West Norse is also called Old Icelandic or Old Norwegian. They were practically the same language, with little or no difference between them. The language was used from approximately 700 - 1350. This period is divided into two: 700-1050 and 1050 - 1350. The first period is before the latin alphabet was introduced. They used runes when writing. In 1050 the latin alphabet came to Norway with the vikings - from England; and along with it came christian religion. Runes from as late as the 14th century have been found in Bergen. So the runes were used side by side with the latin alphabet for a long time. The norse period ends with the Black Plague.
The language used the same cases as modern German does today.
- Nominative
- Genitive
- Dative
- Accusative
The letters þ and ð are not in use today in Norwegian, the sounds they represent not being distinct from t/d, though they remain in Icelandic.
Like modern Norwegian, Old Norwegian has three articles. Masculine, Feminine and Neuter. But unlike modern Norwegian which only has singular and plural nouns, Old Norwegian defines singular, dual and plural -- the dual being used for groups of two persons or objects.
The plagues that decimated Europe in the Middle Ages came to Norway in 1349 (The Black Plague), and caused the language to fall apart. At that time the wise men holding the key to the language died. The union with Denmark established in 1380 did not help either, as Danish became the official language. Therefore the language went through several changes, including the removal of the cases system and a vowel reduction, reducing many of the last vowels in a word to a common "e".
