Skræling (plural skrælingar ) is the name that the Viking S gave to the people Culture of Dorset of the Greenland. It is possible that they also gave this name to the people of North America which they met, in particular the ancestors of the Béothuks.

The word would come from the Vieux norrois whose significance changes according to the dialects of Scandinavia. The word skral means thin , skeletal . In Norwegian, it is often used like synonym for to feel sick , weak .

The Ethnonyme Greenlandic Kalaaleq (“ Greenlandic ”) could be a derivation of the word skræling (the combination skr is unknown in the languages inuits. skræling could also mean " Man laid"