First Grammatical Treatise - Significance

Significance

This work is one of the earliest written works in Icelandic (and in any North Germanic language). It is a linguistic work dealing with Old Norse, in the tradition of Latin and Greek grammatical treatises, generally dated to the mid-12th century. Hreinn Benediktsson was not able to narrow the time of writing more precisely than to 1125–1175.

The Treatise is important for the study of Old Norse, as it is a major text showing the state of the language just prior to the writing of the Icelandic Sagas. It also provides a comprehensive study of the pronunciation of the language, to the extent that it created an Icelandic alphabet derived from the Latin, and more adapted to writing on paper or parchment than the older, epigraphic Runic alphabet that was made for shorter carvings on wood or stone. (Other writings in the Latin alphabet presumably existed in the form of law books and Christian writings. The educated clergy of the time would not have used runes.) This alphabet included þ (derived straight from the runes) and ð, as well as diacritic indication of vowel length, and an o with an ogonek (at the time an independent phoneme, but by now merged with Ö). The First Grammarian's entire system was never adopted, as evidenced in later manuscripts, in some cases not much younger, but it has had an influence on Icelandic writing ever since (see above). See Icelandic alphabet.