Elfdalian, a Viking-Era Language, Will be Taught to Preschoolers

Elfdalian, a curious-sounding name, is not a constructed language in the tradition of Tolkien, but is in fact a dying language that dates back to the Viking era. In an effort to revive the language, it will be taught to preschoolers in Älvdalen, a forest community in Central Sweden, starting this September. It was previously thought to be a Swedish dialect but as linguists continued to explore it, it was revealed that Elfdalian is a distinct and separate Swedish language, but is not the language of elves.

Elfdalian translates to river valley and there are close to 2,500 people, including an estimated 60 children who still speak the language, thus linguists are pushing for the teaching of the language in preschool in Älvdalen. It was previously reported to be a possible descendant of Old Norse, the Viking language that broke off around 1300 from the Swedish language. The study of the language by linguists have allowed them to have a deeper understanding of the Old Norse language as Elfdalian (Älvdalska), which is a term designed to make it easier to pronounce, shares several expressions, old features and words with Old Norse.

Linguistics expert and Lund University professor Yair Sapir has been studying Elfdalian since 2002, after a brief stay in Älvdalen. He taught himself to speak the language. According to him, Swedes, Danes and Norwegians were often able to understand each other’s dialects and languages. However Scandinavians, other than those who grew up speaking the language, were unable to understand Elfdalian, which led to the conclusion that it is a separate and rare language.

The discovery that it is a separate language is like discovering a gold mine for the historians and linguists. They said that it was possible to see traces of Old Nordic traits that were long gone from other Scandinavian languages.

Professor Sapir will be leading the international linguistics conference this week at the University of Copenhagen where Elfdalian will be the main focus. His co-organizer is Bjarne Simmelkjær Sandsgaard Hansen, a language historian from the University of Copenhagen. Israel-born Professor Sapir welcomes the idea of teaching the language to preschoolers. He said that the children from the forest community did not go far beyond their farms to receive an education in the past, but today, the children can go to other schools and get exposed to other media that they risk losing Elfdalian as their mother tongue.

Linguistics experts will be campaigning for increased awareness and preservation of this very rare Scandinavian language during the international linguistics conference. The event is also a preparation for the introduction of Elfdalian in the preschool curriculum according to Professor Sapir. He added that the children who have started learning the language since age six will have the language in their school curriculum until they are 18 years of age.

Elfdalian is a language the grammatical characteristics of which cannot be found in any other Nordic language. It is already a threatened language that is why it is a great idea that the municipality of Älvdalen is taking the initiative to teach it to their children. However, since it had been centuries since the use of the language had been suppressed by authorities, schools would be needing additional books on Elfdalian. The culture of the people of Älvdalen must also be recognized and validated.

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