Arval

Quick meaning: Arval is a noun meaning (Lancashire) The money given to hunters, at the death of a fox, in order to buy ale.

Meaning

(Lancashire) The money given to hunters, at the death of a fox, in order to buy ale.

More Meanings

1. (Scotland and Northern England, now rare) A funeral feast or wake at which bread and ale was served, traditional in Scotland, the North of England, and among the Norse.
2. (rare, chiefly historical) The ale served at such a wake, the drinking of which was a ritually significant act in Norse culture.

Example Sentences

And so we shall drink the arval for Ragnar, drink like heroes.

It was customary in the north to have an arval or funeral dinner after an interment.

“Is there to be an arval dinner?” The arval was the traditional funeral feast celebrated throughout the Land Between the Lakes. It was customary to invite all who had known the deceased.

[…] Then quoth Hamtheow, etc.: 'We shall never come back to our mother [when we have slain the King of Goths]. Thou shalt drink the arval for us all together, for Swanhild and thy sons.'

Word Forms

• arvals
• arvel
• arvil
• arvill
• arvall
• arvell
• arvale

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include arvill, arvall, arfal, arvel, arvil, arvell.

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