An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Wahlstatt

by Friedrich Kluge

Wahlstatt, Walstatt, f., ‘field of battle,’ from the equiv. MidHG. walstat, f.; MidHG. and OHG. wal, m., f., and n., has also the same meaning. The corresponding AS. wœl signifies ‘those left on the battlefield,’ also ‘corpse’ (to which wœlstôw, ‘place of combat,’ is allied); comp. OIc. valr, ‘the corpses on the battlefield,’ valfǫđr (lit. ‘father of the dead’). It is impossible to recognise in this primit. 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 OHG. wuol, ‘defeat,’ AS. wôl, ‘plague, pestilence’; allied to wühlen?. — Walküre, f., ‘Valkyre,’ formed from OIc. valkyrja (AS. wœlcyrie), f., prop. ‘a divine maiden who makes a selection of the slain on the field of battle.’ See kiesen.