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List of English words of Old Norse origin

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List of English words of Old Norse origin

Postby icelander93 » Thu Mar 31, 2011 6:33 am

Words of Old Norse origin that have entered the English language, primarily from the colonisation of eastern and northern England between 865–954 CE (see e.g. Danelaw). Old Norse (abbreviated in dictionaries as ON) existed in its spoken and written form from c. 100 CE, until its spread from Scandinavia to colonies as far west as Greenland and far east as Russia and the Baltic region (spoken by Swedish settlers).

The language diverged into West Norse (Norway, Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland) and East Norse (Denmark and Sweden). With some minor regional variations in loan words, both West Norse and East Norse are essentially the same. The Vikings who raided and later settled in Great Britain came mainly from Norway and Denmark.

Note: this list is incomplete. Some of these words (such as "Ragnarök") are much later borrowings used to discuss Old Norse concepts.

A

ado
influenced by Norse "at" ("to", infinitive marker) which was used with English "do" in certain English dialects[1]
aloft

* á ("=in, on, to") + lopt ("=air, atmosphere, sky, heaven, upper floor, loft")[2]
* English provenance = c 1200 CE

anger

* angr ("=trouble, affliction"); root ang (="strait, straitened, troubled"); related to anga, plural öngur (="straits, anguish")[3]
* English provenance = c 1250 CE

awe

* agi ("=terror")[4]
* English provenance = c 1205 CE (as aȝe, an early form of the word resulting from the influence of Old Norse on an existing Anglo-Saxon form, eȝe)

are
merger of Old English (earun, earon) and Old Norse (er) cognates[5]
awkward
the first element is from Old Norse öfugr ("=turned-backward"), the '-ward' part is from Old English weard[6]
axle
öxl ("=ox tree")[7]

[edit] B

bag
baggi[8]
bairn
barn (="child")[9]
bait
beita[10]
ball
bǫllr" (="round object")[11]
band
band (="rope")[12]
bark
bǫrkr[13]
bask
baðask reflex. of baða "bathe" (baðast, baða sig)[14]
berserk
berserkr, lit. 'bear-shirt', (alt. berr-serkr, 'bare-shirt') frenzied warriors[15]
billow
bylgja[16]
birth
byrðr[17]
bleak
bleikr (="pale")[18]
blunder
blundra (="shut one's eye")[19]
both
baðir[20]
bug
búkr (="insect within tree trunks")[21]
bulk
bulki[22]
bull
boli[23]
bylaw
bylög ('by'=village; 'lög'=law; 'village-law')[24]

[edit] C

cake
kaka (="cake")[25]
call
kalla (="cry loudly")[26]
cast
kasta (="to throw")[27]
clip
klippa(="to cut")[28]
club
klubba (="cudgel")[29]
crawl
krafla (="to claw")[30]
crook
krokr (="hook-shaped instrument or weapon")[31]
cur
kurra (="to growl")[32]

[edit] D

die
deyja (="pass away")[33]
dirt
drit (="feces")[34]
dregs
dregg (="sediment")[35]

[edit] E

egg
egg (="egg")[36]

[edit] F

fellow
felagi[37]
flat
flatr[38]
flit
flytja (="cause to fit")[39]
fog
from Old Norse fok through Danish fog, meaning "spray", "shower", "snowdrift"[40]
forcasten
forkasta (= "to cast away, reject")
freckle
freknur (="freckles")[41]

[edit] G

gad
gaddr (="rod, long stick")[42][43]
gap
gap (="chasm")[44]
garth
garðr (="garden")[45]
gauntlet
vǫttr (="armored glove")("let" denotes "little")[46]
gawk
from Middle English gawen, from Old Norse ga (="to heed")[47]
get
geta, gat (> got), gittan (> gotten)[48]
geyser
from Icelandic geysir, from Old Norse geysa (="to gush")[49]
gift
gift (="dowry")[50]
girth
gjörð (="circumference, cinch")[51]
give
gefa (="to give")[52]
glitter
glitra (="to glitter")[53]
gosling
gæslingr" (="goose")[54]
guest
gestr (="guest")[55]
gun
from Old Norse Gunnhildr (female name, both elements of the name, gunn and hildr, have the meaning "war, battle")[56]
gust
gustr (="gust")[57]

[edit] H

haggle
haggen (="to chop")[58]
hail
heill (="health, prosperity, good luck")[59]
hap, happy
happ (="chance, good luck, fate")[60]
heathen
heiðinn (="not Christian or Jewish/ the word for an exclusively Christian idea, a person or society prior to Christianity.")[61]
Hell
May be in part from Old Norse Hel, the daughter of Loki and ruler of the underworld in Norse mythology.[62]
hit
hitta (="to find")[63]
how
haugr (="barrow, small hill") Usage preserved mainly in place names[64]
husband
husbondi (="master of the house")[65]

[edit] I

ill
illr (="bad")[66]
irk
yrkja (="to work")[67]

[edit] J

jökulhlaup
from Icelandic jökulhlaup from Old Norse jǫkull and hlaup.

[edit] K

keel
kjóll[68]
kid
kið (="young goat")[69]
knife
knifr[70]
knot
knutr[71]

[edit] L

lad
ladd (="young man")[72]
lathe
hlaða (="to load")[73]
law
*lagu[74]
leg
leggr[75]
likely
líkligr[76]
link
*hlenkr[77]
litmus
litmose (="lichen for dying", lita ="to stain")[78]
loan
lán (="to lend")[79]
loft
lopt (="an upper room or floor : attic, air, sky")[80]
loose
lauss (="loose/free")[81]
low
lagr[82]

[edit] M

mire
myrr (='bog')[83]
mistake
mistaka (="miscarry")[84]
muck
myki (="cow dung")[85]
mug
mugge[86]
muggy
mugga (="drizzle, mist")[87]

[edit] N

Norman, Normandy
from Old Norse through Old French, meaning "northman", due to Viking settlement in Normandy region[88]
Norse
from Old Norse through Dutch noorsch, noordsch, noord (="north, northern")[89]

[edit] O

oaf
alfr (="elf")[90]
odd
oddi (="third number", "the casting vote")[91]
Odin
Óðinn[92]
ombudsman
from Old Norse umboðsmaðr through Swedish ombudsman, meaning "commissary", "representative", "steward"[93]
outlaw
utlagi[94]

[edit] P

plough, plow
plogr[95]

[edit] R

Ragnarök
"Doom of the Gods" or "Destiny of the Gods", from Norse mythology & ON word of same meaning, composed of words ragna, genitive of "the great powers"(regin), and rǫk (later rök) "destiny, doom, fate, end". Often erroneously rendered "Twilight of the Gods" after Richard Wagner's opera Götterdämmerung, based on the mythological event.[96]
race
rás (="to race", "to run", "to rush", "to move swift")[97]
raft
raptr (="log")[98]
raise
reisa[99]
ransack
rannsaka (="to search thoroughly")[100]
reindeer
hreindyri[101]
rid
rythja (="to clear land")[102]
rive
rífa (="to scratch, plow, tear")[103]
root
rót[104]
rotten
rotinn (="decayed")[105]
rugged
rogg (="shaggy tuft")[106]
run
renna (="to run")[107]

[edit] S

saga
saga (="story, tale")[108]
sale
sala[109]
same
same, samr (="same")[110]
scale
(for weighing) from skal (="bowl, drinking cup", or in plural "weighing scale" referring to the cup or pan part of a balance) in early English used to mean "cup"[111]
scant
skamt & skammr (="short, lacking")[112]
scare
skirra (="to frighten)[113]
scarf
skarfr (="fastening joint") (interestingly, "scarf" and "scarves" have been reintroduced to modern Swedish[citation needed] in their English forms)[114]
scathe
skaða (="to hurt, injure")[115]
score
skor (="notch"; "twenty")[116]
scrape
skrapa (="to scrape, erase")[117]
scrap
skrap (="scraps, trifles") from skrapa[118]
seat
sæti (="seat, position")[119]
seem
sœma (="to conform")[120]
shake
skaka (="to shake")[121]
skate
skata (="fish")[122]
skid
probably from or related to Old Norse skið (="stick of wood") and related to "ski" (="stick of wood", or in this sense "snowshoe")[123]
skill
skil (="distinction")[124]
skin
skinn (="animal hide")[125]
skip
skopa (="to skip, run)[126]
skirt
skyrta (="shirt")[127]
skull
skulle (="head")[128]
sky
ský (="cloud")[129]
slant
sletta, slenta (="to throw carelessly")[130]
slaughter
*slahtr (="butchering")[131]
slaver
slafra (="slaver")[132]
sledge
sleggja (="sledgehammer")[133]
sleight
slœgð[134]
sleuth
sloð (="trail")[135]
sly
sloegr (="cunning, crafty, sly")[136]
snare
snara (="noose, snare")[137]
snub
snubba (="to curse")[138]
sprint
spretta (="to jump up")[139]
stagger
stakra (="to push")[140]
stain
steina (="to paint")[141]
stammer
stemma (="to hinder, damn up")[142]
steak
steik, steikja (="to fry")[143]
sting
stinga (="to sting")[144]
sway
sveigja (="to bend, swing, give way")[145]

[edit] T

take
taka[146]
tarn
tjörn, tjarn[147]
their
þierra[148]
they
þeir[149]
thorp
þorp[150]
though
from Old English þēah, and in part from Old Norse þó (="though")[151]
thrall
þræll[152]
Thursday
Þorsdagr (="Thor's day")[153]
thrift
þrift (="prosperity")[154]
thrust
þrysta (="to thrust, force")[155]
thwart
þvert (="across")[156]
tidings
tíðindi (="news of events")[157]
tight
þéttr (="watertight, close in texture, solid")[158]
till
til (="to, until")[159]
troll
troll (="giant, fiend, demon"; further etymology is disputed)[160]
trust
traust (="help, confidence")[161]
Tuesday
Tew's Day[162]

[edit] U

ugly
uggligr (="dreadful")[163]
until
from Old Norse und (="as far as, up to") and til (="until, up to")[164]

[edit] V

Vanadium
from Old Norse Vanads, another name for Freja[165]
valley
vǫllr (=field)[166]
viking
vikingr (="one who came from the fjords")[167]

[edit] W

wale
val (="choice")[168]
wand
vondr (="rod")[169]
want
vanta (="to lack")[170]
weak
veikr (="weak, pliant")[171]
whirl
hvirfla (="to go around")[172]
whisk
viska (="to plait")[173]
wight
vigr (="able in battle") - the other wight meaning "man" is from Old English[174]
wile
vél (="trick, craft, fraud")[175]
window
vindauga (="wind-eye") - although gluggi was more commonly used in Old Norse[176]
wing
vængr (="a wing")[177]
wrong
rangr (="crooked, wry, wrong")[178]

[edit] Y

Yggdrasil
Yggdrasill[179]
yule
jol ("A heathen feast upon the winter solstice, later appropriated by Christianity.") [180]
Tolerance and Apathy are the last virtues of a dying society
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Re: List of English words of Old Norse origin

Postby davethenobody » Sun Apr 17, 2011 9:27 pm

Not actually English in the true sense, if there is indeed a true sense since the English referred to is a version of English in use from approximately AD 450 to about 1100, as was spoken in much of England and parts of southeast Scotland. It's also known as "Anglo-Saxon", and is a combination of the Germanic based languages of Old Norse and Old Frisian, and Latin. The original language of Britain was Welsh (Khumry). The English of today is simply a polyglot.

There is a small region of upland Yorkshire where the local dialect and many words still in common parlance are indistinguishable from an older form of Norwegian, a clear remnant of the Viking period.

The Lords Prayer in Anglo-Saxon (not English):

Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum
Si þin nama gehalgod
to becume þin rice
gewurþe ðin willa
on eorðan swa swa on heofonum.
urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg
and forgyf us ure gyltas
swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum
and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge
ac alys us of yfele soþlice
davethenobody
 


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