Heimdallr

Old Norse

Etymology

heimr (“home; world”) +‎ dallr of unknown origin and meaning. The latter term appears to correspond to feminine -dǫll in Mardǫll, one of Freyja's names, and is perhaps cognate with Old English deal (“proud, eminent”), giving a potential meaning "World-Bright". It may also be the root of Dellingr (“the father of Dagr or Day”), whose name could mean "the shining one." According to Pokorny, the root is Proto-Indo-European *dʰel- (“shining, light”), a derivative of *ǵʰelh₃- (“gleam”), compare the cognates listed at Albanian diell (“sun”).

Pronunciation

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

Proper noun

Heimdallr m (genitive Heimdallar)

1. (Norse mythology) Heimdall
   • Vǫluspá, verse 1, lines 3-4, in 1867, S. Bugge, Norrœn fornkvæði: Sæmundar Edda hins fróða. Christiania, page 1:

     Meiri ok minni / mögu Heimdallar; […]

     Greater and smaller / sons of Heimdall; […]

Declension

  Declension of Heimdallr (strong i-stem, ar-genitive, indefinite singular only)

masculine	singular
	indefinite
nominative	Heimdallr
accusative	Heimdall
dative	Heimdall
genitive	Heimdallar

References

• Heimdallr in An Icelandic-English Dictionary, R. Cleasby and G. Vigfússon, Clarendon Press, 1874, at Internet Archive.
• Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell, p. 32