by Peter Fox
Jötunn
In Norse mythology, a race of giant, nature spirits with superhuman strength. Trolls belong to the Jötunn race. Their name means “devourer”. ON.
Jötnar
A group of Jötunn. Generally something best avoided. ON.
Jötnahreðr
A Jötunn’s penis.
Karve
An inshore pleasure craft; a yacht. Wealthy Norsemen used them to show off, and some were very ornately carved (carving was the bling of the day) and very much prized. Much like the supercars of wealthy young footballers and social media stars today. ON.
Kist
From ON ‘kista,’ being a chest or trunk for storing clothing or linen.
Knarr
ON word for a cargo ship, essentially the same open-decked design as a longship but with wider and deeper sides suitable for carrying cargo across the open seas. Also spelt Knørr in some sources.
Kuk
ON slang meaning ‘cock.’
Kuksuger
ON slur meaning ‘cock-sucker.’
Kukskalle
ON slur meaning ‘dick-head.’
Kuktryne
ON slur meaning ‘cock-face.’
Liðasblot
Viking late summer (harvest) festival, giving thanks to Urda (Ertha) for her bounty. A “Blot” represents an offering made to the gods. It can take the form of an animal, food, or other goods. In Norse rituals, the people accept and eat the offering. Therefore, a feast is usually associated with a Blot. ON.
Longship
The Viking warrior’s sleek means of passage to the southern lands for raiding. ON = ‘Langskip.’
Midgard
‘Middle Earth’: the place where mortal humans live. The Norse believed that the universe was comprised of nine worlds or realms, of which Midgard was one. ON.
Mooncalf
The result of a monstrous birth. The term derives from the formerly widespread superstition, present in many European folk traditions, that such malformed creatures were the product of the sinister influence of the Moon on foetal development.
Muspelheim
One of the two primordial Norse realms, Muspelheim is the Realm of Fire, land of the fire giants. Not a very nice place. The embers from the fires of Muspelheim formed the stars in the night sky. ON.
Mynster
or mynstre
In the 9th century, a mynster was a monastic settlement, centred around a church, in which the community devoted their life to Christian observance. A mynster may have been either a community of monks (male) or nuns (female). Over time, these monastic settlements often grew into towns in their own right, as the monasteries rose in wealth and stature. Scirburne (Sherborne) is one such example. The modern term ‘Minster’ to describe a very important church (e.g. Westminster) is derived from this term. OE.
Náströnd
In Norse mythology, Náströnd (“The Shore of Corpses”) is part of the underworld of Hel where perjurers, murderers, adulterers and oath-breakers are punished. ON.
Nidhogg
The literal meaning of its name being ‘Malice-striker,’ Nidhogg is a mythological Norse dragon/serpent monster, who gnaws at a root of the world tree, Yggdrasil. Nidhogg is also said to preside over a part of the underworld called Náströnd (“The Shore of Corpses”). ON.
Niflheim
One of the two primordial Norse realms, Niflheim is the realm of ice and cold, with the frozen river of Elivágar and the well of Hvergelmir, from which come all the rivers. It is the abode of the Goddess Hel, who presides over those poor Viking souls who are unfortunate enough not to die a heroic or notable death (and thus were refused entry into Valhalla). ON.
Night Mara
The Mara are female changelings (trolls or demons) of the night who delight in sneaking through the tiniest cracks into their victims’ homes and tormenting them with frightening dreams. From this is derived our modern term ‘nightmare.’ ON.
Nine daughters
These are the nine daughters of Ægir and Rán, a giant and goddess who both represent the sea in Norse mythology. The names of the nine daughters are poetic terms for different characteristics of ocean waves, such as ‘frothing wave,’ and ‘foam-fleck’.
Nisean
Now-extinct breed of warhorse from the middle-east (Persia). They were highly prized in the ancient world, and the Nisean was the mount of the nobility in ancient Persia. The closest living relative is thought to be the Akhal-Teke breed from Turkmenistan. The Persian heavy cavalry used these armoured horses to great effect, and Sigvald really did sail all the way to Constantinople to purchase the beast (along with his Persian stablemaster Myran) for Rathulf.
Njörun
Njörun is the Norse goddess of dreams and of the night to the dwarves and Dark Elves of Svartalfaheim (ON literally ‘home of the black elves’). ON.
Norse
Norsemen
The name of the people who lived during the Viking Age primarily in the area covered by modern-day Norway and Iceland (but also settlers
Northman
One of the many names used by the medieval historians to describe the Viking raiders from the North. Also ‘Norseman’ and ‘Norman.’ Latinized as ‘Nortmannus’ (recorded in Medieval Latin, 9th century).
Odin
In Norse mythology, Odin is the father of all Gods and men. He is associated with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, battle, sorcery, poetry, frenzy, and the runic alphabet, and is the husband of the goddess Frigg. His two ravens, Huginn and Munin (Norse, meaning ‘thought’ and ‘memory’ respectively) fly over the world daily and return to tell him everything that has happened in Midgard. He is also accompanied by two wolves, Geri and Freki (Norse, meaning ‘greedy one’ and ‘ravenous one’ respectively).
Qlfuss
ON word for a drunkard.
Pikk
ON slang meaning ‘dick.’
Rævpuler
ON slang (very crude) for a gay person.
Ragr
ON word meaning ‘unmanly’ or ‘cowardly.’
Rasshull
ON slang translating to ‘arsehole.’ ON.
Rassragr
ON slang (very crude) for a man who allowed himself to be sodomised. Literally means ‘arse-unmanly.’ This was one of the most grievous insults that could be dealt in Viking times.
Ragnarök /
Ragnarøkkr
The Norse “Fate of the Gods” or “Twilight of the Gods” respectively, culminating in a final great battle between the forces of good and evil, and in which the world is destroyed, and a new world order is born. ON.
Runes / Runestones
The Scandinavians did have a written alphabet – known as the runic alphabet, or fuþark – despite not being avid recorders of their exploits in the same way as other European cultures of the time (for example by the monks of Wessex and Francia in Latin). Instead, the Northmen tended to use their runic alphabet to put names on things, to record places of burial, or to commemorate a significant person or event. Some sources also suggest that the runes were also used for divination and fortune-telling, both of which were everyday activities in Rathulf’s times. In the absence of modern science, divine influences were sought to explain most everything that existed and happened in day-to-day life.
Sansorthinn / Sansorðinn
An extremely offensive insult in Norse–considered by many to be the most offensive slur possible–meaning the receiver of a homosexual act. ON.
Sard, Sarð,
Sarding
OE profanity, predating the word ‘f*ck’ but having the same meaning.
Saxon /
Anglo-Saxon
Following the departure of the Romans from British shores in 410AD, a new group of invaders began to harry the island, sailing across the channel from what is now Germany and Denmark. They were the Angles, Jutes and Saxons, and it is after the Angles that England is named. These ‘Anglo-Saxons’ gradually conquered the Romano-Brit
ish tribes over the following two centuries, so that by the time Rathulf was born in 807AD, most of southern Britain was under Anglo-Saxon control. Only the far western corner remained in British hands, but it would not be long before this remnant kingdom of Britons–known as Dumnonia–would face the Anglo-Saxons’ wrath. In Rathulf’s day, the Anglo-Saxons were more commonly referred to collectively as ‘the Saxons.’ (Much as the Viking invaders from Norway and Denmark were collectively labelled ‘The Danes’ by the Anglo-Saxon chroniclers.) There remains considerable debate amongst academics as to whether the broad-brush term ‘Anglo-Saxon’ is an appropriate label to apply to the diverse peoples who raided and settled the British Isles at this time, and who subsequently went on to establish independent kingdoms across the land. Most likely those people would have referred to themselves by their kingdom name, such as “I am Mercian,” or, in the case of Wessex, “Wesseaxna.” It was the Wessex King Alfred the Great who began to collectively call the Anglo Saxons ‘the anglcyn’ (a precursor to ‘the English’).
Scortum
Latin term, meaning sex slave or prostitute. L.
Serð mik!
ON profanity, for all manner of strong emotions, from anger and pain to joy and surprise. Translates to ‘f*ck me!’ ON.
Sexæring
Open rowing boat with three pairs of oars, sometimes carrying a removable mast and sail. From ON = ‘Six-oared’.
Shieling
An area of summer pasture used for cattle or sheep, often with a shepherd’s hut or shelter. ON, but in common use in Cumbria and Scotland to this day for upland pastures, usually in a sheltered location.
Skiff
Small inshore sailing boat, usually crewed by one or two people.
Skítr
Excrement. The Norse equivalent of the exclamation “shit!” ON.
Skogsnymfen
ON = Forest nymph. They appear in the form of small, beautiful women with a seemingly friendly temperament. However, those who are enticed into following her into the forest are never seen again.
Sköll and Hati
Sköll (ON = “One Who Mocks”) and Hati (ON = “One Who Hates”) are two wolves who daily pursue Sol and Mani, the sun and moon, through the sky in the hope of devouring them. At Ragnarök, the end of the world, they catch their prey and the sky and earth darken as a result.
Sleipnir
Odin’s mythical eight-legged horse. ON.
Slippy
ON slang/nickname for Odin’s horse, Sleipnir.
Sōlmōnath
The Month of February (approximate) in the Saxon calendar. OE.
Sorðit
Norse profanity, similar to “f*ck”. ON.
Starboard
Viking ships did not have rudders of the type we typically see on the stern of boats today; rather, they attached a broad paddle-like oar–called the ‘steering board’–to the outside right-hand side of the hull at the stern; thus lending its name to that side of all ships today (starboard). ON = stýri (rudder) + borð (side of a ship).
Strake
A horizontal line of planks that make up part of a longship’s hull. Longships were ‘clinker-built’, which means that the adjoining strakes were held together on an overlap by rivets. In more recent times, the topmost strake on a ship’s hull became known as the ‘gunwale’ because in medieval times this was where guns were attached. Vikings didn’t have guns of course, and in their days it was called the ‘Ripr’. In larger fighting longships, the topmost strake was constructed with an outer plank so that the Viking’s round shields could be slotted into the gap for stowage while at sea, hence the term ‘shield-rail.’
Tabard
A simple, sleeveless overtunic or heavy overmantel, carrying the colours and/or crest of the wearer’s thegn or fyrd. Generally worn over a tunic or armour.
Thegn
Anglo-Saxon term, meaning “servant, attendant, retainer.” It generally referred to an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Saxon England. Commonly a thegn was a Lord who held an estate and had his own retainers (a ‘fyrd’) who could be called to arms in times of war or trouble.
Thor
One of the Aesir–the principal Norse Gods–Thor is considered to be the protector of all Midgard. Thor is strength personified, and he wields the mighty hammer Mjöllnir. His battle chariot is drawn by two goats (named Tanngrisnir or “teeth-barer/snarler” and Tanngnjóstr or “teeth-grinder”), and his hammer Mjöllnir causes the thunder and lightning that rumbles and flashes across the sky.
Thrall
ON word for ‘slave.’ Slavery was an everyday norm in Viking times, with all cultures and kingdoms maintaining an active trade in people as saleable commodities. Slaves were seen as little better than cattle–advanced domestic animals at best–who typically lived in the darkest end of the longhouse with the other domestic beasts. If slaves did not behave properly then they were beaten. An owner could punish his slaves as much as he wanted. Slaves’ bodies were also available for sexual exploitation. Historical and archaeological evidence suggests that the Vikings were not particularly kind to their slaves, but that could also be said of their Saxon and British counterparts.
Tiller
The handle on a ship’s steering board or rudder.
Twattle
One of Sigvald’s favourite phrases, meaning: Nonsense!
Ull / Ullr
A winter god of the bow and snowshoes, amongst other associations. Very little is actually known about Ull, but he seems to have been quite prominent in early Scandinavian mythology; his stardom fading during the later Viking Age.
Valhalla
Hall of the fallen heroes, located in Asgard. All good Viking warriors desired entry to Valhalla when they died, for there they would fight and feast into glorious eternity.
Valkyries
Valkyries are the warrior maidens who attended Odin, ruler of the gods. The Valkyries rode through the air in brilliant armour, directed battles, distributed death lots among the warriors, and conducted the souls of slain heroes to Valhalla, the great hall of Odin. Their leader was Brunhilde.
Varangian Guard
The name of the fabled force of Viking bodyguards to the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Emperor, based in Konstantinoupolis, who were sworn to protect the emperor in return for fame and fortune (i.e. they were mercenaries). The name comes from the ON word ‘Væringi,’ which itself is probably derived from the ON word ‘vār’, meaning ‘pledge’. The Varangians were predominantly drawn from the ‘Rus’ Vikings (who originally came from Sweden).
Vigrid
In Norse mythology, Vigrid was the vast battlefield on which the final fight between the gods and the giants, Ragnarök, was fought.
Viking
Strictly speaking, a person from Scandinavia (modern Sweden, Norway and Denmark) who partook in ship-borne raids and piracy (to ‘go a-Viking’). However we tend to use the catch-all term ‘Viking’ to mean anyone from that part of the world during a particular period in history known as the Viking Age. There were three main groups of Vikings: the Norse, Rus and Danes. Rathulf was raised by Norse Vikings, i.e. folk who lived in the fjordlands of present-day Norway. The Norse tended to raid, and ultimately settle in, the western coastal parts of Britain (such as the Hebrides and the Lake District) and eastern coast of Ireland. By contrast, the people from what is mostly present-day Sweden were known as the Rus, and it is after these people that Russia is named; for these intrepid explorers tended to head east and inland over the great rivers like the Volga, eventually reaching Konstantinoupolis by that route. Meanwhile the Danes (from their namesake country) raided the eastern and southern coasts of Britain and also the land now occupied by Germany, France and Spain, sometimes venturing far inland in Europe where the rivers would allow it. In many of the early Saxon and English texts the Viking raiders are all referred to as ‘the Danes,’ regardless of their actual origin (they all looked terrifyingly similar to the poor monks who were often subject to the raids).
Viking Age
The period of European history generally defined as beginning in 793 with an attack by Vikings on the monastery of Lindisfarne in present-day Northumbria, and ending in 1066, with the invasion of England by William the Conqueror. The Battle of Hastings marked the beginning of the Norman period of British history; Norman referring to William’s Viking (‘Northman’) ancestry.
Weala
Wealas
Wealh
‘Weala’ (and its variant spellings) is a somewhat derogatory Saxon word meaning ‘slaves, foreigners or strangers.’ Wealas, or Wales as we know it today, was the term many Saxons used to describe native Britons, which is why, unsurprisingly, folks from this country prefer the original British term Cymru (pronounced ‘cum-ree’) to describe themselves today.
✽ ✽ ✽
As a work of historical fiction, Wolf of Dumnonia, and indeed the whole Wolves of Dumnonia series, is the result of many years’ research into the period we know as the Viking Age. As always, I apologise for any historical errors or inaccuracies that have crept into the story, and I’m happy to receive your comments and corrections at:
www.wolvesofdumnonia.com
Author’s Note
Wherever possible I have endeavoured to remain true to history in these books, but there may be one or two details which may not be 100% accurate, either because the historical record is unclear, or I have simply got it wrong. For this I apologise; it is in the most part unintentional.
