North Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘south’ and now, somewhat predictably, look at ‘north’.

North Pole can refer either to the geographical north pole, this the normal idea of the region and the northernmost point around which the planet turns on its axis – it’s the only point on the planet where you can only travel south, north, east, and west are not available – or there is the magnetic north pole, which is where the compass always points and moves all the time, not in any regularity or overly predictable way.

Not until 1766 was anyone referred to as a North American.

North Sea has been known as either the German Sea or German Ocean for most of British recorded history, and only disappeared for good in 1830. Earlier the North Sea was what we would know as the Bristol Channel (ie it north of the Celtic Sea or English Channel). It was the Dutch who first referred to the body of water as the North Sea, from around the 13th century and to distinguish from the South Sea or Zuider Zee. Note the Danes referred to the North Sea as the West Sea, while in the late 14th century the North Sea was the northernmost portion of the ocean which surrounded the entire globe.

Nothing was described as northbound until 1870.

The North Star, also known as Polaris or Pole Star, has been known as such since the late 14th century. Note the Pole Star, the one point of light around which the heavens appear to rotate in the northern hemisphere, has only been seen as such for about 1500 years, around 5,000 years ago it was Thuban in the constellation of Draco, 13,000 years ago it was Vega, 10,000 years ago it was Iota Herculis, and in 5,000 years it will be Alderamin in Cepheus.

Northeasters, or nor’easter at times, is a strong wind coming from that point of the compass and first recorded in 1794.

The Northwest Passage, that hypothetical sea route from the Atlantic to the Pacific around the north of the continent of North America, is first described around 1600.

Northumbria, named because it was north of the Humber, is one of the kingdoms which once comprised England and is first mentioned around 720.

Several place names have been named as being ‘north’, these include Norway, Norfolk, Pohjoinen (is in Finland), Beijing,

Origins of Place Names: Norwegian Cities

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. This time we continue the tour of Western Europe and a look at the largest Norwegian cities.

Oslo, as so many crossword compilers are fond of asking us (and that includes me), was known as Christiana from 1624 until 1925 (with the later spelling of Kristiana). This alternative came from King Christian IV, who rebuilt the city after it had been destroyed by fire. Now reverting to its original, and quite ancient, name, Oslo comes from an Indo-European os or 'mouth' with the addition of the river name. Hence this is 'the mouth of the River Lo', with the river name thought to come from Old Norwegian ass og or 'the forest clearing'. Hence a real chicken / egg / chicken situation where the city was named after the mouth of a river, itself named after a feature on dry land.

Bergen is of more recent and simple origins. Here the Norwegian name of Bjorgvin is derived from 'mountain pasture'.

Trondheim has a surviving listing from 997 AD, earlier than any other Norwegian name but certainly not the most ancient of derivations despite the area having been settled for thousands of years. Trondheim may well have a claim as the most renamed city in Europe. It was first known as Kaupangen , this meaning 'trading place'; later it is Nidaros or 'mouth of the River Nid'; it is only now it becomes Trondheim, albeit Nidaros was reinstated for 14 months in the early 1930s and during the German occupation of the Second World War became Drontheim. The present name is taken from the district name of Trondelag, itself meaning 'the district or people of a common law'.

Stavanger takes us back to water, here the two elements are stafr meaning 'staff or branch', followed by angr 'inlet or bay'. In the case of stafr it is not clear if it refers to the shape of the inlet or to the nearby mountain. Whilst the latter is certainly not shaped thus, it is a common description when speaking of high and steep mountains in this country.

Kristiansand is, like medieval Oslo, named for King Christian IV with the addition of sand a reference to the headland on which it was constructed.

Fredrikstad is simple enough, the suffix stad indicates 'city' and follows the name of the founder King Frederick II.

Skien was known as Skitha, this Old Norse name literally meaning 'straight plank'. This probably refers to the very straight section of the local brook.

Tromso is named after the island of Tromsoya, itself of uncertain etymology although the element oy clearly means 'island'. Possibly this comes from an unrecorded name of Trumsa, a common enough river name derived from straumr or 'strong current'.

Drammen a name which has undergone several changes making the origins difficult to pinpoint. Yet the most likely is from the river name, known in Old Norse as the Drofn and coming from drofn meaning 'wave'.

Sandnes is a simple and fairly modern name derived from its position on 'the sandy headland' and coming from sand nes.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.