Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Names such as Alfǫðr for Óðinn (Odin), supposedly "Allfather" (and even understood by Snorri Sturluson in his Prose Edda that way), include an element that probably meant "lord" rather than "father."
The video "Etymology isn't arbitrary," with more about Grimm's Law and how linguists evaluate the relationships between languages scientifically, is at youtu.be/Y-0LQXNB9LE
The Second Edition of my Poetic Edda translation is now available from Grimfrost ( grimfrost.com/products/the-poetic-edda-expanded-second-edition ) and in Europe from Gazelle ( gazellebookservices.co.uk/products/9781647922498#nav-awards ). If you live in the USA, Canada, or Australia, you can order a signed copy delivered to you from Boulder Book Store ( boulderbookstore.net/signed-jackson-crawford-books ); note that ordering personalized signatures means delivery will take more time as I have to go to Boulder periodically to sign them. Now on Amazon too at amzn.to/3JdQNny (as is my Wanderer's Hávamál with Old Norse and English text: amzn.to/3MOwy1m )
Names such as Alfǫðr for Óðinn (Odin), supposedly "Allfather" (and even understood by Snorri Sturluson in his Prose Edda that way), include an element that probably meant "lord" rather than "father."
The video "Etymology isn't arbitrary," with more about Grimm's Law and how linguists evaluate the relationships between languages scientifically, is at youtu.be/Y-0LQXNB9LE
The Second Edition of my Poetic Edda translation is now available from Grimfrost ( grimfrost.com/products/the-poetic-edda-expanded-second-edition ) and in Europe from Gazelle ( gazellebookservices.co.uk/products/9781647922498#nav-awards ). If you live in the USA, Canada, or Australia, you can order a signed copy delivered to you from Boulder Book Store ( boulderbookstore.net/signed-jackson-crawford-books ); note that ordering personalized signatures means delivery will take more time as I have to go to Boulder periodically to sign them. Now on Amazon too at amzn.to/3JdQNny (as is my Wanderer's Hávamál with Old Norse and English text: amzn.to/3MOwy1m )
