Old Norse was a North Germanic language, spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlements from about the 9th to the 13th centuries. The Proto-Norse language developed into Old Norse by the 8th century, Old Norse began to develop into the modern North Germanic languages in the mid- to late 14th century, ending the language phase known as Old Norse; these dates, are not absolute, since written Old Norse is found well into the 15th century. Old Norse was divided into three dialects: Old West Norse, Old East Norse, Old Gutnish. Old West and East Norse formed a dialect continuum, with no clear geographical boundary between them. For example, Old East Norse traits were found in eastern Norway, although Old Norwegian is classified as Old West Norse, Old West Norse traits were found in western Sweden. Most speakers spoke Old East Norse in what is Sweden. Old Gutnish, the more obscure dialectal branch, is sometimes included in the Old East Norse dialect due to geographical associations.

It shared in changes to both other branches. The 12th-century Icelandic Gray Goose Laws state that Swedes, Norwegians and Danes spoke the same language, dǫnsk tunga. Another term, used commonly with reference to West Norse, was norrœnt mál or norrǿnt mál. Today Old Norse has developed into the modern North Germanic languages Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish, of which Norwegian and Swedish retain considerable mutual intelligibility. Old Icelandic was close to Old Norwegian, together they formed the Old West Norse dialect, spoken in settlements in Ireland, the Isle of Man and northwest England, in Norse settlements in Normandy; the Old East Norse dialect was spoken in Denmark, settlements in Kievan Rus', eastern England, Danish settlements in Normandy. The Old Gutnish dialect was spoken in various settlements in the East. In the 11th century, Old Norse was the most spoken European language, ranging from Vinland in the West to the Volga River in the East. In Kievan Rus', it survived the longest in Veliky Novgorod lasting into the 13th century there.

The age of the Swedish-speaking population of Finland is contested, but at latest by the time of the Second Swedish Crusade in the 13th century, Swedish settlement had spread the language into the region. The modern descendants of the Old West Norse dialect are the West Scandinavian languages of Icelandic, Faroese and the extinct Norn language of Orkney and Shetland. Norwegian is descended from Old West Norse, but over the centuries it has been influenced by East Norse during the Denmark–Norway union. Among these, the grammar of Icelandic and the Faroese have changed the least from Old Norse in the last thousand years. In contrast, the pronunciation of both Icelandic and Faroese have changed from old Norse. With Danish rule of the Faroe Islands, Faroese has been influenced by Danish. Old Norse had an influence on English dialects and Lowland Scots, which contain many Old Norse loanwords, it influenced the development of the Norman language, through it and to a smaller extent, that of modern French.

Of the modern languages, Icelandic is the closest to Old Norse seen to vocabulary. Written modern Icelandic derives from the Old Norse phonemic writing system. Contemporary Icelandic-speakers can read Old Norse, which varies in spelling as well as semantics and word order. However, pronunciation of the vowel phonemes, has changed at least as much in Icelandic as in the other North Germanic languages. Faroese retains many similarities but is influenced by Danish and Gaelic. Although Swedish and the Norwegian languages have diverged the most, they still retain mutual intelligibility. Speakers of modern Swedish and Danish can understand each other without studying their neighboring languages if speaking slowly; the languages are sufficiently similar in writing that they can be understood across borders. This could be because these languages have been mutually affected by each other, as well as having a similar development influenced by Middle Low German. Various other languages, which are not related, have been influenced by Norse the Norman language.

Russian, Belarusian, Latvian and Estonian have a number of Norse loanwords. The current Finnish and Estonian words for Sweden are Rootsi, respectively. A number of loanwords have been introduced into the Irish language – many but not all are associated with fishing and sailing. A similar influence is found in Scottish Gaelic, with over one hundred loanwords estimated to be in the language, many of which, but not all, are related to fishing and sailing; the vowel phonemes come in pairs of long and short. The standardized orthography marks the long vowels with an acute accent. In medieval manuscripts, it is unmarked but sometimes marked with an accent or through gemination. Old Norse had nasalized versions of all ten vowel places; these occurred as allophones of the vowels before nasal consonants and in places where a nasal had followed it in an older form of the word, before it was absorbed into a neighboring s

Robin Mark is a Northern Irish Christian singer, worship leader, recording artist based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Mark has written several songs sung throughout the world, he is best known for his songs "Days of Elijah", "Revival", "All for Jesus", "The Wonder of The Cross", "Not by Might" and many more. He has released thirteen albums in total with sales of over two million worldwide and has won the GMA's international award. Though known within the United Kingdom and throughout Canada and Europe from the early 1990s, it was not until his 1999 live album Revival in Belfast that Mark became known in the United States and the rest of the world, his signature song, "Days of Elijah", has proven popular since 1996. His album Revival in Belfast, released in 1999, remained high in both the Christian retail charts and Billboard charts for many years, it was still at No. 39 on the Billboard Top Christian Albums chart in 2004. When the follow up album, Come Heal This Land, was released in 2001, it went straight to No. 1 in the Christian Retail Charts in the United States.

Robin became the first artist from the UK to accomplish this feat. Robin Mark is the worship leader in his home church Christian Fellowship Church in East Belfast. Studio recordings Captive Heart Not By Might Days of Elijah This City, These Streets Sanctuary Songs & Hymns East of the River John Wesley & Co. Liberation Praise The Great Hurricane Live recordings Room for Grace Mandate – All for Jesus Revival in Belfast Mandate – Men of Faith Come Heal This Land Revival in Belfast 2 Mandate: Experiencing God Arise: A Celebration of Worship Mandate 2007: Living the Adventure Year of Grace Fly A Belfast Symphony Compilations All for Jesus: Songs and Hymns Ultimate Collection Official website

Alexander "Alex" Yi is a retired American soccer defender who last played for FC Dallas of Major League Soccer. He is head coach for Academy of Art Urban Knights; as a teenager, Yi was a member of Under-17 national team, as such was part of the inaugural class of the USSF's Bradenton Academy, along with other players such as Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Oguchi Onyewu. Upon graduating, he matriculated to UCLA, where he played college soccer in 2000 and 2001, where he started in 41 games and was named a third team All-American as a sophomore, he was named PAC-10 Player of the Year. Following his sophomore year Yi left UCLA to pursue a professional career in Europe. Yi disappointingly only appeared in four matches for Antwerp in the 2002-3 season, after appearing in only seven for the struggling club in the subsequent season, was released from his contract to pursue opportunities in America. Yi was coveted by several teams upon his return to the United States, most notably his hometown D. C.

United, but was allocated to F. C. Dallas through a weighted lottery on January 12, 2005. Yi has played for the U-17, U-20, U-23 United States youth national teams, played in the 1999 Football World Youth Championship, his father, Kyom Yi, played for the South Korean national team at the youth level. Alex Yi retired from soccer in April 2008, he decided to head back to school, applying to UCLA and UT-Austin. He was hired as an assistant coach at the University of Dayton, where he became a full-time student. Alex Yi at ESPN FC Alex Yi at University of Dayton