The Coin Return Foundational Fundraiser is here! Please donate!

What is the proper Old Norse pronunciation of Ljósálfar?

Grey PaladinGrey Paladin Registered User regular
Many fantasy works use the word but each presents a different way to pronounce it. How was the word originally meant to be read? How would a 13th century Norseman reading Snorri's Edda aloud pronounce it? Google presents a myriad of conflicting non-answers.

"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible." - T.E. Lawrence

Posts

  • BowenBowen Sup? Registered User regular
    edited January 2014
    I think the Ljo makes a "ju" sound.

    So ju-sal-far (salt for sal, juice for ju)

    Bowen on
  • DarkewolfeDarkewolfe Registered User regular
    Juice-owl-var is a reasonable approximation, but who really knows, since it's probably a proto-Norse word that wasn't written down till Snorri Sturluson, who was recording already old legends in Old Norse.

    With a ridiculously heavy accent that makes trying to phonetically spell it impossible.

    What is this I don't even.
Sign In or Register to comment.