Iversen wrote:One way to write a text in credible Old Norse without being one of the few specialist would be to make a sketch in Modern Icelandic and then change some obvious things to make them look more ancient and maybe let a specialist do the final retouches.
There might actually be three groups of text that you could pull from: (1) modern Icelandic, (2) the text of the sagas and the Eddas, and (3) finally the runic inscriptions cataloged by Rundata (that I linked above).
I took an interest in this back in 2006 because I wanted to make my wife a linguistically authentic rune stone. This was, of course, an entirely worthwhile project because my wife is descended from the Normans and her family name is a modern French variation of a Viking name.
This involved digging through Rundata for lots of inscriptions like:
Rundata wrote:DR 68 §A (-)usti × auk × hufi × auk × thir × frebiurn × risthu × stin × thonsi × eftiR × ¶ × osur × saksa × filaka × sin × hartha × §B kuthan × trik × saR × tu × ¶ × mana × mest × unithikR × ¶ saR × ati × skib × mith × arno +
DR 68 §A Tosti and Hofi and Freybjôrn, they raised this stone in memory of Ôzurr Saxon / Sword(-wielder), their partner, a very §B good valiant man. He died as the most unvillainous of men; he owned a ship with Árni.
DR 66 §A ¤ kunulfR ¤ auk ¤ augutr ¤ auk ¤ aslakR ¤ auk ¤ rulfR ¤ risthu §B ¤ stin ¤ thansi ¤ eftiR × ful ¤ fela(k)a ¤ sin ¤ ¶ ¤ iaR ¤ uarth (¤) ...y-- × tuthr ¤ §C tho ¤ kunukaR × ¶ barthusk ¤
DR 66 §A Gunnulfr and Eygautr/Audhgautr and Áslakr and Hrólfr raised §B this stone in memory of Fúl, their partner, who died §C when kings fought.
DR 116 $ tuki : ri(s)-- ¶ -tin : thansi : ift ¶ thurstin : sin ¶ -(r)uthur : nuk ¶ igi : sin : fathu-
DR 116 $ Tóki raised this stone in memory of Thorsteinn, his brother, and Ingi, his father.
DR 1 §A × thurlfr| × |risthi × stin × thonsi × ¶ × himthigi × suins × eftiR × ¶ erik × filaga × sin × ias × uarth §B : tauthr × tho × trekiaR ¶ satu × um × haitha×bu ¶ × i=a=n : h=a=n : u=a=s : s=t=u=r=i:m=a=t=r : t=r=e=g=R × ¶ × hartha : kuthr ×
DR 1 §A Thórulfr raised this stone, Sveinn's retainer, in memory of Eiríkr, his partner, who §B died when valiant men besieged Hedeby; and he was a captain, a very good valiant man.
The "DR" stands for a plate number in Danmarks Runeindskrifter (1941–42), an old, hardbound book with pictures of most of the Danish rune stones. These photos can be used to verify how the runes would actually have been written. It turns out, for example, that "Eiríkr" becomes ᛂᚱᛁᚴ, and many other orthographic changes are made from modern Icelandic. There are also small differences in writing and spelling between countries.
If we used Rundata to look up "gods", we get:
Rundata wrote:Öl SAS1989;43 §A × hir| |risti| |ik thiR birk ¶ bufi meR fultihu ¶ this the|R| |e|R uis in bra| |al¶ti| |ilu fran bufa thor keti h¶ans miR them hamri sam huR §B hafi kam fly fran iluit ¶ feR eki af bufa kuth iRu ¶ untiR hanum auk yfiR han¶um
Öl SAS1989;43 §A Here I carve(d) protection for you, Bófi, with/... ... ... to you is certain. And may the lightning hold all evil away from Bófi. May Thórr protect him with that hammer which came from out §B of the sea. Flee from evilness! You/it get/gets nothing from Bófi. The gods are under him and over him.
Bo NIYR;4 $ asa fu(th)or/fu(u)or
Bo NIYR;4 $ Ása/the gods ...
N A74 M §A -a=ua=rthær : cender : g(u)----- : (g)-(th)ærs : kuethiu : ok sina= =uigan §B ok nu er min fuler uili : at : bithia thin : ef thu uilt : æihi meth §C -b(æ)ini : ue(r)- : ---a : thit ra=th : ok lat (s)(e)hia mer §D thin uilia
N A74 M §A Hávardhr sends Guny/Gunnhildr(?) his friendship and Gods greeting. §B And now it is my full desire to ask you (for your hand in marriage), if you do not want to be with §C Kolbeinn. Think over your intentions ... and have me told §D your desire.
N B13 M §A Mikæl * petr * ioanes * andres * lafranc * tomas * olafr * klemet * nikulas * aller hælger §B men giæte min * not ouk dah lfs mins ouk salo kuth se mik ok s(i)hni §C <kuth> <kifi> <o>s <byrokkafomar>i<a> §D h(i)-lbe mer <klim>et hialbe m(e)=r alle gc hlk(e)r h(i)(a)
N B13 M §A Mikjáll, Pétr, Jóhannes, Andrés, Lafranz, Thomás, Ólafr, Klemet, Nikulás. May all holy §B men protect me by night and day, my life (ie body) and soul. May God see me and bless me. §C May God give us ... §D Help me, Klemet, help me, all of Gods holy (men).
From here, the exercise is to figure out which translations of "gods" actually correspond to a usable word in Old Norse and then work backwards. Note that my examples here are pulled from different countries and time periods. It is also necessary to keep in mind the transition to Christianity, which would obviously have changed religious terminology.
Anyway, I hope that somebody finds some of this amusing. With luck and a bit of elbow grease, it is often possible to find considerable historical texts to use as a starting point.