Scandinavian contribution in Normandy

[Theobald]

What was the Scandinavian contribution in Normandy ?

Concerning the population, it is not easy to define its amplitude, all the more since Scandinavian colonisation was superimposed on a strong Frankish and Saxon substratum, whose cultural and ethnic characteristics were very close to the Scandinavians' own.

As far as we can judge, the density of Scandinavian settlements and population was patchy. From the place name evidence, it seems that some areas were left free of Scandinavian settlement but the coastal regions of Pays de Caux and Cotentin were heavily populated by them. Also important, but to a lesser degree, was settlement of the Seine valley, the Plain of Caen and Bessin.

The Scandinavian impact is clearly seen at the level of Norman state organisation, particularly where this concerned legal matters such as the establishment of Norman customary law (one of the main bases of present 'Anglo-Saxon law', as against 'Roman law'), and also at the political level.

Normandy received from the Vikings a strong moral stamp. One can detect psychological features which are characteristic of the Normans and which were attributed to Old Scandinavians : pragmatism, sense of nuance, reserve, prudence and mistrust, the importance of keeping ones word, a sense of order, individualism, craftiness, a taste for concrete materialism, a willingness to take risks and to adventure.

The Scandinavian contribution has been clearly established in the Norman dialect, particularly in the maritime vocabulary (which was thereafter transmitted, almost completely and intact, to the French language). The Norse language seems to have been spoken in the duchy for a little more than a century; there was even a 'university' at Bayeux in the 11th century to teach it. Eventually, the language became amalgamated with the native Romance languages (Frankish and Latin), resulting in a new 'Norman' language. This 'Norman' language became, in the 14th/15th centuries, a base for what we now know as the French language.

The Scandinavian linguistic influence is to be found again as elements in numerous Norman place names, with endings such as -tot (farm), -thuit (cleared area), -bec (stream), -dal or -dalle (valley), or with hogue (hill, mound), londe (wood), nez (cape or headland), etc., and the ending -ville (from Latin villa): Gonneville, Hatainville, Omonville, Tourville, and so on. These place names are mainly derived from Scandinavian personal names, or from landscape features or other descriptors.

Finally, many Scandinavian personal names survive nowadays through family names such as Angot, Anquetil, Burnouf, Toustain, Turgis, Thouroude, Yngouf, and many more.

Source

[Theobald]

The Scandinavian Vikings who created Normandy ended up adopting the Gallic-Frankish culture and language, but in turn they also left their mark on many Norman placenames and on the Norman language.

The Norman language belongs to the family of oïl languages together with French, Gallo, Walloon, Picard, Swiss-French, and many other minority languages which are spoken in northern France, Belgium and Switzerland. Norman is still spoken in some parts of Normandie and in the Channel Islands. The Norman dialects spoken in the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey have been recognised as Regional Languages by the UK.

There are many words of Scandinavian origin in the Norman language and a number of those words have been borrowed from Norman into English and sometimes also into French. An example of a Norse » Norman » English word is the old Norse Kanna (cup), which passed on to Norman as Canne, and was later borrowed into English as Can. Other examples of Norse-Norman » English words are the word Cabbage, borrowed from Caboche; Fashion, borrowed from Faichon; Mug, borrowed from Mogue; Catch, borrowed from Cachi; Cater, borrowed from Acater, and many others.

Hundreds of Scandinavian place names can be found today in Normandy, specially in the regions of Pays de Caux, Cotentin, Caen and Bessin. Old Norse worlds like Torp (hamlet) have survived in Norman placenames like Clitourps, and so did as well other names such us as Gata (lane) in Houlgate, Thorn (thorn) in Tournebu, Kirkja (church) in Cricqueville, Dal (valley) in Dieppedale, Holmi (island) in Le Houlme, Bekk (brook) in Drubec, Bû (village) in Carquebu, Le Bû-sur-Rouvres, and so on.

Many of Normandy's placenames have actually originated from Scandinavian personal names that can also be found in Scandinavia and in England, for example, the Scandinavian name Biarni, which created Bjarnstad in Norway, Bjarnastaðir in Iceland, Bannerup in Denmark, Barneville in Normandy and Barnby in England; the name Úlf, which originated Uvdal in Norway, Ulvedal in Denmark, Oudalle in Normandy or Ullesthorpe in England; or the name Thorburngils, which exists in Torgelstad in Norway, Torgistorp in Normandy or Thirkleby in England, and so on. Many of those Scandinavian names are also found in modern Norman surnames such as Turgis, Toustain, Thouroude, Ingouf, Burnouf, etc.

Source

[Theobald]

Place names based on a Scandinavian personal name element : http://www.viking.no/e/france/personal-place-names.htm

This table gives comparative examples of place names, based on the same Scandinavian personal names, which occur in Normandy, England, Scandinavia and other parts of the Viking World.

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Norman family names of Viking origin : http://www.viking.no/e/france/family-names.html

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Old Norse words in the Norman dialect : http://www.viking.no/e/france/norman_on_words.htm

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Viking place names in Normandy : http://www.viking.no/e/france/epl-normandy.htm

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Place names derived from the Old Norse for landscape features and other descriptions : http://www.viking.no/e/france/lndscpe-place-names.htm

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[Theobald]

A study of placenames : A study of placenames

[Galaico]

What about the genetic impact in the pre-Norman local population?