Hooked on the drama series Vikings, I am ploughing through all six seasons. The story follows the saga of legendary Vikings, who invaded the UK and continental Europe around 850 AD. The Vikings are portrayed as blood-thirsty, fame-thirsty, plunder-thirsty warriors coming from what today is Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
The Vikings first point of landing in the UK was on the island of Lindisfarne, close to where I am originally from in north east England. The visit resulted in devastation for the undefended locals. For me, this story has led to a lifelong fascination.
The many Viking raids on the UK spanned over 300 years, which meant that they left more behind them than just destruction and conquest. They also left language.
A lot of the words used in mainstream English today stem from old Norse. Even more exist in local colloquial language in Yorkshire and along the east coast. Some of these words are recognizable in the modern day Nordic languages. Here are 15 examples:
Berserk – from berserkr – meaning ‘bear shirt’ and depicting a jacked-up warrior who went into battle wearing nothing but an animal skin.
Cake – from kaka – meaning cake, biscuit
Happy – from happ – meaning good luck
Hell – from Hel, Loki’s daughter and ruler of the underworld
Husband – from hus bondi – meaning house occupier
Lad – from ladd – meaning young man
Loan – from lán – meaning to lend
Plough – from plogr – meaning to till the earth
Ransack – from ransaka – meaning to search a house
Run – from renna – to run
Skin – from skinn – meaning animal hide
Slaughter – from slatra – meaning to butcher
Thursday – from torsdagr – meaning Thor’s day
Ugly – from uggligr – meaning dreadful
Window – from vindauga – meaning ‘wind eye’
Words like knife, egg, scales, call, get, give, race, take, seem are all originally from Old Norse. The Vikings certainly had a massive influence on the English language.
What other words do you know that stem from Old Norse?
Watching the Swedes 
I read somewhere that the Swedish word for married is the same as that for poison? I really hope that’s true.
Haha Andy, yes that’s true. The word is gift. Pronounced yift.