nifl
Icelandic
Etymology
In compounds probably means “darkness”,[1] ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *nébʰos (“cloud”) whence the Proto-Germanic *nebulaz, cognates with Old High German nebul (“fog”)[1] (New High german nebel,[1] whence Nebel (“fog, mist, haze; nebula”)) and Latin nebula (“fog; cloud; vapor”).[1]
Confer njól (“poetic: night”).
Noun
nifl n (genitive singular nifls, uncountable)
Derived terms
- niflfarinn (poetic: gone to hell, dead)
- niflgóður (poetic: evil)
- Niflheimur (Niflheim; the Mist Home, the "Abode of Mist", the Mist World; the domain of the dead, the Underworld)
- Niflhel (poetic: the dark abode of the being Hel)
- niflungur (poetic: a king, a head of state)
- Niflungar (Nibelung)
- niflvegur (poetic: a dark road)
References
- ↑ 1.01.11.21.31.4 Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon. Page 667 of the Íslensk orðsifjabók (“Book of Icelandic Etymology”). Publisher: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar á Íslandi (“Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies”), first print November 1989 (ISBN 978-9979-654-01-8)