Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland Part I.pdf/13



T was the earnest desire of the late Dr. Jakob Jakobsen that his Etymologisk Ordbog over det Norrøne Sprog på Shetland should appear in an English edition, but he knew that his wish would never be fulfilled by himself, all his time being devoted to further original research; a considerable collection of Orkney Norn required to be worked out, and he was also occupied with a Færoese dictionary which he had commenced. Death unfortunately intervened, and what he left undone no one else could adequately do. But, deeming it a sacred duty incumbent upon them, his nearest relatives have endeavoured as far as possible to carry out his wishes; and it is with that end in view that the present translation is now issued.

To those who knew his character it will not be difficult to understand that, as an expression of natural patriotism, and in gratitude to that country in which the expenses of printing were defrayed, he prepared the work in a language which could be easily read in all the Northern countries.

At the time of his death the work was practically complete; the Dictionary was finished with the exception of about two pages of the letter ø, which were found in manuscript on detached sheets, but the Introduction was not fully worked out.

In the Introduction to this English edition appears some hitherto unprinted matter from Dr. Jakobsen’s manuscript, such as the Norn fragments to which references are frequently made in the Dictionary. These fragments were found arranged as he intended them for the Introduction. It was his intention, also, that a portion of the matter from his early thesis, Det Norrøne Sprog på Shetland, should be included in this Introduction. Hence it is that Chapters VI and VII of that work are here incorporated. This was the more advisable seeing that references to these chapters constantly appear in the Dictionary. Finally, it ought to be stated that the materials collected in Shetland by Dr. Jakobsen for his Dictionary were noted down by him in English; of this every advantage has been taken, and thus it is in a measure Dr. Jakobsen’s own English that appears in this edition. A language map of the Shetland Islands also accompanies this English edition, according to Dr. Jakobsen’s own instructions during his last illness.

It would have been impossible to produce this work without help, and in this respect the relatives of Dr. Jakobsen (and in