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Old Norse Online

Lesson 2

Todd B. Krause and Jonathan Slocum

The Farmstead

Contrary to what the records of Continental Europe would have us believe, viking life consited more of farming than of going 'a-viking'. Even for those adventurers who did join the raiding parties, it was essentially a seasonal activity, with the off-season involving tending to matters at the homestead. Though the disparate lands and climates inhabited by the Scandinavians led to a diversity of home activities, there are a few general trends of the society as a whole. In all the reaches of their expanse, the Scandinavians tended animals, mostly for dairy products, but also for meat and hides. This practice was mixed with genuine agriculture, particularly the cultivation of grains. Where the land was more fertile in the southern regions, cultivation made up the greater portion of the farming endeavor; but as one proceeds farther north and the land becomes less tillable, the rearing of animals takes over as the farming mainstay. In the eastern regions, these farming practices were typically supplemented by hunting wild animals and birds. Fishing and the hunting of seals, walruses, and whales were part of the general Scandinavian arsenal, not only for sustinence, but also for purposes of trading hides, ivory, and oil.

There were a few common methods of constructing the houses and other farm buildings. By far the most prevalent, both for the convenience of the materials and the readiness of construction, was turf construction. Walls would be heaped up from the surrounding turf, and wood would only be used to form the roof. In those regions more dense with wooded areas, houses would be built from timber. One method involved using vertical planks set edge-to-edge; another method involved placing horizontal planks between vertical posts.

Scandinavian house design was quite consistent over the wide region of their expanse. The basic house consisted of one long room, anywhere from 40 to 100 feet long, and tapering at either end in a fashion similar to a ship's hull. Two rows of posts ran along the middle to support the weight of the roof. Along each long wall ran a floor of raised earth, held with smooth boards or stone. The central floor sat below these, the center occupied by one or more stone-lined hearths and a cooking pit. In the earliest days these structures seemed to house both humans and animals, but by the time of the Viking Age, the farm animals were relegated to separate structures either appended to the long house or set off at a distance. The long house itself was often sectioned by wooden walls enclosing small areas at either end for storage and sleeping quarters. Later houses separated the kitchen, some walled off an entrance area, and others separated sleeping quarters from the rooms of daytime activities. The later houses lost the characteristic curve of the long walls.

An entire farmstead, of course, consisted of more than just a single dwelling. The excavations at Jarlshof in the Shetlands have uncovered the development of a farmstead which seems to have occured in stages. The original long house seems to have been built first, only followed some 40 or 50 years later by other structures. A second long house was built, presumably for the next generation, divided into a dwelling space and a cowhouse. Near the orignal long house was a separate outhouse divided into sections. There was also a separate stable, with cobbled floor, and a smithy separate from these, containing an anvil, hearth, and lumps of iron slag. There was yet another separate structure, whose purpose is not altogether clear, but was perhaps a barn.

The farming year began when the snow melted. This exposed the grass for grazing the cattle, and marked the time for planting cereal crops. Primarily these consisted of barley and oats. The plough was usually drawn by oxen, and was made in two styles. One was a wheel-drawn plough which was very heavy, and another was a lighter plough merely held and guided by the farmer. This was also the time to replenish the fuel stores by digging peat and cutting wood.

The period from roughly May to June consisted of weaning the lambs, shearing the flocks, and finally driving the animals to upland pastures in the hills. In this upland area a farm typically had a separate living quarter where some of the household would live during the summer months. The cows would be milked and butter and cheese would be made.

Following this, a period of haymaking began in July and continued through August and into September. Grass was cut, rolled to dry, and stored in barns or protected with turf. This period overlapped with the harvest, which began in late August or early September. At the same time, livestock was gathered from the hills, and the owner would make an estimate based on the harvest as to how many animals could be kept alive for the winter. The rest were slaughtered and their meat dried. The winter months were devoted to work inside as much as possible. Often animals would be left outside in the cold as much as they could handle it, but the cows could not endure such conditions, and so were kept inside and hay brought to them. Women often took to indoor necessities such as weaving and needlework, using the wool cut earlier in the year.

Author Introduction

Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241) is generally viewed by historians as the educated Scandinavian par excellence, a leading figure in the social, political, and literary life of Iceland at the time. Snorri travelled on at least two occasions to the court of the Norwegian king Hákon Hákonarson and appears to have agreed to promote the interests of the king and his father-in-law Skúli in Iceland. Skúli rebelled, however, against the king and was eventually killed in 1240. Snorri too fell out of favor with the king; eventually he was killed in his own home on the orders of the Icelander Gizurr Þorvaldsson.

Snorri has a great literary corpus to his credit. His literary productivity is at times extended too far, as historians attempt to assign to his authorship this and that extant work of unknown provenance. But several works are fairly certainly ascribed to Snorri. Several of his poems are quoted in Sturlunga saga and Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar. Heimskringla, a collection of stories of legendary and historical kings of Norway, was likely compiled by Snorri. Some ascribe Egils saga to Snorri's talent, but there is no direct evidence for such a claim.

The Prose Edda is paramount among Snorri's literary contributions. The work is in three parts: the Prologue and Gylfaginning, containing accounts of the mythology of Scandinavia; the Skáldskaparmál ('poetic diction'), a treatise on the mechanics of poetic composition; and the Háttatál, a description of poetic verse-forms.

Lesson 2 Text

The following passage begins the Prologue of Snorri's Edda. Lest one be lulled into believing that Iceland was the last bastion of true polytheistic worship in medieval Europe, the passage below clearly illustrates that, by Snorri's time, Christianity had found firm footing on this isolated island. Certainly Scandinavians, and Icelanders in particular, had held on to earlier beliefs until a relatively late date. But the following passage makes clear that, at least in many educated circles, the remants of the older ways were being reinterpreted from a Christian viewpoint. In this way, Snorri's Prologue is strikingly modern in its stance and tone.

Almáttigr guð skapaði himin ok jǫrð ok alla þá hluti er þeim fylgja, ok síðarst menn tvá er ættir eru frá komnar, Adam ok Evu, ok fjǫlgaðisk þeira kynslóð ok dreifðisk um heim allan.

En er fram liðu stundir, þá ójafnaðisk mannfólkit: váru sumir góðir ok rétt trúaðir, en myklu fleiri snerusk eptir girndum heimsins ok órœktu guðs boðorð, ok fyrir því drekti guð heiminum í sjávargangi ok ǫllum kvikvendum heimsins nema þeim er í ǫrkinni váru með Nóa.

Eptir Nóa flóð lifðu átta menn þeir er heiminn bygðu ok kómu frá þeim ættir, ok varð enn sem fyrr at þá er fjǫlmentisk ok bygðisk verǫldin þá var þat allr fjǫlði mannfólksins er elskaði ágirni fja/r ok metnaðar en afrœktusk guðs hlýðni, ok svá mikit gerðisk af því at þeir vildu eigi nefna guð.

En hverr mundi þá segja sonum þeira frá guðs stórmerkjum? Svá kom at þeir týndu guðs nafni ok víðast um verǫldina fansk eigi sá maðr er deili kunni á skapara sínum.

En eigi at síðr veitti guð þeim jarðligar giptir, fé ok sælu, er þeir skyldu við vera í heiminum. Miðlaði hann ok spekina svá at þeir skilðu alla jarðliga hluti ok allar greinir þær er sjá mátti loptsins ok jarðarinnar.

Þat hugsuðu þeir ok undruðusk hverju þat mundi gegna at jǫrðin ok dýrin ok fuglarnir hǫfðu saman eðli í sumum hlutum ok var þó ólíkt at hætti.

Þat var eitt eðli at jǫrðin var grafin í hám fjalltindum ok spratt þar vatn upp ok þurfti þar eigi lengra at grafa til vaz en í djúpum dǫlum. Svá eru ok dýr ok fuglar, at jafnlangt er til blóðs í hǫfði ok fótum.

Ǫnnur náttúra er sú jarðar at á hverju ári vex á jǫrðunni gras ok blóm ok á sama ári fellr þat allt ok fǫlnar. Svá eru ok dýr ok fuglar, at þeim vex hár ok fjaðrar ok fellr af á hverju ári.

Þat er hin þriðja náttúra jarðar þá er hon er opnuð ok grafin þá grœr gras á þeiri moldu er efst er á jǫrðunni. Bjǫrg ok steina þýddu þeir á móti tǫnnum ok beinum kvikvenda.

Af þessu skilðu þeir svá at jǫrðin væri kyk ok hefði líf með nokkurum hætti, ok þat vissu þeir at hon var furðuliga gǫmul at aldartali ok máttug í eðli.

Hon fœddi ǫll kvikvendi ok hon eignaðisk allt þat er dó. Fyrir þá sǫk gáfu þeir henni nafn ok tǫlðu ættir sínar til hennar.

Lesson Text

Almáttigr guð skapaði himin ok jǫrð ok alla þá hluti er þeim fylgja, ok síðarst menn tvá er ættir eru frá komnar, Adam ok Evu, ok fjǫlgaðisk þeira kynslóð ok dreifðisk um heim allan. En er fram liðu stundir, þá ójafnaðisk mannfólkit: váru sumir góðir ok rétt trúaðir, en myklu fleiri snerusk eptir girndum heimsins ok órœktu guðs boðorð, ok fyrir því drekti guð heiminum í sjávargangi ok ǫllum kvikvendum heimsins nema þeim er í ǫrkinni váru með Nóa. Eptir Nóa flóð lifðu átta menn þeir er heiminn bygðu ok kómu frá þeim ættir, ok varð enn sem fyrr at þá er fjǫlmentisk ok bygðisk verǫldin þá var þat allr fjǫlði mannfólksins er elskaði ágirni fja/r ok metnaðar en afrœktusk guðs hlýðni, ok svá mikit gerðisk af því at þeir vildu eigi nefna guð. En hverr mundi þá segja sonum þeira frá guðs stórmerkjum? Svá kom at þeir týndu guðs nafni ok víðast um verǫldina fansk eigi sá maðr er deili kunni á skapara sínum. En eigi at síðr veitti guð þeim jarðligar giptir, fé ok sælu, er þeir skyldu við vera í heiminum. Miðlaði hann ok spekina svá at þeir skilðu alla jarðliga hluti ok allar greinir þær er sjá mátti loptsins ok jarðarinnar. Þat hugsuðu þeir ok undruðusk hverju þat mundi gegna at jǫrðin ok dýrin ok fuglarnir hǫfðu saman eðli í sumum hlutum ok var þó ólíkt at hætti. Þat var eitt eðli at jǫrðin var grafin í hám fjalltindum ok spratt þar vatn upp ok þurfti þar eigi lengra at grafa til vaz en í djúpum dǫlum. Svá eru ok dýr ok fuglar, at jafnlangt er til blóðs í hǫfði ok fótum. Ǫnnur náttúra er sú jarðar at á hverju ári vex á jǫrðunni gras ok blóm ok á sama ári fellr þat allt ok fǫlnar. Svá eru ok dýr ok fuglar, at þeim vex hár ok fjaðrar ok fellr af á hverju ári. Þat er hin þriðja náttúra jarðar þá er hon er opnuð ok grafin þá grœr gras á þeiri moldu er efst er á jǫrðunni. Bjǫrg ok steina þýddu þeir á móti tǫnnum ok beinum kvikvenda. Af þessu skilðu þeir svá at jǫrðin væri kyk ok hefði líf með nokkurum hætti, ok þat vissu þeir at hon var furðuliga gǫmul at aldartali ok máttug í eðli. Hon fœddi ǫll kvikvendi ok hon eignaðisk allt þat er dó. Fyrir þá sǫk gáfu þeir henni nafn ok tǫlðu ættir sínar til hennar.

Translation

Almighty God created heaven and earth and all the things which belong to them, and finally two people from whom races descended, Adam and Eve, and their progeny multiplied and dispersed across all the land. But as time went by, the people diversified: some were good and very faithful, but far more took to the pleasures of the land and spurned God's command, and therefore God submerged the land in a flood, as well as all the creatures of the land, save those which were with Noah in the ark. After Noah's flood, eight men lived who settled the land and races descended from them, and just as before it happened that when the world was populated and settled, it occurred that the majority of the population preferred hunger for wealth and glory and set aside obedience to God, and this went so far that they no longer desired to speak the name of God. But who then could tell their children about God's great works? So it came about that they forgot God's name and in most places around the world a man could not be found who knew the details of his creator. But nonetheless God gave them earthly gifts, property and prosperity, which they should possess on the land. He also distributed wisdom so that they distinguished all the earthly things and all the details of the air and the earth which one could discern. They contemplated this and wondered what it might mean that the earth and the animals and the birds had the same nature in certain respects and nevertheless there was dissimilarity in type. One characteristic was that the earth was piled up in high mountaintops and there water sprang forth and there was no need to dig further for water than in deep valleys. And such are the animals and birds, so that it is equally far for the blood to the head or feet. Another feature of the earth is that each year greenery grows on the earth, and flowers, and in the same year it all falls and fades. And such are the animals and birds, so that hair and feathers grow upon them and fall off each year. The third characteristic of the earth is when it is opened and dug up, then the grass grows in the soil which is topmost on the earth. They likened the rocks and stones to the teeth and bones of living creatures. From this they reasoned that the earth could be living and have life of a certain sort, and they understood this, that she was exceedingly old in years and rich in character. She fed all the living creatures and took to herself all that died. For that reason they gave her a name and traced their ancestry to her.

Grammar

6. Further Sound Rules

The major sound rules of Old Norse are treated in Lesson 1. In an attempt at greater completeness, a few of the more dominant sound rules are discussed below.

6.1. Syncope and Contraction

Syncope refers to the situation in which short, unaccented vowels were dropped, e.g. himin + i > himni. Short vowels bearing secondary accent are weakened.

Contraction occurrs when an unaccented vowel comes to stand directly after an accented vowel. They contract if both are back vowels (except úa, óa, and sometimes úu), or if both front vowels. Hence fá from *fáa. A back vowel followed by a front vowel remains, e.g. búinn. A front vowel followed by a back vowel creates a diphthong, e.g. *féar > fjar (G sg. of fé); *knéum > knjám or knjóm (D pl. of kné).

6.2. Breaking

Breaking, or fracture, is a process by which a simple vowel becomes a diphthong in certain environments. In ON, the only vowel subject to breaking was the underlying *e in Proto-Norse (PN). The mechanism of fracture in ON continues to be debated. Heuristically, we may say that *e > ja; hence ON gjalda beside OE geldan; ON jafn beside OE efen. Such fracture is typical in verbs of the strong third conjugation, but not in verbs of the fourth or fifth conjugations, e.g. PN *getan > ON geta. When the following syllable contains u (which may or may not have disappeared by the time of ON), then there is the further evolution *e > ja > jǫ; e.g. PN *meku > ON mjǫk. Fracture does not occur at all if *e is preceded by v, l, or r, e.g. verða, leðr. In a few masculine nouns, all forms exhibit fracture except the dative singular and nominative plural, where the original PN *e remains as ON