Viking Invaders in our Everyday Language

I've always been a great fan of the old Vikings. Yes, a lot of that is thanks to the History TV series, but still. I think that's one of the great things about television – it can really spark a new interest for things. I've learned a lot about history because I initially liked a show about it. And so it happened with the Vikings.

And one thing that I learned that really surprised me was just how often we use words of Viking descent, without even realizing. I mean, seriously, when you speak a phrase, do you ever wonder where it comes from? Why you say it like that and not in a different way?
Probably not.
But in case you do, here are 10 words that we probably use every single day that have come down to us from the Viking era -

1. Husband

No, this doesn't mean your husband or your dad is an actual Viking (well, who knows, could be). But the word 'husband' is actually a combination of two old Norse words – 'hus' which meant 'house' and 'bondi' which meant 'occupier of the soil'. Put those together and taaa-daaa!

Tiller of the soil = one who cultivates it

2. Slaughter

Okay, you probably expected to see that – after all, the Vikings did do a lot of slaughtering. This is another combined word, this time from an Old Norse word, 'slatr', which meant 'butcher's meat' funnily enough and the English word 'slay'.

3. Happy

They may have been slaughterers, but they were happy ones, at that! Bet you didn't see this one coming, did you?
But the word 'happy' actually comes from the Old Norse word 'happ' which meant good fortune or fate. So, I assume happy means that you have good fortune. Yep, that sounds about right!

4. Ransack

And we're back to that violent Viking thing. Well, this one comes from the Old Norse word 'rannsaka' which meant 'to search a house'. So that's all the Vikings were doing, huh? Just searching houses...well, that doesn't sound so bad...

5. Heathen

I know, I know, this is getting predictable. Or is it? Although this one is debatable, as I've seen categorized as Germanic descent, it's believed that the word 'heathen' comes from the Old Norse adjective 'heiðinn', which apparently referred to someone who hadn't benefited of the the advances in modern living.

6. Window

Another strange one, perhaps. This comes from the Old Norse word 'vindauga', another combination word (from the words 'vindr' – wind and 'auga' – eye) translating to windeye. Apparently, this referred to the ability to see things coming up outside your home without actually going outside (thus remaining sheltered).

Interesting, huh?

7. Scales

Hold on a minute, this one relates to the image of the Vikings you probably have in your head, that of drinking, pillaging warriors who enjoyed a good party as much as a good fight. Scales comes from the Old Norse word 'skal', meaning bowl or drinking cup.

8. Yule

In case you're a bit confused, Yule is a pagan festival sort of like Christmas, that is still celebrated today. But it actually comes from the Scandinavian word (and holiday) 'jol', which was a pagan feast, celebrating Odin, at the heart of the winter solstice.

9. Blunder

Ooops. This one seemed particularly fun to me. Apparently, 'blundra' meant to shut your eyes and walk around, obviously bumping into things. A bit strange to have a word for that, though. Well, technically it just meant to shut your eyes, but the rest was implied.

10. Aloft

I saved this one for last because it's such a beautiful word, I think. And it comes from the Norse word 'loft', meaning 'heaven' or 'sky' (or 'air'). How cool is that?

Okay, so that's it for my list of Viking invaders in our day-to-day language. Alright, maybe I exaggerated a bit. They're not all day to day, but still.

Thank you for reading,

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