Mapping the Vikings’ influence on UK place names

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This post describes work for a museum exhibit which has now come to an end.
If you would like to commission similar technologies, please get in touch.

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In the middle of the 9th Century, the territories of mainland Britain were in constant flux, with power shifting between the established Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and Viking settlers.

Towards the end of the century, the battles and power shifts reached a kind of equilibrium, with Alfred King of Wessex and Guthrum the Danish warlord agreeing a treaty defining the boundaries of their kingdoms.

One of these boundaries was demarcated by Watling Street, an ancient trackway that stretched from Shrewsbury in the west of England to the Thames estuary in the east.

The boundaries of Britain are different today, but the vestiges of this ancient divide remain in the names of the places that surround us.

To illustrate this, mySociety has been working with the British Museum, with data sourced from the University of Nottingham’s Institute for Name-Studies. We’ve created a simple interactive map as part of their Vikings Live event to show the Norse influence on around 2,000 place names in different parts of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

A map of old Norse place names

For each place, we’re showing its etymology, a breakdown of the different elements that make up its name and a link to the nearest cinema that will be showing the British Museum’s Vikings Live—a private view of the BP exhibition Vikings: life and legend in the company of world experts, presented live in your local cinema.

The etymology of an old Norse place name

So, for a completely different perspective of the place names near your home, head over to the British Museum’s site to explore the influence the Vikings had on the names where you live. And, next time you’re in a Thorpe, a Howe, a Kirkby, or even in Grunty Fen (our favourite place name), think of the Vikings who’ve left an indelible mark on the toponymy of the United Kingdom and Ireland.

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Image: Hans Splinter (CC)

3 Comments

  3. “In the middle of the 9th Century, the territories of mainland Britain were in constant flux, with power shifting between the established Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and Viking settlers.”

    Nobody else? Only Anglo-Saxon and Viking in 9th-century mainland Britain?

    Could the term ‘Britain’ be finessed a little, or the other terms be expanded? There seems to be unfortunate slippage between ‘Britain’, ‘UK’, ‘Anglo-Saxon’, thus eliding the Welsh and other Celtic language-speakers on ‘mainland Britain’.