follnaithir

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *walnator, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁-. Related to Latin valeō (“to be strong”), Proto-Germanic *waldaną, Proto-Slavic *volděti, among others.

This word was greatly reshaped under the influence of the adjective follán (“full, entire”), explaining both the double -ll-, unassimilated -n- and the vowel o.

Verb

follnaithir

1. to rule, reign
   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 13^b29

     .i. is and ǽm bieid finis lasse do·n-indin in Macc dond Athir innahíi i rrufollnastar siú.

     i.e. then indeed will be the end when the Son shall deliver to the Father these things wherein He has reigned here.

   • c. 800, Würzburg Glosses on the Pauline Epistles, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 499–712, Wb. 25^b25

     .i. bad nertad dúib inso, as·n-eírsid et folnibthe lassin coimdid.

     i.e. let this be an encouragement to you pl, that you pl will arise and reign with the Lord.

   • c. 800–825, Diarmait, Milan Glosses on the Psalms, published in Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus (reprinted 1987, Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies), edited and with translations by Whitley Stokes and John Strachan, vol. I, pp. 7–483, Ml. 90^a9

     follnaither (.i. Salamon) .i. bith flaithem intí Solam for saint...

     That he (i.e. Solomon) rule, i.e. Solomon will be king over cupidity...

   • Tecosca Cormaic, published in Tecosca Cormaic. The Instructions of King Cormaic Mac Airt (1909, Dublin: Royal Irish Academy), edited and with translations by Kuno Meyer, page 4

     "Ní hansa[e]. Recht fallnathar for talman tuind, táthum, at·chous duit," ol Cormac fri Carpre.

     The right that rules upon the surface of the earth, I have it, let me make it known to you," said Cormac to Cairpre.

Inflection

Simple, class A I present, s preterite, f future, a subjunctive, deponent

		1st sg	2nd sg	3rd sg	1st pl	2nd pl	3rd pl	passive sg	passive pl
present indicative	abs.		follaither
	conj.
	rel.			fallnathar					follatar
imperfect indicative
preterite	abs.
	conj.
	rel.
perfect	deut.
	prot.			·rufollnastar
future	abs.		folnaibe (non-deponent)			folnibthe
	conj.
	rel.
conditional
present subjunctive	abs.
	conj.
	rel.			follnaither
past subjunctive
imperative			follaide
verbal noun
past participle
verbal of necessity

Descendants

• Middle Irish: fallnaid

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “follnathir”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language