AFSOP—Air Force Special Operations.
A-Viking—A Norse practice of sailing away to other countries for the purpose of looting, settlement, or mere adventure, could be for a period of several months or years at a time.
Balaclava—A knitted cap that covers the head, neck, and most of the face.
Boko Haram—A militant Islamic terrorist organization based in northeast Nigeria, responsible for many deaths and kidnappings; its purpose is to institute Sharia, or Islamic law, including the ban on all Western education.
Boondockers—Heavy boots.
Braies—Slim pants worn by men.
BUD/S—Basic Underwater Demolition SEALs.
Ceorl—Free peasant, person of the lowest classes.
Cher—Dear in Cajun (male), comparable to friend.
Chère—Dear in Cajun (female).
Chéríe—French term of endearment meaning dear or darling.
Concubine—Mistress.
Coppergate—A busy, prosperous section of tenth-century York (known as Jorvik or Eoforwic) where merchants and craftsmen set up their stalls for trading.
Drownproofing—A Navy SEAL exercise that involves having the feet bound together and hands tied behind the back, then thrown into deep water.
Drukkinn (various spellings)—Drunk.
Fibbies—FBI.
Fjord—Narrow arm of the seas, often between high cliffs.
Frankland/Frankish—Early name for France.
Grinder—Asphalt training ground in the middle of the SEAL compound in Coronado.
Gunna—Long-sleeved, ankle-length gown for women, often worn under a tunic or surcoat, or under a long, open-sided apron.
Haakai—High-level demon.
Hedeby—Viking-age market town where Germany now stands.
Hersir—Viking military commander.
High and tight—Military haircut.
Hird/hirdsman—A permanent troop that a chieftain or nobleman might have.
Hordlings—Lower-level demons.
Housecarls—Troops assigned to a king’s or lord’s household on a longtime, sometimes permanent basis.
Imps—Lowest-level demons, foot soldiers, so to speak.
Jihad—Religious duty or holy war.
Jorvik—Viking-age York, known to the Saxons as Eoforwic.
JSOC—Joint Special Operations Command.
KA-BAR—Type of knife favored by SEALS.
Kaupang—A Viking-age market town, one of the first towns in Norway.
Keffiyeh—Checkered scarf worn about the head and neck, usually by Arabs.
Knarr—A Viking merchant vessel, wider and deeper than a regular longship.
Kudzu—Seriously invasive plant growing wild in the United States.
Longships—Narrow, open watergoing vessels with oars and square sails, perfected by Viking shipbuilders, noted for their speed and ability to ride in both shallow waters and deep oceans.
Lucifer/Satan—The fallen angel Lucifer who became known as the demon Satan.
LZ—Landing zone.
Mace—A weapon with a heavy heal on the end of a handle or chain.
Mancus—A unit of measurement or coin equal roughly to 4.5 grams of gold or thirty silver pence, also equal of one month’s wages for a skilled worker in medieval times.
Martian—Alien.
Mead—Fermented honey and water.
Mung—Type of demon, below the haakai in status, often very large and oozing slime and mung.
Muslim—Follower of a religion based on the Koran with the belief that the word of God was revealed through the prophet Mohammed.
Muspell—Part of Nifhelm, one of the nine worlds in the Norse afterlife, known by its fires guarded by Sert and his flaming sword.
Nithing—A Norse insult meaning that a person is less than nothing.
Norselands—Early term referring not just to Norway but all the Scandinavian countries as a whole.
Norsemandy—Normandy.
Northumbria—One of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, bordered by the English kingdoms to the south and in the north and northwest by the Scots, Cumbrians, and Strathclyde Welsh.
O-course—Grueling obstacle course on the training compound, also known as the Oh-my-God course.
Odin—King of all the Viking gods.
OUTCONUS—Outside the continental United States.
Parure—Set of jewelry intended to be worn together, such as earrings, necklace, bracelet, and brooch.
Pattern-welding—Method of making a sword by forging several different metals together to form a pattern.
Plaçage—White/Creole men of New Orleans often had two families, one legal and the other to women of color, known as left-handed marriages; the system that often involved contracts, cash settlements, homes, etc. was known as plaçage.
Placée—Women of color who entered into plaçage arrangements.
Po-boy—Type of Louisiana submarine sandwich served on a baguette.
Quadroon—Person of one-fourth black ancestry, offspring of a white and a mulatto (offspring of a white and a black).
Sagas—Oral history of the Norse people, passed on from ancient times.
SEAL—Sea, Air, and Land.
Sennight—One week.
Sharia Law—Very strict law regarding Muslim behavior, especially restrictive toward women.
Skald—Poet.
Sugar cookies—Type of SEAL exercise that involves wetting body in ocean, rolling in sand, and then engaging in strenuous exercise.
Swabbies—Sailors.
Tangos—Terrorists, bad guys.
Teletransport—Transfer of matter from one point to another without traversing physical space.
Thralls—Slaves.
Torque—A collar-like necklace, usually of twisted bands of metal.
Trident—The pin earned by SEALs after completing BUD/S training, nicknamed the “Budweiser” because it is rather garish, containing an anchor, a trident, a pistol, and an eagle.
Vangels—Viking vampire angels.
VIK—The seven Sigurdsson brothers who head the vangels.
WEALS—Women on Earth, Air, Land, and Sea.
Wergild—A man’s worth offered in payment.
Zydeco—Type of Cajun music.