The Norse people traveled abroad as Vikings and Varangians. As such, they often named the locations and peoples they visited with Old Norse words unrelated to the local endonyms. Some of these names have been acquired from sagas, runestones or Byzantine chronicles.
List
A
Aberdeen.Anderson, Joseph (Ed.) (1893) Orkneyinga Saga. Translated by Jón A. Hjaltalin & Gilbert Goudie. Edinburgh. James Thin and Mercat Press (1990 reprint).
A Varangian fort near .
Staraya Ladoga in Russia. The hypothetical original Finnic name is ("lowland river").
"water nymph island", "Erik's island". Eriska, Scotland.
"River home". A capital of the Goths, according to the Hervarar saga.
"East skerry". Auskerry, Orkney
"East way". The Baltic lands.
B
Verona. Bertangaland Brittany. Mentioned in the Þiðreks saga. Bjarmaland The southern shores of the White Sea and the basin of the Northern Dvina. Many historians assume the terms and to derive from the Uralic word perm, which refers to "travelling merchants" and represents the Old Permic culture.
"Bear islands". Possibly Disko Island off Greenland.The old viking name of Disko Island is indeed Bear Island (Bjørn Øya) Arctic Research in Disko Bay blakumen or blökumenn Romanians (Vlachs) or Cumans. Blokumannaland may be the lands south of the Lower Danube.
Isle of Bute, Scotland. Βουσεγραδε Vyshhorod bretar Welsh people
D Danparstaþir A river near Árheimar, according to the Hervarar saga. Identified by some as the Dnieper river. * "Giant-lifted". Proposed etymology for Dollywaggon Pike, England.A. Harry Griffin. The Guardian, Country Diary. (4 July 1994). Dómisnes Cape Kolka in Latvia Dunheith The plains of the Danube.
E
"Eric's Isle". Eriskay, Scotland. *Elfeng, *Elfangr or *Elfing "River flowing through boggy meadows". Elbląg river in Northwest Poland.
F Fetlafjørðr Betanzos Estuary finnar Sami people , Related to ("spear"). The Franks and the Frankish kingdom. Furðustrandir "Wonderstrands". An uncertain stretch of coastline in North America.
G Gandvik A dangerous sea, the Baltic Sea, the Gulf of Bothnia or the White Sea. Garðaríki, Garðaveldi "the kingdom of cities". Kievan Rus gryting "greut-" may mean "gravel, grit, earth". The Ostrogoths, according to the Hervarar saga. Gutagard The trading post of the merchants from Visby (in Gotland) in Veliky Novgorod.
H Haddingjar Related to Old Icelandic haddr meaning "woman's hair". The Hasdingi Vandals. Harvaða fjöllum The Carpathians. *Heiðabýr, ᚼᛅᛁᚦᛅ᛭ᛒᚢ "Heath-settlement". Hedeby, a Danish trading settlement in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Helluland "Land of Flat Rocks" or "Land of Flat Stones". The first of the three lands the Greenland Norse found in North America. According to a footnote in Arthur Middleton Reeves's The Norse Discovery of America (1906), "the whole of the northern coast of America, west of Greenland, was called by the ancient Icelandic geographers Helluland it Mikla, or "Great Helluland"; and the island of Newfoundland simply Helluland, or Litla Helluland." Most scholars agree that Helluland corresponds to Baffin Island in the present-day Canadian territory of Nunavut.Jónas Kristjánsson et al. (2012) "Falling into Vínland", Acta Archaeologica 83, pp. 145-177 , Isle of Arran.
"hilt land". ShetlandHjaltland – Shetland – ‘yet, land!” – 1871 , Jakobsen, Jakob, fetlaraerial.com. Retrieved 14 May 2015. Hlymrekr Limerick Hólmgarðr, Holmgarðir "Island enclosure", the fortress of Rurikovo Gorodische near Veliky Novgorod. Hóp A location in Vinland. Hreiðmarar An uncertain sea mentioned in the Rök runestone. Since it is liked to Theodoric the Great, it should be the Mediterranean Sea. Hunaland A legendary location, inspired by the Frankish kingdom (Hugones in Latin) and the Huns. Hundings "Son of a dog". The Longobards. Hvítramannaland "White Men's Land". A land near Vinland. Also called Great Ireland.
I Íngulssund "Strait by Anglesey", Menai Strait Írland hið mikla, Írland it mikla "Great Ireland". A land near Vinland. Also called Hvítramannaland.
J Jakobsland "Land of James". The land around Santiago de Compostela. Jómsborg Fortress of the Jomsvikings in an uncertain location in Pomerania. Jórsalahaf "sea of Jerusalem". The Mediterranean. It is given as the location of ("Narbonne"). Jórsalir Jerusalem. It exhibits a re-interpretation of the second element as -, denoting a hall or temple, common in Old Norse toponyms. Jórvík York
K Karlsá Cádiz Kaup "Purchase". A hill near Mokhovoye, Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia.
"islands of the merchants". Copeland Islands, Northern Ireland. Kænugarðr, Kœnugarðr "Boatyard". Kyiv. Kjalarnes "Keel point". A location in Vinland. Kænland, Kvenland A territory in Northern Finland or Northern Sweden.
"King's castle". Cunningsburgh, Shetland.
"Cross farm or cross roads, market place". Crosby, Isle of Man. kumrskar þjóðir "Cumbrian people", the Strathclyde Britons. kylfingar A people of uncertain origin active in Northern Europe.
L Langbarðaland A Byzantine province in Southern Italy, formerly ruled by the Longobards. The Varangian troops deployed there were remembered in the Italy runestones. Leifsbuðir "Leif's temporary shelters". A settlement in Vinland. Ljóðhús "song house"? (2003) p. 80 Isle of Lewis in the United Kingdom.
M Madksjo "Sea of worms". Sea near Vinland. Markland "Forest Land". A land south of Helluland in North America. Meginzuborg Mainz Melansborg, Meilangsborg Milan Miklagarðr "Big stronghold". Constantinople. *Miliniska, Μιλινισκα Smolensk Myrkviðr "Dark wood"Simek (2007:224) or "black forest".Gentry (2002:101—102) The name of several European forests.
N Namsborg, Nancsaborg Nantes Niflungaland Related to mist. The land of the Nibelungs, the kingdom of the Burgundians. Njorvasund -narrow straight; The Strait of Gibraltar Norðreyjar "Northern islands", Orkney and Shetland. *Nýgarðr "New enclosure", a proposed etymology for Veliky Novgorod.
O Orkneyjar "Seal islands". Orkney. Öxnafurða "Oxen's ford". Oxford Papar Irish monks found by the Norsemen in Iceland and Faroe.
P Palteskja After the Polota river. Polotsk in Belarus.
Peituborg Poitiers.
R Ráðstofa Rostov Reidgotaland, Reidgothland, Reidgotland, Hreidgotaland or Hreiðgotaland Hreiðr can mean "bird's nest", but hreið- is also a name-prefix meaning "beautiful", "eager", "great", "famous", "noble". Another possibility is that it was originally reið "ride, journey". The same tribal name was used for the Gutes of Gotland. The identification of the territory varies between the sources: the island of Gotland, Götaland, the land of the Goths, i.e. Gothiscandza, Denmark and Sweden, Jutland. The Hreidgoths (hraiðgutum) may also be the Ostrogoths in south-eastern Europe. Rothemadum Rothomagum, Rouen in the Haakon Haakonssøns saga.
"Roth's island", "Rother's Isle" or a corruption of the Gaelic meaning "fort".Johnston, James B (1892) “Place-Names Of Scotland” . Edinburgh: David Douglas. Archive.org. Retrieved 12 May 2018.Coventry, Martin (2008) Castles of the Clans. Musselburgh. Goblinshead. p. 545 Isle of Bute, Scotland. Rúðuborg, Rúða Rouen
S Sandey Iona saxar Related to Proto-Germanic *sahsą ("knife, dagger"). The Saxons. Saxelfr "Saxon Elbe". The river Elbe. Saxland "Land of the Saxons". Germany. Skarðaborg "Fortified place of Thorgils Skarthi" or "gap hill". Scarborough, North Yorkshire. Seeburg Grobiņa in Latvia. Seljupollar A Guarda Serkland, Særkland, Srklant, Sirklant, Serklat "Land of the Saracens". The Middle East, sometimes Georgia. Mentioned in the Serkland Runestones.
Seine , Norwegian translation by Peter Andreas Munch. saganet.is. Retrieved 3 June 2008., , or Murray (1966) The Hebrides. p. 146. "Misty isle", "cloud isle". Skye, Scotland. Skræling From skrækja, meaning "bawl, shout, or yell" or from , meaning "dried skin", in reference to the animal pelts worn by the Inuit. The name the Norse Greenlanders gave the previous inhabitants of North America and Greenland. Skuggifjord Hudson Strait Straumfjörð "Current-fjord", "Stream-fjord" or "Tide-fjord". A fjord in Vinland. Straumsey ("Current-isle") lies at the mouth of Straumfjörð. Suðreyjar "Southern islands". Hebrides. Suðrvegr "South way", Germany. Susat Soest, Germany Súrsdalar Suzdal
T Tarlungaland Probably a corruption of Karlungaland, i.e., the land of the Carolingians. Τελιουτζα Liubech Túskaland Touraine Tyrfing The Thervingi Goths. Tyrvist Tiree Τζερνιγωγα Chernihiv
V Valland "Land of the **Walhaz". Land of the Celtic- and Romance-speaking peoples. Vendland "Land of the Wends". Slavic areas East from Lübeck. Vernisa Worms, Germany. vestmenn "Westmen", the Gaels of Ireland and Britain. Vikinglow, Wykynlo Wicklow Vindau Ventspils in Latvia. Named after the Venta River. Vineta A mythical city in the Baltic of disputed location. Vínland "Wine land", "pasture land". The area of coastal North America explored by Norse Vikings. Vitaholmr "demarcation islet", Vytachiv
See also Etymology of the Hebrides Names of the major Dnieper rapids Place names in Ireland of Norse origin Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks Viking settlements outside Scandinavia Volga trade route
References
External links Dictionary of Old Norse Prose