Words of Old Norse origin have entered the English language, primarily from the contact between Old Norse and Old English during colonisation of eastern and northern England between the mid 9th to the 11th centuries (see also Danelaw). Many of these words are part of English core vocabulary, such as egg or knife. There are hundreds of such words, and the list below does not aim at completeness.
To be distinguished from loan words which date back to the Old English period are modern Old Norse loans originating in the context of Old Norse philology, such as kenning (1871), and loans from modern Icelandic (such as geyser, 1781). Yet another class comprises loans from Old Norse into Old French, which via Anglo-Norman were then indirectly loaned into Middle English; an example is flâneur, via French from the Old Norse verb "to wander aimlessly".
A ado influenced by Norse ("to", infinitive marker) which was used with English "do" in certain English dialects aloft ("=in, on, to") + ("=air, atmosphere, sky, heaven, upper floor, loft") English provenance = c 1200 AD anger ("=trouble, affliction"); root (="strait, straitened, troubled") English provenance = c 1250 AD are merger of Old English (, ) and Old Norse () cognates auk A type of Arctic seabird. awe ("=terror") English provenance = c 1205 AD (as , an early form of the word resulting from the influence of Old Norse on an existing Anglo-Saxon form, ) awesome From the same Norse root as "awe". awful From the same Norse root as "awe". awkward the first element is from Old Norse ("=turned-backward"), the '-ward' part is from Old English awn From Old Norse axle May be a combination of Old English and Old Norse (="axis")
B bag bait band (="rope") bank (geography) from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse , Old Danish (="sandbank"). bark bash From Old Norse (="to strike") bask reflex. of "bathe" () bat (animal) probably related to Old Swedish , Old Danish "night bat," and Old Norse "bat," literally "leather flapper". berserk , lit. 'bear-shirt', (alt. , 'bare-shirt') frenzied warriors billow birth blather Probably from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse (="mutter, wag the tongue") bleak (="pale") blend Possibly from Old Norse (="to mix") blister From a Scandinavian source via Old French bloat From a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse (="soaked, soft from being cooked in liquid") bloom "blossom of a plant," c. 1200, a northern word, from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse "flower, blossom". blunder (="shut one's eye") blunt Perhaps from or related to Old Norse blundra "to shut one's eyes" boast Probably from a Scandinavian source via Anglo-French bole From Old Norse (="tree trunk") both boon (="a petition, prayer") booth From Old Danish (="temporary dwelling"), from East Norse (="to dwell") boulder from a Scandinavian source akin to Swedish dialectal "noisy stone" (large stone in a stream, causing water to roar around it), from "to roar" + "stone". brink Possibly related to Danish (="steepness, shore, bank, grassy edge") brisket perhaps from Old French , with identical sense of the English word, or from Old Norse "gristle, cartilage" (related to "breast") or Danish brunt Likely from Old Norse (="sexual heat") or =("to advance like wildfire") bulk bull bump Perhaps from Scandinavian, probably echoic bunker possibly from a Scandinavian source such as bunke "boards used to protect the cargo of a ship" bur From a Scandinavian source related to Old Norse (="bristle") bylaw ('by'=village; 'lög'=law; 'village-law')
C cake (="cake") call (="cry loudly") cart From Old Norse or a similar Scandinavian source cast (="to throw") chubby Perhaps influenced by Old Norse "log", "stumpy". clip (="to cut") club (="cudgel") clumsy From a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse (="make speechless, palsy; prevent from speaking") cog Probably a Scandinavian borrowing, related to Norwegian cozy Likely of Scandinavian origin via Scots, perhaps related to Norwegian crawl (="to claw") craze Possibly from Old Norse (="shatter") via Old French creek ("corner, nook") through ME ("narrow inlet in a coastline") altered from perhaps influenced by Anglo-Norman itself from a Scandinavian source via Norman-French crochet from Old Norse "hook" via French "small hook; canine tooth" crocket from the same Norse root as "crochet" via French. crook (="hook-shaped instrument or weapon") crotch from Old North French "shepherd's crook," variant of "hook," from Old Norse "hook". crotchet, crotchety from Old Norse "hook" via Old French . crouch from the same Norse root as "crochet" via French. cur (="to growl") cut Possibly from North Germanic *kut-
D dangle Probably from Scandinavian, related to Danish , Swedish (="to swing about") and Norwegian dank Related to Swedish (="moist place") and (="to moisten") dash, dashing Probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Swedish , Danish "to beat, strike") dastard, dastardly Probably from , "dazed," past participle of "to daze" or the equivalent past participle in Old Norse + deprecatory suffix . daze, dazed Perhaps from Old Norse die (="pass away") ding The meaning "to deal heavy blows" is c. 1300, probably from Old Norse dengja "to hammer," and is probably ultimately imitative. dirt (="feces") down (feathers) "first feathers of a baby bird; soft covering of fowls under the feathers, the under-plumage of birds," used for stuffing pillows and feather-beds, mid-14c., from Old Norse , which is of uncertain origin. doze Probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Old Norse "to doze," Danish "to make dull," Swedish dialectal "to sleep"). dregs (="sediment") droop From Old Norse (="to drop, sink, hang (the head)") dump Possibly related to Danish (="fall hard"), Norwegian (="to fall suddenly"), and Old Norse (="to beat"). Not found in Old English.
E egg (="egg") eider a type of duck. equip, equipment (="organize, arrange, place in order") through Middle French , from Old French "fit out a ship, load on board", itself from Norman-French Elisabeth Ridel, Les Vikings et les mots : L'apport de l'ancien scandinave à la langue française, éditions Errance, Paris, 2009, p. 198.
F fell (geography) from Old Norse "mountain" fellow filly Possibly from Old Norse , fem. of (="foal") fir from Old Norse "fir" or Old Danish . firth From Old Norse via Scottish fjord From Norwegian , from Old Norse (="an inlet, estuary") flag Probably from Old Norse (="to flicker, flutter, hang loose") flaneur ("to wander aimlessly") + French suffix through (19th cent.) French , itself from Norman-French Elisabeth Ridel, Les Vikings et les mots : L'apport de l'ancien scandinave à la langue française, éditions Errance, Paris, 2009. flat flaunt Related to Swedish (="loosely, flutteringly") and (="to waver") flaw From Old Norse (="stone slab, layer of stone") fleck Probably from Old Norse (="to spot, stain, cover with spots") fling Probably from Old Norse flit (="cause to fit") floe From Norwegian (="layer, slab") from Old Norse flounder From Old Norse via Anglo-French fluster Probably from a Scandinavian source related to Icelandic (="fluster") fog from Old Norse through Danish , meaning "spray", "shower", "snowdrift" fond uncertain but perhaps from Scandinavian fro from Old Norse (="from) freckle (="freckles") fry Probably from Old Norse fun from the same source as "fond"
G gab (="to mock") through Northern England dialect, Scottish or Norman-FrenchElisabeth Ridel, Les Vikings et les mots : L'apport de l'ancien scandinave à la langue française, éditions Errance, Paris, 2009, pp. 213–214. gable from Old French "facade, front, gable," from Old Norse "gable, gable-end" (in north of England, the word probably is directly from Norse). gad (="spike, nail") gag Perhaps influenced by Old Norse (="with head thrown back") gain from Germanic and from Old Norse via Old French. gait Related to Old Norse (="way, road, path") gale Perhaps from Old Norse (="breeze") or Old Danish (="bad, furious") gang (="act of going, a group of men") gap (="chasm") gape From an unrecorded English word or from Old Norse (="to open the mouth wide, gape") gasp (="to yawn") gaunt Perhaps from a Scandinavian source gawk from Middle English , from Old Norse (="to heed") gear from Old Norse (="apparel, gear") geld from Old Norse (="to castrate") gelding from Old Norse (="wether; eunuch") get , (got), (gotten) geyser from Icelandic , from Old Norse (="to gush") gift (="dowry") gill Possibly related to Old Norse girth (="circumference, cinch") give (="to give") glitter (="to glitter") gloat From a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse (="to grin, smile scornfully and show the teeth") gosling (="goose") grovel Shakespearean term originating from Old Norse guest (="guest") gun from Old Norse (female name, both elements of the name, and , have the meaning "war, battle") gust (="gust")
H haggle (="to chop") hail (="health, prosperity, good luck") hank Probably from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse (="a hank, coil") hap, happy (="chance, good luck, fate") harness From Old Norse (="provisions for an army") via Old French harsh probably from Middle English "rough, coarse, sour" (c. 1300), a northern word of Scandinavian origin. haunt (="to bring back home") through Anglo-Norman (="to reside", "to frequent"), (Old) French from Norman .Elisabeth Ridel, Les Vikings et les mots : L'apport de l'ancien scandinave à la langue française, éditions Errance, Paris, 2009, pp. 222–223. haven From Old Norse (="haven, harbor") hit (="to find") how (or howe) (="barrow, small hill") Usage preserved mainly in place names husband (="master of the house") hug Possibly from Old Norse (="to comfort")
I ill (="bad") irk (="to work")
J jökulhlaup from Icelandic from Old Norse and . jarl From Old Norse
K kedge Probably from a Scandinavian source or related to "cadge" keg From a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse (="keg, cask") keel kenning a descriptive phrase used in Germanic poetry, a modern learned word from Old Norse kenning in a special sense. kick Of uncertain origin, perhaps from Old Norse (="bend backwards, sink at the knees") kid (="young goat") kidnap From kid + a variant of nab, both of which are of Scandinavian origin. kilt From Middle English , from a Scandinavian source kindle knife
L lad (="young man (unlikely)") lag Possibly from a Scandinavian source, related to Norwegian (="go slowly") lass From a Scandinavian source related to Old Swedish (="unmarried woman") or Old Norse (="idle, weak") lathe (="to load") law leg lemming From Old Norse via Norwegian lift (="to raise") likely link litmus (="lichen for dyeing", lita ="to stain") loan (="to lend") loft (="an upper room or floor : attic, air, sky") loose (="loose/free") lope From Old Norse (="to run, leap, spring up") low lug From Scandinavian, related to Swedish and Norwegian (="to pull by the hair")
M meek From a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse (='soft, pliant, gentle') midden Of Scandinavian origin, related to Danish mink From a Scandinavian source, related to Swedish (="a stinking animal in Finland") mire (='bog') mistake (="miscarry") mold (fungus) related to Old Norse mygla "grow moldy" muck (="cow dung") mug muggy (="drizzle, mist")
N nab Probably a variant of dialectal nap "to seize, catch, lay hold of", which possibly is from Scandinavian. nag Probably ultimately from a Scandinavian source, related to Old Norse (="to complain," literally "to bite, gnaw") narwhal From Danish and Norwegian , probably a metathesis of Old Norse , literally "corpse-whale," from "corpse" nasty Likely related to Swedish dialectal and Danish naskug, nasket "dirty, nasty". nay, naysayer From a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse niggard, niggardly Perhaps from a Scandinavian source related to Old Norse , possibly via French Norman, Normandy from Old Norse through Old French, meaning "northman", due to Viking settlement in Normandy region