wæl n
From Proto-Germanic *walo- or *walu-, from Proto-Indo-European *welə- ‘wound, injure’. Cognate with Old Saxon wal- (in waldâd ‘murderous deed’), Old High German wal, Old Norse valr.
In Old Norse valkyrja, Old English wælcyrge; literally, "chooser of the slain". The Germanic word may be cognate with Latin vulnus ‘wound’ and Old Irish fuil ‘blood’.