A book by Ian Stuart Sharpe

Having an interest in all things Viking, and learning Bokmål Norwegian led me to check this out. I currently don’t plan to attempt to learn Old Norse in any way, but I was curious into exactly what this was. From the description, I could tell this was a humor book rather than a learning tool, so I wasn’t disappointed when that’s exactly what it was. I was also drawn to this because I have a book in The Vikingverse line (The Allfather Paradox, I need to review that on here), and had no idea this company was based here in Kansas City, which makes me excited to hopefully meet these dudes at Comicon or something one day.

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—from memorable movie quotes (“We’re going to need a bigger boat.” Þurfa munu vér skip stærra) to battle-cries to yell on Discord (“Do I look to be in a gaming mood?” Sýnisk þér ek vera í skapi til leika?), from mead hall musings (“This drink, I like it! ANOTHER!” Líkar mér drykkr þessi! ANNAN!) to tried-and-tested pickup lines (“Nice tattoo!” Fagrt er húðflúrið”). 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.

Old Norse For Modern Times Is almost like a parody of a travel phrase book that somebody might pick up visiting a foreign country. There are phrases of all natures, from social media lingo, to sci-fi references. Is any of it very useful? Probably not. But is it funny? Yes it is! Quite a few of these gave me a good chuckle, like “Beam me up Skadi” or “Where is the Batman!?” However, I honestly think this would work best as an audiobook, and I believe that is available according to the preface in the book. Sadly, I did not have this, so knowing things like correct pronunciations (or as close as we can get today) are lost on a book-only reader.

As a result, I can’t go in with a huge recommendation of getting a print or eBook of this if you plan to actually say these things out loud – go with the audiobook, or a combo of both. As a humor book, this is a fun little diversion for a little while. a quick read that you can have fun with. If you enjoy things like books written in Klingon and the like, definitely check some version of this out.