Hi Terje,
This word is uknown to me as well !
Have you consulted the Compleat Oxford Dictionary?
Some people can access it via the net.
My first thought is that this word is similar to "heraldry",
which derives from another noun "herold". Here the etymology
is a bit unclear, though. Webster's says that it derives
from an ancient Germanic word, where the first part is
akin to "althochdeutsch" HERI = army, and the second
to a.h.d. WALTAN = to rule. In Old Norse too they used
such terms as "danaveldi" = the kingdom of the danes.
Also, in the sagas there is told of a viking whose
name was "Sigvalde", who was of the "Jomsvikings".
That is as close as I can get right now.
Regards
Xigung
--- In
norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Terje Ellefsen"
<radiorabia@...> wrote:
> Is this an English word? If it is indeed late Old English, it might be
> "Sigeldry", sigel being the name of the s-rune, and dry is Old
English for
> magician, wizard. Then again, it might be something else!
>
> Terje
>
>
> >From: simonfittonbrown@...
> >Reply-To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com
> >To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com
> >Subject: [norse_course] SIGALDRY
> >Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 05:41:38 EDT
> >
> >Hi,
> >The word SIGALDRY came up on CALL MY BLUFF recently.
> >It's also mentioned on this site:
> >http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/tolkien/91315
> >It's just that it seems to have an Icelandic ring about it - GALDUR,
> >GALDURS
> >= witchcraft, and I'm sure they said that SIGALDRY had a similar
meaning.
> >Also, doesn't the prefix SÍ mean ETERNAL?
> >Can anyone shed any light on this ancient word from a 12th century
English
> >document, please?
> >Cheers,
> >Simon
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> MSN 8 with e-mail virus protection service: 2 months FREE*
> http://join.msn.com/?page=features/virus