Galdr

Galdr (plural galdrar) is one Old Norse word for "spell, incantation"; these were usually performed in combination with certain rites. It was mastered by both women and men. Some scholars have assumed they chanted it in falsetto (gala).

Etymology

The Old Norse word galdr is derived from a word for singing incantations, gala (Old High German and Old English: galan) with an Indo-European -tro suffix. In Old High German the -stro suffix produced galster instead.

The Old English forms were gealdor, galdor, ȝaldre "spell, enchantment, witchcraft", and the verb galan meant "sing, chant". It is contained in nightingale (from næcti-galæ), related to giellan, the verb ancestral to Modern English yell; cf. also the Icelandic verb að gala "to sing, call out, yell" and Dutch gillen "to yell, scream".

The German forms were Old High German galstar and MHG galster "song, enchantment" (Konrad von Ammenhausen Schachzabelbuch 167b), surviving in (obsolete or dialectal) Modern German Galsterei (witchcraft) and Galsterweib (witch).