SÁLA
nafnorðkvenkyn
u, f., also later form sál, f., gen. sálar, which form prevails in mod. usage, but the old writers prefer the weak form, thus sála, Hom. 31, 89; gen. sing. sálu, K. Á. 76; dat. sálu, passim (e. g. Hallfred, l. c.); acc. sáluna, Fms. viii. 252. v. l.; pl. sálur, Stj. 243, Hom. 30, MS. 671. 5, Sks. 99 C; gen. pl. sálna, H. E. i. 499, passim. The word is certainly Teutonic, but hardly Scandinavian, and was probably adopted from the Saxon with the introduction of Christianity; it is therefore only used in a religious and ecclesiastical sense: it first occurs in Hallfred (ef sálu minni vissak borgit); it never occurs in heathen poems, for the sálfastr, in Gísl. 120 (where, however, it is put in the mouth of a ‘prime-signed’ man) is, like other verses in that Saga, of later composition (12th century): [Ulf. saiwala = ψυχή; A. S. sawl and sawle Engl. soul; Hel. seola; O. H. G. sala, etc.]:—the soul; sálin, líkamr ok sála, Hom. 89; allra þeirra sálir, Gþl. 69, passim in old and mod. usage, N. T., Pass., Vídal.
B. In COMPDS, in old writers sálu-, not sálar-: sálu-bati, a, m. = sálubót, Bs. ii. 147. sálu-bót, f. the soul’s health, Hkr. ii. 347, Grág. i. 144, 202, Fms. vii. 76. sálu-búð, f. a ‘soul’s booth,’ hospital, Thom. sálu-eldar, n. pl. funeral fires, Róm. 211, 234. sálu-félag, n. ‘soul’s communion,’ Fb. i. 268. sálu-gipt and sálu-gjöf, f. a soul’s gift, B. K. 55, 110, Grág. i. 202, K. Á. 72, Vm. 143, Jm. 3. sálu-Háski, a, m. ‘soul’s danger,’ perdition, Stj. 21, Dipl. ii. 14, (sálar-háski, id., Sturl. i. 122, Sks. 447.) sálu-hjálp, f. ‘soul’s help,’ salvation, Orkn. 492, N. T., Pass., Vídal. sálu-hlið, n. a ‘soul’s gate,’ a lich-gate, Ísl. Þjóðs. i. 282. sálu-hús, n. a ‘soul’s house,’ hospital, Stj. 216. sálu-messa, u, f. a ‘soul’s mass,’ requiem, Bs. i. 712, Vm. 30, 144, Dipl. iv. 8, Pm. 97. sálu-sár, n. ‘soul’s wound,’ Hom. 70. sálu-skaði, a, m. ‘soul’s scathe,’ perdition, Fms. Hi. 170. sálu-stofa, u, f. = sáluhús, Kálfsk., Boldt. sálu-tíðir, f. pl. = sálumessa, Fms. x. 149, Bs. i. 173, 712, Stat., D. N., Stj. 238; sálutíða-kver, Pm. 14. sálu-tjón, n. ‘soul’s-tine,’ perdition, Sks. 358, Bs. ii. 68. sálu-þarfligr, adj. useful for the soul, Stat. 291. salu-þurft, f. the soul’s need, H. E. i. 252, Hom. 92. sálu-þörf, f. id., Hom. 158. sálu-öl, n. a funeral feast, N. G. L. i. 14. sálu-öldr, n. = sáluöl (see erfi, which is the heathen word), N. G. L. i. 15. ☞ In mod. compds sometimes sálar-, but sálu-hjálp, -hlið, -messa, not sálar-hjálp, etc.