madla

From Old Norse Mallar pl, attested in genitive as Malla and dative as Mǫllum. Likely related to terms such as Old Norse malmr (“ore; sandy flats”), mold (“soil”) and mǫl (“a gravelly bank”), relating to the morainic ground of the place. All of these ultimately derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *melh₂- (“to grind, crush”). Attested as eccl. de Mollom (1298), Mallar (1347), Malla (1355), Male (1563), Malle (1567), Mollda (1606), Malde (1610), Mallde (1616), Malde (1668), and finally Malde med Lien og Sandnes samt Kalvøen (1723). By 1915, it was spelled Malle.