En fælles grammatik for ældre nordisk?

This article essentially describes the method used for the reconstruction of pan-Nordic forms to be used as headwords in a glossary of anthological passages written in the five medieval Nordic languages: Old Icelandic, Old Norwegian, Old Danish, Old Swedish and Old Gutnish (Haugen 2018). Furthermore, the article illustrates how the same kind of pan-Nordic forms can also be used in the grammatical description of the medieval Nordic languages. This article therefore further develops the subject already addressed by the author previously (Panieri 2019), but places it in the more complex context of the grammatical description. The theoretical background on which the reconstruction of the pan-Nordic forms rests is mainly based on the traditional language comparative method. Its explanatory model alone can hardly account for the whole complex interplay of coexisting factors behind the historical development of language, but it is nevertheless well suited as a basis for an abstract reference system for use in a language description of the Nordic medieval languages which, mostly for pedagogical reasons, strives to emphasize the similarities and common origin of the languages.