I think part of the reason for people's undue interest in Greenlandic Norse is that there is no modern equivalent. Like, we might not now much about old Danish, but we do know it evolved into modern Danish. But modern Greenlandic is an Inuit language (actually the most spoken of all Native North-American languages) as most modern Greenlanders' ancestors came from Canada. Like Dr. Crawford said, the Scandinavian language used there today is just modern Danish. I feel this gives it a "lost to history" vibe that always peaks people's interest, similar to the Celtic languages, Tocharian, African-Romance, Icelandic-Basque Pidgin, and many others.
I think greenlandic norse is interesting because its almost something that feels mythical. It was on the fringe of the norse world. Its like if there was a population of some animal that migrated to an island, its just interesting to know what different traits they developed.
Yeah, it's a Lost Civilization kind of mythos. Here in Denmark we still talk about it as a complete mystery, even though we largely know why they disappeared.
Given how tiny the medieval Norse population of Greenland was, how dependent it was on trade with Europe, and how short a span the colony lasted, I don't imagine Greenlandic Old Norse would have been much distinguishable from the Old Norse spoken in contemporary Iceland or the Vestfold.
I have always been curious about this subject but never done enough research for myself. I always expected that since Greenland was even further out of the way than Iceland then there were probably few speakers in Greenland and probably simply for rare trade moments. Anyways, excited to watch the video!
I have seen estimates for the population of Greenland of about 5000 people at the most. That is not many even for the southern half of the eastern coastal regions!
How long was Norse still spoken in Ireland like Dublin, Limerick, etc…? And is there evidence of a Hiberno-Norse dialect? Like runes with Gaelic borrowings.
Or in the Danelaw for that matter, were there joke about people speaking Norse in the manner of Jorvik in the same way Chaucer makes a joke about the nun speaking french in the manner of Stratford at Bow ?
@@francesconicoletti2547 Jackson made a cool reference in another video about what would make a good Robin Hood story. He said an untapped area would be to have Robin as a Norse speaker resisting Norman rule in the 1070's or whenever, as Nottingham would have been what was a Danelaw area, with people who at that time would still ostensibly speak it.
@@francesconicoletti2547 there is the famous letter where the Anglo-Saxon writer tells off a "brother Edward" for adopting heathen Danish fashions, his haircut in particular 😂 it's uncertainly dated to the turn of the 11th century, apparently. Anyway, there are people all over the UK who still like to think they're "vikings" 🙄
You might have said something about when Greenland was settled by Norse speakers and where they came from and how much continuous contact the settlements had with other speakers.
It would have been nice to know something more about the inscription, the place it is in, why it was made, and even what it said -- I only heard "loaded some cairns and cleared".
Very interesting. Some say the Norse inhabitants of Greenland moved or were moved to the Canaries islands. They have statues of men practicing the glíma (Icelandic wrestling) there. I saw one statue myself there on a roundabout when driving in the island of Grand Canaria.
Honestly, I am truly surprised anything survived in /from Greenland. The native people still call Denmark "the colonizers". I am going to go on a limb and say Old Norse from Greenland is rare, and that makes it interesting in itself.
Hmm, so how do you think á sounded like in Old Norse now? Is it a "long A" like in modern Swedish (similar to "a" in "father") or is it like long å like in modern Swedish (similar to "o" in "lord")? If the latter, what's the difference between ó and á? Personally, I think á was both... Sometimes pronounced as long A and sometimes like long Å. For example the word "hávamál": I think the first A (á) is pronounced as long A, the second A as a short A, and the third Á as a long Å...
I wasn't aware there was a lot of Latin written in runes. As Latin was my second language, I'd be interested to learn more. Some searching hasn't yet turned up anything. I'd be interested in any resources on the subject.
I know this question should probably go onto a previous video: Does the mistletoe arrow Loki gives to Hodur have a name? I may be missing the big picture but it seems like a lot of people and objects destined to participate in events have names relating to those events. But I can’t find anything about mistletoe or the weapon made from it.
Don't worry, no one understands the Danish-Greenlandic legal situation, and we change it so often, it's hard to keep track. But I think the greenlanders are heading for full independence, we all just decided to take it easy and be chill about it.
Jackson translated "Ása" as a female name, but it's also the singular of "Æsir". Wouldn't it be logical to presume that someone 'sitting upon the sea' might be viewed as a god, and that such a sighting would be more worthy of an inscription than just seeing some girl(especially since the next line said that her name was "Bibrau")? This is not a criticism... take it as a question for the teacher.
Someone explain to me why the tiny norse colonies make Greenland a part of Denmark and not a province of mainland Canada again? Your basically ignoring the first nations much longer history with the former but colonization must live on right? Jmho.
Sure. Probably the same reason Canada is not ruled by the indigenous people there, same with the US. History, conquest, treaties, etc. Hope that helps.
I think part of the reason for people's undue interest in Greenlandic Norse is that there is no modern equivalent. Like, we might not now much about old Danish, but we do know it evolved into modern Danish. But modern Greenlandic is an Inuit language (actually the most spoken of all Native North-American languages) as most modern Greenlanders' ancestors came from Canada. Like Dr. Crawford said, the Scandinavian language used there today is just modern Danish. I feel this gives it a "lost to history" vibe that always peaks people's interest, similar to the Celtic languages, Tocharian, African-Romance, Icelandic-Basque Pidgin, and many others.
I think greenlandic norse is interesting because its almost something that feels mythical. It was on the fringe of the norse world. Its like if there was a population of some animal that migrated to an island, its just interesting to know what different traits they developed.
That animal analogy is perfect
Old Norse already kinda feels mythical to most people, and Greenland kinda feels mythical to most people, so Norse + Greenland feels double mythical.
Yeah, it's a Lost Civilization kind of mythos. Here in Denmark we still talk about it as a complete mystery, even though we largely know why they disappeared.
Given how tiny the medieval Norse population of Greenland was, how dependent it was on trade with Europe, and how short a span the colony lasted, I don't imagine Greenlandic Old Norse would have been much distinguishable from the Old Norse spoken in contemporary Iceland or the Vestfold.
Thank you for yet another very interesting video!
I have always been curious about this subject but never done enough research for myself. I always expected that since Greenland was even further out of the way than Iceland then there were probably few speakers in Greenland and probably simply for rare trade moments.
Anyways, excited to watch the video!
I have seen estimates for the population of Greenland of about 5000 people at the most. That is not many even for the southern half of the eastern coastal regions!
How long was Norse still spoken in Ireland like Dublin, Limerick, etc…? And is there evidence of a Hiberno-Norse dialect? Like runes with Gaelic borrowings.
Or in the Danelaw for that matter, were there joke about people speaking Norse in the manner of Jorvik in the same way Chaucer makes a joke about the nun speaking french in the manner of Stratford at Bow ?
@@francesconicoletti2547 Jackson made a cool reference in another video about what would make a good Robin Hood story. He said an untapped area would be to have Robin as a Norse speaker resisting Norman rule in the 1070's or whenever, as Nottingham would have been what was a Danelaw area, with people who at that time would still ostensibly speak it.
@@francesconicoletti2547 there is the famous letter where the Anglo-Saxon writer tells off a "brother Edward" for adopting heathen Danish fashions, his haircut in particular 😂 it's uncertainly dated to the turn of the 11th century, apparently.
Anyway, there are people all over the UK who still like to think they're "vikings" 🙄
i believe, to the best of my knowledge, that there is no evidence of a norse language with irish gaelic borrowings
@@xanderbucher9625 According to Wikipedia both Faroese and Icelandic have some old loanwords from Irish.
You might have said something about when Greenland was settled by Norse speakers and where they came from and how much continuous contact the settlements had with other speakers.
It would have been nice to know something more about the inscription, the place it is in, why it was made, and even what it said -- I only heard "loaded some cairns and cleared".
Waiting for more Icelandic diary🥹 I really love that 🥰
Very interesting. Some say the Norse inhabitants of Greenland moved or were moved to the Canaries islands. They have statues of men practicing the glíma (Icelandic wrestling) there. I saw one statue myself there on a roundabout when driving in the island of Grand Canaria.
Honestly, I am truly surprised anything survived in /from Greenland. The native people still call Denmark "the colonizers". I am going to go on a limb and say Old Norse from Greenland is rare, and that makes it interesting in itself.
Hmm, so how do you think á sounded like in Old Norse now? Is it a "long A" like in modern Swedish (similar to "a" in "father") or is it like long å like in modern Swedish (similar to "o" in "lord")? If the latter, what's the difference between ó and á?
Personally, I think á was both... Sometimes pronounced as long A and sometimes like long Å. For example the word "hávamál": I think the first A (á) is pronounced as long A, the second A as a short A, and the third Á as a long Å...
I wasn't aware there was a lot of Latin written in runes. As Latin was my second language, I'd be interested to learn more. Some searching hasn't yet turned up anything. I'd be interested in any resources on the subject.
Maybe it's the mystery of whatever happened to the norse people of Greenland...?
I know this question should probably go onto a previous video: Does the mistletoe arrow Loki gives to Hodur have a name? I may be missing the big picture but it seems like a lot of people and objects destined to participate in events have names relating to those events. But I can’t find anything about mistletoe or the weapon made from it.
I prefer saga videos to language ones, but really I am just commenting to help the algorithm.
FYI the best people have pet lizards this is a fact. 🦎
Don't worry, no one understands the Danish-Greenlandic legal situation, and we change it so often, it's hard to keep track. But I think the greenlanders are heading for full independence, we all just decided to take it easy and be chill about it.
GIVE ME THE IGUANAS
Living in Cumbria, I'd love to know more about Hiberno Norse.
Jackson translated "Ása" as a female name, but it's also the singular of "Æsir". Wouldn't it be logical to presume that someone 'sitting upon the sea' might be viewed as a god, and that such a sighting would be more worthy of an inscription than just seeing some girl(especially since the next line said that her name was "Bibrau")?
This is not a criticism... take it as a question for the teacher.
Someone explain to me why the tiny norse colonies make Greenland a part of Denmark and not a province of mainland Canada again? Your basically ignoring the first nations much longer history with the former but colonization must live on right? Jmho.
Sure. Probably the same reason Canada is not ruled by the indigenous people there, same with the US. History, conquest, treaties, etc. Hope that helps.
I love the topic of old norse language , i wish they would seek relics from the norsemen like people do the Egyptian pyramids