[Lalaith]

Love this thread title - I had no idea what to expect when I clicked to open it!

The term Skraelingi would still understood by modern Icelanders, and even used, but only as a rather self-consciously archaic and/or ironic term of abuse.

I think in some ways "native" does convey the same sense, because no decent modern English speaker would refer to "natives" except in such a deliberately archaic way, you know...."the heat, the flies, the beat of the tom-toms, the natives were restless that night..."

I do however also agree that "Skraelingr" has a much better onomatopoeic sense than "native". More interesting etymological facts - it is also related to the common verb, skraela, to peel (ie [de-]skin) which is used in Danish as well as Icelandic. And the present-day Greenland Inuits refer to themselves as Kalaalleq, which is believed to be derived from the word Skraeling, rather than their own original word for themselves.

And to keep the Tolkien link....albeit off topic....the dealings of the Snowmen of Forochel with Averdui - could they have been inspired by the trade between the Inuits and Norsemen of the sagas, I wonder....