Skraeling

From Srafopedia

Skraeling - The natives of the north. Northern Greenland to be precise, it is the only modern word surviving from the Old Norse language. "Skraelingi" meaning "barbarian" in Icelandic. The etymology is unclear but it is thought to be from the word "skra" which means "skin" because they wore skins, as opposed to the vikings wools.

Skrælling means something similar to "barbarian" in Danish as well. When the Vikings came to America - far before Columbus - they called the native Americans skrællinger. The word may - as it is the case with the Icelandic word Skraelingi - have something to do with skin, since skræl means peel in Danish. The word skrælling still exists in the Danish language, but it is hardly ever used.