Norn, The Extinct North Germanic Language Close To Old Norse

Norn (alternatively known as Norroena) is an extinct North Germanic language which was very close to Old Norse (or norrønt as it is known in Norwegian Bokmål), the language the Norse spoke during the tumultuous Viking Age, a historical period of time that was part of the Early Middle Ages. It was mainly spoken in two relatively small archipelagos of the northern British Isles more specifically the Shetlands (or Hjatland in Old Norse, i.e. Hilt Land) and the Orkneys (or Orkneyjar in Old Norse, i.e. Seal Islands). As it was the case of the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, parts of eastern Ireland, or the Isle of Man, these islands were settled by Norwegian Vikings from the western coasts of Norway. The Norse settlement of these islands unfolded throughout the 9th century. Norn was initially recorded using the Runic alphabet (also known as Futhark) back in the 10th century in the Shetlands and Orkneys. Subsequently, it was written down using the Latin alphabet using two orthographic varieties, one based on English and the other one on Old Norse.

Back in the 11th century, these islands were known as Norðr or Norðreyjar (i.e. northern isles) to the Norse and were part of the Hiberno-Norse kingdom of Mann and the Isles (or more simply known as just the Kingdom of the Isles), an important medieval kingdom in the north of the British archipelago at that time. In addition to the Shetlands and the Orkneys, Norn was also spoken in the historic county of Caithness in the north of Scotland.

Norn was spoken in the aforementioned territories of Scotland back from the Early Middle Ages up until 1850 when it is believed it went extinct along with the death of its last speaker, more specifically Walter Sutherland, a native of the very small settlement of Skaw situated in the north of the island of Unst, Shetland. After the Denmark-Norway gave the Shetlands and Orkneys to Scotland between 1468 amd 1469, Norn gradually became replaced by Scots, a West Germanic language quite close to English. Nonetheless, according to several claims, the language allegedly survived well into the early 1930s. If it would have survived, Norn would’ve been on par with Icelandic, Faroese, and Elfdalian (spoken in Sweden), three other conservative North Germanic languages which are very close to Old Norse from which they are descended.

The now bygone Norn language influenced a dialect of the Scots language spoken in the Shetland Islands known as the Shetland dialect. Norn also influenced the Orcadian dialect, another dialect of Insular Scots. Norn is also sometimes referred to as ‘the sixth Scandinavian language’ given its connection to Old Norse. Although the language is long extinct by now, efforts to revive it have already been made. For example, it is still use in a rather symbolic manner in the Shetlands in order to name ferries. But, above all, the most notable example of resurrecting this language is represented by the Nynorn Project which is essentially a digital reconstruction of how this North Germanic language once sounded like, now becoming part of the internet as well. While it is less likely that the Nynorn language will experience a full revitalisation in the near future (partly given the fact that more attention is naturally placed upon the already endangered Scottish Gaelic language), yet the project remains a valuable online learning tool for those interested to discover the history and nature of this extinct North Germanic language once spoken in the Northern Isles of the British archipelago.

Below you can listen to one beautiful folk song by Norwegian musicians Harald and Mari Foss (foss means waterfall in Norwegian by the way; the two are a musical duo also known as Legende) from Unst, Shetlands in the Norn language (this is one of the oldest surviving songs from this island and revolves around harsh weather, sailing, and a plea to the almighty father, i.e. Odin, the wise god of the Norse, for smooth sailing):

Below you can watch an informative video presentation on the extinct Norn language made by the YouTube channel LangShack (credits for making this video go entirely to the aforementioned YouTube channel):

Additionally, here’s another informative video on the Norn language by History With Hilbert on YouTube (credits for making it go entirely to the aforementioned YouTube channel):

Last but not least, below you can watch and listen to how the Orkney dialect of Scots sounds like in a brief and informative video by Scots Language Centre on YouTube (credits for making this video go entirely to the aforementioned YouTube channel and its media creators):

Thank you very much for your time, attention, and readership! It means a lot to me! All the best!

Documentation sources and external links:

• Norn (Norroena) on www.omniglot.com
• Kingdom of the Isles on www.wikipedia.org (in English)
• Norn language on www.wikipedia.org (in English)
• Scandinavian languages on www.britannica.com (the online version of Encyclopædia Britannica)
• The Study of Norn on www.abn.ac.uk (the website of the University of Aberdeen)
• An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland by Jakob Jakobsen on www.en.wikisource.org
• An article on this extinct North Germanic language on www.northwordsnow.co.uk
• Shetland dialect on www.wikipedia.org (in English)
• The Norn Language: Scotland’s ancient Viking tongue that is found in modern Scots, an article by Thomas Mackay on www.scotsman.com
• The Viking spirit of a remote Scottish archipelago, an article by Karen Gardiner on www.bbc.com