valr

Old Norse

FWOTD – 24 December 2013

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *walaz (“corpse, body, battlefield”). Cognate with Old English wæl, Old Saxon wal, Old High German wal. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *welh₃- (“wound, injure”).

Pronunciation

• (12th century Icelandic) IPA^(key): /ˈwɑlr̩/

Noun

valr m (genitive vals)

1. (uncountable, in the singular) the dead, slain in battle
   • Sögubrot af Fornkonungum 8, in 1829, C. C. Rafn, Fornaldar sögur Nordrlanda, Volume I. Copenhagen, page 380:

     […] ok allan þann val, sem fellr á þeima velli, gef ek Óðni.

     […] and all those slain, who shall fall at that field, I shall give unto Odin.

Declension

Declension of valr (strong a-stem, singular only)

masculine	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	valr	valrinn
accusative	val	valinn
dative	vali	valinum
genitive	vals	valsins

Derived terms

• falla í val (“to fall in battle”)
• valblóð (“blood, gore”)
• valbráð (“venison”)
• valdreyri (“blood, gore”)
• valdreyrugr (“gory with blood of the slain”)
• valdýr (“carrion-beast”)
• valdǫgg (“blood”)
• valfall (“fall of the slain”)
• valfrekr (“greedy for carrion”)
• Valfǫðr (“Odin”)
• valgaldr (“charms”)
• valgammr (“carrion-bird”)
• valgjarn (“greedy for carrion”)
• valglaumr (“swarm of the slain”)
• valgrind (“gates of Valhalla”)
• Valhǫll (“Valhalla”)
• valkeri (“sword”)
• valkjósandi (“Odin”, literally “chooser of the slain”)
• valkyrja (“valkyrie”)
• valkǫstr (“heap of slain”)
• valmær (“valkyrie”)
• valrauf, valrof (“spoils”)
• valrauðr (“blood-red”)
• valsinni (“company of the slain”)
• Valtafn (“offering of the slain”)
• Valtamr (“Odin”)
• valtívi (“god of the slain”)
• Valtýr (“Odin”)

Descendants

• Icelandic: valur m
• Norwegian: val m
• Swedish: val c
• Danish: val c

Etymology 2

Uncertain. Possibly an ancient borrowing from Proto-Celtic *wolkos (“hawk”).

Noun

valr m (genitive vals, plural valir)

2. falcon, hawk
   • Grágás, in 1829, J. F. W. Schlegel, Hin forna lögbok islendinga sem nefnist Gragas, Volume II. Copenhagen, page 346:

     Vali scal eigi veiþa oc alptir oc gæs oc andir; […]

     Falcons shall not be hunted, nor swans nor geese nor ducks; […]

   • Staraya Ladoga, in 840:

     [E]s Œfi of variðr hali valr Hríms fránmanna grand fimbulsinni plóga.

Declension

Declension of valr (strong i-stem, s-genitive)

masculine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	valr	valrinn	valir	valirnir
accusative	val	valinn	vali	valina
dative	val	valinum	vǫlum	vǫlunum
genitive	vals	valsins	vala	valanna

Derived terms

• valhverfa (“to roll the eyes in the forehead”)
• valklif (“hand”)
• valkoka (“to roll the eyes in the forehead”)
• valveiðr (“hawking”)

Descendants

• Icelandic: valur m

Further reading

• Richard Cleasby, Guðbrandur Vigfússon (1874) “valr”, in An Icelandic-English Dictionary, 1st edition, Oxford: Oxford Clarendon Press, page 676
• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “valr”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 468; also available at the [https://archive.org/stream/concisedictionar001857

1. page/468 Internet Archive]