ǫld

See also: old, öld, øld, and 'old

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *aldiz (“age, lifetime”). Cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌻𐌳𐍃 (alds).

Pronunciation

• (9th century West Norse) IPA^(key): /ˈɒld/
• (12th century Icelandic) IPA^(key): /ˈɒld/

Noun

ǫld f (genitive aldar, plural aldir)

1. time, age
   • Vǫluspá, verse 3, lines 1-2, in 1867, S. Bugge, Norrœn fornkvæði: Sæmundar Edda hins fróða. Christiania, page 1:

     Ár var alda / þar er Ýmir bygði, […]

     In early ages, / when Ymir lived […]

2. cycle, period
   • Stjorn 95, in 1834, F. Magnússon, C.C. Rafn, Fornmanna sögur. Volume VIII. Copenhagen, page 15:

     […] ok at greina daga, uikur ok manadi, aar ok aldir

     and to distinguish days from weeks and months, years and centuries

3. (poetic, in the singular) people
   • Kate Heslop (ed.) 2017, ‘Skúli Þorsteinsson, Poem about Svǫlðr 2’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 362.

     […] nú fiðr ǫld, at eldumk […]

     […] now people find I grow old […]

4. (poetic, in the plural) men, mankind
   • Hávamál, verse 12, lines 1-3, in 1867, S. Bugge, Norrœn fornkvæði: Sæmundar Edda hins fróða. Christiania, page 44:

     Era sva gott, / sem gott qveþa, / öl alda sona; […]

     Is not so good, / as they say it is, / ale for the sons of men; […]

Declension

Declension of ǫld (strong i-stem)

feminine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	ǫld	ǫldin	aldir	aldirnar
accusative	ǫld	ǫldina	aldir	aldirnar
dative	ǫldu, ǫld	ǫldunni, ǫldinni	ǫldum	ǫldunum
genitive	aldar	aldarinnar	alda	aldanna

Descendants

• Icelandic: öld f
• Faroese: øld f
• Danish: old c (archaic)

Further reading

• Richard Cleasby, Guðbrandur Vigfússon (1874) “ǫld”, in An Icelandic-English Dictionary, 1st edition, Oxford: Oxford Clarendon Press, page 763
• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “öld”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 528; also available at the [https://archive.org/stream/concisedictionar001857

1. page/528 Internet Archive]