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Viking Language 1: Learn Old Norse, Runes and Icelandic Sagas, 2nd Edition, Revised and expanded is the new updated introduction to Old Norse language, Icelandic sagas, and runes. Written by a professor with years of experience teaching Old Norse and Icelandic, this user-friendly revised edition assumes no previous language training, and an innovative word-frequency method eases learning. Beginner to advanced has everything in one book: graded lessons, vocabulary, grammar exercises, runes, and pronunciation. There are maps and sections on Viking history, literature and myth. You quickly learn to read original saga passages from Iceland and Viking-Age runes from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It is a complete Old Norse. Modern Icelandic has changed little from Old Norse, and the learner is well on the way to mastering Modern Icelandic. Onyou will find two MP3 download Audio Pronunciation Albums for Viking Language 1, Second Edition, Revised. So also, a free Answer Key to exercises in Viking Language 1, Second Edition, Revised. For more information, see our bilingual saga editions and German, Italian, and Spanish Old Norse language books:Read more
Publisher : CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Publication date : January 1, 2017
Edition : Multilingual
Language : English
Print length : 377 pages
ISBN-10 : 1480216445
ISBN-13 : 40
Item Weight : 2 pounds
Dimensions : 8 x 0.85 x 10 inches
Book 1 of 8 : Viking Language Old Norse Icelandic Series
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Top Amazon Reviews
I am a language teacher (Chinese and Latin) who am teaching myself Old Norse. Dr. Jesse Byock's "Viking Language 1" (VL-1) is a wonderful textbook for learning Old Norse (ON) on your own, though it is completely suitable for classroom use. The textbook is extremely user-friendly and is especially so for those who would like to study ON on their own but do not have a background in foreign languages, old or modern. The book takes the student through carefully thought-out steps with detailed explanations of both grammar and vocabulary. Earlier texts (e.g., Sweet's Primer of Old Icelandic, and even E. V. Gordon's "Old Norse") are often difficult for the modern learner, assuming a knowledge of basic linguistics (which can no longer be assumed) or a familiarity with German or some inflected language. Certainly a knowledge of another language is very helpful (I have a comfortable familiarity with Old English and know Latin well, and have studied a bit of modern German), but Dr. Byock's book is eminently suitable for both the experienced linguist as well for an absolute beginner in the language. With the patience that is needed for the study of any language, the student should make good progress in the study of this beautiful and fascinating language. The selections introduced for reading are interesting (and fun!), and each chapter is interspersed with history, word study, and fascinating facts about Viking culture, including maps. I personally enjoy this sort of holistic approach to language learning where vocabulary, grammar, history and culture are woven together, greatly increasing the high-interest content and presenting the language in its real-world setting. The exercises are good, and there is a fine glossary at the back of the book. This makes for a quality textbook at a very affordable price. As others have mentioned, I highly recommend buying "Viking Language 2" to accompany VL-1, giving the student a solid grounding in ON and providing a wide variety of reading material. I have found that VL-2 makes excellent supplementary reading even while working through VL-1 and provides wonderful opportunities for gauging one's progress and achieving a sense of accomplishment, two things which increase the enjoyment of language study. One thing I especially appreciate is Dr. Byock's use of word-frequency lists such as those found in Mounce's Greek texts. He shows how a relatively small number of words accounts for the lion's share of words one encounters in actual reading. These lists occur in each chapter and are separate from the vocabulary lists given for the reading passages, which are necessarily longer (though the two lists overlap). The introduction of the most frequently used ON words at regular intervals is immensely helpful. In addition, the vocabulary given for the reading sections is very manageable in itself. These lists are not overlong (as vocabulary often tends to be in far too many language textbooks, something which can discourage any learner). Since the reading selections for each chapter are not long, the student really learns the vocabulary in context, by FAR the best way to fix it in the memory. And by learning in small chunks the most frequently used ON words, rapid progress can be made which is so helpful in maintaining the student's interest. A word about ON vocabulary. If your English vocabulary is good (and even better, if you know some German or---however unlikely---Old English [Anglo-Saxon]), the number of cognate words is extremely high (these are, after all, members of the same linguistic family), and the student can make progress even faster. None of that is necessary, of course, to learn and enjoy ON, but it does facilitate mastery of both vocabulary and grammar. As to pronunciation, a guide is given (rather oddly, in an appendix towards the back of the book rather than at the beginning) which enables the student to learn either the reconstructed ON pronunciation or the modern Icelandic pronunciation (for those with an eye to learning the latter as well). There are also accompanying MP3 files for help with this. The pronunciation segments of these are especially helpful for those new to a language such as ON. The readings are good but read by a native Icelandic speaker at natural speed, which can seem very fast to the beginner but which, with exposure, becomes more manageable in time. The Viking Language series is a very attractive and welcome set of textbooks, and from what I have seen, by far the most user-friendly to newcomers to any language. Highly, highly recommended!
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Reviewed in the United States on February 12, 2022 by RA
I started learning ON a few years ago using the Viking Language books. I found them to be a great entry into learning the language. I decided to write this review because in just a couple years I went from having no experience with Old Norse, saga literature or medieval Scandinavian history to studying these subjects at a graduate level. So thank you Jesse Byock!! What I found most useful about the book were the word frequency lists and the pacing of the lessons. Learning the language based around the most common vocabulary felt really natural. The background information in the chapters is also really informative especially if, like me, you haven't studied Scandinavian history before. There are a lot of maps in the book which are great for understanding what was going on in the readings and where everything was that the sagas talk about. Runes were not my focus at all but the runic exercises in this book are also fun to do and explained well. I worked through the book at a pace of about 1 chapter per week. Also I saw another review that was complaining that there were no answers for the problems. No!! That's not true!! The answer keys are up online for free on the oldnorse dot org website. I imagine this is done so teachers assigning the workbook to students don't have the kids just read the answers at the back of the book instead of doing it themselves. The physical book itself has also held up great after heavy use including being dumped at the bottom of my suitcase when I moved overseas. Highly recommend
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Reviewed in the United States on December 13, 2024 by LC
Excellent book describing clearly the history of the Vikings and their pursuit to expanding their territory. It also teaches the Old Norse language while telling the story of the Vikings.
Reviewed in the United States on May 9, 2025 by Douglas J. Shaffer
I have had a very solid experience working through this book so far. The text is aimed at a beginner not just to learning Old Norse, but to someone unfamiliar with the time period as well. The pace is a little slower because of this, especially because the author includes a lot of cultural context for the language and readings. Grammar explanations cover not only ON grammar, but also explain grammar for those unfamiliar with English structure. That being said, I think the explanations still might be a little bit difficult to follow for someone with absolutely no prior knowledge of the vocabulary used to talk about grammar (for example, what declensions are and what the role of each case is). I've had a lot of experience with Latin, so it's hard for me to be totally objective on the difficulty. I would say that if you have had prior language experience, the pace might be a little leisurely, but personally I only have a little bit of time to study ON everyday, so it hasn't been an issue at all. The dictionary in the back of the book is only ON to English, so if you want to look up words that haven't been presented yet in a lesson, you'll have a tough time. I do wonder at how thoroughly edited the book is. I've found multiple (though not frequent) typos so far, including one incorrect answer in the answer key posted online. I've found one instance of a word mentioned in a lesson not being included in the dictionary in the back. There are also occasional formatting issues. For example, many exercises are formatted into columns, and occasionally you'll find an instance where you have exercise 1 and 6 at the bottom of the page, and you have to flip to see 2-5 and 7-10. I've seen a reading similarly formatted, requiring you to flip to the next page in the middle of the text. Sometimes the word glosses for readings are also split and pushed onto the next page. None of these have been deal breakers for me, but it is certainly annoying to have to flip back and forth. Overall, as someone with a lot of language experience and not a ton of time for going through exercises everyday, this book has been great.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2017 by A.G.