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Gladius Hispaniensis

Norse influence on English

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The physical presence of Norse people in Britain has been well documented - from the establishment of Danelaw to the crushing of Harald Hardrada's Norwegian army at Stamford Bridge. And from what I remember, the Scandinavian presence had made itself especially felt in the northern part of England.

I'm wondering if anyone can post some links regarding the influence of the Scandinavians on the English language. I understand there are still some Norse words in Northern English vernacular. I would especially be interested in Nordic sounding place names or surnames.

 

Thanks in advance.

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The physical presence of Norse people in Britain has been well documented - from the establishment of Danelaw to the crushing of Harald Hardrada's Norwegian army at Stamford Bridge. And from what I remember, the Scandinavian presence had made itself especially felt in the northern part of England.

I'm wondering if anyone can post some links regarding the influence of the Scandinavians on the English language. I understand there are still some Norse words in Northern English vernacular. I would especially be interested in Nordic sounding place names or surnames.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

'Egg', 'Skirt' and 'Window' are all either Norse or Norse-influenced. See, for example,Norse influence on English

 

The subject is extremely complicated and open to interpretation on many points.

 

Good luck!

Edited by sonic

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North - eastern English dialect - or 'Geordie' - has many words which are almost identical to modern Norwegian. The Geordie term for 'Going home' is 'Gan yem'. Modern Norwegian is 'Gaan Hjem'. Again, Geordie/Lowland Scots for child is 'Bairn'. Norwegian is 'Barn'. Just a handful of cognates amongst many, and in modern day use.

Edited by Northern Neil

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So I suppose I would be right in assuming that Englishmen from the southern and western part of the Isles have less Norse blood than northerners? I imagine this would also be reflected in surnames - although this might be a little harder to pinpoint.

Edited by Gladius Hispaniensis

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I would especially be interested in Nordic sounding place names or surnames.

 

It's generally thought that place-names ending in '-by' (Grimsby, Whitby, Birkby) indicate Norse settlement.

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I would especially be interested in Nordic sounding place names or surnames.

 

It's generally thought that place-names ending in '-by' (Grimsby, Whitby, Birkby) indicate Norse settlement.

 

For place-names, a good starting place is to read 'Signposts to the Past' by Margaret Gelling. But remember that the only way to really understand them is to read the place-names in their oldest forms, as recently many have changed to conform with spelling rules and accepted pronunciations.

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Particularly Norse place names in the English Lake District, near which I live, include: Skirwith, Keswick, Threlkeld and Thorlby.

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Particularly Norse place names in the English Lake District, near which I live, include: Skirwith, Keswick, Threlkeld and Thorlby.

 

Definitely, Cumbria is chock-a-block with Norse name elements (fell, howe, pike, tarn, thwaite, gill, beck, etc) though still enough Brythonic and Angle to spice the toponymy up.

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Being Swedish, I interpret a lot of the names in northern place names like old norse names.

 

Quite right. A mere ten minutes drive from my home there is place called Dolphinholme. Going the other way, again about ten minutes, one passes through Arkholme, Holme, Milnthorpe and Nateby. When travelling through Norway and Sweden last year, I passed through many 'Holms', 'Bys' and 'Torps'. ( Then I ended up in Finland. Different story altogether!)

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This Link has an extensive list of the Saxon,Norse and Brythonic place names in the North.

 

What do the Norse call Streams?we call them Burns up here,is it a Norse word?

Edited by longbow

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This Link has an extensive list of the Saxon,Norse and Brythonic place names in the North.

 

What do the Norse call Streams?we call them Burns up here,is it a Norse word?

 

I can't think of anything that resembles 'burns". There might be since my knowledge of old norse is very limited. In modern Swedish there are many word that could translate into stream, but the most obvious one is "str

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Thank's for that,we also call streams 'Becks' :wine:.

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