“Miserable devastation of heathen men wiped out god’s church through pillage and slaughter”, says the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle about the doom suffered by the famous cloister founded by the Irish monk Aidan.
There is only so much you can cover but surely some reference to word order and flow is relevant and important? I learnt both Old Norse and Anglo Saxon many decades ago - both now barely remembered. What I do remember is that the flow of the language in Old Norse struck me as much more like modern English than Anglo Saxon did. Anglo-Saxon felt very german like (because it was close to Old HG and what became Dutch). Notably the use of past tense perfect verbs in the middle rather than the end of the sentence.
I believe there is evidence for the change showing up in writings pre the Conquest and the potential for French to have had a similar impact.
in sum how the language works is as, or more important, than lists of words. Another example from the islands off the other end of Asia: modern Japanese has numerous words taken from English and other world languages, often parallel to older Japanese words, but none of these affect how Japanese is structured.
Excellent stuff! Wow. I love history at this level of detail. (I am also starting to learn about trade and craft, especially arms and armour.) Thank you
loved this! as a teacher of english as a foreign language, i tell all my students the history of the language, which of course, blows their minds. the deeper you dig into the culture and history, the deeper your understanding of that language will be. 🤍
Ooo yay I am so glad I found your substack! I took a course on Myths and Sagas of Medieval Iceland in college and have recently gotten back into the Eddas. I focused my literature studies on the eighteenth century but always had a fondness for this era of literature.
(Supremely nerdy, but I'm playing a DnD character who is the daughter of her clan's Godi. It's a matriarchal society sworn to protect a tree of life like Yggdrasil. So, lots of Viking influences but not strictly in line with the Eddas and Sagas.)
I mentioned the raids on Lindisfarne in my latest post. It deals with the work of Irish monks at Fulda Monastery who brought their art there around 800
I wish I had a link to it still, but Anders Winroth once wrote an entire paper using only Norse rooted words, it was a lot of fun. Great article, looking forward to more :)
Much enjoyed this piece, Irina. Living in northeast England, it's said the Geordie vernacular owes much to it's Angle ancestry. For the last few years I've listened to a fascinating history of the English language podcast. Currently on episode 183 and we've just reached the early 1600s.....
There is only so much you can cover but surely some reference to word order and flow is relevant and important? I learnt both Old Norse and Anglo Saxon many decades ago - both now barely remembered. What I do remember is that the flow of the language in Old Norse struck me as much more like modern English than Anglo Saxon did. Anglo-Saxon felt very german like (because it was close to Old HG and what became Dutch). Notably the use of past tense perfect verbs in the middle rather than the end of the sentence.
I believe there is evidence for the change showing up in writings pre the Conquest and the potential for French to have had a similar impact.
in sum how the language works is as, or more important, than lists of words. Another example from the islands off the other end of Asia: modern Japanese has numerous words taken from English and other world languages, often parallel to older Japanese words, but none of these affect how Japanese is structured.
Excellent stuff! Wow. I love history at this level of detail. (I am also starting to learn about trade and craft, especially arms and armour.) Thank you
Happy to hear!
I am Norwegian and my mother was born on a farm called Tveit.
In Swedish torp means a small farm.
Holm is just one of several seascape related words: skerry/skjær, sound/sund, reef/rev.
This is fabulous word nerdery.
You can't ski without Norse either.
I've been to a town called Wick, waaaay up at the top of Scotland. Because of course it was Norse until the 1200s.
loved this! as a teacher of english as a foreign language, i tell all my students the history of the language, which of course, blows their minds. the deeper you dig into the culture and history, the deeper your understanding of that language will be. 🤍
Ooo yay I am so glad I found your substack! I took a course on Myths and Sagas of Medieval Iceland in college and have recently gotten back into the Eddas. I focused my literature studies on the eighteenth century but always had a fondness for this era of literature.
(Supremely nerdy, but I'm playing a DnD character who is the daughter of her clan's Godi. It's a matriarchal society sworn to protect a tree of life like Yggdrasil. So, lots of Viking influences but not strictly in line with the Eddas and Sagas.)
Nerdy is what I'm aiming for!
Interesting post
Am look forward to more
I mentioned the raids on Lindisfarne in my latest post. It deals with the work of Irish monks at Fulda Monastery who brought their art there around 800
https://substack.com/@robertwhitley/note/p-159781928?r=2mwz1j&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
I knew from the title that I was going to love this, and I was not let down!
Yorkshire dialect is full of Old Norse. Impenetrable to non-speakers.
I wish I had a link to it still, but Anders Winroth once wrote an entire paper using only Norse rooted words, it was a lot of fun. Great article, looking forward to more :)
Much enjoyed this piece, Irina. Living in northeast England, it's said the Geordie vernacular owes much to it's Angle ancestry. For the last few years I've listened to a fascinating history of the English language podcast. Currently on episode 183 and we've just reached the early 1600s.....