Greenlandic Norse facts for kids

Greenlandic Norse was a language spoken by the Norse settlers in Greenland. It was a North Germanic language, similar to modern Icelandic or Norwegian. This language is no longer spoken today; it died out when the Norse settlements in Greenland disappeared around the late 1400s or early 1500s.

Most of what we know about Greenlandic Norse comes from runic inscriptions. These are carvings made in stone or wood using special letters called runes. These carvings show that the language had some unique features. For example, it sometimes used the letter 't' where other Norse languages used a 'þ' (like the 'th' sound in "thin"). But it also kept some older language features that changed in other Norse languages. Some runic styles are thought to be unique to Greenland, suggesting that people from Greenland traveled to other places.

We have very few other records of the Greenlandic Norse language. One old document from Greenland, written in 1409, was copied in Iceland. This copy might show some Greenlandic language traits. Also, a poem called Atlamál is mentioned as "Greenlandic" in an old book called the Codex Regius. However, the poem we have today was written down by Icelandic scribes, so it's hard to be sure if it truly reflects Greenlandic Norse. It is also believed that Greenlandic Norse shared some words with the Kalaallisut language, which is still spoken in Greenland today.

Runic Evidence: Carvings and Clues

The Kingittorsuaq Runestone, an important carving from Greenland.

About 80 runic inscriptions have been found in Greenland. It's hard to know exactly when many of them were made. Also, not all of them were necessarily carved by people from Greenland. This makes it tricky to find specific Greenlandic language features in these carvings.

However, some inscriptions do show unique traits. For example, some words use 't' instead of the older 'þ' sound. An example is torir instead of þorir. This change also happened in some parts of West Norway around the same time. On the other hand, Greenlandic Norse kept some sounds that changed in other Scandinavian languages. This includes the starting sounds 'hl' and 'hr', which are only kept in Icelandic today. It also kept a long 'œ' vowel sound, which merged with 'æ' in Icelandic but stayed separate in Norwegian and Faroese.

Certain rune shapes are also seen as special to Greenland. One 'r' rune, with two parallel lines, appears in 14 Greenlandic carvings. This same 'r' shape has been found in other places, like in Orkney, Scotland. When found outside Greenland, it might mean that the person who carved the rune was from Greenland.

The Kingittorsuaq Runestone has one of the longest Norse carvings found in Greenland. It was found far north of where the Norse settlements were. This suggests it was carved by Norse explorers. Most Greenlandic carvings are thought to be from around 1300. However, some experts now think that some of these carvings, including the Kingittorsuaq inscription, might be older, possibly from around 1200.

The name Tortarson (which would be Þórðarson in standard Old Norse) shows the change from 'þ' to 't'. The word hloþu (which is hlóðu in Old Icelandic and lóðu in Old Norwegian) shows that the 'hl' sound at the beginning of words was kept in Greenlandic Norse.

Manuscript Evidence: Old Written Records

A document written in Garðar, Greenland, in 1409, still exists today. We have it because it was copied in Iceland in 1625. This copy is considered reliable. The document is a marriage certificate. It was issued by two priests in Greenland for two Icelanders who had been blown off course to Greenland.

The language in this document is not exactly Icelandic, and it's hard to say it's purely Norwegian either. It might have been written by Norwegian-trained priests who were influenced by the Greenlandic language. The way words are spelled in this document matches some of the language features seen in the runic carvings. For example, it uses the word þil instead of the older til for a preposition. This shows how the 'þ' and 't' sounds might have blended together.

The start of Atlamál in the Codex Regius, saying it's "The Greenlandish Lay of Atli."

It's possible that some other old texts, now found in Icelandic manuscripts, might have come from Greenland. The poem Atlamál is called "Greenlandic" (Atlamál in grœnlenzku) in the Codex Regius. Many experts think this means the poem was written by someone from Greenland. Some parts of the poem's text seem to support this idea. One scholar, Ursula Dronke, noted that the language has a "rawness" that might come from an isolated society far from royal courts.

Another scholar, Finnur Jónsson, believed that not only Atlamál but also other old Norse poems might have been written in Greenland. He pointed to certain writing styles that he thought were Greenlandic. For example, he noted the use of 'hn' at the beginning of the word Hniflungr in Atlamál and other poems. This word is usually Niflungr in Icelandic texts. However, modern scholars are careful about using Atlamál to learn about Greenlandic Norse. This is because its Greenlandic origin isn't certain, it's hard to know when it was written, and the version we have was copied by Icelandic scribes.

Language Contact: Norse and Kalaallisut

Greenlandic Norse is thought to have been in contact with Kalaallisut, the language spoken by the Kalaallit people. It is believed that Greenlandic Norse left some loanwords (words borrowed from another language) in Kalaallisut.

One important example is the Kalaallisut word Kalaaleq (or older Karaaleq), which means 'Greenlander'. Many believe this word comes from the Norse word Skrælingr. This was the term the Norse used for the people they met in North America. In a Greenlandic dictionary from 1750, Hans Egede wrote that Karálek was what the "old Christians" (the Norse) called the Greenlanders. He also noted that the Kalaallit only used this word when talking to foreigners, not among themselves.

Other words in Kalaallisut that might come from Norse include:

• Kuuna (a girl's name), possibly from Old Norse kona ("woman" or "wife").
• sava ("sheep"), from Old Norse sauðr.
• nisa ("porpoise"), from Old Norse hnísa.
• puuluki ("pig"), from Old Norse purka ("sow").
• musaq ("carrot"), from Old Norse mura.
• kuaneq ("angelica", a plant), from Old Norse hvönn.

The information we have doesn't suggest that the Norse language slowly faded away while people still spoke it. Instead, it seems the Norse language likely disappeared completely when the Norse people themselves left Greenland or died out.

See also

In Spanish: Nórdico groenlandés para niños