Classical Germanic language used 1150-1350, the literary language of the Icelandic sagas, skaldic poetry, and Eddas. The terms Old Norse and Old Icelandic are sometimes used interchangeably because Icelandic records of this period are more plentiful and of greater literary value than those in the other Scandinavian languages, but Old Norse also embraces the ancestors of modern Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, and Faroese