The Matter of the North

Posted on 20 September 2016

Dr Matthew Townend describes Viking influence on the English language in Melvyn Bragg's new Radio 4 series, 'The Matter of the North'.

In programme 3 of the series, entitled 'Invasion: Vikings and Normans', Melvyn Bragg tells the stories of two sets of Vikings who left a permanent mark on the North of England - the Scandinavians who came from the East, and the Norsemen who had alchemised into Normans, and came from the South.

The Vikings shaped the English language and it is suggested that the key to their linguistic imprint on the North is likely to have been down to Viking women, as well as men, settling in this region, passing the language onto their children. Evidence of Viking presence persists today: scree, fell, gable, gill, tarns, rake, horse, house, husband, wife and egg. All Norse words.

The North then became victim to their distant cousins the Normans, who swept northwards with savage force, laying waste to much of it - the infamous harrying of the north.

You can read more about, and listen to, this programme via the BBC website.