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?

@PuffinShop

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.

Good point. I got that off Nordicnames.de

I always thought it was to sound like Rolled... But I don't know!

@Pyracanth

Roald - Ro - as in how a cockney would pronounce the a in the word ball. ald - is pronounced “ull” as in Ullswater and with the tongue at back of mouth on the “ll” And if proper Norwegian pronunciation then the R would be rolling.

I’m confused

Like most non-Londoners, I have no idea how a cockney would pronounce anything.

Could you give a example that is mainstream, please?

@DixieSun

My grandad was friends with him and called him Roo al

Winning 🥇 post!

I never really stopped and thought about it 'til this thread but I say it like Roll Dahl.

Sorry, only just came back to the thread, apologies for the blown minds about Astrid 😆 Yes, I was referring to the Norwegian pronunciation of Astrid (since Roald was Norwegian, so was comparing to that), I'm sure there will be many Astrids out there who pronounce the D, I was just being specific about the pronunciation in Norwegian 😊
For the pp who asked about the silent hard letter at the end of a word, yes, d at the end is commonly silent in many different words in Norwegian 😊

Funny enough, I say it rolled. Rolled Dahl is the most common I think.

This thread is super interesting as would never thought about how other people pronounced it too.

I'm so glad you asked! I've never known.