Language Fun!

Viking Place Name Quiz

Many places in Britain still have Viking names. They are particularly common in northern and eastern England because the Vikings settled there in large numbers. For example, WITHERSLACK in Cumbria comes from vithar (wood) + slacki (shallow valley) so it means "wood in a hollow".

Here are some Viking words and their meanings (the spellings have been simplified !):

Word Meaning Word Meaning
AIN one/solitary BECK stream
BY farm DALE valley
FELL hill GARTH enclosure (usually a grass paddock near to a farmhouse)
GILL/GHYLL ravine, narrow steep-sided valley HOLME island or meadow field in marshland
KIRK church KELD well/spring
SCAR outcrop of bare rock SKEL spill/flood
STY pathway THORP(E) outlying farm
THREL slave TOFT cottage/house-site

Now see if you can "translate" the following place-names.

AINSTY - BECKHOLME - KIRKBY - FELKIRK - AINGARTH - SCARGILL - SKELDALE - KIRKTHORPE - BECKTOFTE

Click here to find the answers.