Etymology

Always derived from a lost ON etymon, the closest parallel to this unusual v. is Dan boltre (and ablaut variant Dan dial baltre, cp. Norw dial baltra) a reflexive form derived from ODan bolte 'grapple, throw, roll along' (cp. Norw dial bolta 'rumble, storm forward', Sw bulta 'knock' and similar reflexive forms). It comes from the same PGmc root as the n. *bultaz (cp. OIcel boltr, OE bolt, MLG bolte 'bolt', OHG bolz 'catapult'), but the ult. etymology is debated (see further Kroonen, Orel).

PGmc Ancestor

*balt- ( ~ *bult-)

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

(ONP )

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Norw dial bolta, baltra, Sw bulta, bultra, ODan bolte, Dan baltre, boltre

OE Cognate

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

B2c

Attestation

MED's citations are exclusively N, as is the word in MnE dial (EDD).

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Cl 103; Pat 459

Bibliography

MED balteren (v.) , OED balter (v.) , HTOED , EDD balter (v.1), Bj. 229, Orel *bultaz, Kroonen *bultōn-, Falk-Torp boltre, Nielsen boltre