The Vikings in England
The vikings who attacked England between 750 and 1050 were called “ Danes” by the Anglo-Saxon but in fact there were also Norwegians among them. In 865 a great army of Danish vikings attacked and nearly conquered the whole of England but king Alfred “The Great” held (retuvo) the south and west against them. The Danish named their territory “Danelaw”(see map) . Finally, in the tenth century the West –Saxon kings reconquered the north and the east.
The Vikings and the English language
The English and Scandinavian were accustomed to the same kind of rural life and had a similar Germanic background (trasfondo) in consequence many of the Scandinavian loan words (palabras prestadas ) are ordinary every day words. Some examples are window, sky,knife,bag, cake,sister,egg,leg,law,skirt and the adjectives wrong ,low and ugly. The conjunction though is Scandinavian and also the pronoun they,them and their (which were hie,him and hiera in Old English (inglés antiguo)) .
If you want to know more about the Vikings in England watch this brilliant documentary "Blood of the Vikings" produced by the BBC.
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