English words of Old Norse origin

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English words of Old Norse origin

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Words of Old Norse origin that have entered the English language, primarily from the colonisation of eastern and northern England between 800-1000 CE. Old Norse (abbreviated in dictionaries as O.N.) existed in its spoken and written form from c. 100 CE, until its spread from the Nordic region 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 invaded or settled in Great Britain came mainly from Norway and Denmark.

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

A

ado: influenced by Norse "at" ("to") which was used with English "do" in certain English dialects
aloft

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

anger

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

awe

agi ("=terror")
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
awkward: the first element is from Old Norse öfugr ("=turned-backward"), the '-ward' part is from Old English weard
axle: öxl ("=ox tree")

B

bag: baggi
bairn: barn (="child")
bait: beita
bark: bǫrkr
bask: baðask reflex. of baða "bathe" (baðast, baða sig)
berserk: berserkr, lit. 'bear-shirt', (alt. berr-serkr, 'bare-shirt') frenzied warriors
billow: bylgja
birth: byrðr
blunder: blundra (="shut one's eye")
both: bathir
bulk: bulki
bulk: balkr
bull: boli
bylaw: bylög ('by'=village; 'lög'=law; 'village-law')

C

call: kalla (="cry loudly")
cast: kasta (="to throw")
club: klubba (="cudgel")
crawl: krafla (="to claw")

D

die: deyja (="pass away")
dirt: drit (="feces")
dregs: dregg (="sediment")

E

egg: egg

equip: skipa (= to put together, or to ready a ship) (through French)

F

flit: flytja

G

game: gaman, O.H.G. gaman "joy, glee",
garth: garðr (="garden")
gawk: from Middle English gawen, from Old Norse ga (="to heed")
get: geta, gat (> got), gittan (> gotten)
geyser: from Icelandic geysir, from Old Norse geysa (="to gush")
gift: gift (="dowry")
girth: gjörð
give: gefa
gosling: gæslingr" (="goose")
guest: gestr
gun: from Old Norse Gunnhildr (female name, both elements of the name, gunn and hildr, have the meaning "war, battle").
gust: gustr

H

hack: höggva (="hew")
haggle: haggen (="to chop")
Hell: may be in part from Old Norse Hel, the daughter of Loki and ruler of the underworld in Norse mythology
hit: hitta (="to find")
husband: husbondi (="master of the house")

I

ill: illr (="bad")

K

knife: knifr
knot: knutr

L

lad: ladd (="young man")
lathe: hlaða (="to load")
law: lagu
leg: leggr
litmus: litmose (="lichen for dying", lita ="to stain")
loose: lauss (="loose/free")
low: lagr

M

mire: myrr (='bog')
mistake: mistaka (="miscarry")
muck: myki (="cow dung")
mug: mugge

N

Norman, Normandy: from Old Norse through Old French, meaning "northman", due to Viking settlement in Normandy region

O

oaf: alfr (="elf")
odd: oddi (="third number", "the casting vote")

P

plough & plow: plogr

R

Ragnarök: Twilight of the Gods from Old Norse mythology, from Old Norse word of same meaning, composed of words ragna, genitive of "the gods", and rök "destined end" or rökr "twilight"
raft: raptr (="log")
raise: reisa
ransack: rannsaka (="to search thoroughly")
reindeer: hreindyri
rive: rifa
root: rot

S

saga: saga (="story, tale")
sale: sala
scare: skirra (="to frighten)
scarf: skarfr (="fastening joint") (interestingly, "scarf" and "scarves" have been reintroduced to modern Swedish in their English forms)
scathe: skaða (="to hurt, injure")
score: skor (='notch'; 'twenty')
scrape: skrapa (="to scrape, erase")
scrap: skrap (="scraps, trifles") from skrapa
seem: soema (="conform")
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"
shirt: skyrta (="shirt") see also skirt
skate: skata (="fish")
skid: probably from or related to Old Norse skið (="stick of wood") and related to "ski" (="stick of wood", or in this sense "snowshoe")
skill: skil (="distinction")
skin: skinn (="animal hide")
skip: skopa (="to skip, run)
skirt: skyrta (="shirt")
sky: sky (='cloud')
slaughter: slahtr (="butchering")
sleight: slœgð
sleuth: sloð (="trail")
snub: snubba (="to curse")
stagger: stakra (="to push")
steak: steik, steikja (="to fry")

T

take: taka
tarn: tjörn, tjarn
their: þierra
they: þeir
thorpe: þorp
thrall: þræll
thrift: þrift (="prosperity")
troll: troll (of disputed etymology)

U

ugly: uggligr (="dreadful")

V

Vanadium: from Old Norse Vanadis, another name for Freja

W

wand: vondr (="rod")
want: vanta (="to lack")
weak: veikr
whirl: hvirfla (="to go around")
whisk: viska (="to plait")
wight: vigr (="able in battle") - The other wight meaning "man" is from Old English.
window: vindauga (="wind-eye") - Although gluggi was more commonly used in Old Norse.
wing: vængr