Why the Scandinavian languages?
My first foray into the Scandinavian languages happened when I was in 6th grade (about age 12) and came across one of my mother's old books about learning Swedish. I don't remember what happened next, but before long, I was finding old Swedish and Norwegian books in thrift stores which I would buy whenever I could. When I found a beautiful old book (1895) in the "Norwegian-Danish" language, I became even more fascinated with how this older version related to the modern languages.
Even then, I was well aware of my Viking heritage. My mother's mother's (mormors familien) came from southern Sweden (in the 1930s). My mother's father (morfars familien) was split again... his mother from Norway, his father from Denmark (1890s, I think). So, when someone asks me "which (Scandinavian) country" hosts my ancestry, the answer is: "yes."
Unfortunately, when my ancestors arrived in the USA, they were strongly discouraged from using their old languages. "You're American now!" (Sound familiar?) The result was that whenever my grandmother received mail from her Swedish cousins, she had to find someone to translate them for her. I think this is very sad. But for me, I couldn't stay away from the old languages of my ancestors.
We Speak Viking!
One of the first things I noticed as I began studying the Scandinavian languages (I've never been good at sticking to one), was the fact that there are many very close resemblances between them and English.
Start with just the basic greetings:
| English | -- | Norwegian | Danish | Swedish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good morning | God morgen | God morgen | God morgon | |
| Good night | God natt | God nat | God natt | |
| Good evening | God kveld | God aften | God kväll |
"Morgen/morgon" and "natt" are very obviously related to English "morning" and "night". "God" is "good"... (yes, we know that...) And "God" (English) is "Gud"... (wink) Almost like it was planned that way!
But hang on, what happened with "evening"?
The Danish makes sense, but the Norwegian and Swedish sound very different. (Note: that Swedish ä says "eh".)
A quick trip to one of my favorite websites, the Online Etymology Dictionary, answers that question. Our modern word "evening" dates only to the 15th century (when it looked very similar to the Danish above.) Before that we said something like: Good cwildtid! Looks a little like "kveld" and "kväll" doesn't it?
Not to confuse you even more, but as I was adding the Danish to this, I realized that "aften" still exists in the other Scandinavian countries as well. The newspaper in Sweden called "Aftonbladet" translates literally to: "The evening pages."
This is how living languages change/evolve... Languages which no longer change and evolve are considered "dead" - like Latin. Useful to understand English better, but otherwise only serving as a springboard to Italian and other Latin-based languages.
So, how much Viking do we already speak?
Last year, 
One of the take-home points in this video is the fact that a full 50% of our English words come from the Vikings! I knew it was big, but not THAT big! It seems that English is more Viking than it is Germanic (directly), Latin or Greek...
Learning the Language(s) of the Vikings...
One of my favorite all-time language teachers Michel Thomas (r.i.p.) had a saying... that it was the job of the teacher to teach. The student just had to listen and follow along, doing the exercises.
Michel's primary method of teaching language was to show you how much you already knew. For instance, any word ending with "ment" comes from Latin-based languages - and (with very few exceptions) can be understood immediately. He showed that similarity in other words too until after the end of the introductory lesson, you realized you knew several hundred words in French, Spanish or Italian, without even taking another lesson!
I seek (in this series) to show you what you already know of Viking languages... simply because you know English. (Unless you're using a translator to read this - in that case, just enjoy reading.)
Image from PxFuel - a drakar plies the waters of a Norwegian fjord.
Note: This series has come about because I have learned a lot about languages over the years, while not managing to become fluent at more than two varieties of English. I am not a language teacher, but I have observed many things which I will share with you.
My main areas of expertise are: Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish and French. (Early intermediate level of these.) I also have looked at other languages as my interest has taken me including: Icelandic, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Mandarin, Finnish, Welsh, Bengali, etc, etc. If I could choose a superpower, I would be an omniglot - so many of our world problems stem from not understanding one another.
So, please, see this series as an exploration to get you interested in another language/culture. I'm not an expert at any of these languages!
Lori Svensen
author/designer at A'mara Books
photographer/graphic artist for Viking Visual
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