Bál
Old Norse Dictionary - bál
Meaning of Old Norse word "bál"
As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:
Old Norse word bál can mean:bál
- bál
- n. [old Scot. bale, i. e. a beacon-fagot, Lay of Last Minstrel 3. 27 note].
- bál
- I. a flame, Nj. 199, Ld. 100, Stj. 45 (freq.)
- bál
- II. Lat. rogus, a pyre, funeral pile; hlaða b., rogum struere, Eb. 314, 264; FmS. v. 328, esp. for burning dead bodies; a funeral pile in the old heathendom, til brands eðr báls, an old law term, ad urnam, n. G. l. i. 50: the phrase, vega e-n á bal, or, bera á bal, to carry to the pyre, Vkv. 14, cp. Vþm. 54, FaS. i. (Hervar. S.) 487; graphical description of those funerals, vide Edda 37, 38 (Baldrsbrenna), FaS. i. (VölS. S.) 204; cp. 333, Hkr. Yngl. S. ch. 27; cp. also the funeral of the mythical king Sigurd Ring, recorded by Arngrim Lærde in his Supplementum ad Compendium Hist. Norv. MS. (composed A. D. 1597), probably taken from a lost leaf of Skjöldunga Saga (Sögubrot), and mentioned by Munch, Norske Folks Hist. i. 274: mod. of a foaming wind, wrath, etc.—bálviðri, n. and balhvass, bálreiðr, adj., etc.
Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᛒᛅᛚ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements
Abbreviations used:
- i. e.
- id est.
- n.
- neuter.
- Scot.
- Scottish.
- freq.
- frequent, frequently.
- A. D.
- Anno Domini.
- adj.
- adjective.
- ch.
- chapter.
- cp.
- compare.
- esp.
- especially.
- etc.
- et cetera.
- gl.
- glossary.
- l.
- line.
- L.
- Linnæus.
- Lat.
- Latin.
- m.
- masculine.
- mod.
- modern.
- S.
- Saga.
- s. v.
- sub voce.
- v.
- vide.
Works & Authors cited:
- Ld.
- Laxdæla Saga. (D. II.)
- Nj.
- Njála. (D. II.)
- Stj.
- Stjórn. (F. I.)
- Eb.
- Eyrbyggja Saga. (D. II.)
- Edda
- Edda. (C. I.)
- Fas.
- Fornaldar Sögur. (C. II.)
- Fms.
- Fornmanna Sögur. (E. I.)
- Hervar. S.
- Hervarar Saga. (C. II.)
- Hkr.
- Heimskringla. (E. I.)
- N. G. L.
- Norges Gamle Love. (B. II.)
- Vkv.
- Völundar-kviða. (A. II.)
- Vþm.
- Vafþrúðnis-mál. (A. I.)
- Völs. S.
- Völsunga Saga. (C. II.)
- Yngl. S.
- Ynglinga Saga. (C. II.)