Pronunciation of Roald

[whatausername]

Row (as in a boat)?
Roll?
Road?
Rolled?

Not using it, just curious. I always hear Roald Dahl referred to by his full name. I think I say "row" and it runs into Dahl. What is the correct pronunication? Any Norwegians about?

Rolled

So you only hear the D because people always say Dahl as well as Roald?

I've known a couple of Astrids and never known a silent D

I know an Astrid the d isn't silent. And she's was named after an Astrid from Norway and they didn't do silent d either.

In Norway Astrid is pronounced Ustree. Sometimes if a Norwegian person is speaking to English people we pronounce words in the way English people might do which is why you may have heard them pronouncing the d.

Saying roald Dahl out loud and I say Roll Dahl, there definitely aren't two Ds but I think that's more because I would always say his full name and two Ds together sounds clunky.

It's like in the oasis song Acquiesce, the line 'and I know we're going to uncover' it all sort of runs together into 'gunoo-uncover '

Can be spelt just Roal
Alternate modern Swedish spellings include
Vrål
Wrål
Modern Icelandic Hróðvaldur

The name is From Old Norse Hróðvaldr meaning "world famous"

Astrid has differing pronunciations in different countries- Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, and Britain all say it slightly differently.

I knew Roald but my mind is blown to learn that Astrid has a silent d!

Roald I pronounce like coal which I say as though it has two syllables no idea why

No D

Astrid is pronounced with the d in Swedish, eg Pippi Longstocking author Astrid Lindgren. Also with the d in German.

We've always pronounced it as Rowl with the silent d. Interesting to hear all the other ways 🤣

To pronounce things like a Norwegian all you do is say it in a Scottish accent.

So say roald in a Scottish accent and thats the right version

Like old with an R.

@DixieSun

My grandad was friends with him and called him Roo al

No he wasn't.

@LindaEllen wasn't what?

Nowegian, and a very soft pronunciation:

Roo-ahl

... not to be confused with Raoul - a different name and sound altogether!

I pronounce it ro-uhl.

You don't pronounce the d in Norwegian. But just like we don't say paree for Paris, it's acceptable in the uk

@WhispersOfWickedness

The d is silent at the end, like Astrid

I never knew this! Why have such a hard letter as a silent letter though or is that common?

Modern Icelandic Hróðvaldur

Where did you get that from? There's not a single person in the national register or the genealogical records called Hróðvaldur and the name isn't in the name register. It would be a modernisation of the Old Norse form, but a hypothetical one.

Hróaldur is in the name register and I see a few men with that name from the 9th and 10th centuries. That's it. The name isn't used in Iceland.

I recommend forvo.com for pronunciation help. Most names I've ever looked up have been recorded by native speakers and you can listen in different languages, for example if you want to hear the difference between the same name in Swedish and Norwegian.

I always thought it was something like Roh-ald but have never been sure.

Roald Dahl's older sister was called Astri. Spelt without the D at the end, perhaps to indicate the correct pronunciation for Brits? His other sisters were Else, Alfhild and Asta. Lovely names, I think.