GRIMSTON HYBRIDS—“VIKING” AND “ENGLISH” INTERACTING.

GRIMSTON HYBRIDS—“VIKING” AND “ENGLISH” INTERACTING. (COMMENT). Matthew Byrne also argues in his comment that “place names didn’t necessarily describe the people of a particular place” and that Viking tags (“by” and “thorp”) are not a certain guide that a location was a Viking settlement. He endorses the possibility that the Vikings “actually adopted English fairly rapidly.” Michael Wood finds examples of mixed use of language which support Byrne. He points to the place name “Grimston.” “Grim” is a Viking name, and “tun” is old English for farm or village, so that the first element is a Scandinavian personal name and the second element is an English suffix. There are over 60 examples of what are known as “Grimston hybrids.” Grimston itself is apparently in what is considered Viking territory but near the edge of English territory. As further evidence of mixed influence in language, Wood cites the village of Laxton, which has an English name, but which has a number of fields with Danish words in their names.