Abstract This paper proposes a typology of word-prosodic complexity applied to Modern North Germanic languages, including tonal word accents in Swedish and Norwegian, and different accent systems in Danish dialects ( Section 1 ). This is combined with an analysis of syllable weight operating in mora counting, as proposed by Trubetzkoy to account for the Danish stød. Taking the point of departure in Basbøll’s Non-Stød Model, principles for mora counting in North Germanic are presented and discussed ( Section 2 ). The paper ends by considering some synchronic and diachronic consequences of the proposals, including a discussion of prosodic variation at morpheme boundaries and of stød as a grammaticalized morpheme of singular for nouns ( Section 3 ).