I know the basics; such as how a lot of our judicial and political structure is borrowed from, or at least inspired by, Viking practices - such as the ‘ting’ or their by-elections within The Danelaw. I’m also aware that a lot of our words such as ‘law’, weekdays, and most compound words stem from Old Norse as before then we would say ‘slaughter-dew’ rather than ‘blood’. I’ve also heard that the urbanisation of York (Jorvic) was largely the first post-Roman example of British urbanisation, with some of the first two storey houses - although I can’t be sure.
So, any more impacts/legacies? Would be very helpful, i’m always interested in learning about the Vikings.
a lot of our judicial and political structure is borrowed from, or at least inspired by, Viking practices - such as the ‘ting’ or their by-elections within The Danelaw.
Victorian medievalists fetishised the Anglo-Saxons in the same way in which the Vikings are fetishised today, and they attributed the same judicial and political structures to the Anglo-Saxon Wittanagemot and federal-tribal hegemonic polities like Mercia. Really, much of our legal codes are actually Norman - and by extension French - as the laws were greatly overhauled following the Conquest of 1066.
I’m also aware that a lot of our words such as ‘law’, weekdays, and most compound words stem from Old Norse as before then we would say ‘slaughter-dew’ rather than ‘blood’.
There certainly are many loanwords in English which come from the Danelaw, but many of them share a proto-Germanic root with Old English. Middle English, when it emerges, is an amalgamation of Old English with a whole mess of various French dialects and languages. Old English itself is an amalgamation of the same proto-Germanic which developed into the Norse languages with the grammatical structures and pronunciations of Brythonic. Where Norse really shines through is in placenames - places ending in -by in particular are indicative of a Norse origin.
I’ve also heard that the urbanisation of York (Jorvic) was largely the first post-Roman example of British urbanisation
This one is definitely a bit spurious. York was a major settlement, but was already the capital of Northumbria and a significant settlement in its own right by the ninth century and the arrival of the Vikings, having declined following Roman withdrawal and been reclaimed and significantly reconstructed by the seventh century Northumbrian kings Edwin and Oswald. The city does thrive under the Vikings as a trade hub, but by the 10th Century is one of many rebuilt and reclaimed settlements, the most impressive of which is arguably Chester.
I suppose it could be said that the most significant and lasting result of the Viking invasions is the existence of a unified Kingdom of England. After all, it is the presence of an outside threat which catalyses diplomatic relations between the kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia (which had been at war in the 830s) into becoming close allies by the 840s, and creates the basis for the massive expansion of state bureaucracy and infrastructure that physically enables the unification of England in the 920s.