#19: The Roots of Place Names

England’s landscape carries the lasting imprint of Viking rule, hidden in its very place names. Many towns and villages owe their names to Old Norse, with suffixes like “-garth,” “-thorpe,” and “-wick” revealing their Nordic roots.

Nowhere is this legacy stronger than in Yorkshire, where countless locations end in “-by”—a Viking term for a settlement. These names echo a time when Norse warriors and settlers reshaped England, leaving behind more than just sagas and battles.