Viking place names
Take the Viking place name test
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 |
|---|---|
| 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. Hover over the place name for the answer.
AINSTY - BECKHOLME - KIRKBY - FELKIRK - AINGARTH - SCARGILL - SKELDALE - KIRKTHORPE - THRELKELD - BECKTOFTE
These are all typically 'northcountry' names and would be most unusual in the south of England. Where 'gill' appears at the front of a name it is usually a personal name and is likely to be Saxon (e.g. Gillingham).