skjöldur
See also: skjøldur
Icelandic
Etymology
From Old Norse skjǫldr, from Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)keit-, *(s)keid-, *kheit- (“shield, cover”). Compare Faroese skjøldur, Danish and Norwegian skjold, Swedish sköld.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈscœltʏr/
- Rhymes: -œltʏr
Noun
skjöldur m (genitive singular skjaldar, nominative plural skildir)
Usage notes
- In certain phrases such as koma í opna skjöldu, ganga fram fyrir skjöldu, and stíga fram fyrir skjöldu, an archaic plural accusative form skjöldu still survives.
Declension
| singular | plural | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | skjöldur | skjöldurinn | skildir | skildirnir |
| accusative | skjöld | skjöldinn | skildi, skjöldu1 | skildina |
| dative | skildi | skildinum | skjöldum | skjöldunum |
| genitive | skjaldar | skjaldarins | skjalda | skjaldanna |
1Archaic, literary or in set phrases.
Derived terms
- hlífiskjöldur
- koma í opna skjöldu (“to catch someone off guard, to take by surprise”)
- leika tveim skjöldum, leika tveimur sköldum (“to trim one's sails to the wind, to swim with the tide”)
- skjöldóttur
- skjaldarmerki
References
- Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989) Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, →ISBN (Available at Málið.is under the “Eldri orðabækur” tab.)
- Kristín Bjarnadóttir, editor (2002–2025), “skjöldur”, in Beygingarlýsing íslensks nútímamáls [The Database of Modern Icelandic Inflection] (in Icelandic), Reykjavík: The Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
- Mörður Árnason (2019) Íslensk orðabók, 5th edition, Reykjavík: Forlagið
- “skjöldur” in the Dictionary of Modern Icelandic (in Icelandic) and ISLEX (in the Nordic languages)