English words from Old Norse
Viking settlers left English some of its most basic words, and Norse myth supplied names that still turn up in unexpected places.
- Bluetooth
Harald Gormsson, who ruled Denmark and Norway in the 10th century, picked up the nickname Bluetooth according to a 12th-century chronicle, apparently for a conspicuously dark or damaged tooth, and is remembered for uniting warring Danish tribes and…
From the Sat, Sep 19, 2026 roundup → - Geyser
Iceland has plenty of spouting hot springs, and its own words for them, but one spring in the Haukadalur valley was simply called Geysir, "the gusher," from an Old Norse verb meaning to gush. Foreign visitors in the 18th century took that one spring's proper…
From the Wed, Sep 23, 2026 roundup → - Greenland
According to the Icelandic sagas, the Norse explorer Erik the Red was banished from Iceland around 982 AD after a series of killings, and spent his exile charting the coast of a new island to the west. When he returned a few years later to recruit settlers…
From the Sun, Sep 20, 2026 roundup → - Iceland
Early Norse explorers gave "Iceland" its bleak-sounding name after encountering harsh conditions when they arrived. Decades later, when Erik the Red was banished from Iceland and found genuinely greener land to the west, the Icelandic sagas say he…
From the Mon, Aug 24, 2026 roundup → - Narwhal
The leading theory on narwhal traces it to Old Norse nár ("corpse") + hvalr ("whale") — Viking sailors reportedly thought the animal's mottled grey-and-white skin, and its habit of floating motionless at the surface, made it look unsettlingly like a drowned…
From the Fri, Aug 7, 2026 roundup → - Ombudsman
The Swedish parliament created the position of Justice "Ombudsman" in 1809, an independent official empowered to investigate citizens' complaints against government overreach. The word itself is older, from Old Norse roots meaning something close to…
From the Mon, Sep 7, 2026 roundup → - Ransack
To "ransack" a place today usually means tearing it apart violently while stealing everything of value, but the word's Old Norse ancestor, rannsaka, described something far calmer and more procedural: legally searching a house — rann — for stolen goods. The…
From the Mon, Aug 17, 2026 roundup → - Thursday
Latin-derived Romance languages named the fifth day of the week for the Roman god Jupiter, giving us "jeudi" in French and "giovedi" in Italian, both descended from "Iovis dies," Jupiter's day. When Germanic-speaking peoples adopted the Roman week, they…
From the Sun, Sep 20, 2026 roundup →