Etymology

Always derived from ON, cp. OIcel bál ‘fire, funeral pyre, blaze’ < PGmc *ƀēlan (cp. OE bǣl ‘fire, flame’; ult. related to a PIE adj. *bhel ‘white’).

PGmc Ancestor

ƀēlan

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

bál ‘fire, funeral pyre, blaze’
(ONP bál (sb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far bál, Icel bál, Norw bål, Dan bål, Sw bål

OE Cognate

bǣl ‘fire, flame’

Phonological and morphological markers

ON /ɑ:/ &lt; PGmc */e:/ (1)

Summary category

A1*c

Attestation

A primarily N word in ME and MnE dial (MED, OED, EDD, Bj.), first cited by MED from a1325(c1300) Songs Langtoft (Cmb Gg.1.1).

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

WA 562, 2231, 2658

For a possible further instance, see bale (2)(n.).

Bibliography

MED bāl(e (n.2) , OED bale (n.2) , HTOED , EDD sb.1, Bj. 87-8, de Vries bál, Mag. bál (1), Orel *ƀēlan, Krooen *bēla-