n., pl. skáld; the word is in poetry rhymed as skald (with a short vowel), skald and kalda, aldri and skaldi, Kormak, and so on; but the plural is always spelt skáld, not sköld; the mod. Dan. skjald is borrowed from the Icel.: [the etymology and origin of this word is contested; Prof. Bergmann, in Message de Skirnir, Strasburg, 1871, p. 54, derives it from the Slavonic skladi = composition, skladacz = compositeur; but the earliest usages point to a Teutonic and a different root. In the ancient law skáldskapr meant a libel in verse, and was synonymous with flimt, danz, níð, q. v.; the compds skáld-fífl, leir-skáld (q. v.) also point to the bad sense as the original one, which is still noticeable in popular Icel. usages and phrases such as skálda (the verb), skáldi, skældinn (libellous), see also skáldmær below. On the other hand, skálda, Germ. schalte, means a pole (sec skálda, skáld-stöng below); libels and imprecations were in the ancient heathen age scratched on poles, see the remarks s. v. níð, níðstöng. The word is therefore, we believe, to be traced back to the old libel-pole, ‘scald-pole;’ if so, Engl. scold = to abuse, Germ. schelten, may be kindred words; the old Lat. phrase (of Mart. Capella) barbara fraxineis sculpatur runa tabellis may even refer to this scratching of imprecations on pieces of wood.]

B. A poet, in countless instances; þeir vóru skáld Haralds komings ok kappar, Fas. i. 379; forn-skáld, þjóð-skáld, níð-skáld, hirð-skáld, leir-skáld, krapta-skáld, ákvæða-skáld, as also sálma-skáld, rímna-skáld; in nicknames, Skáld-Helgi, Skáld-Hrafn, Skáld-Refr, Landn., names given to those who composed libellous love-songs (?); Svarta-skáld, Hvíta-skúld. Some of the classical passages in the Sagas referring to poets, esp. to the hirð-skáld, are Har. S. hárf. ch. 39, Hák. S. Góða ch. 32, Eg. ch. 8, Gunnl. S. ch. 9, Ó. H. ch. 52–54, 128, 203, 205, O. H. L. ch. 57, 58, 60–62, Har. S. harðr. (Fms. vi.) ch. 24, 101, 108, 110. The Egils S., Korm. S., Hallfred. S., Gunnl. S. are lives of poets; there are also the chapters and episodes referring to the life of the poet Sighvat, esp. in the Fb., cp. also Sturl. 1. ch. 13, 9. ch. 16; for imprecations or libels in verse see níð.

COMPDS: skáldagemlur, skáldaspillir, Skáldatal.