Hi, I have completed my master thesis on the relation of Old Nordic
and English only recently. My advice to those interested in Nordic
loan words is "Scandinavian Loan Words in Middle English" by Erik
Björkman. The book is quite old (1900), but is always cited as an
authority. It has been very helpful to me, since it does not only
name the loan words that are doubtlessly attested for English, but
also discusses those which cannot be clearly assigned to one
language. Furthermore, Björkman explains the rules (most of which are
based on phonological knowledge) by which Scandinavian loan words can
be identified. Despite the title, also Old English occurrences are
listed and discussed.
I hope this helps those interested in the matter.

See you, Lily




--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "William Calhoun"
<kubrick36@...> wrote:

> I agree. English is for the most part West Germanic and we do have

a ton of

> words from Old French but English also has a surprising number of

Norse

> words as well. I would just like to know that number.
> -William
>
>
> >From: "xigung" <xigung@...>
> >Reply-To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com
> >To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com
> >Subject: [norse_course] Re: Old Norse in English
> >Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2004 17:26:46 -0000
> >
> >--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "William Calhoun"
> ><kubrick36@...> wrote:
> > >
> > > Sorry if my original question was a bit ambiguous. I meant: How
> >much of
> > > common English is rooted in Old Norse. It would be a bit

foolish to

> >search
> > > all scientific names which are conventionally composed of Latin

or

> >Greek
> > > parts. Rather, in everyday English, the Old Norse word is

often the

> > > preferred word in speech: we say 'die' rather

than 'expire,' 'raise'

> >rather
> > > than 'elevate,' and 'narwhal' rather than 'Monodon monoceros.'
> >Thank you
> > > very much for your help. I always appreciate your input.
> > > -William Calhoun
> >
> >
> >
> >I recall word counts in Jan de Vries' dictionary,
> >that ought to give a good idea of approximate
> >percentages. (though the counts may go the wrong
> >way, I am not sure right now)
> >To 'raise' from Old norse? Perhaps. But it is also
> >a more general Germanic word. For example OHG risan,
> >or Gothic ur-reisan.
> >Also 'finger' was mentioned. But finger is also in
> >all the West-Germanic dialects that I know of.
> >(English being one of them) Also in Gothic figgrs.
> >'Knife' might make a case more clear cut, since
> >German has 'Messer' here. But Webster's list
> >'knif' also as Middle Low German, and does not
> >mention it as being from Norse. (OE cnif)
> >Personally, I only know very few clear cut examples.
> >One seems to be 'to cast'.
> >
> >My impression is that English is mostly West Germanic
> >with a lot of French loans.
> >
> >Xigung
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > >

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