Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1964, Page 166
174
Norn in Shetland
Scottish Isles than in Norway itself. Staðir, overwhelmingly
common in Iceland, is absent in Faroe, but common in
Shetland and parts of Orkney. It is prefixed by the owner’s
name. Setr is very numerous in Shetland, not so in Orkney,
and absent in Faroe and Iceland. It is a small farm on
land not taken up by the first settlers. These differences
have significance, but only when names are studied en
masse. Speculations about single names like Ljóðhus and
Hjaltland are interesting, but have no scientific value.
What has happened to the Norn in Shetland in the
seventy years since 1893? Curiously enough, very little as
far as placemames are concerned. One wonders if Jakobsen
had further unpublished lists. But they will slump disas«
trously when the generation born before 1914 has gone.
The chief factors are depopulation and abandonment of
croft cultivation. The dictionary has many words not used
now, but could be largely supplemented. But the work of
Jakobsen must remain the Bible of those who follow his
study. It is particularly gratifying to a Shetlander and a
graduate of Aberdeen University that his photograph is
one of a select few that hang in a prominent place in the
University Library. No one was more of a scholar or
deserves it more.
ÚRTAK
Hetlandsbyggingin verður sett til neolitisku tíðina, 1500 ár ella meir
fyri føðing Krists. Norðmanna»búsetingin var ein umbroyting av undan*
farnum fólkasflytingum og so djúptøkin, at landið heilt varð nýbygt.
Skotsk ávirkan kom afturumaftur aftan á 1379, tá Hetland varð handað
hinum skotsku Orknoyggja-jøllunum, og serstakliga aftan á 1472, tá
biskupsdømið fyri Orknoyggjarnar varð flutt úr Tróndheimi til St.
Andrews í Skotlandi. Skyldfólk hjá jøllunum og prestunum komu fyrst
við lágskotska tungumálinum. Nakað um somu tíð er ein týðandi
broyting av persónnøvnunum, í fyrstuni eftir norskum lag og síðani
móti skotskum nøvnum. Hetta er sýnt í nakran mun.
Síðani verður sagt frá samtíðar frágreiðingum av málbroytingunum