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That's Viking You're Speaking!

Name the RANDOM English words which have their roots in Old Norse.
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overtired
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Last updated: September 16, 2023
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First submittedApril 18, 2023
Times taken3,847
Average score70.0%
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Hint
English Word                                                   Norse root
S
detective
sleuth sloð (trail)
C
a shepherd's staff
crook krokr (hook-shaped weapon)
G
to obtain
get geta, gat (got), gittan (gotten)
S
walk unsteadily
stagger stakra (to push, cause to reel)
R
rocky uneven terrain quality
rugged rogg (shaggy tuft)
C
throw a net
cast kasta (to throw)
M
oppressively humid, close
muggy mugga (drizzle, mist)
B
the beginning of life
birth byrðr
S
ignore or spurn disdainfully
snub snubba (to curse)
B
male cow
bull boli
W
need, desire
want vanta (to lack)
S
something to sit on
seat sæti (seat, position)
E
type of duck used for down
eider eider
S
cut of beef
steak steik, steikja (to fry)
B
frenzied, running amok
berserk berserkr (frenzied warriors 'bear-shirt')
I
irritate, annoy
irk yrkja (to work)
S
half a dress
skirt skyrta (shirt)
S
cranium
skull skulle (head)
L
rule, regulation
law *lagu
W
glass opening in wall
window vindauga (wind-eye)
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11 Comments
+6
Level 90
Apr 18, 2023
Interesting!
+6
Level 88
Apr 18, 2023
Yeah, I was quite fascinated to see how many common words came to English via the Viking invasions and rule. Makes sense, but I feel like it doesn't get mentioned much.
+5
Level 78
Apr 19, 2023
Nice! I must say I am fascinated as well. Nominated
+1
Level 89
Sep 22, 2023
Ugh. I read “a present” as “at present” and never got it.
+2
Level 73
Sep 23, 2023
Apparently quite a few of these (such as race) were already cognate to their Old English equivalents, which makes sense given they're both Germanic languages.
+2
Level 88
Aug 1, 2024
Sure, some of them had mixed roots given in the source.

Other common words were very different in Old English, for instance leg (leggr in Old Norse) which was sceanca, the root of the modern word shank.

+1
Level 58
Aug 1, 2024
Wow, what an interesting quiz! Nominated!
+1
Level 68
Aug 1, 2024
+1! I enjoyed this
+1
Level 69
Dec 4, 2024
Nice, you should add 'window'
+1
Level 88
Dec 4, 2024
It’s already there. There are 140 different possible answers!
+1
Level 56
Jan 17, 2025
Never heard the word "ombudsman" in my 41 years of life