I would imagine many people would see heil and think Nazi but it sounds like
English hail to my recollection. The fear of being labeled Nazi probably
motivated the use of heilsa....

-Craig Davis
Orlando, FL

-----Original Message-----
From: Haukur Thorgeirsson [mailto:haukurth@...]
Sent: Thursday, March 07, 2002 9:39 AM
To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [norse_course] Old Norse greeting

> Haukur,
> What would the appropriate greeting be?
> Jon

Hello Jon,

That's probably another candidate for the FAQ.

I'll quote from Lesson 2:

---------------------------------
2.5 A greeting

The following forms can be used as greetings.
This is actually an adjective that is declining
according to gender and number but we'll talk about that later.

Heill! - to greet one man

Heil! - to greet one woman

Heilir! - to greet a group of men

Heilar! - to greet a group of women

Heil! - to greet a group including both sexes
---------------------------------

---------------------------------
4.2 Two half-strophes from the Sigdrífumál

- - -

Heill Dagr!

Heilir Dags synir!

Heil Nótt ok nipt!"

- - -

- - -

Heilir Æsir!

Heilar Ásynjur!

Heil sjá in fjölnýta fold!"

- - -

Compare the greeting carefully with chapter 2.5; notice how it changes
according to gender and number.
"Hail, Day!
Hail, Day's sons!
Hail, Night and [her] sister!"

"Hail, Æsir (gods)!
Hail, Ásynjur (goddesses)!
Hail, bountiful earth!"
---------------------------------

Note that both Earth and Night are female entities in the mythology (and
that 'fold' and 'nótt' are
feminine words).

For a more modern greeting try 'sæll' which is declined the same way.

Kveðja,
Haukur


Sumir hafa kvæði...
...aðrir spakmæli.

- Keth

Homepage: http://www.hi.is/~haukurth/norse/

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