bjǫrn
masculine
The Old Norse word for bear is bjǫrn.
The term refers to the large mammal of the family Ursidae.
Meaning: large mammal of family Ursidae (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
The word bjǫrn is a masculine noun.
Did you know?
- In Old Norse culture, the berserkir were warriors who dressed in bear skins and entered a trance-like fury during battle.
- In many Germanic traditions, including those using Old Norse, the actual name of the bear was often treated as a taboo. People used euphemisms to avoid summoning the beast by its true name.
- The root of bjǫrn is shared with the Proto-Indo-European word for 'brown', suggesting the name may have originally described the animal's color.
Examples in context
- Bjǫrn er stór.A bear is large.
Example conversation
Olaf and Sigrid are walking near a forest.
- OlafSjá, Sigrid, þar er bjǫrn!Look, Sigrid, there is a bear!
- SigridEr þat mikill bjǫrn?Is that a large bear?
- OlafJá, hann er mjök stórr.Yes, it is very large.
- SigridVér skulum fara hratt.We should go quickly.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “bear” translations and entries bjǫrn, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
