English words from Old Norse
7 English words with Old Norse in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
berserk
From berserker, a Norse warrior, a word introduced (as berserkar) by Sir Walter Scott in The Pirate (1822). It is borrowed from Old Norse berserkr (“raging warrior of superhuman strength”), probably…
haggle
It is a frequentative of dialect hag “to chop, hack”, from Middle English haggen, from Old Norse hǫggva (“to hack, hew”), with the suffix -le. It is related to hew and hack.
kettle
It is inherited from Middle English ketel, inherited from Old Norse ketill and inherited from Old English cetel, from a prehistoric Germanic word (Proto-Germanic *katilaz), usually said to be…
sleuth
A shortening of sleuthhound “bloodhound”, whose first part is Middle English sloth “track, trail”, borrowed from Old Norse slóð (“track, trail”).
thrall
It comes from Middle English thral, from Old English þrǣl, borrowed from Old Norse þræll (“slave, servant”). The Norse word probably comes from Proto-Germanic *þrahilaz, literally “runner”, hence…
thwart
It is inherited from Middle English thwerten, from thwert “across”, from Old Norse þvert (“across”), the neuter of þverr “transverse”. It is related to Old English þweorh “crooked, perverse” and…
window
From Middle English windowe, borrowed from Old Norse vindauga, literally “wind eye”, from vindr “wind” + auga “eye”. The word came from the Scandinavian invaders and settlers of England.