Norn

Norn
Spoken in	Orkney and Shetland Islands (until the 18th century)
speaker	extinct
Linguistic ; classification	Indo-European languages Germanic languages North Germanic languages West Scandinavian languages Norn ;
Language codes
ISO 639 -1	-
ISO 639 -2	gem (other Germanic languages)
ISO 639-3	no

Distribution of Norn, Scots and Scottish Gaelic in Scotland around 1400.

Scottish Gaelic

Scots

Norn

Norn , a language that is now extinct and a ruined language , was the national language of the Shetlands and Orkney until the 18th century .

These archipelagos once belonged to Norway , but were settled before the arrival of the Vikings in the 9th century. Norn was a North Germanic language . To this day, Scottish English, and especially the Scottish dialects in the Shetlands and Orkneys, are heavily influenced by the Norn. Like Icelandic and Faroese , Norn was a West Scandinavian language (island Scandinavian). Today's Faroese would come closest to the extinct norn.

Even today, many residents, especially in the Shetlands, have a special relationship with Scandinavia . The cultural and economic ties between the Shetlands, Orkney, Hebrides and Faroe Islands have also been intensified at the official level in recent years.

Surname

The name Norn is a contraction of Norroena , an Old Norse word, which is derived from norðroenn (north, coming from the north). Norroena was the name given to the Old West Norse languages, such as Old Icelandic , for the first time by Snorri Sturluson , who used this term to differentiate it from the Old East Norse languages (Danish / Swedish).

Research history

All of the early explorers of the norn were not native speakers. The pastor James Wallace († 1688), who worked in Sanday and Kirkwall, recorded an Orcadian version of the Lord's Prayer in the 17th century , which appeared in 1700 in Account of the Islands of Orkney in London. The book first deals with the geography of the island, then the flora and fauna and, after observing the inhabitants, goes into the church history of the island.

George Low, an 18th-century Orkney theologian, toured Shetland and Foula , an island west of the Shetlands , in the 18th century . In his A Tour through the Islands of Orkney and Shetland , some texts, such as the Our Father and the Hildina ballad, have come down to us. Since George Low himself was Scottish and could not speak Norns or any other North Germanic language, his transcriptions are inadequate in terms of both phonetics and morphology. In addition, his informant could neither read nor write himself and therefore could not help him with the question of an authentic writing of the texts.

Jakob Jakobsen , a Faroese and thus at least a connoisseur of North Germanic languages, was able to compile a list of 10,000 Norn words (including many toponyms ) and to create an etymological dictionary from it. In 1897 his book The dialect and place names of Shetland was published .

Hugh Marwick , a Scottish scholar, wrote his doctoral thesis on the norn of Orkney, published in 1926. From 1914 to 1929 he was director of the elementary school in Kirkwall , the capital of the Orkneys. At that time, however, the language had long since died out, so that only toponyms remained as a research subject. The Place Names of Rousay was published in 1947, Orkney in 1951 and Orkney Farm-Names in 1952 .

The Lord's Prayer

The Lord's Prayer according to George Low (1774)		The Lord's Prayer according to Wallace (1700)
quoted from Barry (1805) or Barry and Headrick (1808)	quoted from Low and Anderson (1879); "The Lord's Prayer in Foula Norse"	quoted from Low and Andersons (1879); "Wallace's specimen of Orkney Norn"	quoted from Northern Antiquities (1770)
Fy before o er i Chimeri. Halaght [1805; 1808: Halagt] vara nam det. La konungdum din cumma. La vill din vera guerde i vrildin sindacri Chimeri. Gav vus dagh u dagloght brew. Forgive sindorwasa sin vi forgiva gem ao sinda gainst wus. Lia wus ski o vera tempa, but delivra wus fro adlu idlu, for do i ir konungdum, u puri, u glori. Amen.	Fy before o er i Chimeri. Halaght vara nam dit. La konungdum din cumma. La vill din vera guerde i vrildin sindaeri chimeri. Gav vs dagh u dagloght brau. Forgive sindorwara sin vi forgiva gem ao sinda gainst wus. Lia wus ikè o vera tempa, but delivra wus fro adlu idlu for do i ir konungdum, u puri, u glori, Amen.	Favor i ĭr i chimeri. Helleur (rather Helleut) ir i nam thite, gilla cosdum thite cumma, veya thine mota vara gort o yurn sinna gort i chimeri, ga vus da on da dalight brow vora, Firgive vus sinna vora sin vee firgive sindara mutha vus, lyv vus ye i tumtation, min delivra vus fro olt ilt, Amen: or On sa meteth vera.	Favor i ir i Chimrie. 1. Helleur ir i Nam thite. 2. Gilla cosdum thite cumma. 3. Veya thine mota var gort o Yurn sinna gort i Chimrie. 4. Gav vus da on da dalight Brow vora. 5. Firgive vus Sinna vora sin vee firgive Sindara mutha vus. 6. Lyv vus ye i Tumtation. 7. Min delivera vus fro Olt ilt. Amen.

Regarding the previous versions: Low states about the Norse or Norn , as it was spoken in Shetland as a whole in 1774: “ The Norse language is much worn out here, yet there are some who know a few words of it; it was the language of the last age, but will entirely lost by the next. ”The typography of his recording, which should be much more similar to today's New Faroese, is incorrect, since Low, by his own admission, only wrote down the words after his“ listening comprehension ”. His informants, all of them simple people, knew Norse only as a spoken language, not as a written language, and were therefore unable to correct his notes.

He then presents these Foula findings to Wallace's specimen of Orkney Norn , assuming Wallace to be known to the reader and leaving open who and from what exactly he was quoting.

Matthew 6: 9–13, Old Norse	Matthew 6: 9–13 (16) ( New Faroese after Jacob Dahl and Kristian Osvald Viderø , 1961)
Faþer vár es ert í himenríki, verði nafn þitt hæilagt Til kome ríke þitt, værði vili þin sva a iarðu sem í himnum. Gef oss í dag brauð vor dagligt Ok fyr gefþu oss synþer órar, sem vér fyr gefom þeim er viþ oss hafa misgert Leiðd oss eigi í freistni, heldr leys þv oss frá öllu illu.	Faðir vár, tú sum ert í himlunum! Heilagt verði navn títt; komi ríki títt, verði vilji tín sum í himli so á jørð; gev okkum í dag okkara dagliga breyð; og fyrigev okkum skuldir okkara, so sum vit fyrigeva skuldarum okkara; og leið okkum ikki í freistingar; men frels okkum frá tí illa. (Tí at um tit fyrigeva monnum misgerðir teirra, so shall himmalski faðir tykkara eisini fyrigeva tykkum; men fyrigeva tit ikki monnum, so shall faðir tykkara ikki heldur fyrigeva misgerðir tykkara.) Amen! Source: bibelselskabet.dk

swell

↑ Jakob Jakobsen: The dialect and place names of Shetland; two popular lectures. 1897, page 9, archive.org .
^ Rev. James Wallace: A Description of the Isles of Orkney, 1684
^ A description of the Isles of Orkney by The Rev. James Wallace. Reprinted from the Original Edition of 1693, with Illustrative Notes from an interleaved copy in the Library of the University of Edinburgh, formerly the property of Malcolm Laing, the Scottish Historian, together with the additions made by the Author's Son, in the Edition of 1700 Edited by John Small. Edinburgh, 1883, pp. V, vii f., 197
↑ James Wallace: An Abstract of a Book, viz. An Account of the Islands of Orkney . In: Philosophical Transactions . Vol. 22, (1700-1701), pp. 543-546.
↑ History of the Orkney Islands: In which is comprehended an account of their present as well as their ancient state; together with the advantages they possess for several banches of industry, and the means by which they may be improved. By the Rev. George Barry. Edinburgh & London, 1805, p. 482
^ History of the Orkney Islands. Including a View of [...]. By the late Rev. Dr. Barry. The second Edition, with Corrections and Additions by the Rev. James Headrick. London, 1808, p. 487. With the introduction: “ The LORD's PRAYER, in Norse, as Spoken by some People in Fula, one of the Shetland Isles, from Mr Low's Tour, MS. 1774. ”
↑ ^a ^b A tour through the islands of Orkney and Schetland containing hints relative to their ancient modern and natural history collected in 1774 By George Low with illustrations from drawings by the author and with an introduction By Joseph Anderson. Kirkwall, 1879, p. 105. With the annotation: “ The Lord's Prayer in Fouls Nors is as follows: [...] To compare this with Wallace's specimen of Orkney Norn: [...] It is probable they are both corrupted ; However I imagine the Foula specimen comes nearer to the original language, and that too seems to be mixed with English more than the distant cousinship of the different tongues will allow. ”
↑ Northern Antiquities: Or, a Description of the Manners, Customs, Religion and Laws of the Ancient Danes, and other Northern Nations; Including those of our own Saxon Ancestors. With a Translation of the Edda, or System of Runic Mythology, and other Pieces, from the Ancient Islandic Tongue. In two volumes. Translated from Mons. Mallet's Introduction al 'Histoire de Dannemarc, & c. With Additional Notes by the English Translator, and Goranson's Latin Version of the Edda. Volume I. London, 1770, p. Xlvii (within the section "The Translator's Preface"). With the introduction: “ [...] a Speciment of the Language spoken by the common people in the Isles of Okrney. This is preserved by Dr. Wallace, in his Account of those Islands, "Lond. 1700. 8vo." Who tells us it is called by the native Norns . It seems to be a corruption of the Norse, Icelandic, & c. ”, And the note:“ I suspect the above Copy to be incorrectly printed by Wallace: that "Helleur" should be "Helleut," & c. & c. ”.
Also in: Northern Antiquities: Or, a Description of the Manners, Customs, Religion and Laws of the Ancient Danes, including those of our own Saxon Ancestors. With a Translation of the Edda, or System of Runic Mythology, and other Pieces, from the Ancient Islandic Tongue. Translated from "L'Introduction a l'Histoire de Dannemarc, & c. Par Mons. Mallet." With Additional Notes by the English Translator, and Goranson's Latin Version of the Edda. In two volumes. Vol. I. Edinburgh, 1809, p. Xxxiii (within the "Postscript" section). With the introduction: “ [...] a Speciment of the Language spoken by the common people in the Isles of Okrney. This is preserved by Dr. Wallace, in his Account of those Islands, "Lond. 1700. 8vo." Who tells us it is called by the native Norns . It seems to be a corruption of the Norse , Icelandic, & c. ”, And the note:“ I suspect the above copy to be incorrectly printed by Wallace: that "Helleur" should be "Helleut," & c. & c. "
Changed to: A description of the Isles of Orkney by The Rev. James Wallace. Reprinted from the Original Edition of 1693, with Illustrative Notes from an interleaved copy in the Library of the University of Edinburgh, formerly the property of Malcolm Laing, the Scottish Historian, together with the additions made by the Author's Son, in the Edition of 1700 Edited by John Small. Edinburgh, 1883, p. 197. With the annotation: “ I find a Norren Pater-Noster in the London ed. Of this book in the 1700, but it seems to be wrong in the orthography, which Mr Luckie has corrected thus: [ ...] ”
↑ A tour through the islands of Orkney and Schetland containing hints relative to their ancient modern and natural history collected in 1774 By George Low with illustrations from drawings by the author and with an introduction By Joseph Anderson. Kirkwall, 1879, pp. 105 and 107: “ None of them can write their ancient language, and but very few speak it [....] it is entirely confined to the lower class of people, who cannot be supposed to have a thorough knowledge either of one language or the other ”

literature

Michael P. Barnes: The Norn Language of Orkney & Shetland . Shetland Times 1998. ISBN 1-898852-29-4 (72 pages, only monograph on the subject)
Gillian Fellows-Jensen: Scandinavian influence on the place-names of England , in: Ureland / Broderick (Ed.): Language Contact in the British Isles . Tübingen 1991 337-354.
Jakob Jakobsen: An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland . 2 volumes. London / Copenhagen 1928-32 (reprinted 1985).
O. Werner: The research of the island Nordic , in: Zeitschrift für Mundartforschung Supplement, NS 6, 2: 459-519. (1968).

Web links

Transcript of the manuscript for Wallace ' A Description of the Isles of Orkney
Jakob Jakobsen: The dialect and place names of Shetland; two popular lectures. 1897. archive.org

[1] Jakob Jakobsen: The dialect and place names of Shetland; two popular lectures. 1897, page 9, archive.org .

[2] Rev. James Wallace: A Description of the Isles of Orkney, 1684

[3] A description of the Isles of Orkney by The Rev. James Wallace. Reprinted from the Original Edition of 1693, with Illustrative Notes from an interleaved copy in the Library of the University of Edinburgh, formerly the property of Malcolm Laing, the Scottish Historian, together with the additions made by the Author's Son, in the Edition of 1700 Edited by John Small. Edinburgh, 1883, pp. V, vii f., 197

[4] James Wallace: An Abstract of a Book, viz. An Account of the Islands of Orkney . In: Philosophical Transactions . Vol. 22, (1700-1701), pp. 543-546.

[5] History of the Orkney Islands: In which is comprehended an account of their present as well as their ancient state; together with the advantages they possess for several banches of industry, and the means by which they may be improved. By the Rev. George Barry. Edinburgh & London, 1805, p. 482

[6] History of the Orkney Islands. Including a View of [...]. By the late Rev. Dr. Barry. The second Edition, with Corrections and Additions by the Rev. James Headrick. London, 1808, p. 487. With the introduction: “ The LORD's PRAYER, in Norse, as Spoken by some People in Fula, one of the Shetland Isles, from Mr Low's Tour, MS. 1774. ”

[Low&Anderson_S.105-7] A tour through the islands of Orkney and Schetland containing hints relative to their ancient modern and natural history collected in 1774 By George Low with illustrations from drawings by the author and with an introduction By Joseph Anderson. Kirkwall, 1879, p. 105. With the annotation: “ The Lord's Prayer in Fouls Nors is as follows: [...] To compare this with Wallace's specimen of Orkney Norn: [...] It is probable they are both corrupted ; However I imagine the Foula specimen comes nearer to the original language, and that too seems to be mixed with English more than the distant cousinship of the different tongues will allow. ”

[8] Northern Antiquities: Or, a Description of the Manners, Customs, Religion and Laws of the Ancient Danes, and other Northern Nations; Including those of our own Saxon Ancestors. With a Translation of the Edda, or System of Runic Mythology, and other Pieces, from the Ancient Islandic Tongue. In two volumes. Translated from Mons. Mallet's Introduction al 'Histoire de Dannemarc, & c. With Additional Notes by the English Translator, and Goranson's Latin Version of the Edda. Volume I. London, 1770, p. Xlvii (within the section "The Translator's Preface"). With the introduction: “ [...] a Speciment of the Language spoken by the common people in the Isles of Okrney. This is preserved by Dr. Wallace, in his Account of those Islands, "Lond. 1700. 8vo." Who tells us it is called by the native Norns . It seems to be a corruption of the Norse, Icelandic, & c. ”, And the note:“ I suspect the above Copy to be incorrectly printed by Wallace: that "Helleur" should be "Helleut," & c. & c. ”.
Also in: Northern Antiquities: Or, a Description of the Manners, Customs, Religion and Laws of the Ancient Danes, including those of our own Saxon Ancestors. With a Translation of the Edda, or System of Runic Mythology, and other Pieces, from the Ancient Islandic Tongue. Translated from "L'Introduction a l'Histoire de Dannemarc, & c. Par Mons. Mallet." With Additional Notes by the English Translator, and Goranson's Latin Version of the Edda. In two volumes. Vol. I. Edinburgh, 1809, p. Xxxiii (within the "Postscript" section). With the introduction: “ [...] a Speciment of the Language spoken by the common people in the Isles of Okrney. This is preserved by Dr. Wallace, in his Account of those Islands, "Lond. 1700. 8vo." Who tells us it is called by the native Norns . It seems to be a corruption of the Norse , Icelandic, & c. ”, And the note:“ I suspect the above copy to be incorrectly printed by Wallace: that "Helleur" should be "Helleut," & c. & c. "
Changed to: A description of the Isles of Orkney by The Rev. James Wallace. Reprinted from the Original Edition of 1693, with Illustrative Notes from an interleaved copy in the Library of the University of Edinburgh, formerly the property of Malcolm Laing, the Scottish Historian, together with the additions made by the Author's Son, in the Edition of 1700 Edited by John Small. Edinburgh, 1883, p. 197. With the annotation: “ I find a Norren Pater-Noster in the London ed. Of this book in the 1700, but it seems to be wrong in the orthography, which Mr Luckie has corrected thus: [ ...] ”

[9] A tour through the islands of Orkney and Schetland containing hints relative to their ancient modern and natural history collected in 1774 By George Low with illustrations from drawings by the author and with an introduction By Joseph Anderson. Kirkwall, 1879, pp. 105 and 107: “ None of them can write their ancient language, and but very few speak it [....] it is entirely confined to the lower class of people, who cannot be supposed to have a thorough knowledge either of one language or the other ”