Simon uses language everywhere. Bruce pillages history.
Days of the week in Viking
The Viking helmet
(and the Viking haircut to match)
Valkyrie in Valhalla
The names of all the Valkyries
What words can we thank the Vikings for?
English | Old Norse | Meaning |
berserk | berserkr | lit. a “bear-shirt” a Viking warrior who entered battle wearing nothing for armor but an animal skin |
club | klubba | a heavy, blunt weapon |
gun | gunn | from the female name Gunnhildr: gunn (war) + hildr (battle) |
ransack | rannsaka | to search a house |
scathe | skaða | to injure |
slaughter | slatra | to butcher |
Society And Culture
Life in the Danelaw wasn’t all murder and mayhem, of course. Ironically, these savage berserkers also gave us many Old Norse words now central to our more “civilized” culture:
English | Old Norse | Meaning |
bylaw | bylög | village-law |
heathen | heiðinn | one who inhabits the heath or open country |
Hel | Hel | Loki’s daughter and ruler of the underworld |
husband | húsbóndi | hús (house) + bóndi (occupier and tiller of soil) |
law | lag | |
litmus | lit-mosi | litr (dye) + mosi (moss) |
loan | lán | to lend |
sale | sala | |
skill | skil | distinction |
steak | steik | to fry |
thrall | þræll | slave |
thrift | þrift | prosperity |
troll | ||
saga | ||
yule | jol | a pagan winter solstice feast |
Animals
Although most English animal names retain their Anglo-Saxon roots (cow, bear, hound, swine, chicken, etc.), the Vikings did bring a few Old Norse words to our animal vocabulary:
English | Old Norse | Meaning |
bug | búkr | an insect within tree trunks |
bull | boli | |
reindeer | hreindyri | |
skate | skata | a kind of fish |
wing | vængr |
Some words associated with hunting and trapping also come from the Vikings. Sleuth now means “detective,” but the original slóth meant “trail” or “track.” Snare, on the other hand, retains the original meaning of the Old Norse snara.
Landscape
Old Norse words are good for describing bleikr landscapes and weather. This was especially useful in Viking-inhabited northern England, where both flatr and rogg (rugged) terrain are often shrouded in fok, and oppressed by gustr of wind and lagr (low) ský (clouds).
Much of the Danelaw bordered swamps and alluvial plains, so it’s no surprise that many Old Norse words for dirty, mucky things still survive in English:
English | Old Norse | Meaning |
dirt | drit | excrement |
dregs | dregg | sediment |
mire | myrr | bog |
muck | myki | cow dung |
rotten | rotinn |
The Norse Legacy In English
Thanks to the cross-cultural fermentation that occurred in the Danelaw, the English language is much closer to those of its Scandinavian neighbours than many acknowledge. By the time the Norman conquest brought the irreversible influence of the French, Old English had already been transformed beyond its Anglo-Saxon roots.
This is still in evidence today: Modern English grammar and syntax are more similar to modern Scandinavian languages than to Old English. This suggests that Old Norse didn’t just introduce new words, it also influenced how the Anglo-Saxons constructed their sentences. Some linguists even claim that English should be reclassified as a North Germanic language (along with Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic and Swedish), rather than a West Germanic language (with Dutch and German). The Viking influence may be most apparent in the Yorkshire dialect, which uses even more Old Norse words in daily speech than standard English does.
English is probably too much of a hybrid to ever neatly classify, but its Old Norse rót is clearly there among the tangle of Anglo-Saxon, French and Latin roots. The language of the Vikings may have become subdued over the centuries, but make no mistake about it: from byrðr (birth) until we deejay (die), Norse’s raw energy simmers under the surface of everything we say.
More Old Norse Words
We use Old Norse words every day without even realizing it.
Verbs
English | Old Norse | Meaning |
bark | bǫrkr | |
bask | baðask | reflexive of baða, “to bathe” |
billow | bylgja | |
blunder | blundra | to shut one’s eyes; to stumble about blindly |
call | kalla | to cry loudly |
cast | kasta | to throw |
choose | kjósa | |
clip | klippa | to cut |
crawl | krafla | to claw |
gawk | ga | to heed |
get | geta | |
give | gefa | |
glitter | glitra | |
haggle | haggen | to chop |
hit | hitta | to find |
kindle | kynda | |
race | rás | to move swiftly |
raise | reisa | |
rid | rythja | to clear land |
run | renna | |
scare | skirra | |
scrape | skrapa | |
snub | snubba | to curse |
sprint | spretta | to jump up |
stagger | stakra | to push |
stain | steina | to paint |
stammer | stemma | to hinder; to dam up |
sway | sveigja | to bend; to give way |
take | taka | |
seem | sœma | to conform |
shake | skaka | |
skip | skopa | |
thwart | þver | across |
want | vanta | to lack |
whirl | hvirfla | to go around |
whisk | viska | to plait or braid |
Objects
English | Old Norse | Meaning |
axle | öxull | axis |
bag | baggin | |
ball | bǫllr | a round object |
band | band | rope |
bulk | bulki | cargo |
cake | kaka | |
egg | egg | |
glove | lofi | the middle of the hand |
knot | knutr | |
keel | kjölr | |
link | hlenkr | |
loft | lopt | air; sky; upper room |
mug | mugge | |
plow, plough | plogr | |
raft | raptr | log |
scale (for weighing) | skal | bowl; drinking cup |
scrap | skrap | |
seat | sæti | |
skirt | skyrta | shirt |
want | vondr | rod |
window | vindauga | lit. “wind-eye” |
Adjectives
English | Old Norse | Meaning |
aloft | á + lopt | on + loft; sky; heaven |
ill | illr | bad |
loose | lauss | |
sly | sloegr | |
scant | skamt | short; lacking |
ugly | uggligr | dreadful |
weak | veikr |
The Body
English | Old Norse | Meaning |
freckles | freknur | |
foot | fótr | |
girth | gjörð | circumference |
leg | leggr | |
skin | skinn | animal hide |
People
English | Old Norse | Meaning |
fellow | felagi | |
guest | gestr | |
kid | kið | young goat |
lad | ladd | young man |
oaf | alfr | elf |
Emotions
English | Old Norse | Meaning |
anger | angr | trouble; affliction |
awe | agi | terror |
happy | happ | good luck; fate |
irk | yrkja | to work |
Who was Harald Bluetooth?
Viking Double-Edged Sword
How to make a Viking Ulfberht Sword
The Viking Longship
Little known fact. The Norwegians recently wanted to build a Longboat Museum in Oslo. When they dug the foundations, they found... the Longest ever Viking Longship underneath (pictured above)! Bruce has visited the museum and bought a mug from there!
Viking Longhouses
Where they held 'Things'.
Viking Games
Well, that wasn't really a game, but these are:
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