3 ms·

Because Elfdalian sounds way more sexy than Övdalsk.

• vesinisa 5y ago
  Indeed, it makes it sound like some elf language while it's actually just "river valley" language (älv=river, dal(en)=valley).
  • jeofken 5y ago
    “Älv” can mean either river or elf, I think depending on tone? En älva = one “elf” (Not like elves in Anglo fantasy novels) When conjoining the a can be removed depending on dialect, thus älvdalen could mean elf valley. I don’t know the true history of the word though!
    • gerikson 5y ago
      No, they are distinct words. En älv - a river. En älva - an elf or fairy. Älvens strand - the side of the river. Älvans öron - the ears of the elf. Älvdalen - the valley of the river Älvans dal - the valley of the elf. Although they do seem to have similar Latin-Germanic roots, if one can decipher the ancient etymological book here: http://runeberg.org/svetym/1298.html http://runeberg.org/svetym/1298.html
      • jeofken 5y ago
        I disagree that “älvdalen” could not mean valley of the älvor.
        • gerikson 5y ago
          Grammatically, yes but practically, no. There are multiple rivers with "älv" as a suffix in Sweden, among them the biggest and most economically/historically significant. This means that any possessive formed by "älv-" automatically would refer to a river. If you'd set your Swedish language fantasy world where there's a place called "Älvdalen", readers would be confused. It would be like calling Minas Tirith Stockholm.