The Viking raids had been mostly hit and run affairs – until 865AD, when a great heathen army swept up and down the country destroying Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

Eventually, after many bloody battles, King Alfred signed a treaty with the Viking leader Guthrum and they drew a line across the country to create a partition.

On the west side of this line Anglo-Saxon rules applied, and in East Anglia, East Midlands and Yorkshire there was the Danelaw – the territory governed by the Vikings. Something like 20,000 to 35,000 Scandinavians settled in England, and their influence on the language took off.

What types of words did they give us?

Only around 150 Norse words have been adopted into our language, but the ones that have survived tell us a lot about the nature of Scandinavian settlement.