stælhran

Old English

FWOTD – 23 July 2020

Etymology

First element unclear, but the second part of the compound is hrān (“reindeer”). This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstæl.xrɑːn/, [ˈstæɫ.r̥ɑːn]

Noun

stælhrān m

1. decoy reindeer (used to catch wild reindeer)
   • c. 900, The Voyages of Ohthere and Wulfstan:

     Þā dēor hīe hātaþ hrānas. Þāra wǣron six stӕlhrānas; þā bēoþ swīðe dīere mid Finnum, for þon hīe fōþ þā wildan hrānas mid.

     They call these animals reindeer. Six of them were decoy reindeer; they are very valuable to the Finns, because they use them to capture wild reindeer.

Declension

Declension of stælhran (strong a-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	stælhrān	stælhrānas
accusative	stælhrān	stælhrānas
genitive	stælhrānes	stælhrāna
dative	stælhrāne	stælhrānum