Fell
434194
222266064
2008-06-28T12:16:33Z
Northernhenge
5558684
/* Scandinavia and Finland */ See talk page.
{{otheruses}}
{{redirect|Fells|the surname|Fells (surname)}}
[[Image:Yllästunturi Ylläsjärven puolelta.jpg|thumb|350px|The [[Ylläs]] fell in Finland]]
'''Fell''' (from the [[Old Norse]] ''fjall'', 'mountain') is a word used to refer to [[mountain]]s, or certain types of mountainous landscape, in [[Scandinavia]], the [[Manx English|Isle of Man]], and parts of [[England]].
==England==
In [[Northern England]], especially in the [[Lake District]] and in the [[Pennine]] [[Dale]]s, the word "fell" originally referred to an area of uncultivated high ground used as [[commons|common]] [[grazing]]. This meaning is found in the names of various breeds of [[livestock]] bred for life on the uplands, such as [[Rough Fell (sheep)|Rough Fell]] sheep and [[fell pony|fell ponies]]. It is also found in many place names across the North of England, often attached to the name of a community; thus [[Seathwaite Fell]], for example, would be the common grazing land used by the farmers of Seathwaite.
Today, "fell" can refer to any one of the [[mountain]]s and [[hill]]s of the Lake District and the Pennine Dales. This meaning tends to overlap with the previous one, especially where place names are concerned: in particular, names that originally referred to grazing areas tend to be applied to hilltops, as is the case with the aforementioned Seathwaite Fell. In other cases the reverse is true: for instance, the name of [[Wetherlam]], in the [[Coniston Fells]], though understood to refer to the mountain as a whole, strictly speaking refers to the summit; the slopes have names such as Tilberthwaite High Fell, Low Fell and Above Beck Fells.
Groups of [[cairn]]s are a common feature on many fells, often marking the summit - there are fine examples on [[Wild Boar Fell]] in [[Mallerstang]] Dale, Cumbria, and on 'Nine Standards Rigg' just outside [[Kirkby Stephen]], [[Cumbria]].
As the most mountainous region of England, the Lake District is the area most closely associated with the sport of [[fell running]], which takes its name from the fells of the district. "Fellwalking" is also the term used locally for the activity known in the rest of [[Great Britain]] as [[hillwalking]].
==Scandinavia and Finland==
{{Expand-section|date=June 2008}}
Equivalent words are used in [[Scandinavia]]: '''fjeld''' in [[Danish language|Danish]], '''fjell''' in [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], and '''fjäll''' in [[Swedish language|Swedish]].
In other Scandinavian countries, a different word is used. '''Duottar''' in [[Northern Sami|Northern Sámi]], '''tundar''' in [[Akkala Sami|Akkala Sámi]], '''tunturi''' in [[Finnish language|Finnish]]; "duottar" and "tunturi" are from the same [[Sami languages|Sami]] origin as the English word [[tundra]], and come from the proto-word form *'''tōnter''') is a treeless mountain landscape that has been shaped by [[glacier]] ice earlier in history.
In the [[Finnish language]], a fell (''tunturi'') is distinguished from a mountain (''vuori'') in that true mountains have permanent glaciers. Erosion has also given fells a gentler shape, whereas the younger mountains have a rugged shape. Famous fells in Finland are [[Halti]], [[Saana]], [[Ylläs]], [[Aakenustunturi]] and [[Korvatunturi]], the legendary homeplace of [[Joulupukki]], the Finnish [[Santa Claus]].
==See also==
{{wiktionarypar|fell}}
* [[Fell farming]]
* [[Fell Terrier]]
* [[List of fells in the Lake District]]
* [[List of Wainwrights]]
* [[The Outlying Fells of Lakeland]]
* [[Middlesex Fells]], a rocky highland just north of Boston, Massachusetts
* [[Snaefell]], [[Isle of Man]]
==References==
*[[Alfred Wainwright|Wainwright, A.]], "Coniston Old Man" in ''[[A Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells]], Book Four: The Southern Fells'' (London:Francis Lincoln, [1960] 2003), p. 15. ISBN 0-7112-2230-4
[[Category:landforms]]
{{Link FA|sv}}
[[da:Fjeld]]
[[de:Fjell]]
[[fr:Tunturi]]
[[fi:Tunturi]]
[[sv:Fjäll]]