Icelandic has changed so little over the past 1,000 years that modern Icelanders can read the ancient Norse sagas written in the 13th century with minimal difficulty — similar to how English speakers might read Shakespeare. Iceland maintains its linguistic purity partly by coining new Icelandic words for modern concepts rather than borrowing from English. For example, the Icelandic word for 'computer' is 'tölva' — combining the words for 'numbers' and 'prophetess.'