A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic

Online version of the `"A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic`" dictionary by Geir Zoëga, originally published in 1910

Zoëgas attempt was to made easier-to-approach version of the more full Cleasby - Vigfusson dictionary, specifically for beginners and those interested in Old Icelandic prose writing.

What is Old Icelandic?

Old Icelandic was a western dialect of Old Norse. Old Norse is a dead language, that was the father of modern languages like Icelandic, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Faroese and Elfdalian. Popularly known as the language that vikings spoke.

A sample of Old Icelandic:

Úlfr hét maðr, sonr Bjálfa ok Hallberu, dóttur Úlfs ins óarga. Hon var systir Hallbjarnar hálftrölls í Hrafnistu, föður Ketils hængs. Úlfr var maðr svá mikill ok sterkr, at eigi váru hans jafningjar. En er hann var á unga aldri, lá hann í víkingu ok herjaði. Með honum var í félagsskap sá maðr, er kallaðr var Berðlu-Kári, göfugr maðr ok inn mesti afreksmaðr at afli ok áræði. Hann var berserkr.

- Excerpt from Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar, from 1220 - 1240 AD.