# Old Norse: Truth shall set you free



## Thurstans

Hi,

I'm English but am very interested in Nordic languages as I found out that my surname 'Thurstans' originally comes from a Norse background.

I am trying to find out what some words mean......I cant use the correct lettering at the moment. It is written down like this:

"Sannindi skulu setja pu Ohaour"      

Again, it isnt the correct lettering(symbols).

I am trying to get the words:   "Truth shall set you free"  in old norse, but have been told Icelandic is the closest.

Any help would be very much appreciated  

Pete.

Ps: Sorry this is in English!


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## Andreas_Jensen

Don't worry about the English, Pete... we're quite used to it ;-)

Now I'm gonna try to give you the Danish translation of your English sentence "Truth shall set you free" (shouldn't it be "THE truth"?... well nevermind)

"Sandhed(en) skal gøre dig fri" (the "en" is included if it's THE truth)

Or with a slight anglicism

"Sandhed(en) skal sætte dig fri"

As you might see there are some limited similarity between the Danish version and the Old Norse version that you wrote, but what I'm basically trying to say (since I have nothing else clever to write) is that present day peninsular Scandinavian languages (Swedish,Danish,Norwegian) are very similar to each other but hugely different from Old Norse, Icelandic and Faroese... the vast majority of Scandinavians living in Scandinavia (?!) will find the latter three (almost) completely incomprehensible, even in writing...

So really what you're looking is a person adept in Old Norse or a person from Iceland or the Faroe Islands (these two language are similar and again, as you were told, much more similar to Old Norse than SWE,DAN,NOR... 

I hope that someone can help you


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## Lemminkäinen

It's not clear what exactly you're after with your post. Do you want a translation for the first sentence you provided? Or do you want a translation of "Truth shall set you free" (which seems to be the translation of the first sentence) into Old Norse? If you would rephrase your request to make it easier to understand what you're asking about, it'll be much easier to help you


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## Thurstans

Hi again,

Thanks for your posts guys.

Sorry if I wasnt clear, but there is really very little old norse on the net. If I have the wrong forum then I apologise.  

Andreas, thankyou for your in-put!  

Is there an old Norwegian language that anyone would know the tranlation of the same words? If not, todays Norwegian would add to my knowledge also!  

"The truth shall set you free"

Cheers,  Pete


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## butra

If you are referring to the bible, John 8:31, then the translation of the words the truth shall set you free in Icelandic is sannleikurinn mun gera yður frjálsa.


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## simdal

I don't speak Icelandic myself, but I know a girl who does.. If you want me to, I can ask her what "Truth shall set you free" is in Icelandic.. This would make it easier for you as Icelandic is much closer to Old Norse than any of the Scandinavian languages..

Now, as mentioned before, you are a bit unclear. Still, I'll be waiting for your reply..



butra said:


> If you are referring to the bible, John 8:31, then the translation of the words the truth shall set you free in Icelandic is sannleikurinn mun gera yður frjálsa.



Well, there you have it...

And we managed to post at the same time..


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## butra

pu Ohaour does not make any sense. If it is a garbled expression of þú óháður then it is possible to understand what the originator had in mind but even then it is not correct Icelandic or Old Norse.


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## Thurstans

Butra, 

That is excellent, thanks for your time!! 

The Icelandic version is the one Im after I think.

Cheers!!

Ps: Yeah your version of "pu ohaour" is with the correct lettering, so if that makes no sense then it is not what Im after. Thanks for clearing that up!


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## Thurstans

Simdal, 

Could you translate "The truth shall set you free" in Norwegian?

You guys have been very tolerant of me, Thanks!!

Pete


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## simdal

Thurstans said:


> Simdal,
> 
> Could you translate "The truth shall set you free" in Norwegian?
> 
> You guys have been very tolerant of me, Thanks!!
> 
> Pete



I guess it would be something like:
"Måtte sannheten sette deg fri"
"La sannheten sette deg fri"
or maybe even
"Sannheten skal sette deg fri"


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## Andreas_Jensen

... And you'll see the striking resemblance between "Sannheten skal sette deg fri" (nor) and "Sandheden skal sætte dig fri" (dan)


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## Thurstans

Thanx to all of you for your help, some forums can be quite hostile for no reason!

Cheers guys!!  

Pete


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## Pteppic

Well, if you want to be pedantic (which I almost always do  ), the original Bible quote is "the truth shall *make* you free", which in Norwegian is "sannheten skal gjøre dere fri" (with a plural you, judging from butra's Icelandic quote) and, I believe, "sandheden skal gøre jer frie" in Danish - but don't take my word on that last bit.


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## Wilma_Sweden

Pteppic said:


> "sandheden skal gøre jer frie" in Danish - but don't take my word on that last bit.


Indeed, in the Danish translation from 1992, this is exactly what it says. FYI, older translations are slightly different:

Danish Bible translation from 1907: "sandheden skal frigøre eder"
Swedish Bible translation from 1907: "sanningen skall göra eder fria"

Jesus addressed several people in this case, so yes, it's the plural you, which is also obvious from the pronouns jer/eder and adjective plural suffixes frie/fria.

/Wilma


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## brandonJH

Hello,

I was wondering if it's possible to say the reference to the verse as well in Norse? The reference is John 8:32... 

Thanks for the help!


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