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”).[1]

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

  1. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959) “246”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 1, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 246

Further reading

  • Richard Cleasby, Guðbrandur Vigfússon (1874) “Heimdallr”, in An Icelandic-English Dictionary, 1st edition, Oxford: Oxford Clarendon Press, page 250
  • Orchard, Andy (1997). Dictionary of Norse Myth and Legend. Cassell, p. 32
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