fimbulvetur

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse fimbulvetr; from fimbul- (“mighty, great”) +‎ vetr (“winter”). Norwegian Nynorsk fimbulvetter, Faroese fimbulsvetur, Old East Norse fimbulvintr → Swedish and Danish fimbulvinter → Norwegian fimbulvinter. See English fimbulwinter.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɪmpʏlˌvɛːtʏr/

Noun

fimbulvetur m (genitive singular fimbulvetrar, nominative plural fimbulvetur)

1. A harsh winter, the great and awful darkness preceding the end of the world as written in the Prose Edda (“Younger Edda”). It says three successive winters will come where snow and wind comes from all directions, without any intervening summer; during this time, there will be innumerable wars and ties of blood will no longer be respected: the next-of-kin will lay together and brothers will kill brothers. See Fimbulwinter on Wikipedia.