skjöldur

See also: skjøldur

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse skjǫldr, from Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keit-, *(s)keid-, *kheit- (“shield, cover”). Compare Faroese skjøldur, Danish and Norwegian skjold, Swedish sköld.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈscœltʏr/
• Rhymes: -œltʏr

Noun

skjöldur m (genitive singular skjaldar, nominative plural skildir)

1. shield (handheld piece of armor)
2. shield (anything which protects or defends)

Usage notes

• In certain phrases such as koma í opna skjöldu, ganga fram fyrir skjöldu, and stíga fram fyrir skjöldu, an archaic plural accusative form skjöldu still survives.

Declension

Declension of skjöldur (masculine)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	skjöldur	skjöldurinn	skildir	skildirnir
accusative	skjöld	skjöldinn	skildi, skjöldu1	skildina
dative	skildi	skildinum	skjöldum	skjöldunum
genitive	skjaldar	skjaldarins	skjalda	skjaldanna

¹Archaic, literary or in set phrases.

Derived terms

• hlífiskjöldur
• koma í opna skjöldu (“to catch someone off guard, to take by surprise”)
• leika tveim skjöldum, leika tveimur sköldum (“to trim one's sails to the wind, to swim with the tide”)
• skjöldóttur
• skjaldarmerki

References

• Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989) Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, →ISBN (Available at Málið.is under the “Eldri orðabækur” tab.)
• Kristín Bjarnadóttir, editor (2002–2025), “skjöldur”, in Beygingarlýsing íslensks nútímamáls [The Database of Modern Icelandic Inflection] (in Icelandic), Reykjavík: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
• Mörður Árnason (2019) Íslensk orðabók, 5th edition, Reykjavík: Forlagið
• “skjöldur” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)