Course Syllabus

Please come having read the Introduction of “Viking Language 1”. We’ll discuss the introduction during our meeting.

Topics covered:

• Course goals
• Introduction to the Old Norse/Old Icelandic language
• The alphabet
• Introduction to grammar concepts
• Course goals

Please come having read through Lesson 1 of “Viking Language 1”. We’ll discuss the first lesson during our meeting.

Topics covered:

• Pronunciation
• Reading: “Ingolf gives land to Herjolf”
• Old Norse grammar introduction
• Introduction to nouns and pronouns
• Word stems, roots, and suffixes
• Apposition and case agreement

Please come having read through Lesson 2 of “Viking Language 1”. We’ll discuss the second lesson during our meeting.

Topics covered:

• Reading: “Land taking in Greenland”
• Definite and indefinite articles
• Proper nouns
• Introduction to verbs
• Linking verbs (vera, verða, heita)
• Strong vs. weak nouns
• Prepositions

Please come having read through Lesson 3 of “Viking Language 1”. We’ll discuss the third lesson during our meeting.

Topics covered:

• Runes and runestones
• Reading: “Gorm and Thyri”
• The verb vera (“to be”) and hafa (“to have”)
• Personal pronouns in depth
• Possession and possessive pronouns

Please come having read through Lesson 4 of “Viking Language 1”. We’ll discuss the fourth lesson during our meeting.

Topics covered:

• Reading: “Jelling Runestone”
• Umlaut sound changes (U-umlaut and I-umlaut)
• Strong vs. weak verbs
• Reading: “Midfjord-Skeggi and Hrolf Kraki’s Sword”
• Weak verb conjugations

Please come having read through Lesson 5 of “Viking Language 1”. We’ll discuss the fifth lesson during our meeting.

This meeting will also be the first to discuss a longer reading, “Reading Chapter 1”.

Topics covered:

• Reading: “Sigurd the Volsung on the Ramsund Runestone”
• Short vs. long and stressed vs. unstressed vowels
• Special stem rules
• Strong noun declensions
• Two-way prepositions
• Reading: “A Man of Moderation”
• Reading Chapter 1 from “The Kings’ and Family Sagas”

Please come having read through Lesson 6 and Reading Chapter 2 of “Viking Language 1”. We’ll discuss the fifth lesson and second reading chapter during our meeting.

Topics covered:

• Reading: “A King Sacrificed for Better Harvests”
• More strong noun declensions
• Weak noun declensions
• Weak verbs in the past tense
• Introduction to cerb voice
• Impersonal constructions
• Reading Chapter 2 from “Njal’s Saga”

Please come having read through Lesson 7 of “Viking Language 1”. We’ll discuss the seventh lesson during our meeting.

Topics covered:

• Reading: “Harald Fights for the Throne”
• Midle/Reflexive pronoun “sik”
• Reading: “Eirik Bloodaxe Receives a Ship”

Please come having read through Lesson 8 of “Viking Language 1”. We’ll discuss the eighth lesson during our meeting.

Topics covered:

• Reading: “Harald Leads the Varangian Guard”
• Kinship terms with -ir endings
• Nouns with stems ending in -nd-
• More on strong verbs
• Reading: “Harald Sends Famine Relief”
• Present subjunctive mood

Please come having read through Lesson 9 of “Viking Language 1”. We’ll discuss the ninth lesson during our meeting.

Topics covered:

• Reading: “Onund Tree-Foot’s Raids”
• More on the definite article
• Type 3 and 4 strong nouns
• Demonstrative pronouns þessi and sá
• Independent and dependent clauses
• Past subjunctive mood
• Reading: “A woman’s resourcefulness”
• Reading: “The Fläckebo Runestone”

Please come having read through Lesson 10 of “Viking Language 1”. We’ll discuss the tenth lesson during our meeting.

Topics covered:

• Reading: “A whale washes ashore”
• Strong adjectives
• Adjectives ending in -inn
• Indeclinable adjectives
• Past participles
• The perfect aspect
• Reading: “The whale dispute turns deadly”
• Reading: “The Väsby Runestone”

Please come having read through Lesson 11 of “Viking Language 1”. We’ll discuss the eleventh lesson during our meeting.

Topics covered:

• Reading: “The battle of Hjadnings“
• Weak adjectives
• Strong verbs review
• Verbs taking dative, accusative, and genitive objects
• Reading: “The battle continues”
• Possessive pronouns other than mínn, þínn, and sínn
• Impersonal constructions
• Indefinite pronouns engi, ekki, and annarr
• Direct and indrect speech
• Adverbs

Please come having read through Lesson 12 of “Viking Language 1”. We’ll discuss the twelfth lesson during our meeting.

Topics covered:

• Reading: “Helgi earns his nicname”
• The indefinite pronoun Nǫkkurr
• The pronouns hverr, hvárr, and hvárrtveggi
• The indefinite pronoun einnhverr
• More on strong verbs
• Present participles
• Reading: “The Outlaw Svart steals Thorstein’s Sheep”

Please come having read through Lesson 13 of “Viking Language 1”. We’ll discuss the thirteenth lesson during our meeting.

Topics covered:

• Reading: “Spike Helgi hunts down Svart”
• More on strong verbs
• Preterite-present verbs
• Comparative and supurlative adjectives
• Comparative and supurlative adverbs
• Reading: “Brodd-Helgi’s Relationship with Greitir”

Please come having read through Lesson 14 of “Viking Language 1”. We’ll discuss the fourteenth lesson during our meeting.

Topics covered:

• Reading: “Gangleri asks about Yggdrasil”
• Reading: “Norns, Well of Fate, and Baldr”
• More on strong verbs
• Middle voice
• Cardinal numbers 1–20
• Past subjunctive of preterite-present verbs
• Syncopated noun stems

Please come having read through Lesson 15 of “Viking Language 1”. We’ll discuss the fifteenth lesson during our meeting.

Topics covered:

• Reading: “Bodvar rescues Hott from the Bone Pile”
• Enclitic pronouns
• More on strong verbs
• Subjunctive middle voice
• Past infinitives of the verbs munu, skulu, vilja, etc.
• Cardinal numbers above 20
• Ordinal numbers
• Reading: “Bodvar kills the monster”
• Reading: “Hrolf is nicknamed Kraki”