denoted a cultic building or a hall, one cannot disregard the possibility that the
Scandinavian word, ON hof, has been semantically influenced by the German word hof
‘mansion, court’, whereby a new meaning ‘(banqueting) hall’ has emerged. In the same
way as for vi, this element occurs both as simplex, Hov/Hof, and in compounds: Frøshov
(Frœyshof 1391 ) in Trøgstad, Østfold, Norway. A much discussed element and word
is *al (< alh-). It was in early scholarship translated as ‘temple, sanctuary’, but this is
inaccurate. This meaning is found for the Gothic equivalent alhs, in the Gothic Bible,
but a secular usage of the word in the Germanic languages obviously has been ‘protected
village’ etc. If we have examples of this word in Scandinavia (probably Fröjel, Fryele,
Norr- and Söderala, Ullerål and some more), the meaning may have been ‘hall, communal
building (also for cultic matters)’ (Brink 1992 ).
The word sal, ON salr, has been much discussed regarding its original meaning. It
Figure 6. 3 The distribution of place names containing the name of the god Týr in Scandinavia
(Brink 2007 b: 121 ).–– Stefan Brink––