Old Norse

Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of <a href="/facts/North_Germanic_languages/zocYfWp8">North Germanic dialects</a> before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of <a href="/facts/Scandinavia/KpLQ40kl">Scandinavia</a> and their <a href="/facts/Viking_expansion/CK5omXDR">overseas settlements</a> and chronologically coincides with the <a href="/facts/Viking_Age/sP3Ax2wX">Viking Age</a>, the <a href="/facts/Christianization_of_Scandinavia/glyfVfxH">Christianization of Scandinavia</a>, and the consolidation of Scandinavian kingdoms from about the 8th to the 15th centuries.
The <a href="/facts/Proto-Norse_language/d3I2VWdA">Proto-Norse language</a> developed into Old Norse by the 8th century, and Old Norse began to develop into the modern <a href="/facts/North_Germanic_languages/zocYfWp8">North Germanic languages</a> in the mid- to late 14th century, ending the language phase known as Old Norse. These dates, however, are not precise, since written Old Norse is found well into the 15th century.[better source needed]
Old Norse was divided into three <a href="/facts/Dialect/gJ7uQQoj">dialects</a>: <a href="/facts/Old_West_Norse/3dIvgsm5">Old West Norse</a> (Old West Nordic, often referred to as Old Norse), <a href="/facts/Old_East_Norse/3dIvgsm5">Old East Norse</a> (Old East Nordic), and <a href="/facts/Old_Gutnish/zCCECD4v">Old Gutnish</a>. Old West Norse and Old East Norse formed a <a href="/facts/Dialect_continuum/0QAuqxp3">dialect continuum</a>, with no clear geographical boundary between them. Old East Norse traits were found in eastern <a href="/facts/Norway/wlDRKRTR">Norway</a>, although <a href="/facts/Old_Norwegian/Q8DRKXr7">Old Norwegian</a> is classified as Old West Norse, and Old West Norse traits were found in western <a href="/facts/Sweden/u3qC7lyj">Sweden</a>. In what is present-day <a href="/facts/Denmark/KVtykzsw">Denmark</a> and Sweden, most speakers spoke Old East Norse. Though <a href="/facts/Old_Gutnish/zCCECD4v">Old Gutnish</a> is sometimes included in the Old East Norse dialect due to geographical associations, it developed its own unique features and shared in changes to both other branches.
The 12th-century <a href="/facts/Iceland/E4KGYs2j">Icelandic</a> <a href="/facts/Gray_Goose_Laws/kNnVunTX">Gray Goose Laws</a> state that <a href="/facts/Swedes/gAeGfw2N">Swedes</a>, <a href="/facts/Norwegians/K7PdhVMG">Norwegians</a>, <a href="/facts/Icelanders/ACTclSH1">Icelanders</a>, and <a href="/facts/Danes/rukzp11N">Danes</a> spoke the same language, dǫnsk tunga ('Danish tongue'; speakers of Old East Norse would have said dansk tunga). Another term was norrœnt mál 'northern speech'. Today Old Norse has developed into the modern <a href="/facts/North_Germanic_languages/zocYfWp8">North Germanic languages</a>: <a href="/facts/Icelandic_language/4GmzhaoT">Icelandic</a>, <a href="/facts/Faroese_language/1nf145FG">Faroese</a>, <a href="/facts/Norwegian_language/TGEyeerM">Norwegian</a>, <a href="/facts/Danish_language/sTcGXTMJ">Danish</a>, <a href="/facts/Swedish_language/1DkSIXkH">Swedish</a>, and other North Germanic varieties with which Norwegian, Danish and Swedish retain <a href="/facts/North_Germanic_languages/zocYfWp8">considerable mutual intelligibility</a>. Icelandic is one of the most conservative descendants of Old Norse, such that in present-day Iceland, schoolchildren are able to read the 12th-century Icelandic sagas in the original language (in editions with standardised spelling).

Old Norse open-in-new

Old Norse