Heil og sæl

Heil og sæl (lit. 'happy and healthy') is a common greeting in Iceland.

Etymology
Originally a Norse greeting, “heil og sæl” had the form “heill ok sæll” when addressed to a man and “heil ok sæl” when addressed to a woman. Other versions were “ver heill ok sæll” (lit. be healthy and happy) and simply “heill” (lit. healthy).

The Norwegian adjective heil (also hel) is related to the English adjective whole/hale. The Norwegian verb heile (also hele) is related to the English verb heal through their common origin, the Germanic word stem *haila-, from which also the German verb heilen and the adjective „heile“, i.e. functioning / not defective descends.

The Norwegian adjective sæl, meaning happy or glad, is in Old English documented only in the negated variant unsǣle, meaning evil.

20th-century use
According to Store norske leksikon, the originally Norse greeting “heill ok sæll” was&mdash;adjusted to modern orthography and pronunciation&mdash;adopted as “heil og sæl” by the political party Nasjonal Samling. According to Bokmålsordboka, the adoption was inspired by Germany's “Heil Hitler” and similar.

During the 1940–1945 German occupation of Norway, Nasjonal Samling, being the governing and only legal political party, sought to introduce all parts of society to a greeting combining “heil og sæl” and a raised right hand. Whilst the attempt was not successful, the said greeting remained compulsory for party members and police. It has subsequently remained closely associated with nationalism.