valr

Old Norse

FWOTD – 24 December 2013

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *walaz (“corpse, body, battlefield”). Cognate with Old English wæl, Old Saxon wal, Old High German wal. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *welh₃- (“wound, injure”).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

valr m (genitive vals)

1. (uncountable, in the singular) the dead, slain in battle
   • Sögubrot af Fornkonungum 8, in 1829, C. C. Rafn, Fornaldar sögur Nordrlanda, Volume I. Copenhagen, page 380:

     […] ok allan þann val, sem fellr á þeima velli, gef ek Óðni.

     […] and all those slain, who shall fall at that field, I shall give unto Odin.

Declension

  Declension of valr (strong a-stem, singular only)

masculine	singular
	indefinite	definite
nominative	valr	valrinn
accusative	val	valinn
dative	vali	valinum
genitive	vals	valsins

Derived terms

Terms derived from valr

• falla í val (“to fall in battle”)
• valblóð (“blood, gore”)
• valbráð (“venison”)
• valdreyri (“blood, gore”)
• valdreyrugr (“gory with blood of the slain”)
• valdýr (“carrion-beast”)
• valdǫgg (“blood”)
• valfall (“fall of the slain”)
• valfrekr (“greedy for carrion”)
• Valfǫðr (“Odin”)
• valgaldr (“charms”)
• valgammr (“carrion-bird”)
• valgjarn (“greedy for carrion”)
• valglaumr (“swarm of the slain”)
• valgrind (“gates of Valhalla”)
• Valhǫll (“Valhalla”)
• valkeri (“sword”)
• valkjósandi (“Odin”, literally “chooser of the slain”)
• valkyrja (“valkyrie”)
• valkǫstr (“heap of slain”)
• valmær (“valkyrie”)
• valrauðr (“blood-red”)
• valrauf, valrof (“spoils”)
• valsinni (“company of the slain”)
• Valtafn (“offering of the slain”)
• Valtamr (“Odin”)
• valtívi (“god of the slain”)
• Valtýr (“Odin”)

Descendants

• Icelandic: valur m
• Norwegian: val m
• Swedish: val c

Etymology 2

Probably a contracted form of *valhaukr (“carrion-hawk”), from valr (“the slain”) + haukr (“hawk”).

Noun

valr m (genitive vals, plural valir)

1. falcon, hawk
   • Grágás, in 1829, J. F. W. Schlegel, Hin forna lögbok islendinga sem nefnist Gragas, Volume II. Copenhagen, page 346:

     Vali scal eigi veiþa oc alptir oc gæs oc andir; […]

     Falcons shall not be hunted, nor swans nor geese nor ducks; […]

   • Staraya Ladoga, in 840:

     [E]s Œfi of variðr hali valr Hríms fránmanna grand fimbulsinni plóga.

Declension

  Declension of valr (strong a-stem)

masculine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	valr	valrinn	valar	valarnir
accusative	val	valinn	vala	valana
dative	vali	valinum	vǫlum	vǫlunum
genitive	vals	valsins	vala	valanna

Derived terms

Terms derived from valr

• valhverfa (“to roll the eyes in the forehead”)
• valklif (“hand”)
• valkoka (“to roll the eyes in the forehead”)
• valveiðr (“hawking”)

Descendants

• Icelandic: valur m

References

• “valr”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• valr in An Icelandic-English Dictionary, R. Cleasby and G. Vigfússon, Clarendon Press, 1874, at Internet Archive.
• valr in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, G. T. Zoëga, Clarendon Press, 1910, at Internet Archive.