Through Norman, to a smaller extent, so was modern French. The development of Norman French was also influenced by Norse. Consequently, Modern English (including Scottish English), inherited a significant proportion of its vocabulary directly from Norse. With Danish rule of the Faroe Islands, Faroese has also been influenced by Danish.īoth Middle English and Early Scots were strongly influenced by Norse – especially dialects from northern England, within the area of the Danelaw, and Lowland Scots, both of which contained many Old Norse loanwords. In contrast, the pronunciations of both Icelandic and Faroese have changed considerably from Old Norse. Norwegian is descended from Old West Norse, but over the centuries it has been heavily influenced by East Norse, particularly during the Denmark–Norway union.Īmong these, the grammar of Icelandic and Faroese have changed the least from Old Norse in the last thousand years. The modern descendants of the Old West Norse dialect are the West Scandinavian languages of Icelandic, Faroese, Norwegian, and the extinct Norn language of Orkney and Shetland the descendants of the Old East Norse dialect are the East Scandinavian languages of Danish and Swedish. The age of the Swedish-speaking population of Finland is strongly contested, but Swedish settlement had spread the language into the region by the time of the Second Swedish Crusade in the 13th century at the latest.

In Kievan Rus', it survived the longest in Veliky Novgorod, probably lasting into the 13th century there.

In the 11th century, Old Norse was the most widely spoken European language, ranging from Vinland in the West to the Volga River in the East. The Old Gutnish dialect was spoken in Gotland and in various settlements in the East. Old East Norse was spoken in Denmark, Sweden, Kievan Rus', eastern England, and Danish settlements in Normandy. Old Icelandic was very close to Old Norwegian, and together they formed Old West Norse, which was also spoken in Norse settlements in Greenland, the Faroes, Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, northwest England, and in Normandy. Other Germanic languages with which Old Norse still retained some mutual intelligibility Geographical distribution The approximate extent of Old Norse and related languages in the early 10th century: Today Old Norse has developed into the modern North Germanic languages Icelandic, Faroese, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, and other North Germanic varieties of which Norwegian, Danish and Swedish retain considerable mutual intelligibility while Icelandic remains the closest to Old Norse. Another term was norrœnt mál ('northern speech'). The 12th-century Icelandic Gray Goose Laws state that Swedes, Norwegians, Icelanders, and Danes spoke the same language, dǫnsk tunga ('Danish tongue' speakers of Old East Norse would have said dansk tunga). It developed its own unique features and shared in changes to both other branches. Old Gutnish is sometimes included in the Old East Norse dialect due to geographical associations. Most speakers spoke Old East Norse in what is present-day Denmark and Sweden. For example, Old East Norse traits were found in eastern Norway, although Old Norwegian is classified as Old West Norse, and Old West Norse traits were found in western Sweden. Old West Norse and Old East Norse formed a dialect continuum, with no clear geographical boundary between them. Old Norse was divided into three dialects: Old West Norse or Old West Nordic (often referred to as Old Norse ), Old East Norse or Old East Nordic, and Old Gutnish. These dates, however, are not absolute, since written Old Norse is found well into the 15th century. The Proto-Norse language developed into Old Norse by the 8th century, and Old Norse began to develop into the modern North Germanic languages in the mid-to-late 14th century, ending the language phase known as Old Norse. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlements and chronologically coincides with the Viking Age, the Christianization of Scandinavia and the consolidation of Scandinavian kingdoms from about the 8th to the 15th centuries. Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages.

Elder futhark rune alphabet translator