SCANDINAVIAN INFLUENCE IN ENGLAND
Of the districts occupied by Scandinavian settlers in England the ones
which show their presence most strongly are Cumberland, Westmorland,
North Lancashire and Yorkshire in the old kingdom of Northumbria and
the district of the Five Boroughs in the midlands. East Anglia was not
so deeply affected by the Danish occupation.
Before dealing with one of the chief sources of our knowledge of the
presence of Norse and Danish settlers in various parts of England,
viz. the evidence derived from place-nomenclature, a few words must be
said as to the chief Scandinavian elements which can be recognised in
English place-names.
Of elements other than personal names the commonest are as follows,
several of them being used as independent words to this day in English
dialects which have been affected by Scandinavian influence:--
-BECK. O.N. _bekkr_, brook, small stream of water.
-BIGGIN(G). O.N. _bygging_, building.
-BY. O.N. _bør_, Dan. Swed. _by_, town or village. This word
indicates a Danish rather than a Norse settlement.
-CAR(R), -ker. O.N. _kjarr_, _kjörr_, brushwood, especially on
swampy ground.
-DALE. O.N. _dalr_, valley. Etymologically this word might be
of native English origin but its distribution points to Norse influence.
-FELL. O.N. _fjall_, mountain.
-FORCE. O.N. _fors_, waterfall.
-FORTH. O.N. _fjorðr_, fjord. English -ford and Scandinavian
-forth often interchange in the old documents.
-GARTH. O.N. _garðr_, enclosure, the Scandinavian equivalent
of English 'yard.'
-GILL. O.N. _gil_, deep narrow glen with a stream at the
bottom.
-HOLM. O.N. _holmr_, small island especially in a bay, creek,
or river. In England its meaning was further developed and it often
means 'low-lying level ground on the borders of a river or stream.' Now
often concealed in the suffix -ham.
-KELD. O.N. _kelda_, well, spring.
-LUND, -lound. O.N. _lundr_, grove. Now often corrupted to
-land in English place-names.
-MIRE. O.N. _myrr_, moor, bog, swamp.
-RAISE. O.N. _hreysi_, cairn.
-SCALE. O.N. _skali_, house. This word is Norse rather than
Danish.
-SCAR, -skear, -skerry. O.N. _sker_, isolated rock in the sea.
-SCOUT. O.N. _skúti_, cave formed by jutting rocks.
-SCOUGH, -scow. O.N. _skógr_, wood.
-SLACK. O.N. _slakki_, slope on a mountain edge. Often used in
English place-names of a hollow or boggy place[15].
-TARN. O.N. _tjörn_, small lake.
-THORP(E). O.N. _þorp_, hamlet, village. This word is also
found in O.E. and in some place-names is undoubtedly of native origin,
but its general distribution points fairly conclusively to Norse
influence.
-THWAITE. O.N. _þveit_, parcel of land, paddock.
-TOFT. O.N. _topt_, piece of ground, messuage, homestead.
-WITH. O.N. _viðr_, a wood.
-WATH. O.N. _vað_, a ford.
Place-names with the prefix _Norman_- mark the settlement not of
Normans but of Norsemen (or Northmen as the English called them), as
in Normanton and Normanby, while the settlement of Danes is marked by
the prefix _Dena_- or _Den_- as in Denaby and Denby. This latter prefix
however has other sources as well.
Scandinavian personal names are very common in place-names but their
presence can as a rule only be detected with any degree of certainty
by reference to the forms found in early documents. Among the more
easily recognised are _Grímr_, as in Grimsargh (Lancs.) and Grimsby
(Lincs.), _Gunnarr_, as in Gunnerside (Yorks.), _Ketill_, as in
Kettlewell (Yorks.), _Klakkr_, as in Claxton (Norf.), _Ormr_, as in
Ormskirk (Lancs.). Others, to be found by reference to earlier forms,
are _Fráni_, as in Franesfeld (=Farnsfield, Notts.), _Gamall_, as
in Gamelestune (=Gamston, Notts.), _Gunnúlfr_, as in Gunnulveston
(=Gonalston, Notts.), _Knútr_, as in Cnutestone (=Knuston, Northants.),
_Leifr_, as in Levesbi (=Laceby, Lincs.), _Sumarliði_, as in
Sumarlidebi (=Somerby, Lincs.), _Skúli_, as in Sculetuna (=Scoulton,
Norf.), _Tóli_, as in Toleslund (=Toseland, Hunts.), _Víkingr_, as
in Wichingestone (=Wigston, Leic.), _Úlfr_, as in Ulvesbi (=Ulceby,
Lincs.).
Examining the distribution of Scandinavian place-names determined by
the above tests and others which can be applied with great accuracy, if
we study not the modern but the old forms of the place-names, we find
that the place-nomenclature of Cumberland and Westmorland is almost
entirely either Scandinavian or Celtic. Indeed it would seem that the
Anglian settlement had hardly affected these districts at all, and it
was reserved for the Scandinavian settlers to Teutonise them. The
same is true of Furness and Lancashire, north of the Ribble, whose
old names Stercaland and Agmundernesse are of Norse origin, but south
of that river there is a great diminution of Norse place-names except
along the coast and a little way inland, where we have several -_bys_
and -_dales_. In Cheshire the evidence of Scandinavian settlement is
confined almost entirely to the Wirral, but there the large number of
-_bys_ and place-names like Thingwall (_v. supra_, p. 115, note 1)
point to a strong Viking colony, and the distribution of place-names
in South Lancashire and Cheshire bears witness to active intercourse
between the settlers in Ireland and England.
On the other side of the Pennine chain, though Northumberland was
several times ravaged by the Norsemen and was probably well populated
at least in the fertile river-valleys, there is practically no evidence
of their presence to be found in place-names. There are several
Biggins, Carrs, and Holms, a few Tofts and Dales, but these are common
dialect words and usually found in uncompounded forms. They are
practically never found in names of towns or villages, and may well
have been introduced from districts further south. In the extreme west
and south-west of the county there are 'fells' and 'dales' but these
are on the borders of Cumberland, Westmorland and Durham. The small
streams are 'burns' and not 'becks,' the Wansbeck being a corruption
of an earlier _Wanespike_.
When we cross into co. Durham the tributaries of the Wear vary between
'burn' and 'beck,' but by the time we reach the Tees these have all
become becks. Beechburn Beck, a tributary of the Wear, shows how a
Scandinavian term could be attached to an English name, when its own
meaning was neglected or forgotten. Other Scandinavian names are
common, but as in Northumberland they belong to the dialect generally
and are seldom found in names of towns or villages. Viking settlers
must have been few in numbers and widely scattered throughout these
two counties. One great exception must be named among the towns, viz.
Durham itself. The city was named _Dún-holmr_, 'the hill-island,' by
the Vikings, and its present name is only the Norman corruption of that
form.
South of the Tees we find ourselves in a district whose place-names are
to a very large extent Scandinavian, and Norse settlements are thickly
and evenly distributed from the North Sea to the Pennine chain.
Passing from Northumbria to the Danelagh, Lincolnshire is perhaps
more purely Scandinavian in its place-names than any other English
county. In Derbyshire Viking influence is not so strong but the
county was probably very thinly inhabited at least in the north and
west and did not offer attractive settling ground. Derby itself was
rechristened by the Northmen, its earlier name being 'Norðweorðig.'
The rich fields and pastures of Leicestershire attracted a great many
settlers and Nottinghamshire is also strongly Scandinavian. Rutland
and Northamptonshire are strongly Danish except that there is some
shading off towards the S.W. corner of the latter county. In the
country bordering the Danelagh on the south and west, Staffordshire has
a few Scandinavian place-names on its Derbyshire and Leicestershire
borders, while Warwickshire has several on its Leicestershire and
Northamptonshire borders.
In East Anglia Danish settlements must have been numerous in the north
and east especially towards the coast, but their presence is less
strongly marked in the S.W. portion of the county. In Suffolk they are
confined still more definitely to the coast-districts and the Danes
do not seem to have settled in the south of the county at all. Three
Kirbys near the Essex coast mark settlements in that county. Of the
other border-counties Huntingdonshire, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire
show only the slightest traces of Scandinavian influence in their
place-nomenclature, though we know from other evidence that there must
have been many Danish settlers in these counties.
Closely allied to the evidence of place-names is that of dialect. A
very large number of words definitely of Scandinavian origin are found
in the dialects of N.E. and N.W. England, in the N. Midlands and East
Anglia, but they do not furnish so sensitive a test as do place-names
for the extent of the Scandinavian settlements and they need not be
discussed here.
More interesting as evidence of the deep influence of the Viking
settlers on our language is the large number of Scandinavian loan-words
which have become part of our standard speech, many of them being words
essential to our every-day talk. To Scandinavian influence we owe the
pronouns _they_, _them_ and _their_, the adjectives _same_ and _both_,
the _fro_ in _to_ and _fro_ and possibly the auxiliary _are_ and the
preposition _till_. These last are found in the Northumbrian dialect of
Old English but their widespread use is probably due to Scandinavian
influence. In addition to these we may note the following:
Verbs: _bait_, _bask_, _batten_, _call_, _cast_, _dawn_, _droop_,
_drown_, _gain_, _gabble_, _ransack_, _scare_, _scour_, _scrape_,
_skim_, _skip_, _squeal_, _stint_, _take_,
Nouns: _anger_, _billow_, _boon_, _dusk_, _fellow_, _gait_, _grime_,
_haven_, _husband_, _husk_, _husting_, _scull_, _scurf_, _skill_,
_skin_, _skirt_, _sky_, _window_,
Adjectives: _awkward_, _ill_, _odd_, _rotten_, _scant_, _sly_, _ugly_,
_weak_, and a good many words in which Scandinavian forms have
replaced the cognate English ones, e.g. _aloft_, _athwart_, _awe_,
_birth_, _egg_, _get_, _gift_, _give_, _guest_, _raid_, _sister_,
_swain_, _Thursday_.
These words are for the most part of the very stuff and substance of
our language, giving vivid expression to clear-cut ideas, and though
numerically they are outnumbered by the loan-words from French, they
are in themselves more essential to our speech than the rich vocabulary
derived from that language.
For the extent and character of the Viking settlements in England we
have however a far more delicate and accurate index than that to be
found in the evidence of place-names and dialects. When we study the
pages of Domesday, the great record of English social organisation in
the 11th century, we find that in the counties which came under Viking
influence there are many details of land-division, tenure, assessment
and social organisation generally wherein those counties differ from
the rest of England, and some of these differences can still be traced.
The 'ridings' of Yorkshire and the Lindsey division of Lincolnshire
were originally 'thrithings' (O.N. _þriþjungr_, a third part), the
initial _th_ being later absorbed by the final consonant of the
preceding 'East,' 'West,' 'North' and 'South' (in Lincs.).
The chief tests of Scandinavian influence, drawn from Domesday and
allied sources, are however as follows:
(1) The use of the Danish 'wapentake' as the chief division of
the county in contrast to the English 'hundred.' This is found
in Lincolnshire, Derbyshire (with one exception on its southern
border), Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, and one district
of Northamptonshire, now included in Rutland. We have wapentakes in
Yorkshire, except in certain districts along the sea-coast, while in
Lancashire the term was applied to the court of the hundred or shire
long after the Conquest. There is some evidence also for the belief
that the use of the hundred (or wapentake) as an administrative unit
is in itself due to Scandinavian influence. The proportion of names of
hundreds (or wapentakes) which are definitely of Danish origin is very
high and, unless we assume wholesale renaming, this points to their
having been first named at a period subsequent to the Danish conquest.
(2) The assessment by carucates in multiples and submultiples of 12 is
characteristic of the Danelagh, as opposed to that by hides, arranged
on a decimal system in the strictly English districts. This is found in
Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Rutland,
with the exception of the above mentioned district. There are traces of
a duodecimal assessment in the two N.E. hundreds of Northamptonshire,
while in Lancashire a hidal assessment has been superimposed upon an
original carucal one. Carucal assessment is found also in Yorkshire,
Norfolk and Suffolk.
(3) In Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire we have
traces of the use of the Danish 'long' hundred (= 120), e.g. the fine
for breaking the king's peace is £8, i.e. 120 ores[16] of 16 pence.
Using the various tests we find that the Scandinavian kingdom of
Northumbria was considerably smaller than the earlier realm of that
name, Northumberland and Durham being but sparsely settled, while
South Lancashire and Cheshire were occupied chiefly along the coast.
The kingdom would seem to fall into two isolated halves, Cumberland
and Westmorland and North Lancashire in the north-west and Yorkshire
in the south-east. The district of the Five Boroughs covered
Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire (Lincoln and Stamford),
Leicestershire, and probably the whole of Rutland (Stamford). The case
of Northamptonshire is difficult. The carucal assessment fails except
in the extreme N.E. of the county, but Danish place-nomenclature is
strongly evident, though it shades off somewhat towards the S.W. It
resembles Danish East Anglia rather than the district of the Five
Boroughs and it is possible that the boundary of Guthrum's East Anglian
kingdom, which is only carried as far as Stony Stratford in the peace
of Alfred and Guthrum, really ran along Watling Street for a few miles,
giving two-thirds of that county to the East Anglian realm.
Northumbria was governed by a succession of kings. The Five Boroughs
formed a loose confederation, and there can be no question that the
districts which 'obeyed' (_v. supra_, p. 31) the boroughs of Derby,
Leicester, Nottingham, Lincoln (and Stamford) and Northampton form the
modern counties named from these towns. It is also to Danish influence
direct or indirect that we owe the similar organisation of the counties
of Huntingdonshire, Cambridgeshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire in
the old East Anglian kingdom. Each of these counties had a _jarl_ or
earl, whose headquarters were at the 'borough.' He summoned the _here_,
whether for political or military purposes, and when these counties
passed once more under English rule he fulfilled the functions of the
older _ealdorman_.
In East Anglia, apart from place-names (_v. supra_, p. 129) and carucal
assessment in Norfolk and Suffolk, we are left with the boundaries
of Guthrum's kingdom and with various miscellaneous evidence for
estimating the extent of Scandinavian influence. There is a curious
'hundredus Dacorum' (cf. _supra_, p. 10) in Hertfordshire, while the
_Historia Eliensis_ and other documents tend to show the presence of a
strong Danish element in the population and social organisation of the
districts around Cambridge. The kingship of East Anglia came to an end
early in the 10th century, and it is probable that its organisation was
then changed to one resembling that of the Five Boroughs, viz. a number
of districts grouped around central 'boroughs,' which afterwards became
counties, except in the older divisions of Norfolk and Suffolk.
A careful study of Domesday and other authorities reveals many other
features of interest in our social system which were due to Viking
influence. Certain types of manorial structure are specially common
in the Danelagh. Manor and vill are by no means identical, indeed
several manors are included under one vill. Very frequent is the type
which consists in a central manor with sokeland appurtenant. In the
Danelagh there was a large number of small freeholders and the free
peasant class was much more numerous than in Anglo-Saxon England. These
districts stand in clear contrast to the strongly manorialised southern
counties and they were not feudalised to any appreciable extent before
the Norman conquest. When that system was imposed we often find single
knight's fees having to be taken over by entire communities of sokemen.
The 'holds' of Northumbria, who rank next after the earls, and the
'drengs' of Cumberland, Westmorland, Lancashire, Northumberland and
Durham, are also of Scandinavian origin. The 'dreng' was 'a free
servant of the king endowed with lands' and the name still survives in
the Yorkshire place-name Dringhouses.
The legal instinct was strong in the Scandinavian mind and English
law bears deep marks of its influence. The very word 'law' itself is
of Scandinavian origin and has replaced the English 'doom.' The chief
judicial authority in Lincoln, Stamford, Cambridge, Chester and York
was in the hands of twelve _lagmen_ or _judices_. These 'lawmen' (_v.
supra_, p. 103) though they had judicial authority were not chosen
by the king or by popular election. Their position was hereditary.
Of special interest are the '12 senior thanes' of Aethelred's laws
for the Five Boroughs enacted at Wantage in 997. They have to come
forward in the court of every wapentake and to swear that they will
not accuse wrongly any innocent man or conceal any guilty one. The
exact force of this enactment has been a matter of dispute--whether the
thanes simply bore witness to the personal status of the accused, thus
enabling the court to determine the ordeal through which he should be
put, or whether we have an anticipation of the system of presentment
by jury. Whatever may be the exact truth there can be little doubt,
says Dr Vinogradoff, that such a custom prepared the way for the
indictment jury of the 12th century. The same author attributes to
Danish influence a new conception of crime. It is no longer merely a
breach of the peace or the result of a feud, to be settled by monetary
compensation, it is a breach of that conception of honour which binds
together military societies. The criminal is now branded as _nithing_,
a man unworthy of comradeship with his fellow-warriors.
Unfortunately it is only within the last few years that the question
of Danish influence on our social, political and legal systems has
been treated at all seriously and much work still remains to be done,
but we can already see that the Danes affected English life far more
deeply than a superficial glance might suggest. Doubtless the Danish
invasions struck a heavy blow at learning and literature, a blow from
the effects of which not even the heroic activities of an Alfred could
save them, but there can be no question that in the development of town
life, in the promotion of trade, in the improvement of organisation and
administration, in the modification of legal procedure the invaders
conferred great benefits on the country as a whole.
FOOTNOTES:
[15] In Scotland it is used of a hollow pass in a ridge.
[16] The _ore_ as a unit of weight for silver is of Scandinavian
origin. In some districts it was of the value of 16 pence, in others of
20 pence, and eight _ores_ went to the _mark_.