For anyone interested in old norse literature...

[Somber Soul]

No, that would have been to visit a friend. But I'm not going after all. Skandinavistik is a faculty at my university. Next to Germanistik. They're brothers (or sisters?) after all.

 

[Rabenreich]

I like Voluspå.

My Edda-favourite

If you come from Germany, it doesn't mean you understand Old High German better than anyone else (in fact, Germans tend to understand Middle English or Old English better than Brits)

I'm from Germany,and i hadn't much problems with old high,or middle high German...I speak Latin (not as good as i should *sss*) and English...that helps very well,exspecially with Gothic Texts.I just spoke the words while reading....there are of corse some differences but if you speak it you understand most of the stuff...This really helped me.

And very old words,for example those about weather(heaven-himmel and so on...) are in all germanic languages the same...of corse...so no probs mith these.

 

[Djöfull]

i read through the english translation of Hávamál and it's hrrific, the text looses it's charm when turned into english!

sorry for posting this long reply i should have posted a link!

mead in icelandic =mjöður

the conjugation( I know it’s complicated,hehe,)

here’s a mjöður
about a mjöð
from miði
to mjaðar

calculator= reiknivél, vasareiknir, (and these are not ancient words!)


<Norse and old icelandic might have sounded about the same, but who knows if it did?>

it WAS the same language, i dunno... at least from 800 until 1200 but then the country became isolated (we had no more wood to build ships goddamnit!)

I´m not an expert on these issues but primarily it was spoken in Norway, Sweden and Denmark with variations
then it spread to the “colonies” Iceland, Faroes,the British isles... didn´t it?

we have to learn danish in Iceland for 6 years here and I´ve forgotten lots of it
danish is funny and has a bit of charm, but I find it difficult to understand the spoken language!

I don’t understand shit in the standard Oslo norwegian dialect, but I understand the written language fairly well, well I saw a TV program from west Norway while in Oslo and haleluja finally I understood something

but fuck danish fuck norwegian(sorry),I like swedish best!,
the pronunciation is clearer and the words more similar, of course there are Icelanders that oppose my opinion so maybe it’s just my perception. If I ruled we all had to learn Swedish here

 

[Somber Soul]

Originally posted by Rabenreich
I'm from Germany,and i hadn't much problems with old high,or middle high German...

Well, I guess it highly depends on the respective texts. Here's an extract from the Old High German "Tatian". But generally, Old High German and Middle High German are languages that are to be learnt even by native speakers.


"Bithiu uuanta manage zilotun ordinon saga thio in ûns gifulta sint rahhono,
Só ûns saltun thie thar fon anaginne selbon gisahun inti ambahta uuarun uuortes,
Uuas mir gisehan gifolgentemo fon anaginne allem gernlihho after antreitu thir scriben, thû bezzisto Theophile,
Thaz thû forstantes thero uuorto fon them thû gilerit bist uuâr."

 

[Rabenreich]

Well, I guess it highly depends on the respective texts...Old High German and Middle High German are languages that are to be learnt even by native speakers.

Right for sure.But i think everyone who speaks German my native should be able to understand "Walther von der Vogelweide" for example.
Youe example is the prolouge of the Tatian right,and the language is east frakonian.Know that one but never translated it,for it does not really interest me.And i miss some words,so I'm not able to give a WHOLE translation .
The ones from my region are easyer