List of English Words of Old Norse Origin - R

R

Ragnarök

"Doom of the gods" or "Destiny of the gods", from Norse mythology & ON word of same meaning, composed of words ragna, genitive of "the great powers"(regin), and rǫk (later rök) "destiny, doom, fate, end". Often erroneously rendered "Twilight of the Gods" after Richard Wagner's opera Götterdämmerung, based on the mythological event.

race

rás (="to race", "to run", "to rush", "to move swift")

raft

raptr (="log")

raise

reisa

ransack

rannsaka (="to search thoroughly")

reindeer

hreindyri

rid

rythja (="to clear land")

rive

rífa (="to scratch, plow, tear")

root

rót

rotten

rotinn (="decayed")

rugged

rogg (="shaggy tuft")

run

renna (="to run")