A word of love engraved in stone or glass outlasts any card and any bouquet. But how did „I love you" actually sound in the world of the Vikings? We take an honest look at the old sources – and show which words truly suit a personal gift.
First things first, and without the romantic gloss: a fixed, everyday „I love you" like we use today did not exist in Old Norse in that form. The language of the Viking age expressed affection differently – often more restrained, often through loyalty and bond rather than a single set phrase. Two expressions, however, come very close in meaning.
The first is „ek ann þér" (roughly „I love you" / „I am devoted to you"). It comes from the verb unna, meaning to love, to wish someone well, to be warmly devoted to them. It is a warm, old word – it means a love that wishes the other person good. The second is „ek elska þik" („I love you"), from the verb elska. This word is somewhat younger and closer to our modern „to love"; you meet it mainly in the texts written down later.
Both forms are attested or cleanly reconstructed – but they are not „marketing Old Norse". Anyone wearing such words engraved should know: this is the language of the sagas, not a modern slogan in Viking costume. And that is exactly what makes it beautiful.
Honesty matters especially here, because plenty of invented „Viking pet names" circulate online. The old texts do know loving forms of address, yet they sound different from what you might expect. In the sagas and Edda poems a beloved person is often simply called vinr (friend) or vina (female friend) – friendship and love lay close together in the North. A woman addresses her man as minn („mine"); a recurring word of tenderness is ástvinr, the „love-friend", the confidant of the heart.
The root word for love itself is ást. It appears in many tender compounds and is still alive in Icelandic today. What you should treat with caution, by contrast, are lists of supposed „sweet Viking names for your partner" – most of them are modern inventions. For engravings we prefer to draw on what is genuinely old: ást, ann, vinr. Less, but real.
Norse poetry rarely tells of love sweetly, but all the more movingly. In the old skalds it is almost always woven together with fate and loyalty. There is Sigrún, who seeks out her fallen hero Helgi even in his burial mound and lies down at his side because her love is stronger than death. There is Gudrún, whose grief for Sigurð belongs to the most harrowing scenes of the Edda. And there is Brynhild, whose love and wounded pride set an entire legend in motion.
These women do not love quietly – they love with full consequence. In the words Sigrún speaks to her dead Helgi in the mound, this unconditional bond still rings out:
„A bed I have made for you, Helgi, now, for you free of sorrow, son of the Ylfings; at your breast I would fall asleep, hero, as I often did with you living."Poetic Edda, Helgakviða Hundingsbana II (after Simrock; public domain)
You need not know a word of Old Norse to feel what is meant here: love that remains. It is exactly this attitude that makes Norse words of love so precious for a gift – they promise not infatuation, but faithfulness.
For engraving the rule is: short, genuine and legible. A brief „ek ann þér" or „ást" often works more strongly than a long sentence – especially when names and a date are added. The combination of the Old Norse word with its translation underneath is lovely, so the meaning is not lost.
In the workshop the pair of lanterns has proven especially romantic: two lanterns of Stölzle crystal glass from Lusatia, born in fire, each with a name and a shared word of love – in candlelight they carry the engraving gently into the room. If you prefer something more rugged and lasting, choose a slate plate, where the bright, silvery-grey word on the dark ground looks almost carved in stone. And for a word you always keep with you, an engraved pendant is ideal.
Would you like to see your name and your loved one's in runes as well? In our article on Viking names we explain how that honestly works. And if you want to arrange your motif yourself beforehand – word, names, date, runes – design it in our engraving configurator. For anything free and personal we are reachable via the Custom Engraving page.
With Old Norse words it pays to look at the special characters: the þ (thorn) and the ð (eth) belong to them and are what make the word right in the first place. We engrave them correctly – and gladly include the pronunciation and the exact meaning, so you can tell the story behind the word when you hand over your gift. Just write to us beforehand which sense you want to capture, and together we will find the fitting expression.
The closest expressions are „ek ann þér" (from the verb unna – to love, to be warmly devoted) and the somewhat younger „ek elska þik" (from the verb elska – to love). A single, fixed standard „I love you" like in modern English did not exist in Old Norse; the language expressed love more through affection and loyalty.
Tender forms of address existed, but they sound different from modern pet names. In sagas and Edda poems a beloved person is often called „vinr" (friend) or „ástvinr" (love-friend, confidant of the heart); the root word for love is „ást". Many „sweet Viking pet names" circulating online, by contrast, are modern inventions.
Yes, gladly. We engrave the old words correctly, including special characters such as þ and ð, combine them with names and a date on request, and include meaning and pronunciation. They look most beautiful on a pair of lanterns, a slate plate or a pendant – reach out to us via Custom Engraving.
Whether „ek ann þér" on a lantern, „ást" on a pendant or a verse from the Edda on slate – Norse words of love are not a loud declaration but a quiet one. They tell of a love built on loyalty, one that outlasts time. That is exactly what can be laser-engraved and given as a gift. Bring us your word and the names to go with it – we will engrave it for you in our small family workshop in Alsdorf.
Norse wedding & christening gifts · Viking names & their meaning · Viking gifts for men · Runes & their meaning.