svartr

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *swartaz, whence also Old English sweart, Old High German swarz, Gothic 𐍃𐍅𐌰𐍂𐍄𐍃 (swarts). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swordo- (“dirty, dark, black”).

Adjective

svartr (comparative svartari, superlative svartastr)

1. black

Declension

    Strong declension of svartr

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	svartr	svǫrt	svart
accusative	svartan	svarta	svart
dative	svǫrtum	svartri	svǫrtu
genitive	svarts	svartrar	svarts
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	svartir	svartar	svǫrt
accusative	svarta	svartar	svǫrt
dative	svǫrtum	svǫrtum	svǫrtum
genitive	svartra	svartra	svartra

    Weak declension of svartr

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	svarti	svarta	svarta
accusative	svarta	svǫrtu	svarta
dative	svarta	svǫrtu	svarta
genitive	svarta	svǫrtu	svarta
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	svǫrtu	svǫrtu	svǫrtu
accusative	svǫrtu	svǫrtu	svǫrtu
dative	svǫrtum	svǫrtum	svǫrtum
genitive	svǫrtu	svǫrtu	svǫrtu

    Declension of comparative of svartr

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	svartari	svartari	svartara
accusative	svartara	svartari	svartara
dative	svartara	svartari	svartara
genitive	svartara	svartari	svartara
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	svartari	svartari	svartari
accusative	svartari	svartari	svartari
dative	svǫrturum	svǫrturum	svǫrturum
genitive	svartari	svartari	svartari

    Strong declension of superlative of svartr

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	svartastr	svǫrtust	svartast
accusative	svartastan	svartasta	svartast
dative	svǫrtustum	svartastri	svǫrtustu
genitive	svartasts	svartastrar	svartasts
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	svartastir	svartastar	svǫrtust
accusative	svartasta	svartastar	svǫrtust
dative	svǫrtustum	svǫrtustum	svǫrtustum
genitive	svartastra	svartastra	svartastra

    Weak declension of superlative of svartr

singular	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	svartasti	svartasta	svartasta
accusative	svartasta	svǫrtustu	svartasta
dative	svartasta	svǫrtustu	svartasta
genitive	svartasta	svǫrtustu	svartasta
plural	masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	svǫrtustu	svǫrtustu	svǫrtustu
accusative	svǫrtustu	svǫrtustu	svǫrtustu
dative	svǫrtustum	svǫrtustum	svǫrtustum
genitive	svǫrtustu	svǫrtustu	svǫrtustu

Descendants

• Icelandic: svartur
• Faroese: svartur
• Norn: svart
• Norwegian Nynorsk: svart, (dialectal) svart’u, svart’e
  • → Norwegian Bokmål: svart
• Elfdalian: swart
• Old Swedish: svarter, svorter
  • Swedish: svart
• Scanian: svárter
• Old Danish: swart, swort, sort
  • Danish: sort
    • Norwegian Bokmål: sort
• Gutnish: svartar

See also

Colors in Old Norse · litir (layout · text)

hvítr	grár, hǫss	svartr
rauðr; rauðgulr	brúnn, jarpr	gulr
	grœnn
		blár
víolat

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “svartr”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive