höll

f., gen. hallar, often spelt hall without umlaut, Fb. i. 212, 1. 26, Fas. iii. 42, 87, Fms. viii. 191, v. l.; as also rhymed so in poets, e. g. Geisli 11; [A. S. heal, gen. healle; Engl. hall; Hel. halla; but not found in old and mid. H. G., the mod. Germ. halle being a borrowed word, Grimm’s Gr. iii. 427]:—a hall, but in the Norse only of a king’s or earl’s hall, whereas a private dwelling is called skáli, eldhús, q. v.; and thus ‘hall’ never could be used of an Icel. dwelling. In earlier times it seems to have had a more general sense, which remains in a verse of Kormak, Korm. 42:—in the mythology and old poems ‘hall’ is also used of the hall of gods, giants, Vþm., Hým., Lv.; Val-höll, Valhalla, the hall of the slain, of Odin, Gm., Edda: as also Guðs höll, God’s hall = the heaven, Geisli; dags höll, days’ hall, the sky; höll fjalla, mountain hall, the sky; lífs höll, life’s hall, the breast, Lex. Poët.:—in prose constantly, konungs-höll, a king’s hall, or hall simply, passim. For the building, structure, seats of a hall, see the Sagas passim, Fagrsk. ch. 219, 220, Hrólfs S. Kr. ch. 34, 40, Jómsv. S. ch. 5, 22, Völs. S. ch. 3, Hálfs S. ch. 12, Eg. S. ch. 8, Edda 2, 30–33, 82. As all heathen Scandinavian buildings were of timber, the hall of stone of Nj. ch. 6 is no doubt an anachronism.

COMPDS: hallar-búnaðr, -búningr, m. the hangings of a hall, Fms. x. 235, xi. 16. hallar-dyrr, n. pl. hall-doors, Edda 2, Fas. i. 15, Al. 70. hallar-gólf, n. a hall-floor, Edda 31, Fms. iii. 188, vii. 157, Fas. i. 284. hallar-veggr, m. the wall of a hall, Fms. iv. 189, Sks. 709: Höll, name of an Icel. farm, Skáld H., whence Hallar-Steinn, a pr. name.