[gothic-l] Ancient Gotlandic (forngutniska)

[Bertil Häggman]

Ancient Gotlandic (forngutniska)

Ancient Gotlandic was the language of Gotland during 
the Viking era and the Middle Ages. It differs from 
Ancient Swedish and Ancient Danish and should be 
regarded as a totally independent language. The present 
Gotlandic dialect has developed from Ancient Gotlandic.

Sources of Ancient Gotlandic:

1. Runic inscriptions

On Gotland runic inscriptions from around 900 AD to 15th 
century have been preserved. Amon the more important 
from the Vikinga era (standing stones) are: Pilgaards, 
Tjaengvide, Ardre, Hauggraen, Sjonhem, Stainkumbla. 
>From the Middle Ages it is mainly horizontal stones and 
inscriptions on church walls and on various objects. It 
proves that the runes long into the Middle Ages was a 
living written language more than anywhere else in Scandinavia.

2. Written sources

The Guta Law and the Guta Saga are preserved on a 
manuscript from around 1350. There is also a runic 
calendar from 1328.

Nature of Ancient Gotlandic:

1. Diphtongs are preserved: stain (stone), gait (goat), auga 
(eye), fraumbr (dream), droyma (dream as verb), oyra (ear).

Old Norse "iu" has become "iau": fliauga (fly).

2. Several vocals have a more closed pronounciation: dyma (judge) etc.

3. Old Norse "u" is preserved in many cases: gutar (Gotlanders), 
Gutland (Gotland), gutnisk, sun (son), skut (shot), fulc (people). 
The present name of the island is of German origin. German
traders called the Gotlanders "de goten".

4. The i-umlaut exist more commonly than in other Scandinavian 
languages: slegr (Schlag in German), stedh (place).

5. The typical sj- (sjunga=sing) is missing: singe (sing in English), 
sinke (sink in English, sjunka in Swedish).

The isolation of Gotland has contributed to the archaisms. Some 
similarities between Gothic and Ancient Gotlandic have been 
shown. If the Gotlanders and the Goths in the Vistula area were 
of the same stock, they would have spoken generally the same 
language, the one that in later development over the centuries 
appears in Wulfila's bible.

Source: Professor Elias Wessén, _De nordiska spraaken_ 
(The Scandinavian Languages), Stockholm (tenth edition, 1975), 
151 pp.

Guntnically

Bertil



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