Old Norse for Beginners: Viking Words, Phrases, and the English Words They Left Behind
2026-07-21
Old Norse was the language of the Vikings — spoken across Scandinavia and the North Atlantic from roughly the 8th to the 14th century. It's the ancestor of modern Icelandic, Norwegian, Danish, and Swedish, and it left a surprising number of words inside everyday English.
Want to convert a phrase right away? Our Old Norse Translator (linked below) handles common words and phrases in both directions. To write it the way a Viking would have carved it, pair it with the Runic Translator — and see our guide to Elder Futhark runes for the full alphabet.
How to say hello in Old Norse
The standard greeting was 'Heill' (to a man) or 'Heil' (to a woman) — literally 'healthy, whole', the same root as English 'hale' and 'whole'. A fuller version is 'Heill ok sæll' — 'healthy and happy'. To raise a toast, say 'Skál!' — still used across Scandinavia today.
Essential Old Norse vocabulary
The words you'll meet first in the sagas and in Viking history:
- víkingr — a Viking; one who goes raiding. 'Fara í víking' meant to go on an expedition.
- jarl — chieftain, earl (the English title comes straight from it).
- konungr — king.
- skjaldmær — shieldmaiden.
- berserkr — berserker, a warrior who fought in a trance-like fury.
- þing — assembly; the governing meeting of free men. Iceland's parliament, the Alþingi, still bears the name.
- dreki — dragon, and by extension a dragon-headed longship.
- Valhǫll — Valhalla, 'hall of the slain', where Odin hosts fallen warriors.
- ragnarǫk — the doom of the gods; the end of the world in Norse myth.
- orðstírr — word-fame; the reputation that outlives you. The Hávamál says cattle die and kin die, but word-fame never dies.
- vinr — friend.
- skáld — poet.
English words that came from Old Norse
When Norse settlers colonized parts of England from the 9th century, their language merged into English. Everyday words of Norse origin include sky, egg, knife, window, husband, law, anger, cake, ransack, and berserk — and even the pronouns they, them, and their. English didn't just borrow decoration from Old Norse; it borrowed core grammar.
Four English weekdays are named for Norse gods: Tuesday (Týr), Wednesday (Odin/Woden), Thursday (Thor), and Friday (Frigg).
| English | Old Norse |
|---|---|
| Hello (to a man) | Heill |
| Hello (to a woman) | Heil |
| Cheers! | Skál! |
| Friend | Vinr |
| King | Konungr |
| Dragon | Dreki |
| Word-fame never dies | Orðstírr deyr aldregi |
Frequently asked questions
- What language did the Vikings speak?
- Old Norse — specifically Old West Norse in Norway and Iceland, and Old East Norse in Denmark and Sweden. The dialects were mutually intelligible; speakers called their shared tongue the 'dǫnsk tunga' (Danish tongue).
- Is Old Norse still spoken?
- Not as a living daily language, but modern Icelandic is so conservative that Icelanders can still read medieval sagas in the original with modest effort.
- Can I translate English to Old Norse?
- Yes — our free Old Norse translator converts common English words and phrases to Old Norse instantly, entirely in your browser, with a glossary showing each mapping.
- What alphabet did Old Norse use?
- Early Old Norse was carved in runes — the Younger Futhark, which evolved from the Elder Futhark. After Christianization, it was written in the Latin alphabet with extra letters like þ (thorn) and ð (eth).