skrælingi

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse skrælingi.

Noun

skrælingi m (genitive singular skrælingja, nominative plural skrælingjar)

1. barbarian
2. (archaic, derogatory) Greenlander, person from Greenland

Synonyms

• (barbarian): barbari m, villimaður m

Old Norse

FWOTD – 11 January 2018

Etymology

Uncertain. There are several suggested origins:

• Derived from an unattested adjective *skræll (“poor, puny”), compare Norwegian skral (“poor, ill, bad”), Dutch schraal (“poor, scanty”);
• Michael Fortescue et al. (1994) propose relation to skrá (“dried skin”), in reference to the animal pelts worn by the Inuit;
• May be linked to skrælna (“to be shrivelled, e.g. by the sun”);
• Onomatopoeic origin has been proposed by William Thalbitzer (1932), compare skrækja (“to screech, shriek”).

Pronunciation

• (12th century Icelandic) IPA^(key): /ˈskrɛːlɪ̃ŋɡɪ/

Noun

skrælingi m (genitive skrælinga, plural skrælingar or skrælingjar)

1. A native of Greenland or Vinland.
   • Eiríks saga rauða (1265 or earlier), text from the 14th-century Hauksbók manuscript, ch. 12:

     [manuscript spelling] Þat bar til ad gridungr liop or skoge er þeir karlsefni attu ok gellr hat. þat felast vid skrelingar ok laupa vt a keipana ok ʀeru sidan sudr fyri landit. verdr þa ekki uart uid þa þríar uikur i samt.
     [standardized spelling] Þat bar til, at griðungr hljóp ór skógi, er þeir Karlsefni áttu, ok gellr hátt. Þetta fælast skrælingar ok hlaupa út á keipana ok reru síðan suðr fyrir landit. Verðr þá ekki vart við þá þrjár vikur í samt.

     [tr. J. Sephton, 1880] Now it came to pass that a bull, which belonged to Karlsefni's people, rushed out of the wood and bellowed loudly at the same time. The Skrælingar, frightened thereat, rushed away to their canoes, and rowed south along the coast. There was then nothing seen of them for three weeks together.

Declension

  Declension of skrælingi (weak an-stem)

masculine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	skrælingi	skrælinginn	skrælingar, skrælingjar	skrælingarnir, skrælingjarnir
accusative	skrælinga	skrælingann	skrælinga, skrælingja	skrælingana, skrælingjana
dative	skrælinga	skrælinganum	skrælingum, skrælingjum	skrælingunum, skrælingjunum
genitive	skrælinga	skrælingans	skrælinga, skrælingja	skrælinganna, skrælingjanna

Derived terms

• skrælingaland
• skrælingaskip

Descendants

• Icelandic: skrælingi (“barbarian”)
• Faroese: skrælingur
• Norwegian Nynorsk: skræling
• Swedish: skräling
• Danish: skrælling (“wimp, weakling”)
  • Norwegian Bokmål: skrelling
• → English: Skraeling
• →? Greenlandic: kalaaleq (“Greenlander”)
• West Greenlandic Pidgin: kralit

References

• Philippa, M. et al., Etymologisch Woordenboek van het Nederlands (2003-2008), 'schraal'.
• Seaver, Kirsten A., 'Pygmies of the Far North', Journal of World History 19.1 (2008) pp. 63-87.

Further reading

• Skraeling on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Vinland on Wikipedia.Wikipedia