Thyra Dane

Do you want to learn some Viking swearwords? Curse like a Viking?

When haven’t we all wanted to curse like a Viking? Really bellow out the worst Viking swearwords we could think of? Well, here is your guide to some really good Viking curse words!

The first word is nice and easy: Shit = Skitr. Can be said whenever you stumble over your sword or your husband, yet again, stumbles home dead drunk from too much mead.

Did you know that Vikings had sick pay?

Sorðinn

Have you ever been in a situation where you just wanted to shout “FUCK” at the top of your lungs, but you couldn’t do it for some reason? Try the Viking word Sorðinn instead. It means the same, but you’ll probably insult fewer people (unless you know a lot of Vikings – in that case, I need to come visit you).

You may wonder how that funny looking letter in the middle of Sorðinn is pronounced. It’s like a very soft D. Put your tongue between your teeth when you say the letter and you’ll have the correct pronunciation. If you chew on your tongue, you’ll have yet another reason to say Sorðinn.

Did you know that Vikings were well groomed – and often kept their hair short in the back?

Streð mik!

Sometimes “fuck” just doesn’t do it. Your world has turned against you, someone has her sword against your throat and you need to call out something stronger.

Try Streð mik. It means fuck me and can be used in those instances where you need a stronger Viking curse word. Someone bumped your elbow and now you have mead all over your new fur. Or you were just beaten in a friendly holmgang. “Friendly” – Streð mik!

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Við hamri Þórs!

Now we’re calling out the big shots. The old god Thor is being called upon and you don’t want to do that for any old thing that angers you.

Við hamri Þórs! means by Thor’s hammer and as you probably know, Thor has a close relationship to his hammer. Choose that Viking curse word only for the tough situations, like when your ship landed in the wrong fjord and instead of some weak monks, you’re up against warriors armed to the teeth.

You’ve probably noticed that this Viking swearword has another foreign letter, but it’s an easy one to pronounce. Þórs = Thor’s. Þ = Th.

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Við dauði Þórs!

I’m not sure I dare mention this Viking curse word. It’s a really sad one and can only be used on the very special occasions like when that easily conquered enemy turns out to be the one slaughtering you and your men and women.

Við dauði Þórs! means By Thor’s death and it almost breaks my heart to type it out.

Framt!

Let’s move over to a few nicer Viking words that can be used without the risk of anyone grabbing for their swords.

Framt means smooth and can be used whenever something is nice or even great. Like when the mead is sweet and the women/men are sweeter.

Flesk fellr í kál mín

Are you lucky? Did you get something good? Did you get the last mead–you know the drops where you have the most potent honey?

Here are the words you can use to describe your luck: Flesk fellr í kál mín.

Where do all these words come from

You’re probably wondering how we know any Viking curse words. Vikings didn’t write much down. They were an oral people, telling their stories from generation to generation, keeping their memories in all the stories.

The Viking stories were written down in the sagas, but that wasn’t until several centuries after the last Viking had died. The language used in the sagas did not include any curse words.

All the words mentioned here are words we imagine Vikings might have used based on what we know of their language and their way of life.

They’ve all been made for a very interesting Norwegian HBO series named Beforeigners. It’s about people from the stone age, Vikings and people from the 1800s who suddenly pop up in our world. One of the main characters is a female Viking who does curse a lot so they had to make up som curse words for her.

Read more about Viking curse words (the article is in Norwegian)

Do you want to read a Viking romance? Check out my story The Challenge – a Viking Romance