[[malstrøm]]

Maelstrom is supposed to come from the Danish word, malstrøm, but there's no entry for it. Is this the correct spelling? Are there alternative spellings?

The spelling is correct, and I don't see any alternative spellings in Danish. DDO has the Dutch maalstroom as the etymological origin.

My source SAOB also says Dutch maalstroom is the origin. See the new Swedish entry malström.

Thanks.

The Online Etymology Dictionary gives the Dutch spelling as maelstrom, rather than maalstroom. Do we have any Dutch editors around here?

Maalstroom is the modern Dutch spelling. aa often used to be spelled ae a few hundred years ago, but that's not done anymore except in some old names. The word maalstroom itself probably comes from malen (to grind) + stroom (stream).

Dutch Wikipedia has an article named w:nl:maalstroom, but none named maelstroom.

wikipedia:Maelstrom has, "derived from the Dutch maelstrom, modern spelling maalstroom", citing The Merriam-Webster new book of word histories.

OK, that makes more sense. See discussion regarding the Faroese word malstreymur, possibly the original version.

Seems like w:nl:Moskstraumen has the complete story: Maalstroom is/was the Dutch name of the Moskstraumen, a tidal stream in the Norwegian sea. It used to mean whirlpool, but the modern word for that is draaikolk.

Thank you for getting back to me on that, Hamaryns. So, words to add are:

• maalstroom - Dutch
• Mokstraumen - Dutch
• mokstraumen - Dutch, as a non-proper noun?
• malstreymur - Faroese
• malustreymur (alternate spelling)

See also w:Talk:Maelstrom#Etymology, w:Talk:Maelstrom#Etymology, again. I am not terribly convinced that Dutch cartographers gave it its name (Atlas Cosmographicae (Mercator) gives Maelſtrom), see e.g. w:Grottasöngr#Prose Edda, a name is often (much) older than the legend trying to explain it.

Thanks, Erik. That will take some time to sort through!

I don't know whether strom (as opposed to strome or stroom) is middle Dutch, on the other hand Strom is German.