Article

2026-06-27 -Land of the Free

The Viking word hidden in the Declaration of American Independence

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Skidmark 2026-06-27 06:01|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [1777 views ] Top

1 John Locke's Two Treatises of Government, 1689, "life, liberty, and property"

Posted by Procopius2k 2026-06-27 08:08|| 2026-06-27 08:08|| Front Page Top

2 "Life" is rooted in Old English, a language brought to Britain by Germanic tribes from around AD400-500. "Liberty" and "pursuit" are Latin-rooted, then evolved into French and arrived in Britain with the Norman French conquest in AD1066.

And then there is "happiness": a word echoing with distant voices telling stories of trolls, battles and seafarers.

"Happiness has an interesting etymology, as it comes from Old Norse happ, meaning 'fortune' or 'good luck'," says Birkett. "When 'happy' is first attested in Middle English it means 'fortunate', or 'blessed by good luck'."

Old Norse, a Scandinavian language, was spoken by Viking raiders and Scandinavian settlers who brought the word to Britain from around AD800 onwards. Happ appears, for example, in the nickname of the Norse explorer Leif Erikson, who was also known as "Leif the Lucky", Leif heppni Erikson. He was a member of an early voyage to North America in the 11th Century, and saved a group of shipwrecked sailors – which may have partly inspired his nickname.

Posted by Frank G 2026-06-27 09:42|| 2026-06-27 09:42|| Front Page Top

3 I kept looking in the article for "bloodeagle"

Posted by Mercutio 2026-06-27 09:54|| 2026-06-27 09:54|| Front Page Top

4 I was going to guess lute fisk. Nevermind.

Posted by SteveS 2026-06-27 09:56|| 2026-06-27 09:56|| Front Page Top

5 lutefisk is cruel and unusual punishment

Posted by European Conservative 2026-06-27 10:40|| 2026-06-27 10:40|| Front Page Top

6 ^^I need to agree. Lye soaked cod is cruel food.

Posted by 3dc 2026-06-27 10:53|| 2026-06-27 10:53|| Front Page Top

7 Think how much happier the Vikings would have been if they had discovered Tabasco sauce.

Posted by Abu Uluque 2026-06-27 12:36|| 2026-06-27 12:36|| Front Page Top

8 ......or grits.

Posted by Besoeker 2026-06-27 13:30|| 2026-06-27 13:30|| Front Page Top

9 ...it appears some are right now doing that along with BBQ during the World Cup.

Posted by Procopius2k 2026-06-27 13:31|| 2026-06-27 13:31|| Front Page Top

23:58 trailing wife
22:48 Thing From Snowy Mountain
22:07 DooDahMan
22:03 DooDahMan
20:42 Ruprecht
20:32 DarthVader
20:30 DarthVader
20:09 trailing wife
20:03 Thing From Snowy Mountain
20:01 Thing From Snowy Mountain
19:59 Thing From Snowy Mountain
19:59 Procopius2k
19:32 Thing From Snowy Mountain
19:30 Besoeker
18:29 Frank G
18:21 Skidmark
18:19 Skidmark
18:03 Frank G
18:02 Frank G
17:59 Skidmark
17:32 Matt
16:48 trailing wife
16:38 Skidmark
16:33 trailing wife
Merry-Go-Blog