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Religious Influence on Old English
Christianity was introduced in England at about AD597, and from this time to the close of the Old English period (around AD1100) is over 500 years. So you can imagine how great an impart this would have on language. The dominant church then was the Roman Catholic, and the religious zeal that greeted the 7th century was responsible for building churches and monasteries. And Latin, being the primary language of religion, was once again rapidly imported. The temporary decline Latin experienced earlier with the coming of the Anglo-Saxons was overtaken by this religious revival.
The missionaries from Rome did not only introduce Christianity, they came with classical civilization, education, and the Latin language, which was the universal language of the church and education. Many of the Latin words were adopted early, while some were adopted towards the end of the tenth and eleventh centuries. These words also found their way into the literature of the time. Normally, it is expected that the new words would express new ideas and concepts. So the new religion introduced words about the church and explained its internal and external organization. Remember that the Anglo-Saxons were not Christians, so the church and pagan ideas and customs survived side by side. But much of paganism was absorbed by the church.
With education, the Anglo-Saxons could record their tradition and poetry. People began to express themselves in literature. One of the first works of Literature in the Old English language is called “Beowulf.” The author is one of the earliest converts who were educated in classical literature. He must have read some of the earliest classical writers called Virgil and Homer. Virgil wrote Aeneid; while Homer wrote the Odyssey. Another product of this early Christian education is a man by name Bede - Venerable Bede. Bede was born in Northumbria and educated at the University of Warmouth. He authored the Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation; this was just one of the thirty-six books credited to him. He wrote in Latin.
Words Relating to Religion
Some words relating to Christianity such as “Church” and “Bishop” were borrowed earlier because the Anglo-Saxon had had contact with some bishops and had plundered churches before they came to England. But most of the words relating to religion were borrowed at the time of Christian evolution. The following words, given in their modern forms, have survived over time: canon, alms, chalice, altar, angel, anthem, epistle, hymn, litany, cleric, martyr, nun, minister, organ, pope, priest, psalm, provost, shift, shrine, deacon, synod, temple, noon, ark, candle, etc.
The church also influenced the domestic life of the people. You can see this in the words that relate to clothing and household use, e.g., cap, sock, silk, mat, sack, purple; words denoting food or food items such as beef, cabbage, lentil, millet, pear, oyster, lobster, mussel were also adopted from religion. Some number of words that relate to education and learning show another dimension of the church’s influence. Such words are school, Latin, master, grammatic, verse, meter, rotary, etc. Names of trees, plant, and herbs are also rooted in religion. Examples are lily, pine aloes, balsam, fennel, hyssop, mallow, myrrh, and the general word “plant’. There are various words that one can trace to the religion of this period like anchor, fan, fever, place, sponge, phoenix, elephant, circle, giants, legion, talent, and consuls. These examples are mostly nouns, but Old English also borrowed a number of verbs and adjectives which we may not cover in this study. The most important thing is that you understand how significant an impact the church had in Old English.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 1
Mention some ten (10) words that are attributable to the influence of Christianity in the English language.
3.2 The Danish invasion and the age of the Vikings
Towards the end of the Old English period, another invasion of England took place, this time by the Danes from Denmark. Also called the Vikings, their contact with English constituted another major influence on the language. Denmark, Sweden, and Norway are among countries that come from the Scandinavian region.
The Scandinavians, i.e., the Swedish, and the Norwegians were actually neighbors to Anglo-Saxons and were even related in language and blood. Their plundering activities started from the 8th century to the beginning of the 11th century. The climax of their achievement came in the 11th century when the King of Denmark took over the throne of England, conquered Norway, and ruled the greater part of the Scandinavians world. The period of the Danish activities and influence from 1014 -1039 is known as the Viking Age.
The Danish attacks were in three stages: the first early stages were characterized by plundering of towns and church facilities. This was between AD787 and 850. The second stage was in 850 when the Danes came in a fleet of 350 ships. They invaded and captured Canterbury, London, York, and East Anglia. By 878 they had overrun almost the whole of Britain. The third stage of the Scandinavian invasion was more of political adjustment and assimilation from 878 to 1042. In 1042 the English king was sent on exile and for the next 25 years England was ruled by the Danes.
As the Vikings became permanent settlers in England they gradually got absorbed in the native population and accepted the Anglo-Saxon religion and language. Their adoption of the language, though very similar with theirs, altered the Old English in some noticeable ways, especially its influenced on place names. More than 1,400 places in England bear Scandinavian names. Their early acceptance of Christianity can also be seen in the Scandinavian names found among the Monks, Priests, and Bishops. The Danes settled mainly in Northumbria, and the West Coast of Ireland.
The relationship between the Old English and Danish (also called Norse) was more of interference. The situation is similar to what is obtainable in many cities of the world today where people from different cultures leave and spoke different languages. In some parts of Scotland, Norse was spoken as late as the 17th century, while in some part of England, English was generally spoken but newcomers to such districts will normally speak their own languages. There is no doubt that many words in modern English are borrowed from the Scandinavian tongue. For example in Old English, the modern sound of ‘sh’ (like ship) is written as ‘sc’. In the Scandinavian sound ‘sk’ is retained in modern English. Native words like ship, shall, fish have ‘sh’ in modern English. Words borrowed from the Scandinavian are still pronounced with ‘sk’ e.g. sky, skin, skill, scrape, whisk, or bask. The O.E ‘scyrte’ has become “shirt” while the corresponding O.N (Old Norse) from “skyrta” is retained “skirt”. Also words with the retention of ‘g’ sound as in get, give, gild, and egg indicate Scandinavian origin. So you can see that the Scandinavian language enjoyed a great deal of influence on modern English.
Scandinavian Place Names
You have been told earlier that one of the notable evidences of the Viking settlement is the extensive number of place names in England. More than 600 places with names ending in –by are Scandinavian, e.g., Grimsby, Wgitby, Derby, Rugby, Thoresby, etc. Some 300 names end with –pe, as in Althorp, Bishopsthorpe, Gawthorpe, etc. The Scandinavian ‘thrope’ means village. Some others contain the word ‘thwaite’ meaning ‘an isolated piece of land’. They include Applethwaite, Braithwaite, Cowperthwaite, etc. About a hundred names bear the ending ‘toft’ (a piece of ground), e.g., Brimtoft, Eastoft, Langtoft, Nortoft, etc. Personal names ending with the suffix ‘son’ are also of Scandinavian origin, e.g., Gibson, Jackson, Johnson, Watson, Wilson, etc.
The largest number of place names are found in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, contributing about 75% of names of Scandinavian origin to the English Lexicon. A good number is also found in Cumberland and Westmoreland; these are countries in the Northeast of England showing that the Danes had a large settlement in these areas. This is also true of Norfolk in East Anglia.
The earliest influence of the Norse on the Old English vocabulary is words that are associated with sea-faring or sea-roving. You know that the Danes lived an adventurous and predatory life. The Old English scegÞ (vessel), lip (fleet), scegÞmann (pirate), dreng (warrior), etc. are Scandinavian words. Later, a number of words relating to law, and those relating to the social and administrative system of the Danes were also introduced to Old English. The word ‘law’ itself is a Scandinavian word.
As a matter of fact, the Danish invasions were not like the introduction of Christianity that brought the English people to a new civilization and introduced them to many things, both physical and spiritual, that they never knew before. And you know that these new things came with new vocabularies and ways of expressing them. The civilization of the Scandinavians was very much like that of the English themselves. Consequently, the Danish loans entered the English language through the process of everyday interaction.
Scandinavian Words
Some common place nouns that have the Scandinavian origin are bank, birth, bull, dirt, down, dregs, egg, fellow, gap, guess, kid, leg, loan, mire, root, scales, score, seat, sister, skin, sky, slaughter, thrift, tidings, trust, etc. Among adjectives, we have awkward, flat, ill, brose, low, meek, rotten, rugged, tight, and weak. There are also some number of verbs, such as grave, call, crawl, die, gape, get, give, lift, nag, raise, scare, take, thrive. These are some of the words that the Danish invasion and subsequent settlement introduced to English.
SELF ASSESSMENT EXERCISE 2
Mention five (5) words that are of the Scandinavian origin.
4.0 CONCLUSION
Two major foreign influences in the Old English are the coming of the Christian religion and the Danish invasion. Don’t forget that in this Unit we have used the terms, the Danes or Danish, the Scandinavian and the Vikings to refer to the same people. These two events introduced foreign words to the English Language.
SUMMARY
The coming of Christian civilization to England brought with it new ideas and concepts which required the right kind of vocabulary to express them. Hence, Christianity brought into the Old English words that are associated with religion and church administration. When the Scandinavians later invaded England and settled there, they were absorbed in the social system of the English people and many of them became Christian converts. However, through everyday interaction they introduced their own words, which are less technical than the religious ones. Most of the words that are Danish are everyday words and those associated with Sea-roving. Most English place names are also attributed to the Scandinavians.
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