English
Ragnarok
Ragnarok comes from Old Norse ragnarǫk ‘the fate of the gods’.
- Old Norsec. 800–1350ragnarǫk‘the fate of the gods’
- Englishearliest quotation 1858Ragnarok
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Old Norsec. 800–1350ragnarǫk‘the fate of the gods’
- Englishearliest quotation 1858Ragnarok
Earliest quotation: 1858, Thomas Carlyle, Called Frederick the Great: “Wilhelmina weeps, now and then, with her good Sonsfeld;…”
A compound of regin ‘gods’ + rǫk ‘fate, judgment’
Proto-Indo-European *Hrek- ‘to speak’
Proto-Germanic *raginą ‘advice, decision’
Proto-Norse *ragina ‘the gods, the ruling powers’
Old Norse regin ‘gods’
Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- ‘to straighten, direct’
Proto-Germanic *rakō ‘unravelling, tale’
Old Norse rǫk ‘fate, judgment’
Every English word from Old Norse ragnarǫk
Today it means
name A series of future events culminating in a battle, fought between the Æsir and the einherjar on one side, and the forces of Surtr, Loki, and Loki's children on the other, in which all of creation is burned down and almost all life is extinguished.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old Norse ragnarǫk / Ragnarok