Icon of the Norscan World Walkers army commanded by Wulfrik the Wanderer in Total War: Warhammer III.
Norscan, also sometimes called Norse, is a complex Human language with over a dozen tribal dialects. Structurally, it bears many similarities to Khazalid, the language of the Dwarfs of the Karaz Ankor, but it is corrupted by the intrusion of words from Old Reikspiel and the Dark Tongue of Chaos.
Essentially, Norscan uses a small sample of root words and creates new words by adding prefixes and suffixes and creating compound words out of simple ones. What makes this language difficult to learn is that each tribe joins different words to define the same thing.
A southern tribe of Norsca might call a bear a "bee-wolf" (bee for honey, wolf for shape and appetite) while a northern tribe, where bees simply don't exist, might refer to bears as "waterwolves," since the bear snatches fish from mountain streams.
The icon of the Troll King Throgg and his Norscan Wintertooth army in Total War: Warhammer.
To master this language, one must not only learn the basic words but also be able to understand the implied meaning when the words are joined together in the context of where they are spoken.[1b]
Outside of Norsca itself, Norscan is commonly known in the Imperial Grand Provinces of Nordland and Ostland and, to a lesser extent, the Wasteland and Kislev. This is due not only because of a shared border between those regions and Norsca, but because of the continuous invasions and repeated colonisation of the northern Empire by the Norscans themselves, with Nordland being the most ethnically Norscan province in the reign of Emperor Karl Franz.[2a]
Lexicon[]
A[]
F[]
- Freigattur - "Free-Gathering"; an event in which the Champions of Norsca bring their tribes and warbands together in common cause.[4a]
H[]
- Huscarl - Also spelled 'huskarl'; An elite Chaos Warrior.
J[]
- Jarl - A high-ranking Norscan warrior similar to a chieftain who is loyal to a tribe's king and provides him with service in war in return for land, wealth and the spoils of raids upon the southern lands.
- Jeti - White-furred behemoths that exclusively prey on Humans; alleged offshoot race of Beastmen.[6a]
P[]
S[]
- Skald - A warrior poet and a chronicler of Norscan history.
T[]
- Troldblat - Norse name of Mage-Leaf, an herb used by the spellcasters to regain magical power.[8a]
U[]
- Ulfwerener - "Wolf Warriors"; Norse word for those members of their society who are able to transform their shape into that of a grotesque half-man half-wolf.[7a]
V[]
W[]
- Were - Shapeshifters.
- Wergild - "Man-gold"; A form of debt incurred from committing crimes within a given Jarl's domain.[1a]
Y[]
- Ymir - Another name for Jeti.[6a]
Trivia[]
The bear example given above above might be a reference to the real world name of the great Germanic hero Beowulf, whose name follows the exact same linguistic process.
Sources[]
- 1: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition: Tome of Corruption (RPG)
- 2: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition: Core Rulebook (RPG)
- 2a: pg. 125
- 3: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition -- Old World Armoury (RPG)
- 3a: pg. 8
- 4: Claws of Chaos (Novel) by Gave Thorpe
- 5: Wulfrik (Novel) by C.L. Werner
- 5a: Chapter 12
- 6: Warhammer Armies: Beasts of Chaos (6th Edition)
- 6a: pg. 16
- 7: Man O' War - Warhammer - Sea of Blood Rulebook
- 7a: pg. 48
- 8: Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st Edition: Apocrypha Two-Chart of Darkness (RPG)
- 8a: pg. 80