Don't know this person's credentials, but the site says it's Old Norse: > http://hem.passagen.se/peter9/gram/ hvalr--whale, masc. Also, an Icelanic dictionary agrees at: > http://www.northvegr.org/zoega/h216.php hvalr (-s, -ar, and -ir), m. whale; skera hval, to flense a whale. Ismet