OLD NORSE FOR MODERN TIMES - Ian Stuart Sharpe

 


I was interested in this book based on this description: 

Never be lost for words again...with this book of lost words. Have you ever wanted to wield the silver tongue of Loki, or to hammer home your point like a Thundergod? Old Norse is the language of legends and the stuff of sagas, the inspiration for Tolkien and Marvel, for award-winning manga and epic videogames. It is the language of cleverly crafted kennings, blood-curdling curses, and pithy retorts to Ragnarök. Old Norse for Modern Times gives you the perfect phrase for every contemporary situation [...] With over 500 phrases inside (plus the chance to add your own!) it is the perfect guide for Vikings fans, whether they are re-enactors, role-players, or simply in love with Ragnar.

What this doesn't say is that this is a humor book and not an actual, useful language guide. (Okay ... so I'm not sure how useful a language guide of an ancient language would be, but I think the description offers some suggestions.)

The book is filled with pre-defined phrases and since you're not likely to go on a trip and need to communicate with some old Norse, the given phrases are geared more for fun with friends, such as: 

I don’t believe in astrology. I am a Sagittarius, and we are skeptical. (Eigi trúa ek stjǫrnufrǿði þeiri, ek em bogmaðr ok vér erom engi auðtrúa flón.)

This looks like a job for Superman. (Mun verk þetta hæfa Ofrmenninu.)

Only dead fish follow the stream. (Aðeins dauðir fiskar fylgja árstraumi.)

You are the dancing queen. (Þér eruð dansdróttningin.)

Not sure how to read or pronounce this?  There's a brief (not quite two page) Introduction which includes a simple pronunciation guide for three of the unique letter (Eth (uppercase: Ð, lowercase: ð); Thorn or þorn (Þ, þ);Æ (æ)).

I followed a link in my digital copy of the book and discovered that there's a series of book by author Ian Stuart Sharpe (Ión Stívarður Skarpi) set in the 'Vikingverse' and clearly this is to serve as a sort of addendum to the other works (books and comic books) in the series. (Actually, some of those other works look more interesting to me.)

This is fine as a novelty or humor book, but it's not particularly practical and you have to really want to say some of these phrases in your D&D or other RPG games to want to add this to your collection.

Svo segi ég, bókagagnrýnandi.

Looking for a good book? Old Norse for Modern Times by Ian Stuart Sharpe is a fun book but has some pretty limited uses.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

3-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

Old Norse for Modern Times 

author: Ian Stuart Sharpe

publisher: Outland Entertainment

ISBN: 1947659863

hardcover, 102 pages

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MURDLE VOLUME 1 - G. T. Karber

Image
 I enjoy puzzles of many different varieties. I had not heard of 'Murdle' before this but essentially this is a combination of the game of Clue and a Sherlock Holmes micro story. With suspects, possible murder weapons, potential locations, and/or motives plus some very brief hints, readers are meant to combine the logic of what's know with deductive reasoning to identify the killer (or killers?) in 100 different mystery word puzzles. I will admit right off the bat that I did not do all 100.  I didn't even do half of these, but I did so some random sampling through all the categories (Elementary, Occult Medium, Hard Boiled, and Impossible). I did not get any correct in the Impossible category (of course not ... they were impossible!) and only one correct in the Hard Boiled (of five). The Elementary puzzles were, as expected, pretty easy and the Hard Boiled only a little bit more difficult. Each mini mystery comes with a grid printed in the book to help the reader-detecti
Read more

THE YOUNGER GODS - Michael R. Underwood

Image
 Jacob Greene is a child of cultists - extremists with a deep connection to powerful gods.  To stay in good favor and receive great powers from these gods Jacob's family (both biological family and cult group family) must occasion a sacrifice now then. Jacob doesn't seem to question this (it's how he's been raised, after all) until the time he brings his best friend home to be brutally sacrificed. Jacob believes that his friend is a willing participant, honored to be chosen, informed of what was about to take place by Jacob's father.   Of course nothing could be further from the truth and the friend does NOT go willingly. This shatters Jacob's belief and has him question his faith and he leaves his family and cult in order to think things through. But it's not easy to escape powerful gods, and despite being in the city of New York, all signs point to the fact that the gods know where he is and that something big is about to go down. Although the description
Read more

THE RAVEN THIEF - Gigi Pandian

Image
 With Tempest Raj now a member of the company, Secret Staircase Construction (a company who, as their title suggests, builds mystery-themed, secret rooms inside homes) has finished their first job. Their client now wants to celebrate to kick off her new beginning - new home and new life now that she's divorced from her cheating ex-husband, famous mystery author Corbin Colt. First up, a mock séance to remove any trace of Corbin from the property, led by Tempest's friend, Sanjay.   But during that séance, while all those gathered sat in a dark room holding hands, Corbin's dead body crashes the party, falling across the table in front of everyone. There were eight people in the room, and they were all holding hands, but all the evidence points to one of them being the murderer.  Suspicions point to Ash, Tempest's grandfather, because he was the only one with Corbin's blood on him. Of course, as a doctor, he was also the only one who checked on the body - wherein he acq
Read more