alfr

See also: álfr and Álfr

Old Norse

Alternative forms

• álfr

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *albiz, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *albʰós.

Noun

alfr m

1. elf

Declension

Declension of alfr (strong a-stem)

masculine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	alfr	alfrinn	alfar	alfarnir
accusative	alf	alfinn	alfa	alfana
dative	alfi	alfinum	ǫlfum	ǫlfunum
genitive	alfs	alfsins	alfa	alfanna

Derived terms

• dǫkkalfar (“dark elves”)
• ljósalfar (“light elves”)
• svartalfar (“black elves”)
• Gandalfr (name of a dwarf)

Descendants

• Icelandic: álfur
• Faroese: álvur
• Norwegian Nynorsk: alv, elv; (dialectal) alg
• Norwegian Bokmål: alv, elv
• Old Swedish: ælf, ælva
  • Swedish: älva; alf, alv (reborrowed from Old Norse)
• Danish: elver (now only poetic); → alf (learned)
• → Arabic: آلْف (ʔālf)
• → English: auf, oaf
• → Scottish Gaelic: ealbhar
• → Belarusian: альв (alʹv)
• → Russian: альв (alʹv)
• → Ukrainian: альв (alʹv)

Further reading

• MacBain, Alexander, Mackay, Eneas (1911) “alfr”, in An Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language‎^[1], Stirling, →ISBN