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Glite Dictionary
🗺️ Historic region 🗺️ Danish-ruled area
Danelaw

Danelaw

1 9.9
A region of England where many place names come from Danish people
  • proper noun
  • /ˈdeɪnˌlɔ/
: Danelaw
  • During the early Middle Ages, the Danelaw was established as a region in England where Danish laws were dominant.

Examples

  • I imagine that your Danelaw prince, Askhold, believes you long dead.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • The Vikings started to settle in England by the mid-9th century and established an independent settlement: Danelaw.

    Blog text (16)

  • She wanted to smooth the frown from his forehead, as she said very calmly, "I cannot marry you because I was promised to Askhold, heir of Rognvald, king of the Danelaw."

    Fiction book (1994)

  • The Danelaw represented the area of England that was under control by Danish settlers and their customs during the Viking Age.

  • Many towns and villages in the North were part of the Danelaw and experienced significant cultural changes due to Viking influence.

Surface Forms

Danelaw main

Morphology

Danelaw = Dane + law (semi-transparent) = Dane + law

As a proper name, the compound is clear in form ('Dane' + 'law') but functions as a historic place name denoting the area under Danish legal authority, which is domain-specific.

Etymology

Danelaw comes from Dane ('a person from Denmark') and law ('rules'). It was used for the region of England where Danish laws were in force, so today the word refers to that area of Danish rule.