Lakeland dialect contains several hundred words also found in Icelandic.
The Norse population left the Isle of Man around 925 CE to escape a punitive raid by Harold Fairhair. and found asylum in what is now Cumbria. They would have sailed in knarr.
The previous population of north-west Britain spoke Welsh. The kingdoms were Rheged and Strathclyde.
Rheged was absorbed was absorbed into Northumbria around 730 CE, though Strathclyde continued until around 1100. The new language was Northumbrian, which was a little different from Alfred’s West Saxon. It still affects the vowels of Lakeland, the north-east and Scots.
Danes came after 793 to raid, but later to settle. The Danelaw included what is now Lakeland and was defined after many battles in a peace treaty. Danish place names extend as far west as the Eden valley.
A Norse Ting parliament was located in Little Langdale
Some Icelandic words don’t translate quite so well!
The volcanic peak Eyjafjallajokull makes a warm spot for a picnic lunch. The rust colour tells its age.
