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Skræling, or skrælingar is what the Vikings called the Dorset from Greenland when they encountered them, and they used the same name for the inhabitants (possibly the ancestors of the later Beothuk) of North America ("Vinland"), when they voyaged there.
It originates from Old Norse and the meaning varies across differents dialects in Scandinavia. Generally, the base word skral conotes "thin, or scrawny". It may also be defined as "wretched, or lacking in a cultural sense".de:Skraelinger sv:Skrälingar