How easily could speakers of Old English and Old Norse understand each other?

Trade relied upon basic communication, for example.
The languages spoken by the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse derived from a common root called Proto-Germanic which was used in what is now southern Scandinavia and Germany around the 4th century AD. There is evidence for the language in Roman and Greek writing and in runic innoscriptions. Over time it diverged to form a number of related languages including Old English and Old Norse.

As well as structure and vocabulary the two languages shared a poetic metre and also a common body of myth and legend, for which the most substantial record is found in the Old Norse sagas. In some of the sagas we find reference to trade and communication between the Nordic and Anglo-Saxon people, and we also know about the international nature of the courts of Alfred and Cnut, where stories and histories were shared.

The Gersum Project is exploring the Scandinavian influence on English vocabulary by examining the origins of more than 900 words in a corpus of Middle English poems from the North of England. English words with Old Norse origins include such basic terms as sky, egg, law, leg, call, take, window, knife, die and skin, and the pronouns they, their and them.

Dr Jackson Crawford provides a look at the relationship between Old Norse and Old English, including their common origins, mutual intelligibility, and the many words English borrowed from Old Norse as well as the equivalences in poetry and place names. He also discusses how the standardised forms recorded in the texts available to us which don’t always reflect the spoken language at various times throughout the overall period.

https://youtu.be/BaWgJq9OVGM

Source: https://www.findglocal.com/GB/Workington/101343761610197/The-Man-Who-Gave-His-Horse-to-a-Beggar

https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead

Image: The approximate extent of Old Norse and other Germanic languages in the early 10th century from Wiglaf, based on Europe plain rivers.png by Dbachmann. [CC BY-SA 3.0]
Map key is:
Red - Old West Norse
Orange - Old East Norse
Pink - Old Gutnish
Yellow - Old English
Green - Continental West Germanic languages (viz. Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Old Dutch, Old High German)
Blue - Crimean Gothic

https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead

Æfinrúnar: A Sedian Book of Rites and Prayers

An altar is sprinkled before a sacred tree. A song resounds through an inviolate grove. Husband and wife are bound in holy matrimony. The funeral pyre is solemnly lit. These are the rituals of an ancient culture, reconstructed after years of research. The religion of the ancient Norse has been resurrected after centuries of slumber, and now we properly rebuild its ceremonial tradition. By thoroughly examining every source on the topic, we have been able to develop a greater understanding of these practices and how we can use them today. By doing so, we reforge the link to the ancient past. Once severed from the Gods, we can now use their holy teachings, the Æfinrúnar, to once again invoke them to witness our rebirth. May their light shine upon us all.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09Y4VZT9H/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_X2KBM8BNW9CX52PBX043

https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead

As promised, I'm pleased to announce the launch of: https://fyrgen.com/

This will be the hub where links to my efforts and content can be found. The first weekly podcast episode is being planned and should appear within the next couple of weeks. The website will grow as my productivity grows, to include a link to merchandise fairly soon too.

For those who'd like to (and can afford to) throw a few £ my way, or some crypto, links and addresses for all of those can be found at the above website and anything given is greatly and humbly appreciated. Subscriber content will be at SubscribeStar, Patreon and Substack (with an exclusive 'The Secrets of ALU' document available and more bits and pieces to come), and Ko-fi, BuyMeACoffee and PayPal are there for casual tips/donations.

Thank you to everyone who gave me the nudge I needed to organise this.

Ancestral Blood Memory

Take the time to build real life. Devote yourself to relationship. Share love together. There is no greater feeling than that of growing old with someone.

https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead

In Life & in Death, Honor those We Love

Flateyjarbók records that in times of grief, our forebears hung a mourning banner:

“The men sat drinking as long as they liked that night, and then went to bed ; but after they had left the hall Queen Thyri took down the hangings, and instead put up black and grey cloth until all was covered. She had done this because it was the custom in those days when tidings of grief came to do as she did."

The Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem:

ᛠ Éar is horrible to every knight,
when the corpse quickly begins to cool
and is laid in the bosom of the dark earth.
Prosperity declines, happiness passes away and covenants are broken.

The cycle of birth, life, death, rebirth. In life & in death, honor those we love.

https://linktr.ee/TheFrithstead

The Yggdrasil Tree as Woden's Steed.

A common view is that the Yggdrasil is an Ash. This may be a very old word play as there are examples of the word 'Ash' being used as a name for horse. The (grand)son of Hengest was called Oeric. He used the noscript Oisc which was the same as Aesc, and means Ash. The names Hengest and Horsa (Stallion and Horse) were more likely war-noscripts and not real names, and it seems that Oeric (Ash) continued this tradition. The Horse gods of the Baltic lands are viewed as twins called the Ašvieniai, in Aryan-Hindu lore they are called the Ashwins. Both names derive from the word Ashva which means Horse. The word Ashva also cognates with the Germanic word Ehwaz (horse).

To some folk, the World Tree is seen as the Yew, however this can still means 'Horse'. The Anglo-Saxon word for horse was Eoh, whilst Ēoh meant Yew. Further to this the word 'yggia' comes from the root *igwja which means Yew-Tree. So it would seem regardless of whether the tree is an Ash or Yew - both can mean Horse.

Before everything in our society became inversed, anti-nature and anti-life, we used to have an inherent knowledge of the importance of natural order. This inherent knowledge and understanding would manifest itself in various ways.

During the medieval era, jousting tournaments were organized as entertainment and for knights to prove their might and valor. The winner would be honored with material prizes and glory. It was also customary for the most beautiful lady to reward the winner with a kiss. Sometimes the champion would even win the princess’ hand in marriage.

The winner of the tournament, thus having established himself as the alpha male would get the praise and approval of the highborn female beauty. In the same way nature singles out the strongest for survival, women are the living embodiment of natural selection. Males seek more than anything to prove themselves worthy to pass on their genes. The path of greatness and glory are the highest purpose of man, and only a handful are up to the challenge.

“The same causes which tend to promote the belittling of men, also force the stronger and rarer individuals upwards to greatness.”

Friedrich Nietzsche, The Will to Power

The Old Forge, Ford.

The "Niederdeutsche Hallenhaus" is the traditional farmhouse in much of northern Germany.
Until the end of the 19th century it was built in the traditional style.
The use as a residential and stable building and the look are the same as the houses of the Germans 2000 years ago.