hvalr

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *hwalaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kʷálos (“sheatfish”). Compare Old English hwæl, Old Saxon hwal, Old High German wal.

Noun

hvalr m (genitive hvals, plural hvalar or hvalir)

1. whale

   Skera hval.

   To flense a whale.

Declension

Declension of hvalr (strong a-stem)

masculine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	hvalr	hvalrinn	hvalar, hvalir	hvalarnir, hvalirnir
accusative	hval	hvalinn	hvala, hvali	hvalana, hvalina
dative	hvali	hvalinum	hvǫlum	hvǫlunum
genitive	hvals	hvalsins	hvala	hvalanna

Descendants

• Icelandic: hvalur
• Faroese: hvalur
• Norn: hval
• Norwegian Nynorsk: kval
  • → Norwegian Bokmål: kval
• Elfdalian: wal
• Old Swedish: hval
  • Swedish: val
• Scanian: hval
• Old Danish: hwal
  • Danish: hval
    • Norwegian Bokmål: hval
• Gutnish: val

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “hvalr”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive