Words about words
M. MICHAEL BRADYAsker, Norway
The word “Viking” traditionally is traced back to the Old Norse and Icelandic word vík, meaning creek, inlet, or bay, plus the suffix -ing, via the Old English word wícing and the Old Frisian word witsing. Hence a Viking was a person who came from or frequented the inlets of the sea.
History suggests that the story of the word “Viking” may differ from the traditionally accepted one, as the word víkingr first appeared late in the 10th century. Two centuries earlier, the word wícingsceaða appeared in Anglo-Saxon glossaries, and the word sǽ-wícingas occurred in Exodus, an Old English alliterative poem that retells the story of the flight of the Israelites from Egyptian c
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M. Michael Brady
M. Michael Brady was born, raised, and educated as a scientist in the United States. After relocating to the Oslo area, he turned to writing and translating. In Norway, he is now classified as a bilingual dual national.
