hran

• IPA^(key): [ˈɦran]

hran f

1. genitive plural of hrana

Origin unknown, cf. Épinal Glossary hran (c. 700) and Futhorc ᚻᚱᚩᚾᚫᛋ (hrónæs) (gen. sg.) on the Franks Casket (early 8th c.). Perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *harzaz (“a kind of fish”). Compare Norwegian harr (“grayling”), Swedish harr (“grayling”).

• IPA^(key): /xrɑn/, [r̥ɑn]

hran m

1. a small whale or large delphinid

   (gloss) ballaena

   • 7~8th c., Glossa in Psalmos; Vatican Library MS. Pal. lat. 68, folio 12v:

     ... VII fiscas sēlaes fyllu, sifu sēlas hronaes fyllu, sifu hronas hualaes fyllu.

     ... seven fish fill a seal, seven seals fill a "hran", seven "hrans" fill a whale.

This word, especially as part of the well-known poetic compound hranrād, has long been translated as just "whale", as if fully synonymous with hwæl; however, Tolkien^[1] argues that the term better refers to some kind of porpoise or dolphin. Another article^[2] addresses this more directly; concluding that hran likely refers to the larger members of the family Delphinidae, such as the Orca and Pilot whale, but not any much smaller than the Risso's dolphin.

Strong a-stem:

• hron, ran

• hranfisċ

• mereswīn
• seolh

• Joseph Bosworth, T. Northcote Toller (1898) “hran”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Angus Cameron, Ashley Crandell Amos, Antonette diPaolo Healey, editors (2018), “hran”, in Dictionary of Old English: A to Le ⁠, Toronto: University of Toronto, →OCLC.

Calque of Old Norse hreinn, as if from Proto-West Germanic *hrain, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hrainaz. At the time, Old Norse and Old English were sufficiently close that the correspondence between ā and ei was transparent, as in words like stān (“stone”) and steinn (“id.”).

• IPA^(key): /xrɑːn/, [r̥ɑːn]

hrān m

1. reindeer
   • late 9th century, translation of Orosius’ History Against the Pagans

     Þā dēor hī hātaþ hrānas...

     They call those animals reindeer...

Strong a-stem:

• stælhrān

• Joseph Bosworth, T. Northcote Toller (1898) “hrán”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[1], second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Angus Cameron, Ashley Crandell Amos, Antonette diPaolo Healey, editors (2018), “hrān”, in Dictionary of Old English: A to Le ⁠, Toronto: University of Toronto, →OCLC.

• IPA^(key): /hàɴ/

1. eight.