Similarities between Old English (Anglo-Saxon) and modern (plus old) Icelandic

A page from a skin manuscript of Landnáma in the Árni Magnússon Institute in Reykjavík, Iceland

I wrote a post on this subject back in September with a wee bit of comparison between the vocabulary of Icelandic and Old English, which according to some theories were mutually comprehensible. Today I stumbled upon another page here written entirely in Icelandic (meaning that I can only make out about half of it) that has some more comparisons between the two languages.

One of them is a poem, which thanks to a thread here on Unilang (the only other page to show up when searching for "Þæt mælede mín módor") I don't have to try to translate myself:

Old English	Old Icelandic	Modern Icelandic	Modern English
Þæt mælede mín módor	Þat mælti mín móðir,	Það mælti mín móðir	Thus counselled my mother
þæt me scolde ceapian	at mér skyldi kaupa	að mér skyldi kaupa	For me should they purchase
flæge and fægra ára,	fley ok fagrar árar,	fley og fagrar árar,	A galley and good oars
faran aweg wið wícingum,	fara á brott með víkingum,	fara á brott með víkingum,	To go forth a-roving.
standan úppe in stefnan,	standa upp í stafni,	standa upp í stafni,	So may I high-standing,
stíeran deorne cnear,	stýra dýrum knerri,	stýra dýrum knerri,	A noble barque steering,
faran swá tó hæfene,	halda svá til hafnar	halda svo til hafnar,	Hold course for the haven,
héawan man and óðer.	höggva mann ok annan.	höggva mann og annan.	Hew down many foemen.

The other example given is one often seen when comparing two or more languages: The Lord's Prayer:

Icelandic	Old English	Wycliffe's Bible (14th century)	(mostly) Modern English
faðir vor þú sem ert á himnum	Fæder úre, þú þe eart on heofonum,	Oure fadir that art in heuenes, halewid be thi name;	Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy Name.
sé þitt nafn helgað til komi þitt ríki	sí þín nama gehálgod, tóbecume þín ríce,	thi kyngdoom come to; be thi wille don	thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
verði þinn vilji á jörðu svo svo á himnum	geweorþe þín willa on eorþan swá swá on heofonum.	`in erthe as in heuene;	on earth as it is in heaven.
vorn daglegan hleif sel oss í dag	Úrne gedæghwámlícan hláf syle ús tó dæg	yyue to vs this dai oure `breed ouer othir substaunce;	Give us this day our daily bread.
og fyrirgef oss vorar skuldir svo svo vér fyrirgefum vorum skuldunautum	and forgyf ús úre gyltas swá swá wé forgyfaþ úrum gyltendum	and foryyue to vs oure dettis, as we foryyuen to oure dettouris;	And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
og né leið þú oss í freistniheldur leys oss af illu	and ne gelæd þú ús on costunge ac álýs ús of ýfele.	and lede vs not in to temptacioun, but delyuere vs fro yuel.	And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Since this isn't my specialty I'll let the synopsis to the book Comparative Syntax of Old English and Old Icelandic sum up the idea that the two languages were so similar as to be mutually intelligible:

This book takes the subject one step further by offering a comparison of the syntax of Old English and Old Icelandic, the two best-preserved Old Germanic languages. Overwhelmingly the two languages show the same word-order patterns - as do the other Old Germanic languages, at least as far as can be determined from the fragments which have survived. It has long been recognised that Old English and Old Icelandic have a high proportion of common lexis and very similar morphology, yet the convention has been to emphasise the differences between the two as representatives respectively of the West and North sub-families of Germanic. The argument of this book is that the similar word-order of the two should instead lead us to stress the similarities between the two languages. Old English and Old Icelandic were sufficiently close to be mutually comprehensible. This thesis receives copious support from historical and literary texts. Our understanding of the Old Germanic world should be modified by the concept of a common «Northern Speech» which provided a common Germanic ethnic identity and a platform for the free flow of cultural ideas.