If it may be said that the Glendale spiral has passed out of the Avocado zeitgeist, then please tolerate this header as a token of the recent past. There are indeed many Glendales scattered across the Anglophone world, including in nearly half of the US states. The most populous is Glendale, Arizona (248,325 at recent census). But don’t fret, California, here’s a Sunday drive through your Glendale:

On the name itself (Wikipedia):

Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means valley of fertile, low-lying arable land.

Zooming in, the root word “dale” (meaning valley or vale) has this etymology according to Merriam-Webster, in usage dating to pre-twelfth-century:

Middle English, from Old English dæl; akin to Old High German tal valley, Welsh dôl

The header image captures Swaledale, one of the famous Yorkshire Dales in England (photo by Kreuzschnabel).

Dale of course pairs nicely with hill, and is an arguably underappreciated unisex given name for people. Worth noting is that “dale” and “dell”, while related, are not exactly equivalent–the latter indicates a narrower forested hollow, sometimes touched by stream bed, instead of a more open valley. Here, we pause for some idyllic music:

Still interested in valley-related words? Explore thalwegs and enter the world of watercourse-based legal principles–dude, you’ll be getting into dells! (sort of)

Have a good Sunday 🏞️