malström

mala +‎ ström, from ström (“stream, streaming water”) and presumably from the verb mala (“to mill, to rotate like a mill stone, to swing around, to swirl”). Same as Old Danish malestrøm, Danish malstrøm, German Mahlstrom, English maelstrom, originally from Dutch maalstroom. Alternatively the first compound is from Saterland Frisian dwalen (“to swirl”), through Dutch waal (“vortex”).

malström c

1. a maelstrom

• malström in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
• malströmmen in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “maelstrom”, in Online Etymology Dictionary, retrieved 13 July 2021.