aldr

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *aldrą (whence also Old English ealdor, Old High German altar), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- (“to grow”).

Noun

aldr m (genitive aldrs, plural aldrar)

1. age, lifetime

   Synonym: ævi

Declension

Declension of aldr (strong a-stem)

masculine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	aldr	aldrinn	aldrar	aldrarnir
accusative	aldr	aldrinn	aldra	aldrana
dative	aldri	aldrinum	ǫldrum	ǫldrunum
genitive	aldrs	aldrsins	aldra	aldranna

Derived terms

• aldri, aldrigi
• Styfialdr
  • Runic: ᛋᛏᛁᚠᛅᛚᛏᚱ (stifaltr), ᛋᛏᚢᚠᛁᛅᛚᛏᚱ (stufialtr), ᛋᛏᚤᚠᛁᛅᛚᛏᚱ (styfialtr)
  • Swedish Medieval Latin: Styfeldus

Related terms

• ala (see for further)
• *aldr (“offspring”)

Descendants

• Icelandic: aldur
• Faroese: aldur
• Norwegian Nynorsk: alder; (dialectal) aldur, aldre, elder
• Old Swedish: alder, aldher
  • Swedish: ålder, (dialectal) alder, aller, älder
• Gutnish: aldur
• Old Danish: aldær
  • Danish: alder
    • → Norwegian Bokmål: alder

Further reading

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