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The Learning Kingdom's Cool Word of the Day for May 17, 1999
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Viking [n. VY-king]
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The Vikings were a seafaring race who plundered the coasts of northern
Europe from the eighth to the tenth centuries. They were Norse
adventurers who had a huge effect on the early history of England.
Although it may be tempting to think that a Viking is some kind of
"sea king," the word stems from a different root.
The most prominent explanation traces the word back to Old Norse
vikingr, from the tenth century. If this is a correct derivation,
then it was probably based on Old Norse vik (inlet, river mouth), and
the Vikings were literally "those who went upriver in boats."
However, earlier traces of the word exist in Old English from the
eighth century, before the arrival of the Norsemen. This suggests a
different root, in Old English wic- (campground), which was the root
of the today's English place names ending in -wich. By this theory,
the Norse invaders would have gotten their name from the habit of
camping out on English shores.
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