Old Norse Influence in Modern English

[Hong Key]

——It is estimated that there are around 400 Old Norse borrowings in Standard English. These borrowings are amongst the most frequently used terms in English and denote objects and actions of the most everyday description.

—-One of the earliest and most prevailing examples of the Norse gods in English is found in the weekdays. Four weekdays bear the names of the Norse gods.
In Old Norse Tuesday was týsdagr ‘the day of Týr’. Tyr’ was the son of Odin and a brave war god,
Wednesday was Wodensdæg ‘the day of Woden/Wotan/Óðinn’. ‘Odin’ was the greatest of all the gods and the ruler of Asgar
Thursday was Thorsdagr ‘the day of Thor. ‘Thor’ was also the son of Odin the strongest of all the gods
Friday is not as clear as the other three; there is a disagreement on whether Friday was friggjardagr (Frigg wife of Odin), freyjudagr (Freyja)
(I (EA) slightly changed the above (days of the week) but do not have time to change it back to the original. Original is on page 14 of the thesis)

Old Norse Influence in Modern English: The Effect of the Viking Invasion

By Sandra Dögg Friðriksdóttir

Bachelor Thesis, University of Iceland, 2014

Abstract: The Vikings from Scandinavia invaded the British Isles during the late eighth century. They prevailed there for the next 300 years, until the Normans arrived. Despite having been such a dominant force they left behind diminutive evidence of their reign. That was the general assumption up until the second half of the nineteenth century when philologists began investigating English. Their investigations successfully established the definite evidence of the Vikings language in English.

The Vikings spoke a language called ‘Old Norse’, which today is an extinct language. Old Norse and Old English were in many ways similar since they belonged to the same language family, Germanic. Therefore, the Old Norse constituents integrated with ease into Old English. These borrowings went undetected for centuries but remain in the language up to the present-day.

It is estimated that there are around 400 Old Norse borrowings in Standard English. These borrowings are amongst the most frequently used terms in English and denote objects and actions of the most everyday description. This thesis determines which aspects of the language were and still are influenced by Old Norse and if these borrowings are still productive in Modern English. Moreover, it examines the varied influence Old Norse had on different English dialects.

Click here to read this thesis from the University of Iceland

[Smaug]

Þæt's búllshit!

[Comte Arnau]

Hmm, that doesn't make much sense to me. You find the same names for the days of the week in continental Germanic languages, so this is clearly based on the interpretatio germanica of the Greco-Roman deities through common Germanic deities. The names in English are derived from Old English forms. If it had been direct influence from Old Norse, Wednesday should rather have been Odinsday, Othinsday or something similar, without initial w-, for instance.

[Hong Key]

Hmm, that doesn't make much sense to me. You find the same names for the days of the week in continental Germanic languages, so this is clearly based on the interpretatio germanica of the Greco-Roman deities through common Germanic deities.

The Norse, German, Anglo Saxon Gods are the same thing (for the most part).

As far as Norse taking their gods directly from the Greeks and Romans I am not so sure about that and have not heard that theory before. Did you make that up? The general recognized theory I have heard is the religion of the Greeks, Romans, Slavics, Balts, Celts, Germanics (including Anglo-Saxon and Norsemen) and Vedas came from Indo Europeans. Some others argue it is an indigenous religion to Europe meaning pre IE immigrations. And I guess a 3rd idea which I did make up is that the religions of Old Europeans and IE was one and the same but like I said i made the 3rd one up so disregard it.

The names in English are derived from Old English forms. If it had been direct influence from Old Norse, Wednesday should rather have been Odinsday, Othinsday or something similar, without initial w-, for instance.

Point taken. It may Not be direct from Norse but earlier from Anglo Saxons (Germans). Their (meaning the Germans) spelling was with a W not an O. Wotan, Woden = Norse Odin. I am not a linguistic but I think that is correct.

I would have to read the thesis again but does he talk about Anglo-Saxon vs Norse words? Good point I am confused now. Perhaps I will read the thesis again.

The poor little continental refuge immigrates I mean Germanic invaders the Anglo-Saxons started in 5th century
Norse (vikings) invaded very late 8th century.

[Comte Arnau]

As far as Norse taking their gods directly from the Greeks and Romans I am not so sure about that and have not heard that theory before. Did you make that up?

I didn't mean that the Norse took their deities from the Greeks or Romans. Each people had their own gods, with many elements in common indeed that most probably go back to Indo-European roots, yes. What was taken from the Romans was the atribution of one day of the week to a certain deity. The Romans (and the Romance languages today show it too) attributed Monday to the Moon (Luna), Tuesday to Mars, the god of war, Friday to Venus, the goddess of beauty, etc. You can see how the Germanic peoples in contact looked for the equivalences in their own Germanic pantheon.

According to Austrian Germanist Rudolf Simek, this occurred around the 1st century, when both the Roman and Germanic cultures came into real contact.

[Hong Key]

I didn't mean that the Norse took their deities from the Greeks or Romans. Each people had their own gods, with many elements in common indeed that most probably go back to Indo-European roots, yes. What was taken from the Romans was the atribution of one day of the week to a certain deity. The Romans (and the Romance languages today show it too) attributed Monday to the Moon (Luna), Tuesday to Mars, the god of war, Friday to Venus, the goddess of beauty, etc. You can see how the Germanic peoples in contact looked for the equivalences in their own Germanic pantheon.

According to Austrian Germanist Rudolf Simek, this occurred around the 1st century, when both the Roman and Germanic cultures came into real contact.

That makes sense now.

Interpretatio germanica

Tuesday, the day of Tiu/Tyr, was originally the day of Mars.
Wednesday, "Wodan's day", was originally the day of Mercury.
Thursday, the day of Donar/Thor as a god of thunder, was the day of Jupiter "the Thunderer."[10]
Friday, the day of Frija/Frigg, was the day of Venus.

[Hong Key]

So Comte Arnau brings up a good point, are these words German (Anglo-Saxon) or Norse? Of course those two are very similar but not the same, i will be honest and say I need to read the thesis again.