CHAPTER VI
Form Words.
If further evidence were needed of the inti-mate relation that existed between the two languages, it would be found in the fact that the Scandinavian words that made their way into English were not confined to nouns and adjectives and verbs, but extended to pronouns, prepositions, adverbs, and even a part of the verb to be. Such parts of speech are not often transferred from one language to another. The pronouns they, their, and them are Scandinavian. Old English used hie, hicra, him (see above, p. 68). Possibly the Scandinavian words were felt to be less subject to confusion with forms of the singular. Moreover, though these are the most important, they arc not the only Scandinavian pronouns to be found in English. A late Old English inscription contains the Old Norse form hamэm for him. Both and same, though not primarily pronouns, have pronominal uses and are of Scandinavian origin. The preposition till was at one time widely used in the sense of to, besides having its present meaning, and fro, likewise in common use formerly as the equivalent of from, survives in the phrase to and fro. Both words are from the Scandinavian. From the same source comes the modern form of the conjunction though, the Old Norse equivalent of O.E. heah. The Scandinavian use of at as a sign of the infinitive is to be seen in the English ado (at-do) and was more widely used in this construction in Middle English. The adverbs aloft, athwart, aye (ever), and seemly, and the earlier hehen (hence) and hwepen (whence) are all derived from the Scandinavian Finally the present plural are of the verb to be is a most significant adoption. While we aron was the Old English form in the north, the West Saxon plural was syndon (cf. German sind) and the form are in Modern English undoubtedly owes its extension to the influence of the Danes. When we remember that in the expression I they are both the pronoun and the verb are Scandinavian we/ realize once more how intimately the language of the invaders has entered into English.
Scandinavian Influence outside the Standard Speech. We should miss the full significance of the Scandinavian influence if we failed to recognize the extent to which it is found outside the standard speech. Our older literature and the modern dialects are full of words which are not now in ordinary use. The ballads offer many examples. When the Geste of Robin Hood begins "Lythe and listin, gcntilmen" it has for its first word an Old Norse syn-onym for listen. When a little later on the Sheriff of Nottingham says to Little John "Say me nowe, wight yonge man, what is nowe thy name?" he uses the O.N. vigt (strong, courageous). In the ballad of Captain Car the line "Busk and bowne, my merry men all" contains two words from the same source meaning pre-pare. The word gar, meaning to cause or make one do something, is of frequent occurrence. Thus, in Chevy Chace we are told of Douglas' men that "Many a doughete the(y) garde to dy"--i.e., they made many a doughty man die. In Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne the Virgin Mary is addressed: "Ah, deere Lady! sayd Robin Hoode, Thou art both mother and may!" in which may is a Scandinavian form for »note/. Bessie Bell and Mary Gray, in the ballad of that name, "bigget a bower on yon burn-brae", employ-ing in the process another word of Norse origin, biggen (to build), a word also used by Burns in To a Mouse: "Thy wee bit housie, too, in ruin! . . . And naething now to big a new ane." In Burns and Scott we find the comparative worse in the form waur: "A" the warld kens that they maun either marry or do waur" (Old Mortality), also an old word (O.N. verre) more com-monly found in the form used by Chaucer in the Boofc of the Duchess: "Alias! how myghte I fare werre?" Examples could be (brock or badger); a group of words for geographical features which had not played much part in the experience of the Anglo-Saxons in their continental home--crag, luh (lake), cumb (val-ley), and torr1 (outcropping or projecting rock, peak), the two latter chiefly as elements in place-names; possibly the words dun (dark colored), and ass (ultimately from Latin asinus). Words of the second group, those that came into English through Celtic Christianity, are likewise few in number. In 563 St. Columba had come with twelve monks from Ireland to preach to his kinsmen in Britain. On the little island of lona off the west coast of Scotland he established a monastery and made it his headquarters for the remaining thirty-four years of his life. From this center many missionaries went out, founded other religious houses, and did much to spread Christian doctrine and learning. As a result of their activity the words ancor (hermit), dry (magician), cine (a gathering of parchment leaves), cross, chtgge (bell), gabolrind (compass), mind (diadem), and perhaps stxr (history) and cur-sian (to curse) came into at least partial use in Old English.
It does not appear that many of these Celtic words attained a very permanent place in the English language. Some soon died out and others acquired only local currency. The relation of the two races was not such as to bring about any considerable in-fluence on English life or on English speech. The surviving Celts were a submerged race. Had they, like the Romans, possessed a superior culture, something valuable to give the Teutons, their influence might have been greater. But the Anglo-Saxon found little occasion to adopt Celtic modes of expression and the Celtic influence remains the least of the early influences which affected the English language.
It is believed that Denmark was largely settled by Germanic people from present-day Sweden in the fifth and sixth centuries. Their language became the mother-tongue of present-day Scandinavian languages. By 800, a strong central authority appears to have been established in Jutland and the Danes were beginning to look beyond their own territory for land, trade and plunder.
Norway had been settled over many centuries by Germanic peoples from Denmark and Sweden who had established farming and fishing communities around its coasts and lakes. The mountainous terrain and the fjords formed strong natural boundaries and the communities remained independent of each other, unlike the situation in Denmark which is lowland. By 800, it is known that some 30 petty kingdoms existed in Norway.
The sea was the easiest way of communication between the Norwegian kingdoms and the outside world. It was in the eighth century that ships of war began to be built and sent on raiding expeditions to initiate the Viking Age, but the northern sea rovers were traders, colonizers and explorers as well as plunderers.
Prior to 1000, details of Swedish events are obscure. It is known that there were two tribes in the country during Roman times: the Suiones (Swedes) in the north Svealand; and the Gothones (Goths), in the south (hence called Gothia).
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