f., dat. and acc. hildi, [A. S. hild; Hel. hildi; prob. akin to hjaldr, q. v.]:—battle, only in poetry; heilir hildar til, heilir hildi frá, Hm. 157; vekja hildi, to wage war, Hkv. 2. 6; hefja hildi, to begin a battle, Hkm. 2; er hildr þróask, when war waxes, Stor. 13; hörð h., a hard fight; bjóða hildi, to offer battle; ganga í hildi, to go into battle; semja, fremja hildi, to wage war, Lex. Poët. In poetry a shield is called hildar-ský, hildar-vé, hildar-veggr. 2. name of one of the Valkyrias (see Valkyrja), who were regarded as the handmaids of Odin, Vsp. 22, Gm. 36; Hildr is also represented as a daughter of the mythical king Högni and the bride of Héðin, whose life is recorded in the tale of Hjaðninga-víg, Edda 89, 90: hence war is called Hildar-leikr, m. the game of H., Bm. 1, passim.

II. in pr. names; it is rare as a prefix in northern names, but freq. in old Germ.: of men, Hildir, Hildi-björn, Hildi-brandr, Hildi-grímr, Hild-ólfr; of women, Hildr, Hildi-gunnr, Hildi-ríðr: again, it often forms the latter part in female names, and often spelt or sounded without the aspirate, Ás-hildr, Bryn-hildr, Böðv-ildr, Dóm-hildr, Ey-ildr, Geir-hildr, Grím-hildr, Gunn-hildr, Hrafn-hildr, Matt-ildr (for.), Orm-hildr, Ragn-hildr, Svan-hildr, Úlf-hildr, Yngv-ildr, Þor-hildr, Landn.

III. in pl. hildir, the caul or membrane covering animals, calves, lambs when cast, kálfs-hildir, kýr-hildir, freq. in mod. usage.

B. APPELLATIVE COMPDS. hildi- only in poets: hildi-frækn, adj. mighty in war. hildi-göltr, m., mythic. a helmet, Edda 82. hildi-leikr, m. [A. S. hilde-gelâc], the game of war, a fight, Fm. 31. hildi-meiðr, m., poët. a warrior, pillar of war, Fm. 36. hildi-svín, n. = hildigöltr, Edda 82, Hdl. 7. hildi-tannr, m., gen. hilditanns, Edda i. 464; dat. hilditanni, Fms. ix. 455 (an evidence that tönn, a tooth, was originally masc.); later, Hildi-tönn, f. nickname of the old Danish king, see Skjöld. S., qs. a war-tooth, tusk; cp. A. S. hilde-tux, Beow. 1511.