Magnum opus

This must be the most expensive book on sale here. If you have $ 2,800, you can get *your* very own copy of Jakob Jakobsen's classical “An etymological dictionary of the Norn language in Shetland” in a 1985 reprint edition. Or rather the second of two volumes! The original English version was published in 1928-32, while the Danish version is even older.

Norn is an extinct Scandinavian language, once spoken on the Shetland Islands, the Orkney Islands, the Hebrides and Caithness. Until the mid-15th century, the Shetlands and Orkneys were Norwegian territories. The population was descended from “Vikings” who settled there about six centuries earlier. Norn died out at some point during the 18th or 19th centuries. The language strikes me as similar to Icelandic and Faroese. Unsurprisingly, Jakob Jakobsen was from the Faroe Islands. I never heard of him before discovering this product page, but apparently Jakobsen was a kind of “national awakener” on his native islands. When not promoting the Faroese language and culture, he studied the Shetland dialect of Norn and eventually published this magnum opus on the subject.

Today, a small group of enthusiasts have launched a project called Nynorn or New Norn, but it's entirely web-based and even the creators admit that it's of theoretical interest only. Perhaps a crossover with Reconstructionist Asatru might be more interesting?

Be careful what you wish for

A review of a sign saying "Parking for Norn Speakers only, all others will be towed" 

This is actually a quite funny sign. Norn is an extinct language previously spoken on the Shetland Islands, the Orkney Islands, the Hebrides and Caithness. The language was similar to Icelandic and Faroese, being introduced to these distant shores by Scandinavian Vikings. Since the language disappeared about 200 years ago, a parking lot for Norn-speakers only will be vacated for a very long time. And when the rightful occupants return, it will probably be in a majestic dragon-ship, rather than in a Volvo!

Islands in the sea

“Peoples of the Earth” was a series of popularized anthropology books, published during the early 1970's. Sir Edward Evans-Pritchard was the editor of the series. This volume covers the Caribbean, the islands of the North Atlantic (except Greenland and Iceland) and the ditto of the South Atlantic. This gives the book a somewhat peculiar look, since it includes articles on such unrelated places as Cuba, the Canary Islands and the Falkland Islands.

Many of the articles are written in a slightly condescending style - brace yourself for expressions such as “one fat Negro woman and four Mulattoes”. Jamaica and Haiti are solely represented by pieces on Rastafarianism and Voodoo, respectively. Other articles seem to be authored by anthropologists with a longing for poor, pristine and noble savages. That being said, I admit that I found this book fascinating. It mentions islands or ethnic groups I never heard of before: the communistic clan society at St Kilda in the Hebrides, the British settlers on the Bay Islands, the last remaining Caribs on Dominica… One article covers Tristan da Cunha, a small volcanic island in the Atlantic and the location of the most isolated human settlement on Earth. But yes, I did hear of Tristan before reading this volume. The photos are equally fascinating, one showing a female leader of the Haitian Ton Ton Macoute militias. Another picture shows American businessmen during an orgy at a hotel in Jamaica!

Unfortunately, I haven't seen any other books in the series, and since this volume was published in 1973, the information is probably in need of an update. That being said, I was sufficiently intrigued by this little gem (I bought the Swedish translation at a library clearance sale) to give it…five stars.