic Inscriptions and in poems composed ca 900 by Tjodolf Of Hvin . The earliest manuscripts are from the period 1150 - 1200 and concern both legal, religious and historical matters. During the 12th and 13th Centuries , Trøndelag and Vestlandet were the most important areas of the Norwegian kingdom and they shaped Old West Norse as an archaic language with a rich set of declensions. In the body of text that has come down to us from until ca 1300 , Old West Norse had little dialect variation, and Old Icelandic does not diverge much more than the Old Norwegian dialects do from each other.

Old Norwegian differentiated early from Old Icelandic by the loss of the consonant ''h'' in initial position before ''l'', ''n'' and ''r'', thus whereas Old Icelandic manuscripts might use the form ''hnefi'' (fist), Old Norwegian manuscripts might use ''nefi''.

From the late 13th century, old Icelandic and old Norwegian started to diverge more. After c. 1350, the Black Death and following social upheavals seem to have accelerated language changes in Norway. From the late 14th century, the language used in Norway is generally referred to as Middle Norwegian .


Text example


The following text is from Egils Saga . The manuscript is the oldest known for that saga, the so called ''θ-fragment'' from the 13th century. The text clearly shows how little Icelandic has changed structurally. The last version is legitimate Modern Icelandic, although nothing has been altered but the spelling. The text also demonstrates, however, that a modern reader might have difficulties with the unaltered manuscript text, to say nothing of the lettering.