East of the river

This review is from: Liten alvdalsk-svensk och svensk-alvdalsk ordbok (Swedish Edition)

Lars Steensland is a Swedish expert on Slav languages who occasionally stints as an authority on a very different tongue: Elfdalian or Övdalian, the peculiar dialect of Swedish spoken in Älvdalen, a small area in northern Dalarna (Dalecarlia). Since many Swedish-Americans come from Dalarna, it's possible that some Elfdalian-Americans dwell somewhere in Minnesota, although I doubt they speak Elfdalian, known as övdalska, älvdalska or älvdalsmål in Älvdalen itself. The dialect is threatened even in its home region, both due to gradual convergence with standard Swedish and the fact that most speakers are old and rural. Steensland is a leading member of Ulum dalska, a group devoted to preserve this ancient language.

What makes Elfdalian unique is that it's virtually incomprehensible to outsiders. In some ways, the dialect resembles Old Norse and Old Icelandic more than modern Swedish, being more or less isolated since the Middle Ages. For a very long time, Elfdalian used runic letters – apparently, the last runic writing in this dialect is dated as late as 1900! Many people regard Elfdalian as a separate minority language, but the Swedish authorities have so far resisted giving its official recognition, although it does enjoy a kind of quasi-recognition locally, including bilingual street signs.

Steensland's Swedish-Elfdalian dictionary is a valiant attempt to bring some order into the Elfdalian chaos, the dialect being split into different sub-dialects. Different orthographies for the written language are also in use. The dictionary is supposed to represent a “neutral” form of Elfdalian, but naturally Steensland have his critics on this score. Apparently, words and expressions from “east of the river” are overrepresented in the vocabulary. The dictionary is also available from Ulum dalska, and a modified version can be accessed on the web. There, we learn that the Elfdalian word for dog-house is “rakkgard”, moose is “brinde” and gospel is “waundsila”. The Swedish words are “hundkoja”, “älg” and “evangelium”, so yes, the lingo is incomprehensible to tenderfeet visiting the old country. Somewhat disappointingly, the word for European blackbird is almost identical in the two languages, “kuoltrast” and “koltrast” respectively. It's interesting to note that Steensland also translated the gospels of Mark and John to Elfdalian.

Since this is a Swedish-Elfdalian (and Elfdalian-Swedish) dictionary, it's probably of little use to Swedish-Americans, unless they have a working knowledge of at least standard Swedish! That being said, I obviously have to give it five stars.