# skald
## English
### Alternative forms

* scald

### Etymology

From Old Norse skald. Doublet of scold.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /skɔːld/, /skæld/
* Rhymes: -ɔːld, -æld
* Homophone: scald

### Noun

skald (plural skalds)
* (historical) A Nordic poet of the Viking Age.
** 1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter I, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 28:The fire was spreading rapidly through all parts of the castle, when Ulrica, who had first kindled it, appeared on a turret, in the guise of one of the ancient furies, yelling forth a war-song, such as was of yore chaunted on the field of battle by the scalds of the yet heathen Saxons.
** 1913, Henry Bedford-Jones, Flamehair the Skald: A Tale of the Days of Hardrede: passim:
** 2010, Myra Gross, Archie Gunn, The Star of Valhalla, Wildside Press, →ISBN, page 335:Command Egil the Skald to stand forth and stir our viking blood with his songs of thee.

#### Derived terms

* skaldic

#### Translations
### Anagrams

* dalks

## Faroese
### Etymology

From Old Norse skald.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /skalt/

### Noun

skald n (genitive singular skalds, plural skald or skøld)
* poet, composer

#### Hyponyms

* tónaskald

#### Related terms

* skaldanavn, skaldaverk, skaldkona, skaldskapur, skaldsøga

### Further reading

* "skald" at Sprotin.fo

## Norwegian Nynorsk
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Old Norse skald, skáld.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /skɑld/

### Noun

skald m (definite singular skalden, indefinite plural skaldar, definite plural skaldane)
* (historical) a skald

### References

* “skald” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
* “skald”, in Norsk Ordbok: ordbok over det norske folkemålet og det nynorske skriftmålet, Oslo: Samlaget, 1950-2016

## Old Norse
### Alternative forms

* skáld

### Etymology

Uncertain, but possibly from Proto-Germanic *skeldaną, from Proto-Indo-European *skeldʰ-. Compare German schelten and Dutch schelden.

### Noun

skald n
* poet, skald

#### Derived terms

* hǫfuðskald (“chief skalds”)
* Skaldatal (“traditional list of skalds and the kings they served”)
* skaldmær (“skald-maiden, poetess”)
* skaldskapr (“skaldship; poetry”)
* skaldstǫng (“a “skald-pole”; pagan ritual object”)

#### Related terms

* skeldinn (“versed in poetry”)

#### Descendants

* Icelandic: skáld
* Faroese: skald
* Old Swedish: skald, skol
** → Swedish: skald
* → Norwegian Nynorsk: skald
* → Norwegian Bokmål: skald
* → Danish: skald, skjald
* → English: skald, scold
* → Russian: скальд (skalʹd)
* → Serbo-Croatian: skȁld, skȃld, skȁlda
* → Slovak: skald

### References

* 1 2 Guus Kroonen (2013) “*skelda-”, in Alexander Lubotsky, editor, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 439

## Polish
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Old Norse skald.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈskalt/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -alt
* Syllabification: skald

### Noun

skald m pers
* (historical, poetry) skald (Nordic poet)
    Hypernyms: poeta, śpiewak

#### Declension
### Further reading

* skald in Polish dictionaries at PWN

## Serbo-Croatian
### Alternative forms

* skȁlda m or f

### Etymology

From Old Norse skald.

### Pronunciation

* (skȁld) IPA: /skâld/
* (skȃld) IPA: /skâːld/

### Noun

skȁld m (Cyrillic spelling ска̏лд) or skȃld m (Cyrillic spelling ска̑лд)
* skald

## Slovak
### Etymology

Derived from Old Norse skald.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /skaɫt/

### Noun

skald m pers (genitive singular skalda, nominative plural skaldi, skaldovia, declension pattern of chlap)
* skald

#### Derived terms

* skaldský
* skaldický

### References

* “skald”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

## Swedish
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Old Norse skald. The inherited form would be *skåll.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /skald/
* Rhymes: -ald

### Noun

skald c
* (historical) skald
* (higher register) poet
    Synonym: poet
** 1897 December 7, August Strindberg, edited by Torsten Eklund, August Strindbergs brev. 12. December 1896–augusti 1898 (letter), Till Emil Kléen, page 231:Skalden, hvilken har journalismen som näringsfång borde medan han är jemförelsevis ung göra en studieresa till Europens hufvudstad, Paris; t.ex. under pretext studera journalism och telegrambyråkratism.The poet, who has journalism as a livelihood, while he is comparatively young, should make a study trip to the capital of Europe, Paris; for example under the pretext of studying journalism and telegram bureaucracy.

#### Declension

| | | nominative | genitive |
| singular | indefinite | skald | skalds |
| singular | definite | skalden | skaldens |
| plural | indefinite | skalder | skalders |
| plural | definite | skalderna | skaldernas |

#### Derived terms

* nationalskald (“national poet”)

### References

* skald in Svensk ordbok (SO)
* skald in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
* skald in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)