Greenlandic Norse

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Greenlandic Norse
Region
Greenlandic Norse people
Extinctby the late 15th century or the early 16th century
Early forms
  • Old West Norse
Younger Futhark
Language codes
ISO 639-3None (mis)
GlottologNone
IETFnon-GL

Greenlandic Norse is an extinct North Germanic language that was spoken in the Norse settlements of Greenland until their demise in the late 15th century. The language is primarily attested by runic inscriptions found in Greenland. The limited inscriptional evidence shows some innovations, including the use of initial t for þ, but also the conservation of certain features that changed in other Norse languages. Some runic features are regarded as characteristically Greenlandic, and when they are sporadically found outside of Greenland, they may suggest travelling Greenlanders.

Non-runic evidence on the Greenlandic language is scarce and uncertain. A document issued in Greenland in 1409 is preserved in an Icelandic copy and may be a witness to some Greenlandic linguistic traits. The poem Atlamál is credited as Greenlandic in the Codex Regius, but the preserved text reflects Icelandic scribal conventions, and it is not certain that the poem was composed in Greenland. Finally, Greenlandic Norse is believed to have been in language contact with Greenlandic and to have left loanwords in it.

Runic evidence

The Kingittorsuaq Runestone

Some 80

þ in words such as torir rather than þorir and tana rather than þana. This linguistic innovation has parallels in West Norwegian in the late medieval period.[2] On the other hand, Greenlandic appears to have retained some features which changed in other types of Scandinavian. This includes initial hl and hr, otherwise only preserved in Icelandic, and the long vowel œ (oe ligature), which merged with æ (ae ligature) in Icelandic but was preserved in Norwegian and Faroese.[3]

Certain runic forms have been seen by scholars as characteristically Greenlandic, including in particular an 'r' form with two parallel sloping branches which is found in 14 Greenlandic inscriptions.[4] This form is sporadically found outside Greenland. It is, for example, found in a runic inscription discovered in Orphir in Orkney, which has been taken to imply that "the rune carver probably was a Greenlander".[5]

The Kingittorsuaq Runestone has one of the longest Norse inscriptions found in Greenland. It was discovered near Upernavik, far north of the Norse settlements. It was presumably carved by Norse explorers. Like most Greenlandic inscriptions, it is traditionally dated to c. 1300. However, Marie Stoklund has called for reconsideration of the dating of the Greenlandic material and points out that some of the parallels to the Kingittorsuaq inscription elsewhere in the Nordic world have been dated to c. 1200.[6]

The first line is the transcription verbatim; the second line is the normalized Old Norse version.

 

el^likr

Erlingr

·

 

sikuaþs

Sighvats

:

 

so^n:r

sonr

·

 

ok

ok

·

 

baan^ne

Bjarni

:

 

torta^r

Þórðar

son

sonr

:

 

 

 

ok

ok

:

 

enriþi

Eindriði

·

 

os

Odds

son

sonr

:

 

laukardak·in

laugardagin

:

 

fyrir

fyrir

·

 

gakndag

gagndag

 

hloþu

hlóðu

·

 

ua^rda

varða

te

þe[ssa]

·

 

ok

ok

rydu

:

 

??????

⁓ el^likr · sikuaþs : so^n:r · ok · baan^ne : torta^r son : ¶ ⁓ ok : enriþi · os son : laukardak·in : fyrir · gakndag ¶ hloþu · ua^rda te · ok rydu : ??????

{} Erlingr {} Sighvats {} sonr {} ok {} Bjarni {} Þórðar sonr {} {} {} ok {} Eindriði {} Odds sonr {} laugardagin {} fyrir {} gagndag {} hlóðu {} varða þe[ssa] {} ok … {} …

Erlingr Sighvatrs son and Bjarni Þorðr's son and Eindriði Oddr's son, constructed these cairns the Saturday before

Rogation Day
, and … [7]

The patronymic Tortarson (standardized Old Norse: Þórðarson) shows the change from þ to t while the word hloþu (Old Icelandic hlóðu, Old Norwegian lóðu) shows the retention of initial hl.

Manuscript evidence

A document written at Garðar in Greenland in 1409 is preserved in an Icelandic transcription from 1625. The transcription was attested by bishop Oddur Einarsson and is considered reliable. The document is a marriage certificate issued by two priests based in Greenland, attesting the banns of marriage for two Icelanders who had been blown off course to Greenland, Þorsteinn Ólafsson and Sigríður Björnsdóttir. The language of the document is clearly not Icelandic and cannot without reservation be classified as Norwegian. It may have been produced by Norwegian-educated clergy who had been influenced by Greenlandic.[8] The document contains orthographic traits which are consistent with the runic linguistic evidence. This includes the prepositional form þil for the older til which demonstrates the merger of initial 'þ' and 't'.[9]

The introduction of Atlamál in the Codex Regius: "Enn segir gleggra í Atlamalom enum grǫnlenzcom",[10] – "Yet more fully is spoken (of this) in "The Greenlandish Lay of Atli.""[11]

It is possible that some other texts preserved in Icelandic manuscripts might be of Greenlandic origins. In particular, the poem Atlamál is referred to as Greenlandic (Atlamál in grœnlenzku) in the Codex Regius. Many scholars have understood the reference to mean that the poem was composed by a Greenlander and various elements of the poem's text have been taken to support Greenlandic provenance. Ursula Dronke commented that "There is a rawness about the language ... that could reflect the conditions of an isolated society distant from the courts of kings and such refinements of manners and speech as were associated with them."[12]

Hniflungr, found in Atlamál, Helgakviða Hundingsbana I and Guðrúnarhvöt. The word is otherwise preserved as Niflungr in Icelandic sources.[14] Modern scholarship is doubtful of using Atlamál as a source on the Greenlandic language since its Greenlandic origin is not certain, it is difficult to date, and the preserved text reflects Icelandic scribal conventions.[15][16]

Contact with Kalaallisut

Greenlandic Norse is believed to have been in

encountered in North America.[17] In the Greenlandic dictionary of 1750, Hans Egede states that Karálek is what the "old Christians" called the Greenlanders and that they use the word only with foreigners and not when speaking among themselves.[18][19] Other words which may be of Norse origin include Kuuna (female given name, probably from Old Norse kona "woman", "wife"),[20] sava ("sheep", Old Norse sauðr), nisa ("porpoise", Old Norse hnísa), puuluki ("pig", Old Norse purka "sow"), musaq ("carrot", Old Norse mura) and kuaneq ("angelica", Old Norse hvönn, plural hvannir).[21][22]

The available evidence does not establish the presence of language attrition; the Norse language most likely disappeared with the ethnic group that spoke it.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin; Bank, Sebastian (24 May 2022). "Older Runic". Glottolog. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Archived from the original on 13 November 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  2. ^ a b c Hagland, p. 1234.
  3. ^ Barnes 2005, p. 185.
  4. ^ Stoklund, p. 535.
  5. ^ Liestøl, p. 236.
  6. ^ Stoklund, p. 534.
  7. ^ "Runic inscription GR 1". Scandinavian Runic-text Database (2020 ed.). Uppsala University: Department of Scandinavian Languages. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  8. ^ Olsen, pp. 236–237.
  9. ^ Olsen, p. 245.
  10. ^ Bugge, p. 291.
  11. ^ Hollander, p. 293.
  12. ^ Dronke, p. 108.
  13. ^ Finnur Jónsson, p. 66–72.
  14. ^ Finnur Jónsson, p. 71.
  15. ^ von See et al., pp. 387–390.
  16. ^ Barnes 2002, pp. 1054–1055.
  17. ^ Jahr, p. 233.
  18. ^ Ita vocatus se dictitant à priscis Christianis, terræ hujus qvondam incolis. Nostro ævo usurpatur duntaxat ab Advenis, Grœnlandiam invisentibus, ab indigenis non item. Egede 1750, p. 68.
  19. ^ Thalbitzer, p. 36.
  20. ^ "girls name Kuuna – Oqaasileriffik". Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  21. ^ Jahr, p. 231.
  22. ^ Thalbitzer, pp. 35-36.

Works cited

External links