meanwhile, vikings settled on the cotentin in the ninth and tenth centuries. there are indications of a whaling industry there dating to the ninth century, possibly introduced by norsemen. they were followed by anglo-norse and anglo-danish people, who established themselves as farmers. the cotentin became part of normandy in the early tenth century. many placenames there are derived from the norse language. examples include la hague, from "hagi" ("meadow" or "enclosure"), and la hougue, from "haugr" ("hill" or "mound"). other names are typical: all those ending with "-tot" (quettetot..) from "topt" "site of a house" (modern "-toft"), "-bec" (bricquebec, houlbec..) from "bekkr" "brook", "stream", etc.