drow

Meanings

1. A member of a race of folkloric beings from Orkney and Shetland; cognate to the Scandinavian troll.
2. “hidden people” (Faroese huldufólk, Norwegian huldrefolk), subterraneans (Norwegian underjordiske, Swedish underjordiska, Gutnish di sma undar jordi), fairies, “troll-folk”, and thereof (Swedish oknytt)
3. ghost; cognate to Scandinavian folklore of gnomes, wights, trolls, etc, being supernatural ghosts
4. “The devil”, cognate to Scanian dråe (“devil”).
5. A member of a fictional race of dark elves in various fantasy settings, such as Dungeons & Dragons.
6. A fictional constructed language spoken by the Drow.

Etymology

From Shetlandic and Orcadian Scots drow, from Norn *drou, *drau (compare 18th c. Norwegian drau, modern drov, drauv), alternatively *drog, from Old Norse draugr (“malevolent revenant”); along the variation trow, intermixed with Norn troll, from Old Norse trǫll (“troll, malevolent supernatural being”), a partial synonym to draugr. L-vocalisation occurred in the early 15th century in Middle Scots, so trolly, knolls probably became *trowie, knowes around this time.

Translations