Resources
Below are some essential resources for the study of Old Norse. A group-specific file repository is here.
Course aids
Please excuse any errors or shortcomings in these documents, which were put together during the 2011 course and have not had the benefit of extensive proofreading. Contact Paul if you have any questions or recommendations.
Grammars and textbooks
On the merits of the various works as textbooks, see the discussion accompanying this blog post.
Barnes–Faulkes
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The most recent authoritative method, very user-friendly. All three volumes (grammar, reader, and glossary) are freely downloadable from the publisher's website.
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pdf: grammar, reader, glossary
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Gordon
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The classical primer and reader. The grammar section is more of a reference work than a textbook by today's standards.
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paperback
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Krause–Slocum
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A detailed online grammar and reader, with an extensive sentence-by-sentence glossary.
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html
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Noreen
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A detailed historical grammar of Old Norse, for those left with questions about sound-laws and stem origins. In German.
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pdf
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Guðlaugsson–Þorgeirsson
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An online course.
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html
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Sweet–Hall
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A venerable old textbook, recently updated by Alaric Hall.
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pdf
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Valfells and Cathey
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A textbook teaching Old Norse as though it were a living language, with vocabulary and exercises.
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out of print
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Wills
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A concise and accessible current digital textbook.
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pdf
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Dictionaries
Cleasby–Vígfússon
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The largest Norse–English dictionary
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html/png
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Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, A–Em
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The most recent dictionary, as yet incomplete, into Danish and English.
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html, hardback
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Fritzner
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The best dictionary of Old Norse, but it translates into Bokmål and dates from the blackletter era!
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html, pdf1
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Heggstad
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The second-best dictionary of Old Norse, in a current revision, but it translates into Nynorsk.
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hardback
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Lexicon poeticum
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A Norse–Danish poetic dictionary. Its first edition is Norse–Neolatin.
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png, pdf
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Zoëga
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A shorter Norse–English dictionary, based on Cleasby–Vígfússon. Available in affordable paperback.
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html, paperback
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Texts
Heimskringla
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Family sagas, legendary sagas, both Eddas, Heimskringla, and various poetry, mostly with Old Norse spelling.
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html
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Netútgáfan
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Family sagas, legendary sagas, short stories (þættir), Heimskringla, Jómsvíkinga saga, Landnámabók, and Gylfaginning, all with Modern Icelandic spelling.
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html
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Septentrionalia
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A wide variety of early scholarly editions.
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pdf
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Viking Society publications
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Various scholarly editions, some published as recently as 2004, available free of charge at the publisher's website.
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pdf
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External aids