Old Norse, Its Relatives, and Runes: A Timeline and Introduction

When was Old Norse spoken? What about Old English? When was the Elder Futhark in use? A timeline of the Scandinavian languages' (and their relatives') history helps untangle some of these questions.

Related:
What's the difference between Old Norse and Modern Icelandic?    • Видео  
Introduction to the Indo-European languages:    • Видео  
Where do the runes come from?    • Видео  
Were Old Norse and Old English mutually intelligible?:    • Видео  
Why isn’t Finnish considered a Scandinavian language?    • Видео  

Dr. Jackson Crawford is a historical linguist and an experienced teacher of both Old Norse and Modern Icelandic. He currently teaches in the Department of Scandinavian at the University of California, Berkeley (formerly at UCLA), and he is credited in Disney’s Frozen.

Jackson Crawford’s new, contemporary translation of the Poetic Edda—the most important source for the stories of the Norse gods and heroes—is available at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/162... His translation of the Saga of the Volsungs and the Saga of Ragnar Lothbrok is forthcoming in 2017.