Comments by "Seven Proxies" (@sevenproxies4255) on "What Words Did Norse Settlers Give To The English Language?" video.

  1. The only recorded instance of a gender bender in Norse culture would be the God Loki who was a shapeshifter. Incidentally Loki was also considered a somewhat mean spirited charlatan God who only lived for tricking other Gods and people into doing things to serve his own selfish interests. So yeah, a person trying to masquerade as someone they're really not would bring about plenty of bad associations in Norse society. The only acceptable exception being as a stratagem used for combat (i.e tricking the enemy in order to get an advantage over them). The Norse had respect for cunning warriors almost as much as they respected strength. Odin being a kind of manifestation of cunning, while Thor represented strength.
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  2. In regards to "Down", I think the word would be for the down you'd find on a duck rather than the word used for a descending direction. In Norse language the word "Ned" would be used for a direction, but bird down is called "Dun"
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  3. In Scandinavia, towns ending in "by" can be named after geographical features too, and also after a certain kind of industry. Like there is a borough in Stockholm called "Hammarby" so "Hammertown" or "Hammervillage". To this day there's a fair bit of industry going on there, but in the past there were plenty of smiths and ironworks in the area along with the habitats of the tradesmen. So it was most likely named after Hammers for that reason.
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