{"id":1913,"date":"2020-09-30T11:50:04","date_gmt":"2020-09-30T11:50:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/?p=1913"},"modified":"2020-09-30T11:59:45","modified_gmt":"2020-09-30T11:59:45","slug":"whats-up-with-denmark-and-vikings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/2020\/09\/30\/whats-up-with-denmark-and-vikings\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s Up with Denmark and Vikings?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(Free image from<\/a> Pixabay; no copyright.)<\/p><\/div>\n

I don\u2019t know if the TV series Vikings created a lot of Danish learners. Still, since it first aired (2013), many people around the world have become curious about the fierce Scandinavian warriors. No, you can\u2019t chat to them. But 2020 Danish wouldn\u2019t be there without their input, so let\u2019s grab a glass of mj\u00f8d<\/strong> [myoth] (mead) and visit vikingerne<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

(I should say that I often freelance about Vikings elsewhere, so I have lots of background knowledge here! \ud83d\ude42 )<\/p>\n

Hvad er en viking? <\/strong>(What is a Viking?) Basically, a Viking was a pirate from Scandinavia more than 1000 years ago. The earlier Scandinavians had mostly been homebodies \u2013 until somebody invented the smooth langskib<\/strong> (Viking longship) with sejl<\/strong> [sile] (sail). This tech enabled the Scandinavians to sail to faraway lands and plunder (and trade \u2013 they weren\u2019t savage all the time!) In 793, a Viking fleet attacked the English island of Lindisfarne. This marks the beginning of vikingetiden<\/strong> (the Viking Age \u2013 which ended in 1066, when the Norwegian king Harald Hardrada died trying to conquer England the Viking way). BTW, notice how the Danish word viking<\/strong> (plural vikinger<\/strong>) takes an -e<\/strong> ending in compounds: vikingeskib<\/strong> (Viking ship).<\/p>\n

Hvad er sammenh\u00e6ngen mellem vikingerne og dansk kultur?<\/strong> (What is the connection between Vikings and Danish culture?) A lot, since Denmark was the most densely populated of the territories where Vikings lived! \ud83d\ude42 This made Danish kings such as Harald Bl\u00e5tand<\/strong> (Harold Bluetooth) and his son Svend<\/strong> Tvesk\u00e6g <\/strong>(Swain Forkbeard) extremely influential (check out the circular ramparts, ringborge<\/strong>, built by Mr. Bluetooth). From their power base in Denmark \u2013 which back then included Southern Sweden \u2013 Danish Vikings set sail and raided in England, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy\u2026 They also created settlements in England (Danelagen<\/strong> \u2013 the Danelaw) and the French region of Normandy. In addition, at the bottom of the Jutland peninsula, Viking kings controlled the rich trading town of Hedeby<\/strong> at the border fortification Danevirke<\/strong>. One Danish Viking king, Knud den Store <\/strong>(Canute the Great) became so powerful he at one time (around the year 1030) ruled both England, Denmark and Norway.<\/p>\n

Hvad er sammenh\u00e6ngen mellem vikingerne og dansk sprog?<\/strong> (What is the connection between Vikings and Danish language?) Vikings spoke oldnordisk<\/strong> (Old Norse), which is the ancestor of modern Danish. The Danish language has evolved further away from its source than for example Norwegian<\/a>, but the Norse influence can still be seen (and maybe felt) everywhere in Danish. A good example would be weekday<\/a> names \u2013 onsdag<\/strong> (Wednesday) actually means Odins dag<\/strong> (Odin\u2019s Day), and torsdag<\/strong> (Thursday) means Thors dag <\/strong>(Thor\u2019s Day). <\/strong>The Danish Vikings also left a huge impact on the English language, which is why Danish words such as kniv<\/strong>, \u00e6g<\/strong> and vindue<\/strong> should be easy to figure out for an English-speaker \u2013 those words were actually taken from Danish Vikings! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Hvor kan jeg l\u00e6re mere om vikingerne i Danmark?<\/strong> (Where can I learn more about the Vikings in Denmark?)<\/p>\n

Some nice places to go:<\/p>\n