Like the other Scandinavian languages modern Icelandic is descended from Old Norse, the language spoken by the Vikings. Unlike the other Scandinavian languages, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Faeroese, Icelandic has changed very little. Modern Icelanders can read the medieval manuscripts with little difficulty. Although we suspect that a ninth century Viking settler of Reykjavík might have difficulty recognizing his surroundings if he were to be transported in time to downtown Reykjavík, he should have no problem asking for directions!
(If said Viking has access to the internet he might find this map helpful: A handy map of the known archeological remains of Viking Age Reykjavík.)
But while the grammar and vocabulary have not changed very much, we still don't know exactly how the Vikings sounded like. But Dr. Jackson Crawford, one of the world's leading experts in Old Norse, has put together this fun video with our best guesses of what the Viking Age settlers of Iceland might have sounded like.
Dr. Crawford is an instructor of Nordic Studies and Nordic Program Coordinator at the University of Colorado Boulder (formerly UC Berkeley and UCLA). You can check out his other videos here.
Like the other Scandinavian languages modern Icelandic is descended from Old Norse, the language spoken by the Vikings. Unlike the other Scandinavian languages, Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Faeroese, Icelandic has changed very little. Modern Icelanders can read the medieval manuscripts with little difficulty. Although we suspect that a ninth century Viking settler of Reykjavík might have difficulty recognizing his surroundings if he were to be transported in time to downtown Reykjavík, he should have no problem asking for directions!
(If said Viking has access to the internet he might find this map helpful: A handy map of the known archeological remains of Viking Age Reykjavík.)
But while the grammar and vocabulary have not changed very much, we still don't know exactly how the Vikings sounded like. But Dr. Jackson Crawford, one of the world's leading experts in Old Norse, has put together this fun video with our best guesses of what the Viking Age settlers of Iceland might have sounded like.
Dr. Crawford is an instructor of Nordic Studies and Nordic Program Coordinator at the University of Colorado Boulder (formerly UC Berkeley and UCLA). You can check out his other videos here.
