skall

Skall is a modal verb form found in Nordic languages, primarily in historical, formal, or literary contexts. It expresses obligation, duty, or future action, similar to shall in English. In contemporary practice, the everyday equivalents are ska in Swedish and skal in Danish and Norwegian, while skall appears mainly as an archaic or ceremonial spelling.

In Swedish orthography, skall is considered archaic or emphatic, with ska used for ordinary speech. Danish and Norwegian generally use skal as the standard form, and the double-l consonant form skall is rare in modern writing, appearing mainly in older texts or in linguistic discussions about historical usage.

The form derives from a Germanic root associated with obligation or necessity and is cognate with the English shall and the German sollen. This shared heritage reflects a common development of modal verbs across Germanic languages, indicating mere possibility, obligation, or intention dependent on context.

In usage, skall appears in didactic or textual sources to represent older or ceremonial speech. In translations or glosses of medieval or early modern Nordic texts, skall is often preserved to convey the original modal sense. In modern Nordic languages, however, speakers generally employ ska or skal to express the corresponding meaning.