Dale (landform)

A dale is a valley, and in particular an open, gently sloping stretch of ground lying between low hills with a stream flowing through it. The word is used most often in Yorkshire and in the Southern Uplands of Scotland, and the hills or mountains that flank a dale are commonly called fells. It comes from the Old English word dael, and it was kept alive in northern England partly through Viking influence, since the Old Norse word dalr and the modern Icelandic dalur are close relatives; dal- is also common in place names across Norway. The source defines a dale by its open, gentle shape and its stream rather than by how it formed. The word also survives in everyday phrases such as up hill and down dale and over every hill and dale.