payment in wadmal

(gen. -is, pl. aurar), m.

1) ounce of silver, the eighth part of a mark (átta aurar í mörk); hringr, er stendr sex aura, a ring weighing or worth six aurar; verðr þá at hálfri mörk vaðmála e., then the eyrir is equal to half a mark in wadmal; e. brendr = e. brends silfrs, an ounce of pure silver;

2) ounce (svá var haglit stórt, at hvert haglkornit vá eyri);

3) money in general, property; ljósir aurar verða at löngum trega, bright silver brings long, woe; ilir af aurum, a miser; gefin til aura (= til fjár), wedded for money; hann vissi ekki aura sinna tal, he knew not the tale (extent) of his riches; lausir aurar, opp. to ‘fastr eyrir’, movables, chattels (lönd ok lausir aurar); fríðr eyrir (= frítt fé, kvikfé), cattle;

4) money, currency; Flosi spurði í hverjum aurum hann vildi fyrir hafa, asked in what money he wished to be paid.

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m., gen. eyris, dat. and acc. eyri; pl. aurar, gen. aura, dat. aurum; a word prob. of foreign origin, from Lat. aureus, Fr. or, Engl. ore; (A. S. ora is, however, prob. Danish.) The first coins known in Scandinavia were Roman or Byzantine, then Saxon or English; as the old word baugr (q. v.) denoted unwrought, uncoined gold and silver, so eyrir prob. originally meant a certain coin:

I. an ounce of silver or its amount in money, the eighth part of a mark; an eyrir is = sixty pennies (penningar) = three ertog; tuttugu penningar vegnir í örtug, þrír örtugar í eyri. átta aurar í mörk, 732. 16; silfr svá slegit at sextigir penninga görði eyri veginn, Grág. i. 500; penning, þat skal hinn tíundi (prob. a false reading, x instead of lx) hlutr eyris, 357; hálfs eyris met ek hverjan, I value each at a half eyrir, Glúm, (in a verse); leigja skip þrem aurum, to hire a boat for three aurar, Korm.; einn eyrir þess fjár heitir alaðsfestr, Grág. i. 88: the phrase, goldinn liverr eyrir, every ounce paid; galt Guðmundr hvern eyri þá þegar, Sturl. i. 141; gjalda tvá aura fyrir einn, to pay two for one, Grág. i. 396, ii. 234; verðr þá at hálfri mörk vaðmála eyrir, then the eyrir amounts to half a mark in wadmal, i. 500; brent silfr, ok er eyririnn at mörk lögaura, pure silver, the ounce of which amounts to a mark in lögaurar, 392; hring er stendr sex aura, a ring worth or weighing six aurar, Fms. ii. 246; hence baugr tví-eyringr, tvítug-eyringr, a ring weighing two or twenty aurar, Eb., Glúm.

β. as a weight of other things beside silver; hagl hvert vá eyri, every hail-stone weighed an ounce, Fms. i. 175; stæltr lé ok vegi áttjan aura, eggelningr, þeir skulu þrír fyrir tvá aura, a scythe of wrought steel and weighing eighteen aurar, an ell-long edge, three such cost two aurar (in silver), the proportion between the weight in wrought iron and the worth in silver being 1:28, Grág. i. 501.

γ. the amount of an ounce, without any notion of the medium of payment, hence such phrases as, tólf aura silfrs, twelve aurar to be paid in silver, Nj. 54; eyrir brendr, burnt eyrir, i. e. an eyrir sterling, pure silver, D. N.

II. money in general; skal þar sinn eyri hverjum dæma, to every one his due, his share, Grág. i. 125; in proverbs, ljósir aurar verða at löngum trega, bright silver brings long woe, Sl. 34; margr verðr af aurum api, Hm. 74; illr af aurum, a miser, Jd. 36; vára aura, our money, Vkv. 13; leggja aura, to lay up money, Eg. (in a verse); gefin til aura (= til fjár), wedded to money, Ísl. ii. 254 (in a verse); telja e-m aura, to tell out money to one, Skv. 3. 37, cp. 39: the phrase, hann veit ekki aura sinna tal, he knows not the tale of his aurar, of boundless wealth. Mar. 88: the allit. phrase, lönd (land, estate) ok lausir aurar (movables, cp. Dan. lösöre, Swed. lösören), Eg. 2; hafa fyrirgört löndum ok lausum eyri, K. Á. 94.

2. money or specie; the allit. phrase, aurar ok óðal, money and estates, N. G. L. i. 48; ef hann vill taka við aurum slíkum ( such payment) sem váttar vitu at hann reiddi honum, 93; þeim aurum öllum ( all valuables) sem til bús þeirra vóru keyptir, Grág. i. 412; Flosi spurði í hverjum aurum hann vildi fyrir hafa, F. asked in what money he wished to he paid, Nj. 259; lögaurar, such money as is legal tender; þú skalt gjalda mér vaðmál, ok skilrað hann frá aðra aura, other kinds of payment, Grág. i. 392; útborinn eyrir, in the phrase, mér er það enginn utborinn (or útburðar-) eyrir, I do not want to part with it, offer it for sale; eyrir vaðmála, payment in wadmal (stuff), 300, Bs. i. 639: for the double standard, the one woollen (ells), the other metal (rings or coin), and the confusion between them, see Dasent’s Burnt Njal, vol. ii. p. 397 sqq.: at different times and places the ell standard varied much, and we hear of three, six, nine, twelve ell standards (vide alin, p. 13): in such phrases as ‘mörk sex álna aura,’ the word ‘mörk’ denotes the amount, ‘sex álna’ the standard, and ‘aura’ the payment = payment of ‘a mark of six ells,’ cp. a pound sterling, K. Þ. K. 172; hundrað (the amount) þriggja álna (the standard) aura, Sturl. i. 141, 163, Boll. 362, Ísl. ii. 28; mörk sex álna eyris, Fsk. 10, N. G. L. i. 65, 101, 389, 390; þrem mörkum níu álna eyris, 387–389; sex merkr tólf álna eyrir, 81.

β. in various compds, etc.; land-aurar, land tax, Jb. ch. i, Ó. H. 54; öfundar-eyrir, money which brings envy, Fs. 12; sak-metinn e., sak-eyrir, sakar-eyrir, money payable in fines, Fms. vii. 300; ómaga-eyrir, the money of an orphan, K. Þ. K. 158, Grág. ii. 288; liksöngs-eyrir, a ‘lyke-fee,’ burial fee (to the clergyman); vísa-eyrir, a tax: góðr e., good payment, D. N.; verð-aurar, articles used for payment, id.; forn-gildr e., standard, sterling payment, id.; færi-eyrir = lausir aurar, Skv. 3. 50; flytjandi e., id., Fr.; kaupmanna e., trade money; búmanna e., D. N.; Norrænn e., Norse money, Lv. 25; Hjaltenzkr e., Shetland money, D. N. (vide Fritzner s. v.); fríðr e., ‘kind,’ i. e. sheep and cattle, Grág.

COMPDS:

I. pl., aura-dagr, m. pay-day, D. N. aura-lag, n. the standard of money, Fms. vii. 300, 304. aura-lán, n. worldly luck, 656 i. 3. aura-lógan, f. the squandering of money, 655 iii. 1. aura-lykt, n. payment, D. N. aura-skortr, m. scarcity of money, D. N. aura-taka, u, f. receipt of money, N. G. L. i. 93, Gþl. 298.

II. sing., eyris-bót, f. fine of an eyrir, Grág. i. 158. eyris-kaup, n. a bargain to the amount of an eyrir, Gþl. 511. eyris-land, n. land giving the rent of an eyrir, Fms. x. 146. eyris-skaði, a, m. loss to the amount of an eyrir, Jb. 166. eyris-tíund, f. tithe of an eyrir, K. Þ. K. 148. eyris-tollr, m. toll of an eyrir, H. E. ii. 95.

n. (sounded vammal, N. G. L. i. 362), no doubt qs. váðmál, measured stuff, standard cloth, from váð, stuff, and mál, a measure; in the old Scandinavian communities the vaðmál was the standard of all value and payment before coined gold or silver came into use, see the remarks s. v. alin; [Scot. wadmaal; Orkney and Dan. vadmel]:—a plain woollen stuff, woven in hand-looms; in mod. Icel. the home-spun vaðmál is distinguished from the foreign stuffs, called klæði (vaðmáls-treyja, klæðis-treyja); sæmri muu ei sínum ver, silki-klæddr sprakki, en meyja hrein og hýrlynd er, hulin vaðmáls stakki, Eggert; góð vaðmáls klæði, Fms. vi. 208; skera til klæða vaðmál, id.; stíka vaðmál í sundr, Ölk. 36; lét Þyri tjalda höllina grám vaðmálum, Fms. i. 118; tjalda með gráu vaðmáli, Grett. 132 new Ed.: Færeyskt vaðmál, D. N. ii. 559; rekkju-vaðmál, wadmal for bedclothes, Dropl. 20; vaðmál til seglbóta, Sks. 30; varning Íslenzkan í vaðmálum ok í ullu. Fms. x. 294; þat fé skal vera í vaðmálum eða í vararfeldum …, Grág.; sex alnir vaðmáls gilds, Kb. ii. 192; hafnar-vaðmál, plain common wadmal; hafnar vaðmál ný ok ónotin, Grág. i. 504; Rútr gaf henni hundrað álna hafnar vaðmála, Nj. 7; pakka vaðmál, H. E. i. 574, cp. Bs. i. 842 (spýtingana ok ‘pakkana’): as a standard, alin vaðmáls, mörk vaðmáls, Fb. iii. 343; vaðmála skuld, a debt paid in wadmal, Dipl. iii. 13: vaðmáls-klæði, -möttull, -sloppr, Fms. vi. 208, Þorf. Karl. 384, Bs. i. 674.

(gen. sing. alnar or álnar; pl. alnar or álnir), f. = öln;

1) the old Icelandic ell (about half a yard);

2) unit of value, an ell of woollen stuff (alin vaðmáls), = one sixth of an ounce(eyrir).

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f. A dissyllabic form alun appears in old poetry, v. Lex. Poët. In early prose writers a monosyllabic form öln prevails in nom. dat. acc. sing., D. I. i. 310. l. 22 (MS. of the year 1275), 314. l. 16 (MS. year 1250), 311, 312. l. 16, 313. l. 7, 89. l. 1. Nom. pl., α. the old, alnar; β. the later, alnir: the former in -ar, in D. I. i. 309 (a MS. of the year 1275), 310–312 (MS. year 1370), 313, 316. l. 19, 318. 1. 15. The pl. in -ir, D. I. i. 89 sqq., in MSS. of the 13th and 14th centuries. In the contracted form aln- the simple radical vowel soon became a diphthongal á, viz. álnar, álnir, álnum, álna, and is at present so spelt and pronounced. We find an acute accent indeed in álna (gen pl.), D. I. i. 313. l. 25 (MS. year 1375), and dinar, id. l, 7; álnom, 1. 28; ölnum with changed vowel, N. G. L. i. 323 (in an Icel. transcript). The present declension is, nom. acc. alin, gen. álnar; pl. nom. acc. álnir, gen. álna, dat. alnum.

I. properly the arm from the elbow to the end of the middle finger [Gr. ώλένη, Lat. ulna, cp. A. S. el-boga, Engl. el-bow, etc.]; almost obsolete, but still found in the words ölbogi qs. öln-bogi, ‘elbow,’ and úlf-liðr, prop. uln- or óln-liðr, wrist, commonly pronounced unl-liðr [false etymol., v. Edda, p. 17]; cp. Ísl. Þjóðs. ii. 19, where tungl (luna) and unl- rhyme. Freq. in poetry in such compounds as alun-leygr, -brandr, ölun-grjót, alnar-gim, alin-leygr, the standing poët, name of gold and gems being ignis or lapis cubiti.

II. mostly metaph.:

1. an ell, [Ulf. aleina; A. S. eln; Engl. ell; O. H. G. elina; Dan. alen; Lat. ulna, cp. cubitum] ; the finger, arm, foot were the original standards for measure. The primitive ell measured the length from the elbow to the point of the second finger, and answered to about half a yard Engl. = 18 inches. The Icel. ell before the year 12OO measured just half a yard. About this year, by a law of bishop Paul, the ell was doubled into a stika, a stika being precisely = two ells = an Engl. ell of that time. To prevent the use of bad measure, a just and lawful stika (yard) was marked on the walls of the churches, esp. that at Thingvellir, as an authorised standard, Páls S. ch. 9, Bs. i. 135, D. I. i. 309, 316, Jb. Kb. 26; ensk lérept tveggja álna, English linen of two ells measure, id.; þat er mælt, at at graftar kirkju hverri skal mæla stiku lengd, þá er rétt sé at hafa til álna máls, ok megi menn þar til ganga ef á skilr um alnar, 309. During the whole of the 15th century the Icel. trade was mainly in British hands; thus the Engl. double ell probably prevailed till the end of the 15th or beginning of the 16th century. The Hanse Towns ell = 21 1/11 inches was then introduced, and abolished in the year 1776, when the Dan. ell = 24 inches came into use. At present the Hanse Towns ell is called Íslenzk alin (Icel. ell), and the original half-yard ell is quite obsolete; cp. Jón Sigurðsson in D. I. i. 306–308, and Pál Vidal. s. v. alin.

2. a unit of value, viz. an ell (half-yard measure) of woollen stuff (vaðmál); the vaðmál (Halliwell wadmal, Engl. woadmal, Orkn. and Shell, wadmaal and vadmel) was in Icel. the common medium of payment, whence an ell became the standard unit of value or property, whether in land or chattels; 120 ells make a hundred, v. that word. In D. I. i. 316 we are told that, about the year 1200, three ells were equal in value to one ounce of ordinary silver, whence the expression þriggja álna eyrir (a common phrase during the 13th century). The value of the ell of vaðmal, however, varied greatly; during the 11th and 12th centuries six ells made an ounce, D. I. i. 88. In Norway we find mentioned níu, ellifu álna aurar (nine, eleven ells to an ounce). In Grág. (Kb.) ii. 192, § 245, it is said that, about the year 1000, four ells in Icel. made an ounce, and so on; vide Dasent, Essay in 2nd vol. of Burnt Njal., and Pal Vidal. s. v. alin.

COMPDS: álnarborð, álnarbreiðr, alnarkefli, álnartíund, álnarvirði, álnasök.

f. a piece of common stuff or cloth, for wadmal was the standard of payment; hann kastaði yfir sik söluváð, Sturl. iii. 112; söluváðar-bræðr, -kufl, -kyrtill, Finnb. 216, Grett. 148, Nj. 32; unless the word in this usage be derived from A. S. salow, Engl. sallow (?).