![]() Anglo-Scandinavian linguistic contacts flourished mainly during the second and third phases. ON leysingi, which refers to the highest of the two Scandinavian categories of manumitted slaves). ON mörk ‘by weight or value, = eight ounces’ and a typically Scandinavian social rank: OE lysing, cp. ![]() in the text of the treaty between Alfred and Guthrum we have a reference to a Norse unit of monetary account: OE healfmearc, cp. ![]() The erratic character of the attacks during the first phase probably only allowed for very limited linguistic contact, and speakers of Old English seem mainly to have been exposed to Old Norse words relating somehow to fighting and agreements (e.g. These phases have historical and linguistic significance. Although Harald Hardrada attempted to follow in Cnut’s footsteps in 1066 after Edward the Confessor’s death, and the last of the Viking Age Scandinavian attacks took place in 1085, the third phase can be said to end with the death of Harthacnut, Cnut’s son, in 1042. His aim was to seize royal power rather than mere settlement, an aim that was successfully achieved by his son Cnut (king of England from 1016 to 1035), who made England part of a powerful Scandinavian empire. Svein’s priorities changed at some point between 10 from the extraction of tribute (or Danegeld) to conquest. (3) A third phase, characterised by political domination, began with the activities of a later raider, Svein ‘Forkbeard’. ON þveit ‘clearing’, like Kirkthwaite or Langthwaite) are still very clear reminders of their presence. thorp / torp ‘hamlet, village’, like Kettlethorpe and Kirkthorpe or – thwaite, cp. Old Danish bý ‘farm(stead)’, like Derby or Grimsby – thorpe, cp. Even though the English now had political control over the Danelaw, large areas of England retained a very significant Scandinavian presence, particularly the lands around York and in the Five Boroughs of Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham, and Stamford. The second date to remember is 954, when King Eadred took control over York after Eric Bloodaxe’s expulsion and, in so doing, gained the last of the English territories dominated by the Scandinavians. This border was a line which, generally speaking, stretched from London to Chester. In 878 King Alfred the Great and Guthrum, the leader of the Scandinavian army that had tried to conquer Wessex in 875, signed the Treaty of Wedmore, establishing the border of the area where the Scandinavians were allowed to settle down (commonly referred to as the Danelaw). Thus, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us that a ‘great heathen army’ took control of East Anglia in 865 and York in 866, and forayed into Mercia in 867. ![]() (2) From the middle of the ninth century the Scandinavians started to spend their winters on English soil, turning their attention to conquest and settlement rather than mere pillage. (1) From the end of the eighth century to the middle of the ninth century, the Scandinavian marauders were interested mainly in hit-and-run attacks (a ‘summer holiday’ activity, as it were). Instead, the impact of Viking activities in England can to be divided into three phases: Yet, it would be too simplistic to see the activities of the Scandinavians as being simply led by a seasonal interest in plunder. Very soon, though, the Anglo-Saxons became well-acquainted with these newcomers and their practices. The terms that we are interested in are those that were borrowed as a result of linguistic contacts between speakers of Old English, the language spoken by the Anglo-Saxons, and Old Norse, the language spoken by the Scandinavians during the Viking Age.Īccording to The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, one of the most important historical documents that we have for Anglo-Saxon (and early Anglo-Norman) England, the first set of Scandinavian marauders came to British shores in 787, when they took the inhabitants of Dorset by surprise because they ‘did not know what they were’. When we look at the influence of Old Norse on English we need to leave aside Scandinavian terms that have been borrowed after the medieval period, such as Viking, berserk, fjord or ski. Norse Terms in English: A short Introduction
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