Freyja
Runes & Seidr -
11
-
first edition March
1999 Imbloc
Rune sounds?
One of the very frequent questions I
get asked by those interested in the runes is exactly how the runes
sounded like phonetically? I always advise the would be rune student
to get a grasp of the language of the Norseman, in particular
Icelandic and what we call Old Norse. Please note that what we know
about the way Old Norse was pronounced back in the 13th century is
only an approximation. Furthermore my reading only reflects my
knowledge of the scholarly approximation, not always complete.
Old Norse standard spelling taken from Vellekla
The Vellekla was created by the Icelandic skald Einar Skålaglam, in
honour of Hakon Earl of Lade. The Icelandic author Finnur Jónsson
dates it to the year 986, after the battle of Hjørungavåg. This is
only a small portion of the original, which has 37 stanzas.
The Icelandic, Danish and Norwegian
versions can be found here:
Vellekla is kind of
special since it has two endings. The first ending happens in stanza
33 (the skald is thanking the earl for his payment for the kvad). This
gives reason to believe that it was created after Hakon Earl of Lade
had defended
Denmark
against the Saxon Emperor in 976, and that the
skald later
added 4 stanzas.
Snorri Sturlasson
renders parts of Vellekla in Heimskringla – The Chronicles of the
Kings of
Norway.
You'll find it in the "Saga of King Harald Grafeld and of Earl Hakon
Son of Sigurd".
Here:
http://tinyurl.com/hpbme
but he is missing stanzas 13, 18, 19, 20, 21, 33, 34, 35, and 36.
| Öll lét senn enn svinni |
| sönn Einriða mönnum |
| herjum kunn of herjuð |
| hofs lönd ok vé banda, |
| áðr veg jötna vitni |
| valfalls, of sjá allan, |
| þeim stýra goð, geira |
| garðs Hlóriði farði. |
| Ok herþarfir hverfa, |
| Hlakkar móts, til blóta, |
| rauðbríkar fremsk roekir |
| ríkr, ásmegir, slíku. |
| Nú groer jörð sem áðan. |
| Aptr geirbrúar hapta |
| auðrýrir lætr ó,ru |
| óhryggva vé byggva. |
| Nú liggr allt und jarli, |
| ímunborðs, fyr norðan, |
| veðrgoeðis stendr víða, |
| Vík, Hó,konar ríki. |
English "translation" by Samuel Laing
| Hakon the earl, so good and
wise, |
| Let all the ancient temples
rise; -- |
| Thor's temples raised with
fostering hand |
| That had been ruined through the
land. |
| His valiant champions, who were
slain |
| On battle-fields across the
main, |
| To Thor, the thunder-god, may
tell |
| How for the gods all turns out
well. |
| The hardy warrior now once more
|
| Offers the sacrifice of gore;
|
| The shield-bearer in Loke's game
|
| Invokes once more great Odin's
name. |
| The green earth gladly yields
her store, |
| As she was wont in days of yore,
|
| Since the brave breaker of the
spears |
| The holy shrines again uprears.
|
| The earl has conquered with
strong hand |
| All that lies north of Viken
land: |
| In battle storm, and iron rain
|
| Hakon spreads wide his sword's
domain. |
Old Norse for Beginners
This
is a free online course in Old Norse for beginners.
It is not completed but it should be enough to get the beginner on the
move. these pages also contain things of interest to people with some
prior knowledge, including rune puzzles, recordings and
a reader
Ref:
http://www.hi.is/~haukurth/norse/
Where to find Old
Norse Fonts:
http://www.mentalcode.com/nl/islenska/index.page
Click on "typing foreign characters". With any luck your computer
will already have the font, you just need to find a way to activate
it.
Old Norse Online (Todd B. Krause and Jonathan
Slocum; 10 lessons + grammar + runes)
http://tinyurl.com/kmz5o
(Old Norse Online) Bibliography
http://tinyurl.com/guhus
Learning Old Norse
http://tinyurl.com/khhmd
Arild Hauge's runes
http://tinyurl.com/er835
Icelandic
dictionaries of Cleasby & Vigfusson, and Zoega (together with works
on Gothic, Old English, Old Saxon, Old High German, Old Frisian, etc.
at Sean Crist's Indo-European Language Resources)
http://tinyurl.com/6qdyw
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