“The total vocabulary of the sagas is surprisingly small. There are only 12,400 different words in the corpus of the family sagas out of a total word count of almost 750,000. The 70 most frequently used words account for nearly 450,000 or 60% of the total word count… the greatest benefit is found in learning the top 246 words.” – Jesse L. Byock, Viking Language 1
The Old Norse vocabulary below compiles the 246 most common Old Norse words that appear in the family sagas. A more extensive dictionary can be found here.
Additional grammars, and vocabularies can be found as part of the Viking Language Series .
Bolded Old Norse words are among the 70 most frequent words in the sagas.
— A/Á —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech af of; from preposition aldri never adverb allr all pronoun annarr other; second pronoun aptr back adverb at that conjunction auðigr wealthy adjective á on; onto preposition áðr before adverb
— B —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech bak back noun báðir both pronoun bera to carry, bear verb biðja to ask; tell verb bjóða to offer; invite verb bóndi farmer noun brott away adverb bróðir brother noun bú farm noun búa to live, dwell; prepare verb bæði both conjunction bœr farm noun
— D —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech dagr day noun dauðr dead adjective dóttir daughter noun drepa to kill verb
— E —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech eða or conjunction ef if preposition eiga to own verb eigi not adverb einhverr someone pronoun einn one (1) numeral ek I pronoun ekki not adverb en but conjunction enda and yet conjunction engi no (one) pronoun enn yet, still, moreover preposition eptir after adverb er who, which, that; when; where conjunction
— F —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech faðir father noun fagr beautiful adjective falla to fall verb fara to go, travel verb fá to get, obtain verb fár few pronoun ferð journey noun fé wealth; livestock noun fimm five (5) numeral fimmtán fifteen (15) numeral finna to find verb fjórir four (4) numeral fjǫlmennr well attended; numerous adjective fótr foot noun fram forward adverb frá from preposition fríðr beautiful adjective frændi kinsman noun fullr full adjective fundr meeting noun fyrir before; for preposition fyrr before adverb fyrri former adjective
— G —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech gamall old adjective ganga to walk verb gefa to give verb gera to do; make verb geta to get, beget verb góðr good adjective gǫfugr noble adjective
— H —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech hafa to have verb halda to hold verb hann he, it pronoun harðr hard adjective h álfr half adjective heill whole adjective heim (to) home adverb heita to call; be named verb heldr rather adverb hestr horse noun hér here adverb hinn the other pronoun hjá by, near preposition hlaupa to leap; run verb hlutr thing; part noun hon she, it pronoun hús house noun hvárgi neither pronoun hvárr who, which (of two)? pronoun hvárrtveggi each of the two pronoun hvárt whether adverb hverr each, every; who? pronoun hversu how adverb hǫfuð head noun hǫggva to strike verb hǫnd hand noun
— I/Í/J —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech illa badly adverb illr bad, ill adjective inn inside adverb í in; into preposition jarl earl noun
— K —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech kalla to call verb koma to come verb kona woman noun konungr king noun kostr choice noun kunnigr known; cunning; skilled in magic adjective kveða to speak verb kveld evening noun kyrr quiet adjective
— L —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech land land noun langr long adjective lauss loose, free adjective láta to let verb leggja to lay, place verb leið path noun leita to search verb lengi for a long time adverb lið following, troops noun liggja to lie verb líkligr likely adverb líkr alike adjective lítill little adjective
— M —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech maðr man, person noun margr many adjective mál speech; case, matter noun með with preposition mega may verb miðr middle adjective mikill great adjective mikit greatly adverb milli between preposition minn my pronoun mjǫk very adverb morginn morning noun móðir mother noun móti against preposition munu will verb mæla to speak verb
— N —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech nema except conjugation né nor conjugation niðr down adverb nótt night noun nú now adverb nær nearly adverb næstr next adjective nǫkkurr some, a certain adj. pronoun
— O/Ó —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech ofan from above adverb ok and conjunction okkarr us (dual) pronoun orð word noun ór out of, from preposition
— R —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech ráð advice; plan noun ráða to advise; rule verb reiðr angry adjective réttr right, correct adjective ríða to ride verb ríkr powerful adjective
— S —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech saman together adverb samr same adjective sannr true adjective sá that (one) dem. pronoun sárr wounded adjective segja to say verb sekr guilty adjective sem who, which, that; as rel. particle senda to send verb setja to set verb sex six numeral sik him, himself, themselves refl. pronoun sinn his/her/their (own) poss. pronoun sinn time noun sitja to sit verb síðan then adverb sjau seven numeral sjá this dem. pronoun sjá to see verb sjálfr self adj. pronoun skammr short; brief adjective skilja to part, separate; understand verb skip ship noun skjǫldr shield noun skulu shall verb skyldr related; necessary, obliged adjective slíkr such adjective sonr son noun spjót spear noun spyrja to ask; learn verb standa to stand verb sterkr strong adjective stórr big adjective sumar summer noun sumr some adj. pronoun svara to answer verb svá so; such adverb sveinn boy, lad noun sverð sword noun sœkja to seek verb sǫk cause, reason noun
— T —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech taka to take verb til to preposition tíðindi news, tidings noun tíu ten numeral tólf twelve numeral tveir two numeral
— U/Ú —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech um about preposition undir under preposition ungr young adjective upp up adverb út out adverb útan from out adverb
— V —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech vanr accustomed adjective varr aware adjective vándr bad adjective vápn weapon noun vár spring noun várr our pronoun veita to grant verb vel well adverb vera to be verb verða to become verb verðr worthy adjective vetr winter noun við with; against preposition vilja to want verb vinr friend noun vinsæll popular adjective vita to know verb vitr wise adjective víg slaying noun vísa verse noun víss certain; wise adjective vænn beautiful adjective
— Y —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech yðr you (plural) pronoun yfir over adverb
— Þ —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech þangat to there adverb þar there adverb þá then adverb þegar at once adverb þing assembly noun þinn you poss. pronoun þó nevertheless conjunction þótt although conjunction þrír three numeral þú you pronoun þykkja to seem verb
— Æ —
Old Norse Word Basic English Definition Part of Speech ætla to intend verb
Like this: Like Loading...
Published by Jules William Press
Jules William Press is a small press devoted to publishing the best about the Viking Age, Old Norse, and the Atlantic and Northern European regions. Jules William Press was founded in 2013 to address the needs of modern students, teachers, and self-learners for accessible and affordable Old Norse texts. JWP began by publishing our Viking Language Series, which provides a modern course in Old Norse, with exercises and grammar that anyone can understand. This spirit motivates all of our publications, as we expand our catalogue to include Viking archaeology and history, as well as Scandinavian historical fiction and our Saga Series.
View more posts
7 thoughts on “Old Norse Vocabulary: The 246 Most Common Words”
Comments are closed.