An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Wahlstatt

by Friedrich Kluge

Wahlstatt, Walstatt, feminine, ‘field of battle,’ from the equivalent Middle High German walstat, feminine; Middle High German and Old High German wal, masculine, feminine, and neuter, has also the same meaning. The corresponding Anglo-Saxon wœl signifies ‘those left on the battlefield,’ also ‘corpse’ (to which wœlstôw, ‘place of combat,’ is allied); compare Old Icelandic valr, ‘the corpses on the battlefield,’ valfǫđr (literally ‘father of the dead’). It is impossible to recognise in this primitive word a derivative of the root of wählen, as if it meant ‘the chosen favourites of the god of war, who were led away by the Valkyres.’ It is rather based on a root wăl, ‘destruction,’ which appears also in Old High German wuol, ‘defeat,’ Anglo-Saxon wôl, ‘plague, pestilence’; allied to wühlen?. — Walküre, feminine, ‘Valkyre,’ formed from Old Icelandic valkyrja (Anglo-Saxon wœlcyrie), feminine, properly ‘a divine maiden who makes a selection of the slain on the field of battle.’ See kiesen.