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Vikings

<h2>CHAPTER XI SCANDINAVIAN INFLUENCE IN ENGLAND</h2> 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. [124] -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. fjǫrðr, 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. [125] -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. [126] 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[127] 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[128] '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[129] 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[130] 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,[131] 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[132] 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[133] 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. [134] 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[135] 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,[136] 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[137] 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. <div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> <div class="footnote"> [15] In Scotland it is used of a hollow pass in a ridge. </div> <div class="footnote"> [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. </div> </div> <hr class="chap" /> [138] <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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