Ancient Scandinavians Never Spoke Of Themselves As Vikings – Here Is Why

Ellen Lloyd - AncientPages.com - If Vikings were alive today, they would be surprised and perhaps even a little flattered to see how much interest the world has taken in their history. The Vikings are more popular than ever, and people are fascinated by everything these Norse warriors accomplished, including their failures in some cases.

When we talk about the Vikings, we say they were originally from Scandinavia, which, of course, is true. However, did you know that very few people in ancient Scandinavia spoke of themselves as Vikings?

The origin of the word Viking is still uncertain, and it would seem the "word is a historians' revival; it was not used in Middle English, but it was reintroduced from Old Norse vikingr "freebooter, sea-rover, pirate, viking," which usually is explained as meaning properly "one who came from the fjords," from vik "creek, inlet, small bay." ¹

To understand why ancient Scandinavians did not refer to themselves as Vikings, one must remember the meaning of the word Viking. In Old Norse, an ancient Scandinavian language, the word appears as "vikingr", which denotes a person, while "viking" denotes a practice.

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See also: 

Kaupang – Flourishing Viking Trade Hub And Transit Port For North Sea Trade

Félag – Ancient Viking Company Organized Trade Finance

The First ‘Viking’ Was A Bronze Age Man

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