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Norsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who speak one of the North Germanic languages as their native language. ("Norse", in particular, refers to the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian language|Norwegian, Icelandic language|Icelandic, Faroese language|Faroese, Swedish language|Swedish and Danish language|Danish in their earlier forms.)
The meaning of Norseman was "people from the North" and was applied primarily to Nordic people originating from southern and central Scandinavia. They established states and settlements in areas which today are part of the Faroe Islands, England, Scotland, Wales, Iceland, Finland, Ireland, Russia, Italy, Canada, Greenland, France, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Germany.
Norse and ''Norsemen'' are applied to the Scandinavian population of the period from the late 8th century to the 11th century. The term "Normans" was later primarily associated with the people of Norse origin in Normandy, France, assimilated into French culture and language. The term Norse-Gaels (''Gall Goidel'', lit:''foreign Gaelic'') was used concerning the people of Norse descent in Ireland and Scotland, who assimilated into the Gaels|Gaelic culture.
Vikings has been a common term for Norsemen in the early medieval period, especially in connection with raids and monastic plundering made by Norsemen in Great Britain and Ireland. ''Northmen'' was famously used in the prayer ''A furore normannorum libera nos domine'' ("From the fury of the Northmen deliver us, O Lord!"), doubtfully attributed to monks of the English monastery|monasteries plundered by Viking raids in the 8th and 9th centuries.
Other names
The Northmen were also known as '''Ascomanni''', "ashmen", by the Germans,[Adam of Bremen 2.29.] '''Lochlanach''' (Norse) by the Irish and '''Dene''' (Danes) by the Anglo-Saxons.
The Slavs, the Arabs and the Byzantine Empire|Byzantines knew them as the '''Rus' (people)|Rus'''' or '''Rhōs''', probably derived from various uses of ''rōþs-'', i.e. "related to rowing", or derived from the area of Roslagen in east-central Sweden, where most of the Norsemen who visited the Slavic lands came from. Archaeologists and historians of today believe that these Scandinavian settlements in the Slavic lands formed the names of the countries ''Russia and Belarus)''.
The Slavs and the Byzantines also called them '''Varangians''' (Old Norse|ON: ''Væringjar'', meaning "sworn men" or from Slavic ''варяги'' with meaning ''enemies''), and the Scandinavian bodyguards of the Byzantine Empire|Byzantine emperors were known as the Varangian|Varangian Guard.
Modern Scandinavian usage
In the Old Norse language, the term '''norrœnir menn''' ("''northern men''"), was used to refer to the North Germanic population of Scandinavia (Swedes, Danes, Norwegians, Faroe Islanders and Icelanders), thus corresponding to the modern English name ''Norsemen''.
In the modern Scandinavian languages, no common word for Norsemen exists. In Swedish, the term ''nordmän'' is used, which corresponds to "Northmen". The Norwegians and Danish lack a word for the ancient North Germanic peoples. Usually they are simply (but incorrectly) called ''Vikings'' in both Denmark, Norway, as well as Sweden. In Norway, ''nordmann'', and Denmark, ''nordmand'', is the common demonym for a Norwegian. In Icelandic, ''Norðmaður'' means a man from Norway, but ''Norræn maður'' is the term for a "North Germanic man" (or "woman"/"people"). In Faroese, ''Norðmaður'' means a man from Norway, just like in Icelandic, but the term ''Norrønur maður'' or ''Norrøn kvinna/fólk'' are the terms for the "North Germanic man" or "North Germanic woman/people" respectively.
The word '''nordbo''' however, (Swedish language|Sw.: ''nordborna'', Danish language|Da.: ''nordboerne'', Norwegian language|No.: ''nordboerne'' or ''nordbuane'' in the Definiteness|definite plural) is used for both ancient and modern people living in the Nordic countries and speaking one of the North Germanic languages.
Notes and references
See also
- Danes (ancient people)|Danes
- Danish people
- Faroese people|Faroese
- Geats
- Gotlanders
- Goths
- Norse-Gaels (Gall Goidel)
- Icelanders
- Normans
- Norwegians
- Rus' (people)|Rus'
- Scandinavians
- Swedish people|Swedes
- Varangian
- Viking
External links
- HowStuffWorks.com – Norsemen
Category:Viking Age
Category:Viking Age people
Category:Germanic peoples
Category:History of Norway
Category:History of Denmark
Category:History of Sweden
Category:History of Iceland
Category:History of England
Related Images- Map showing area of Viking settlements during the 8th to 11th centuries. Also the trade and raid routes, often inseparable, are marked.
Sources: StartLearningNow, Wikipedia | Usage license: GNU FDL
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