List of English words of Old Norse origin


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.
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 loanwords which date back to the Old English period are modern Old Norse loans originating in the context of Old Norse philology, such as kenning, and loans from modern Icelandic.
Yet another class are 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 flana "to wander aimlessly".

A

;: influenced by Norse "at" which was used with English "do" in certain English dialects
;:
;:
;: merger of Old English and Old Norse cognates
;: A type of Arctic seabird.
;:
;: the first element is from Old Norse ǫfugr, the '-ward' part is from Old English weard

B

;: baggi
;: barn
;bait: beita
;: band
;: bǫrkr
;: baðask reflex. of baða "bathe"
;berserk: berserkr, lit. 'bear-shirt', frenzied warriors
;: bylgja
;: byrðr
;: bleikr
;blunder: blundra
;: baðir
;: búkr
;: bulki
;: boli
;: bylög

C

;: kaka
;: kalla
;: kasta
;: klippa
;: klubba
;: krafla
;:kriki through ME creke altered from kryk perhaps influenced by Anglo-Norman crique itself from a Scandinavian source via Norman-French
;: krokr
;: kurra

D

;: deyja
;: drit
;: dregg

E

;: egg
;: a type of duck.
;: skipa through Middle French équiper, from Old French esquiper "fit out a ship, load on board", itself from Norman-French esquipper, eschiper

F

;: félagi
;: flana + French suffix -eur through French flâneur, itself from Norman-French flaner, flanner
;: flatr
;: flytja
;: from Old Norse fok through Danish fog, meaning "spray", "shower", "snowdrift"
;: freknur

G

;: gabbnna through Northern England dialect or Scottish or Norman-French
;: gaddr
;: gangr
;
;: gap
;: from Middle English gawen, from Old Norse ga
;: geta, gat, gittan
;geyser: from Icelandic geysir, from Old Norse geysa
;gift: gift
;: gjörð
;: gefa
;: glitra
;: lofi
;gosling: gæslingr"
;:
gestr
;gun: from Old Norse
Gunnhildr
;:
gustr''

H

;: haggen
;: heill
;, : happ
;: heimta through Anglo-Norman haunter, French hanter from Norman hanter.
;: hitta
; : haugr Usage preserved mainly in place names
;: husbondi

I

;: illr
;: yrkja

J

;jökulhlaup: from Icelandic jökulhlaup from Old Norse jǫkull and hlaup.
;jolly: from Old French jolif "gay, joyful, lascivious", French joli, itself from jól "mid-winter feast" + French suffix -if

K

;: kjölr
;kenning: a descriptive phrase used in Germanic poetry
;: kið
;: kynda
;knife: knífr
;knot: knutr

L

;: ladd
;: hlaða
;: *lagu
;: leggr
;: líkligr
;: *hlenkr
;: litmose
;: lán
;: lopt
;: lauss
;: lagr

M

;: myrr
;: mistaka
;: myki
;: mugge
;: mugga

N

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

O

;: alfr
;: oddi
;ombudsman: from Old Norse umboðsmaðr through Swedish ombudsman, meaning "commissary", "representative", "steward"
;: utlagi

P

;, : plogr

R

;: rás
;: raptr
;: reisa
;: rannsaka
;regret: gráta + French prefix re- through Old French regreter, itself from Old Norman-French regrater, regreter, influenced by Old English grætan
;reindeer: hreindyri
;rib: rif
;: rífa
;root: rót
;: rotinn
;: rogg

S

;: saga
;: sala
;: same, samr
;: from skal in early English used to mean "cup"
;: skamt & skammr
;: skirra
;:
skarfr .
;:
skaða
;:
skor
;:
skrapa
;:
skrap from skrapa
;:
sæti
;:
sœma
;:
skaka
;:
skata
;: probably from or related to Old Norse
skið and related to "ski"
;:
skil
;:
skinn
;:
skopa
;:
skríkja
;
;skull:
skulle
;:
ský
;:
sletta, slenta
;:
*slahtr
;:
slafra
;:
sleggja
;:
slœgð
;:
sloð
;:
sloegr
;:
snara
;:
snubba
;:
spretta
;:
stakra
;:
steina
;:
stemma
;:
steik, steikja
;:
sveigja''
;:"syk"

T

;: taka
;tarn: tjǫrn, tjarn
;: tœma
;: þeirra
;: þeir
;: from Old English þēah, and in part from Old Norse þó
;thrall: þræll
;: þrift
;: þrysta
;: þvert
;: tíðindi
;: þéttr
;: til
;: tóm
;troll: troll
;trust: traust

U

;ugly: uggligr
;: from Old Norse und and til

V

;: vikingr

W

;wand: vondr
;: vanta
;: veikr
;: hvirfla
;whisk: viska
;: vík + French suffix -et through Anglo-Norman wicket, itself from Old Norman-French wiket, Norman-French viquet > French guichet
;: vigr – the other wight meaning "man" is from Old English
;: vél
;
;window: vindauga – although gluggi was more commonly used in Old Norse
;wing: vængr
;: rangr