- published: 22 Jul 2009
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Scandinavian York or Kingdom of Jórvík or Kingdom of York is a term used by historians for the kingdom of Northumbria for the period of the late 9th century and first half of the 10th century, when it was dominated by Norse warrior-kings; in particular, used to refer to the city controlled by these kings.
The name Jórvík is the Scandinavianisation of Eoforwic, the 10th century Northumbria's capital, now known as York. Old Norse jór- is a short compound version of Old Norse jofurr which has the same etymology and meaning as Old English eofor i.e. boar/chieftain. Old English wic meaning camp (cf. Latin vicus "village") was replaced by Old Norse vík meaning bay. Hence the Scandinavian sense of the name became "port of the chieftain(s)".
The kingdom's territory encompassed a large part of what is now northern England. With a few interruptions due to wars with Wessex, the Anglo-Norse monarchy lasted from 875/876 to 954. It was closely associated with the much longer lived Kingdom of Dublin throughout this period.