(came so near to them)

* * *

(dreg; dró, drógum; dreginn), v.

1) to draw, drag, pull;

draga heim viðinn, to drag the logs home;

draga árar, to pull the oars;

absol., drógu þeir skjótt eptir, they soon pulled up to them;

draga boga, to draw the bow;

draga segl, to hoist sails (= draga upp segl);

draga fisk, to catch, pull up fish with a line;

draga kvernstein, to turn the millstone, to grind;

við ramman mun reip at draga, it will be pulling a rope against a strong man, i. e. it will be a difficult task;

2) to draw, inhale (draga úþefjan með nösum);

draga nasir af e-u, to smell a thing;

draga öndina, to breathe, live;

3) to procure, earn, gain (þegar hann hafði fé dregit sem hann vildi);

draga e-m e-t, to procure (or get) one a thing (eigi sögðust þeir vita, at hann drœgi Haraldi ríki);

4) to employ as a measure (draga kvarða við viðmál);

5) to prolong protract (dvalir þessar drógu tímann);

6) to delay, put off, defer;

vil ek þessi svör ekki láta draga fyrir mér lengi, I will not wait long for these answers;

hann dró um þat engan hlut, he made no subterfuge;

7) to delineate, draw a picture (var dregit á skjöldinn leo með gulli);

í þann tíma sem hann dregr klæðaföllin (the folds);

8) to trim or line garments (treyjan var dregin útan ok innan við rauða silki);

with dat., hjálmr hans var dreginn leiri (overlaid with clay), er áðr var (dreginn) gulli;

9) intrans to move, draw;

drógu þeir þeim svá nær (came so near to them), at;

10) with preps.:

draga föt, skóklædi af e-m, to pull off one’s clothes, shoes;

draga hring af hendi sér, to take off a ring from one’s hand;

dró hann þá grunninu, he pulled them off the shallow;

draga e-t af e-u, to draw, derive from a source;

draga e-t af, to take off (Þ. hafði látit af draga brúna);

draga e-t af við e-n, to keep back, withhold, from one;

man héðan af eigi af dregit við oss, henceforth we shall no be neglected, stinted;

Egill dró at sér skipit, E. pulled the ship close up to himself;

draga vél at e-m, to draw wiles around one;

draga spott, skaup, at e-u, to hold a thing up to ridicule;

draga at lið, föng, to collect troops, stores;

dró at honum sóttin, the illness drew closer to him, he grew worse;

impers., dró at mætti hans, dró at um matt hans, his strength declined (fell off);

til þess er dró at degi, till the day drew near;

þá er dregr at jólum, when Yule drew near;

dró at því (the time drew near). at hann væri banvænn;

tók þá at draga fast at heyjum hans, his stock of hay was rapidly diminishing;

svá dregr at mér af elli, svengd, þorsta, I am so overcome by old age, hunger, thirst;

nú þykki mér sem fast dragi at þér, that thou art sinking fast;

draga hring á hönd sér, to put a ring on one’s hand;

draga (grun) á e-t, to suspect;

draga á vetr, to rear through the winter (Hrafnkell dró á vetr kálf ok kið);

impers., dregr á tunglit, the moon is obscured (= dregr myrkr á tunglit);

dimmu þykkir draga á ráðit Odds, it looks as if a cloud was drawing over Odds’ affairs;

dregr á gleði biskups, the bishop’s gladness was obscured;

draga eptir e-m, to gain on one (Þórarinn sótti ákaft róðrinn ok hans menn, ok drógu skjótt eptir þeim Steinólfi ok Kjallaki);

draga eptir e-m um e-t, to approach one, to be nearly equal to one, in a thing;

um margar íþróttir (in many accomplishments) dró hann fast eptir Ólafi konungi;

draga e-t fram, to produce, bring forward (draga fram athugasamlig dœmi); to further, promote (draga fram hlut e-s);

draga fram kaupeyri sinn, to make money;

draga fram skip, to launch a ship;

impers., dregr frá, (cloud darkness) is drawn off;

hratt stundum fyrir, en stundum dró frá, (clouds) drew sometimes over, sometimes off;

dregr fyrir sól, tungl, the sun, moon is obscured by clouds or eclipse (tunglskin var ljóst, en stundum dró fyrir);

ok er í tók at draga skúrirnar, when showers began to gather;

draga e-ð saman, to collect, gather (draga lið, her, skip saman);

impers., saman dró kaupmála með þeim, they struck a bargain;

saman dró hugi þeirra, their hearts were drawn together;

dregr þá saman or dregr saman með þeim, the distance between them grows less;

draga e-t í sundr, to draw asunder, disjoin (vil ek eigi draga í sundr sættir yðrar);

impers., dregr þá í sundr or dregr í sundr með þeim, the distance between them increases;

draga e-n til e-s, to move, prompt, induce;

engi ofkæti dregr mik til þessarar ferðar, it is not from wantonness that I undertake this journey;

slíkt dregr hann til vinsældar, this furthers his popularity;

ef hann drógi ekki til, if he was not concerned;

draga e-t til dœmis um e-t, to adduce as a proof of;

hann hét at draga allt til sætta (to do everything in his power for reconciliation) með þeim Skota konungi;

impers., nema til verra dragi, unless matters turn out for the worse;

with dat., þat samband þeirra, er þeim dregr báðum til bana, which will prove fatal to both of them;

at hér mundi til mikillar úgiptu draga um kaup þessi, that much mischief would arise from this bargain;

dró þá enn til sundrþykkju með þeim Svíum, the old feud with the Swedes began all over again;

svá er þat, segir R., ef ekki dregr til, unless some unforesceen thing happens;

draga e-t undan e-m, to seek to deprive one of a thing (þeir hafa bundizt í því at draga bœndr undan þér);

draga e-t undan, to delay (drógu Skotar undan sættina);

hví dregr þú undan at bjóða mér til þín? why dost thou put off inviting me to come?;

draga rót undan (tölu), to extract the root;

draga undan e-m, to escape from one (nú lægir seglin þeirra ok draga þeir undan oss);

impers., hann (acc.) dró undan sem nauðuligast, he had a narrow escape;

lítt dró enn undan við þik, there was little chance of drawing out of thy reach;

draga e-t undir sik, to apropriate or take fraudulently to oneself (hafði dregit undir sik finnskattinn);

impers., dró yðr (acc.) undir hrakningina, en oss (acc.) undan, you came in for hard uasge but we escaped;

draga upp skip, to drag a ship ashore;

draga upp segl, to hoist a sail (sails);

draga upp fisk, to pull up fish with a line;

impers., þoku dregr upp, fog is coming on;

11) refl., dragast.

f. only in pl. ‘drögur’,

1) timber carried on horseback and trailing along the ground;

2) metric term, repetition, anadiplosis (when a stanza begins with the last word of the preceding one).

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pret. dró, pl. drógu; part. dreginn; pres. dreg: pret. subj. drægi: [Lat. trahere; Ulf. dragan, but only once or twice, = επισωρεύειν in 2 Tim. iv. 3; Hel. dragan = portare, ferre (freq.); A. S. dragan; Germ. tragen; the Engl. distinguishes between to drag and draw, whence the derived words to draggle, trail, drawl; Swed. draga; the Danes have drage, but nearly obliterated except in the special sense to travel,—otherwise they have trække, formed from the mod. Germ. tragen]:—to draw, drag, carry, pull.

A. ACT., with acc.

I. to drag, carry, pull; hann dró þau öll út, Nj. 131; djöfla þá er yðr munu d. til eilífra kvala, 273; d. heim við, to drag the logs home, 53; d. sauði, to pick sheep out of a fold, Bs. i. 646, Eb. 106; d. skip fram, to launch a ship; d. upp, to draw her up, drag her ashore, Grág. ii. 433; dró Þorgils eptir sér fiskinn, Fs. 129; Egill dró at sér skipit, E. pulled the ship close up to himself, Eg. 221, 306; dró hann þá af grunninu, Fms. vii. 264; hann hafði dregit ( pulled) hött síðan yfir hjálm, Eg. 375, cp. Ad. 3; d. föt, skóklæði af e-m, to draw off clothes, shoes; þá var dregin af ( stripped off) hosa líkinu, Fms. viii. 265; dró hann hana á hönd ser, he pulled it on his hand, Eg. 378; d. hring á hönd sér, to put a ring on one’s hand, 306; (hann) tók gullhring, ok dró ( pulled) á blóðrefilinn, id.: phrases, er við ramman reip at d., ’tis to pull a rope against the strong man, i. e. to cope with the mighty, Fms. ii. 107, Nj. 10,—the metaphor from a game; d. árar, to pull the oars, Fms. ii. 180, Grett. 125 A: absol. to pull, ok drógu skjótt eptir, they soon pulled up to them, Gullþ. 24, Krók. 52: metaph., um margar íþróttir dró hann fast eptir Ólafi, in many accomplishments he pressed hard upon Olave, Fms. iii. 17: d. boga, to draw the bow, x. 362, but more freq. benda ( bend) boga: d., or d. upp segl, to hoist the sails, Eg. 93, Fms. ix. 21, x. 349, Orkn. 260: d. fiska, or simply draga (Luke v. 7), to fish with a hook, to pull up fish with a line (hence fisk-dráttr, dráttr, fishing), Fms. iv. 89, Hým. 21, 23, Fs. 129, Landn. 36, Fas. ii. 31: d. drátt, Luke v. 4; d. net, to fish with a drag-net; also absol., draga á (on or in) á ( a river), to drag a river; hence the metaphor, d. langa nót at e-u, = Lat. longae ambages, Nj. 139: d. steina, to grind in a hand-mill, Sl. 58, Gs. 15: d. bust ór nefi e-m, vide bust: d. anda, to draw breath; d. öndina um barkann, id., (andar-dráttr, drawing breath); d. tönn, to draw a tooth.

2. phrases mostly metaph.; d. seim, prop. to draw wire, metaph. to read or talk with a drawling tone; d. nasir af e-u, to smell a thing, Ísl. ii. 136; d. dám af e-u, to draw flavour from; draga dæmi af e-u, or d. e-t til dæmis, to draw an example from a thing, Stj. 13, cp. Nj. 65; d. þýðu eðr samræði til e-s, to draw towards, feel sympathy for, Sks. 358; d. grun á e-t, to suspect, Sturl.; d. spott, skaup, gys, etc. at e-u, to hold a thing up to ridicule, Bs. i. 647; d. á sik dul ok dramb, to assume the air of…, 655 xi. 3; d. á sik ofbeldi ok dramb, Fms. vii. 20; d. e-n á talar, to deceive one, metaphor from leading into a trap, 2 Cor. xii. 17; d. vél at e-m, to deceive one, draw a person into wiles, Nj. 280, Skv. i. 33; d. á vetr, to get one’s sheep and cattle through the winter; Hrafnkell dró á vetr kálf ok kið hin firstu misseri, Hrafn. 22, cp. Germ. anbinden, and in mod. Icel. usage setja á vetr; d. nafn af e-m, to draw, derive the name from, Eb. 126 (App.) new Ed.; the phrase, (hann skyldi ekki) fleiri ár yfir höfuð d., more years should not pass over his head, he must die, Þórð.

II. to draw a picture; kross let hann d. í enni á öllum hjálmum með bleiku, Fms. iv. 96; þá dró Tjörvi líkneski þeirra á kamarsvegg, Landn. 247; var dregit á skjöldinn leo með gulli, Ld. 78, Pr. 428; í þann tíma sem hann dregr ( draws) klæða-föllin (the folds), Mar. (Fr.): d. til stafs (mod.), to draw the letters, of children first trying to write; d. fjöðr yfir e-t, a metaph. phrase, to draw a pen over or through, to hide, cloak a thing: gramm. to mark a vowel with a stroke,—a long vowel opp. to a short one is thus called ‘dreginn;’ hljóðstafir hafa tvenna grein, at þeir sé styttir ( short) eða dregnir (drawn, marked with a stroke), ok er því betr dregit yfir þann staf er seint skal at kveða, e. g. ári Ari, ér er-, mínu minni, Skálda 171: to measure, in the phrases, draga kvarða við vaðmál, Grág. i. 497, 498; draga lérept, N. G. L. i. 323.

III. to line clothes, etc.; treyja var dregin utan ok innan við rauðu silki, Flov. 19.

IV. metaph. to delay; dró hann svá sitt mál, at…, Sturl. iii. 13; hann dró um þat engan hlut, he made no subterfuge, Hkr. ii. 157; Halldórr dró þá heldr fyrir þeim, H. then delayed the time, Ld. 322; vil ek ekki lengr d. þetta fyrir þér, 284; vil ek þessi svör eigi láta d. fyrir mér lengr, Eb. 130.

V. with prepp. af, at, á, fram, frá, saman, sundr, etc., answering to the Lat. attrahere, abstrahere, protrahere, detrahere, distrahere, contrahere, etc.; d. at lið, to collect troops; d. saman her, id., Eg. 172, 269, Nj. 127; d. at föng, to collect stores, 208, 259: metaph., þá dró at honum sóttin, the sickness drew nearer to him, he grew worse, Grett. 119; d. af e-m, to take off, to disparage a person, Fms. vi. 287; d. af við e-n, ok mun héðan af ekki af dregit við oss, we shall not be neglected, stinted, Bjarn. 54: mathem. term, to subtract, Rb. 118: d. fram, to bring forward, promote; d. fram þræla, Fms. x. 421, ix. 254, Eg. 354; skil ek þat, at þat man mína kosti hér fram d. (it will be my greatest help here), at þú átt ekki vald á mér; d. fram kaupeyri, to make money, Fms. vi. 8; d. saman, to draw together, collect, join, Bs. ii. 18, Nj. 65, 76; d. sundr, to draw asunder, disjoin; d. e-t á, to intimate, (á-dráttr) drag eigi á þat, Sturl. iii. 110; d. undan, to escape; kómu segli við ok drógu undan, Fms. iv. 201; nú lægir segl þeirra ok d. þeir nú undan oss, v. 11: metaph. to delay, Uspakr dró þó undan allt til nætr, Nj. 272; hirðin sá þetta at svá mjök var undan dregit, Fms. ix. 251 (undan-dráttr, delay); hví dregr þú undan at bjóða mér til þín, Glúm. 326, Fms. ix. 251, Pass. 16. 13: mathem., d. rót undan, to extract a root, Alg. 366; d. upp, to draw a picture (upp-dráttr, a drawing), to pull up, Edda I; to pull out of the snow, Eg. 546; d. út, to extract, draw out, 655 xxxii. 2; d. undir sik, to draw under oneself, to embezzle, Eg. 61, Fms. vii. 128; d. upp akkeri, to weigh anchor, Jb. 403; d. upp segl, to hoist sail, vide above; ljós brann í stofunni ok var dregit upp, Sturl. i. 142; þar brann ljós ok var dregit upp, en myrkt hit neðra, ii. 230; ok er mönnum var í sæti skipat vóru log upp dregin í stofunni, iii. 182; herbergis sveinarnir drógu upp skriðljósin, Fas. iii. 530, cp. Gísl. 29, 113,—in the old halls the lamps (torches) were hoisted up and down, in order to make the light fainter or stronger; d. e-n til e-s, to draw one towards a thing; mikit dregr mik til þess, Fs. 9; engi ofkæti dregr mik til þessarar ferðar, i. e. it is not by my own choice that I undertake this journey, Fms. ix. 352; slíkt dró hann til vinsældar, this furthered him in popularity, vii. 175, Sks. 443 B; mun hann slíkt til d., it will move, influence him, Nj. 210; ef hann drægi ekki til, if he was not concerned, 224.

2. draga til is used absol. or ellipt., denoting the course of fate, and many of the following phrases are almost impers.; nema til verra dragi, unless matters turn out worse, Nj. 175; búð, dragi til þess sem vera vill, Lat. fata evenient, 185; ef honum vill þetta til dauða d., if this draw to his death, prove fatal to him, 103, Grett. 114; þat samband þeirra er þeim dregr báðum til bana, which will be fatal to both of them, Nj. 135; enda varð þat fram at koma sem til dró, Ísl. ii. 263; sagði Kveldúlfr at þá ( then) mundi þar til draga sem honum hafði fyrir boðat, Eg. 75; dró til vanda með þeim Rúti ok Unni, it was the old story over again, Nj. 12; dró til vanda um tal þeirra, 129; at hér mundi til mikillar úgiptu draga um kaup þessi, that mickle mischief would arise from this bargain, 30; dró þá enn til sundrþykkju með þeim Svíum, the old feud with the Swedes began over again, Fms. x. 161; ok er úvíst til hvers um dregr, Fs. 6; svá er þat, segir Runólfr, ef ekki dregr til, unless some unforeseen things happen, Nj. 75; hón kvað eigi úlíkligt at til mikils drægi um, Ísl. ii. 19; þá dró nú til hvárttveggja. Bret.; hence til-drög. n. pl. cause.

B. IMPERS.

1. of clouds, shade, darkness, to be drawn before a thing as a veil; dimmu (acc.) þykir á draga ráðit Odds, it looked as if gloom were drawing over Odd’s affairs, Band. 10; ok er í tók at draga skúrirnar (acc.), it began to draw into showers, i. e. clouds began to gather, Fms. iii. 206: often ellipt., hratt stundum fyrir en stundum dró frá, [ clouds] drew sometimes over, sometimes off, of the moon wading through them, Grett. 114; dregr fyrir sól, [ a veil] draws over the sun, he is hid in clouds; ský vónarleysu döpur drjúgum dró fyrir mína gleði-sól, Bb. 2. 9; dregr á gleði biskups, [ clouds] drew over the bishop’s gladness, it was eclipsed, Bs. ii. 79; eclipsis heitir er fyrir dregr sól eðr tungl, it is called an eclipse when [ a veil] draws over the sun or moon, 1812. 4; tunglskin var ljóst, en stundum dró fyrir, the moonshine was clear, and in turn [ a veil] drew over it, Nj. 118; þá sá lítið af tungli ljóst ok dró ymist til eðr frá, Ísl. ii. 463; þat gerðisk, at á dregr tunglit, ok verðr eclipsis, Al. 54.

2. in various connections; dró yðr (acc.) undir hrakningina, en oss (acc.) undan, you were drawn into a thrashing (i. e. got one), but we escaped, Nj. 141; hann (acc.) dró undan sem nauðuligast, he had a narrow escape, Fms. ix. 392: absol., a noun or personal pronoun in acc. being understood, lítt dró enn undan við þik, there was little power of drawing out of thy reach, i. e. thy blow did its work right well. Nj. 199, 155; hvárki dró sundr né saman með þeim, of two running a dead heat: metaph. phrases, mun annarsstaðar meira slóða (acc.) draga, there will be elsewhere a greater trial left, i. e. the consequences will be still worse elsewhere, 54; saman dró hugi þeirra, their hearts were drawn together, of a loving pair, Bárð. 271; saman dró kaupmála með þeim, they struck a bargain, literally the bargain was drawn tight, Nj. 49; hann hreinsar þat skjótt þóat nokkut im (acc.) hafi á oss dregit af samneyti ( although we have been a little infected by the contact with) annarlegs siðferðis, Fms. ii. 261; allt slafr (acc.) dró af Hafri, i. e. H. became quite mute, Grett. (in a verse): in a temp. sense, til þess er dró at degi, till the day drew nigh, Fms. x. 138; þá er dró at miðri nótt, Grett. 140; þá er dregr at Jólum, Yule drew nigh, Fbr. 138; dregr at hjaldri, the battle-hour draws nigh, Fms. vi. (in a verse); dró at því (the time drew nigh), at hann var banvænn, Eg. 126: of sickness, hunger, or the like, to sink, be overcome by, svá dregr at mér af elli, svengd ok þorsta, at…, Fms. iii. 96; nú þykki mér sem fast dragi at þér, thou art sinking fast, Fas. ii. 221; ok er lokið var kvæðinu dregr at Oddi fast, O. was sinking fast, 321: of other things, tók þá at d. fast at heyjum hans, his stock was very low, Fms. iii. 208; þoku dregr upp, a fog draws on, rises, 97 (in a verse), but ok taki sú poka (nom.) fyrir at d. norðrljósit, Sks. an (better þá þoku, acc.)

C. REFLEX, to draw oneself, move; ef menn dragask til föruneytis þeirra ( join them) úbeðit, Grág. ii. 270; Sigvaldi dregsk út frá flotanum, S. draws away from the fleet, Fms. xi. 140; ofmjök dragask lendir menn fram, i. e. the barons drew far too forward, vii. 22; hyski drósk á flótta, they drew away to flight, Fms. vi. (in a verse); skeiðr drógusk at vígi, the ships drew on to battle, iii. 4 (in a verse); dragask undir = draga undir sik, to take a thing to oneself, Grág. ii. 150; dragask á hendr e-m, drógusk opt þeir menn á hendr honum er úskilamenn voru, Sturl. i. 136; dragask e-n á hendr, hann kvað þess enga ván, at hann drægisk þá á hendr, ii. 120; dragask aptr á leið, to remain behind, Rb. 108; dragask út, to recede, of the tide, 438; dragask saman, to draw back, draw together, be collected, Fms. i. 25, Bs. i. 134; e-m dragask penningar, Fms. vi. 9; d. undan, to be delayed, x. 251; the phrase, herr, lið dregsk e-m, the troops draw together, of a levy, i. 94, vii. 176, Eg. 277; dragask á legg, to grow up, Hkr. iii. 108; sem aldr hans ok vitsmunir drógusk fram, increased, Fms. vi. 7; þegar honum drósk aldr, when he grew up, Fs. 9; dragask á legg, to grow into a man; dragask við e-t, to become discouraged, Fms. viii. 65; d. vel, illa, to do well, ill, Fs. 146: to be worn out, exhausted, drósk þá liðit mjök af kulda, Sturl. iii. 20; drósk hestr hans, ii. 75: part. dreginn, drawn, pinched, starved, hestar mjök dregnir, Fms. ix. 276; görðisk fénaðr dreginn mjök, drawn, thin, iii. 208; stóð þar í heykleggi einn ok dregit at öllu megin, a tapering hayrick, Háv. 53: of sickness, Herra Andrés lagðisk sjúkr, ok er hann var dreginn mjök, Fms. ix. 276.

β. recipr., þau drógusk um einn gullhring, they fought, pulled. Fas. iii. 387. From the reflex. probably originates, by dropping the reflex. suffix, the mod. Swed. and Dan. at draga = to go, esp. of troops or a body of men; in old writers the active form hardly ever occurs in this sense (the reading drógu in the verse Fms. iii. 4 is no doubt false); and in mod. usage it is equally unknown in Icel., except maybe in allit. phrases as, e. g. út á djúpið hann Oddr dró, Snot 229 new Ed.; to Icel. ears draga in this sense sounds strange; even the reflex. form is seldom used in a dignified sense; vide the references above.

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(dreg; dró, drógum; dreginn), v.

1) to draw, drag, pull;

draga heim viðinn, to drag the logs home;

draga árar, to pull the oars;

absol., drógu þeir skjótt eptir, they soon pulled up to them;

draga boga, to draw the bow;

draga segl, to hoist sails (= draga upp segl);

draga fisk, to catch, pull up fish with a line;

draga kvernstein, to turn the millstone, to grind;

við ramman mun reip at draga, it will be pulling a rope against a strong man, i. e. it will be a difficult task;

2) to draw, inhale (draga úþefjan með nösum);

draga nasir af e-u, to smell a thing;

draga öndina, to breathe, live;

3) to procure, earn, gain (þegar hann hafði fé dregit sem hann vildi);

draga e-m e-t, to procure (or get) one a thing (eigi sögðust þeir vita, at hann drœgi Haraldi ríki);

4) to employ as a measure (draga kvarða við viðmál);

5) to prolong protract (dvalir þessar drógu tímann);

6) to delay, put off, defer;

vil ek þessi svör ekki láta draga fyrir mér lengi, I will not wait long for these answers;

hann dró um þat engan hlut, he made no subterfuge;

7) to delineate, draw a picture (var dregit á skjöldinn leo með gulli);

í þann tíma sem hann dregr klæðaföllin (the folds);

8) to trim or line garments (treyjan var dregin útan ok innan við rauða silki);

with dat., hjálmr hans var dreginn leiri (overlaid with clay), er áðr var (dreginn) gulli;

9) intrans to move, draw;

drógu þeir þeim svá nær (came so near to them), at;

10) with preps.:

draga föt, skóklædi af e-m, to pull off one’s clothes, shoes;

draga hring af hendi sér, to take off a ring from one’s hand;

dró hann þá grunninu, he pulled them off the shallow;

draga e-t af e-u, to draw, derive from a source;

draga e-t af, to take off (Þ. hafði látit af draga brúna);

draga e-t af við e-n, to keep back, withhold, from one;

man héðan af eigi af dregit við oss, henceforth we shall no be neglected, stinted;

Egill dró at sér skipit, E. pulled the ship close up to himself;

draga vél at e-m, to draw wiles around one;

draga spott, skaup, at e-u, to hold a thing up to ridicule;

draga at lið, föng, to collect troops, stores;

dró at honum sóttin, the illness drew closer to him, he grew worse;

impers., dró at mætti hans, dró at um matt hans, his strength declined (fell off);

til þess er dró at degi, till the day drew near;

þá er dregr at jólum, when Yule drew near;

dró at því (the time drew near). at hann væri banvænn;

tók þá at draga fast at heyjum hans, his stock of hay was rapidly diminishing;

svá dregr at mér af elli, svengd, þorsta, I am so overcome by old age, hunger, thirst;

nú þykki mér sem fast dragi at þér, that thou art sinking fast;

draga hring á hönd sér, to put a ring on one’s hand;

draga (grun) á e-t, to suspect;

draga á vetr, to rear through the winter (Hrafnkell dró á vetr kálf ok kið);

impers., dregr á tunglit, the moon is obscured (= dregr myrkr á tunglit);

dimmu þykkir draga á ráðit Odds, it looks as if a cloud was drawing over Odds’ affairs;

dregr á gleði biskups, the bishop’s gladness was obscured;

draga eptir e-m, to gain on one (Þórarinn sótti ákaft róðrinn ok hans menn, ok drógu skjótt eptir þeim Steinólfi ok Kjallaki);

draga eptir e-m um e-t, to approach one, to be nearly equal to one, in a thing;

um margar íþróttir (in many accomplishments) dró hann fast eptir Ólafi konungi;

draga e-t fram, to produce, bring forward (draga fram athugasamlig dœmi); to further, promote (draga fram hlut e-s);

draga fram kaupeyri sinn, to make money;

draga fram skip, to launch a ship;

impers., dregr frá, (cloud darkness) is drawn off;

hratt stundum fyrir, en stundum dró frá, (clouds) drew sometimes over, sometimes off;

dregr fyrir sól, tungl, the sun, moon is obscured by clouds or eclipse (tunglskin var ljóst, en stundum dró fyrir);

ok er í tók at draga skúrirnar, when showers began to gather;

draga e-ð saman, to collect, gather (draga lið, her, skip saman);

impers., saman dró kaupmála með þeim, they struck a bargain;

saman dró hugi þeirra, their hearts were drawn together;

dregr þá saman or dregr saman með þeim, the distance between them grows less;

draga e-t í sundr, to draw asunder, disjoin (vil ek eigi draga í sundr sættir yðrar);

impers., dregr þá í sundr or dregr í sundr með þeim, the distance between them increases;

draga e-n til e-s, to move, prompt, induce;

engi ofkæti dregr mik til þessarar ferðar, it is not from wantonness that I undertake this journey;

slíkt dregr hann til vinsældar, this furthers his popularity;

ef hann drógi ekki til, if he was not concerned;

draga e-t til dœmis um e-t, to adduce as a proof of;

hann hét at draga allt til sætta (to do everything in his power for reconciliation) með þeim Skota konungi;

impers., nema til verra dragi, unless matters turn out for the worse;

with dat., þat samband þeirra, er þeim dregr báðum til bana, which will prove fatal to both of them;

at hér mundi til mikillar úgiptu draga um kaup þessi, that much mischief would arise from this bargain;

dró þá enn til sundrþykkju með þeim Svíum, the old feud with the Swedes began all over again;

svá er þat, segir R., ef ekki dregr til, unless some unforesceen thing happens;

draga e-t undan e-m, to seek to deprive one of a thing (þeir hafa bundizt í því at draga bœndr undan þér);

draga e-t undan, to delay (drógu Skotar undan sættina);

hví dregr þú undan at bjóða mér til þín? why dost thou put off inviting me to come?;

draga rót undan (tölu), to extract the root;

draga undan e-m, to escape from one (nú lægir seglin þeirra ok draga þeir undan oss);

impers., hann (acc.) dró undan sem nauðuligast, he had a narrow escape;

lítt dró enn undan við þik, there was little chance of drawing out of thy reach;

draga e-t undir sik, to apropriate or take fraudulently to oneself (hafði dregit undir sik finnskattinn);

impers., dró yðr (acc.) undir hrakningina, en oss (acc.) undan, you came in for hard uasge but we escaped;

draga upp skip, to drag a ship ashore;

draga upp segl, to hoist a sail (sails);

draga upp fisk, to pull up fish with a line;

impers., þoku dregr upp, fog is coming on;

11) refl., dragast.

f. only in pl. ‘drögur’,

1) timber carried on horseback and trailing along the ground;

2) metric term, repetition, anadiplosis (when a stanza begins with the last word of the preceding one).

* * *

u, f., vide drögur.

u, f., only in pl. drögur, timber carried on horseback and trailing along the ground, Glúm. 368; dragna-hross, a dray-horse, 369: metric. term, a sort of anadiplosis, when a stanza begins with the last word of the preceding one, Edda (Ht.) 126, Skálda 191.

I) prep.

A. with dative.

I. Of motion;

1) towards, against;

Otkell laut at Skamkatli, bowed down to S.;

hann sneri egginni at Ásgrími, turned the edge against A.;

2) close atup to;

Brynjólfr gengr alit at honum, quite up to him;

þeir kómust aldri at honum, they could never get near him, to close quarters with him;

3) to, at;

koma at landi, to come to land;

ganga at dómi, to go into court;

4) along (= eptir);

ganga at stræti, to walk along the street;

dreki er niðr fór at ánni (went down the river) fyrir strauminum;

refr dró hörpu at ísi, on the ice;

5) denoting hostility;

renna (sœkja) at e-m, to rush at, assault;

gerði þá at þeim þoku mikla, they were overtaken by a thick fog;

6) around;

vefja motri at höfði sér, to wrap a veil round one’s head;

bera grjót at e-m, to heap stones upon the body;

7) denoting business, engagement;

ríða at hrossum, at sauðum, to go looking after horses, watching sheep;

fara at landskuldum, to go collecting rents.

II. Of position, &c.;

1) denoting presence at, near, by, upon;

at kirkju, at church;

at dómi, in court;

at lögbergi, at the hill of laws;

2) denoting participation in;

vera at veizlu, brullaupi, to be at a banquet, wedding;

vera at vígi, to be an accessory in man-slaying;

3) ellipt., vera at, to be about, to be busy at;

kvalararnir, er at vóru at pína hann, who were tormenting him;

var þar at kona nökkur at binda (was there busy dressing) sár manna;

4) with proper names of places (farms);

konungr at Danmörku ok Noregi, king of;

biskup at Hólum, bishop of Holar;

at Helgafelli, at Bergþórshváli;

5) used ellipt. with a genitive, at (a person’s) house;

at hans (at his house) gisti fjölmenni mikit;

at Marðar, at Mara’s home;

at hins beilaga Ólafs konungs, at St. Olave’s church;

at Ránar, at Ran’s (abode).

III. Of time;

1) at, in;

at upphafi, at first, in the beginning;

at skilnaði, at parting, when they parted;

at páskum, at Easter;

at kveldi, at eventide;

at þinglausnum, at the close of the Assembly;

at fjöru, at the ebb;

at flœðum, at the floodtide;

2) adding ‘komanda’ or ‘er kemr’;

at ári komanda, next year;

at vári, er kemr, next spring;

generally with ‘komanda’ understood;

at sumri, hausti, vetri, vári, next summer, &c.;

3) used with an absolute dative and present or past part.;

at sér lifanda, duing his lifetime;

at öllum ásjándum, in the sight of all;

at áheyranda höfðingjanum, in the hearing of the chief;

at upprennandi sólu, at sunrise;

at liðnum sex vikum, after six weeks are past;

at honum önduðum, after his death;

4) denoting uninterrupted succession, after;

hverr at öðrum, annarr at öðrum, one after another;

skildu menn at þessu, thereupon, after this;

at því (thereafter) kómu aðrar meyjar.

IV. fig. and in various uses;

1) to, into, with the notion of destruction or change;

brenna (borgina) at ösku, to burn to ashes;

verða at ormi, to become a snake;

2) for, as;

gefa e-t at gjöf, as a present;

eiga e-n at vin, to have one as friend;

3) by;

taka sverð at hjöltum, by the hilt;

draga út björninn at hlustunum, by the ears;

kjósa at afli, álitum, by strength, appearrance;

4) as regards as to;

auðigr at fé, wealthy in goods;

vænn (fagr) at áliti, fair of face;

5) as a law term, on the grounds of, by reason of;

ryðja ( to challenge) dóm at mægðum, kvið at frændsemi;

6) as a paraphrase of a genitive;

faðir, móðir at barni (= barns, of a child);

aðili at sök = aðili sakar;

7) with adjectives denoting colour, size, age, of;

hvítr, svartr, rauðr at lit, while, black, red of colour;

mikill, lítill at stœrð, vexti, tall, small of stature;

tvítugr at aldri, twenty years of age;

kýr at fyrsta, öðrum kálfi, a cow that has calved once, twice;

8) determining the source from which anything comes, of, from;

Ari nam ok marga frœði at Þuríði (from her);

þiggja, kaupa, geta, leigja e-t at e-m, to receive, buy, obtain, borrow a thing from one;

hafa veg (virðing) styrk at e-m, to derive honour, power, from one;

9) according, to, after (heygðr at fornum sið);

at ráði allra vitrustu manna, by the advice of;

at landslögum, by the law of the land;

at vánum, as was to be expected;

at leyfi e-s, by one’s leave;

10) in adverbial phrases;

gróa (vera grœddr) at heilu, to be quite healed;

bíta af allt gras at snøggu, quite bare;

at fullu, fully;

at vísu, surely;

at frjálsu, freely;

at eilífu, for ever and ever;

at röngu, at réttu, wrongly, rightly;

at líku, at sömu, equally, all the same;

at mun, at ráði, at marki, to a great extent.

B. with acc., after, upon (= eptir);

sonr á at taka arf at föður sinn, to take the inheritance after his father;

eiga féránsdóm at e-n, to hold a court of execution upon a person;

at þat (= eptir þat), after that, thereafter;

connected with a past part. or a., at Gamla fallinn, after the fall of Gamli;

at Hrungni dauðan, upon the death of Hrungnir.

1) as the simple mark of the infinitive, to;

at ganga, at ríða, at hlaupa, to walk, to ride, to run;

2) in an objective sense;

hann bauð þeim at fara, sitja, he bade (ordered) them to go, sit;

gefa e-m at eta, at drekka, to give one to eat, to drink;

3) denoting design or purpose, in order to (hann gekk í borg at kaupa silfr).

1) demonstrative particle before a comparative, the, all the, so much the;

hón grét at meir, she wept the more;

þykkir oss at líkara, all the more likely;

þú ert maðr at verri (so much the worse), er þú hefir þetta mælt;

2) rel. pron., who, which, that (= er);

þeir allir, at þau tíðindi heyrðu, all those who heard;

sem þeim er títt, at ( as is the custom of those who) kaupferðir reka.

conj., that;

1) introducing a subjective or objective clause;

þat var einhverju sinni, at Höskuldr hafði vinaboð, it happened once that H.;

vilda ek, at þú réðist austr í fjörðu, I should like you to go;

2) relative to svá, denoting proportion, degree;

svá mikill lagamaðr, at, so great a lawyer, that;

3) with subj., denoting end or purpose, in order that (skáru þeir fyrir þá (viz. hestana) melinn, at þeir dœi eigi af sulti);

4) since, because, as (= því at);

5) connected with þó, því, svá;

þó at (with subj.), though, although;

því at, because, for;

svá at, so that;

6) temp., þá at (= þá er), when;

þegar at (= þegar er), as soon as;

þar til at (= þar til er), until, till;

áðr at (= á. en), before;

7) used superfluously after an int. pron. or adv.;

Ólafr spurði, hvern styrk at hann mundi fá honum, what help he was likely to give him;

in a relative sense; með fullkomnum ávexti, hverr at (which) þekkr ok þægiligr mun verða.

negative verbal suffix, = ata; var-at, was not.

n. an incited conflict or fight ( see etja);

odda at, Yggs at, battle.

* * *

and að, prep., often used ellipt. dropping the case and even merely as an adverb, [Lat. ad; Ulf. at = πρός and παρά, A. S. ät; Engl. at; Hel. ad = apud; O. H. G. az; lost in mod. Germ., and rare in Swed. and Dan.; in more freq. use in Engl. than any other kindred language, Icel. only excepted]:—the mod. pronunciation and spelling is að (aþ); this form is very old, and is found in Icel. vellum MSS. of the 12th century, e. g. aþ, 623. 60; yet in earlier times it was sounded with a tenuis, as we may infer from rhymes, e. g. jöfurr hyggi at | hve ek yrkja fat, Egill: Sighvat also makes it rhyme with a t. The verse by Thorodd—þar vastu at er fjáðr klæðið þvat (Skálda 162)—is hardly intelligible unless we accept the spelling with an aspirate (að), and say that þvað is = þvá = þváði, lavabat; it may be that by the time of Thorodd and Ari the pure old pronunciation was lost, or is ‘þvat’ simply the A. S. þvât, secuit? The Icelanders still, however, keep the tenuis in compounds before a vowel, or before h, v, or the liquids l, r, thus—atyrða, atorka, athöfn, athugi, athvarf, athlægi; atvinna, atvik; atlaga, atlíðanði ( slope), atriði, atreið, atróðr: but aðdjúpr, aðfinsla (critic), aðferð, aðkoma, aðsókn, aðsúgr (crowding), aðgæzla. In some words the pronunciation is irregular, e. g. atkvæði not aðkv-; atburðr, but aðbúnaðr; aðhjúkran not athjúkran; atgörvi not aðgörfi. At, to, towards; into; against; along, by; in regard to; after.

Mostly with dat.; rarely with acc.; and sometimes ellipt.—by dropping the words ‘home,’ ‘house,’ or the like—with gen.

WITH DAT.

A. LOC.

I. WITH MOTION; gener. the motion to the borders, limits of an object, and thus opp. to frá:

1. towards, against, with or without the notion of arrival, esp. connected with verbs denoting motion (verba movendi et eundi), e. g. fara, ganga, koma, lúta, snúa, rétta at…; Otkell laut at Skamkatli, O. louted (i. e. bowed down) towards S., Nj. 77, Fms. xi. 102; sendimaðrinn sneri ( turned) hjöltum sverðsins at konungi, towards the king, i. 15; hann sneri egginni at Ásgrími, turned the edge towards A., Nj. 220; rétta e-t at e-m, to reach, hand over, Ld. 132; ganga at, to step towards, Ísl. ii. 259.

2. denoting proximity, close up to, up to; Brynjólfr gengr … allt at honum, B. goes quite up to him, Nj. 58; Gunnarr kom þangat at þeim örunum, G. reached them even there with his arrows, 115; þeir kómust aldri at honum, they could never get near him, to close quarters, id.; reið maðr at þeim (up to them), 274; þeir höfðu rakit sporin allt at ( right up to) gammanum, Fms. i. 9; komu þeir at sjó fram, came down to the sea, Bárð. 180.

3. without reference to the space traversed, to or at; koma at landi, to land, Ld. 38, Fms. viii. 358; ríða at dyrum, Boll. 344; hlaupa at e-m, to run up to, run at, Fms. vii. 218, viii. 358; af sjáfarganginum er hann gekk at landinu, of the surf dashing against the shore, xi. 6; vísa ólmum hundi at manni, to set a fierce hound at a man, Grág. ii. 118; leggja e-n at velli, to lay low, Eg. 426, Nj. 117; hníga at jörðu, at grasi, at moldu, to bite the dust, to die, Njarð. 378; ganga at dómi, a law term, to go into court, of a plaintiff, defendant, or bystander, Nj. 87 (freq.)

4. denoting a motion along, into, upon; ganga at stræti, to walk along the street, Korm. 228, Fms. vii. 39; at ísi, on the ice, Skálda 198, Fms. vii. 19, 246, viii. 168, Eb. 112 new Ed. (á is perh. wrong); máttu menn ganga bar yfir at skipum einum, of ships alone used as a bridge, Fas. i. 378; at höfðum, at nám, to trample on the slain on the battle-field, Lex. Poët.; at ám, along the rivers; at merkiósum, at the river’s mouth, Grág. ii. 355; at endilöngu baki, all along its back, Sks. 100.

5. denoting hostility, to rush at, assault; renna at, hlaupa at, ganga, fara, ríða, sækja, at e-m, (v. those words), whence the nouns atrenna, athlaup, atgangr, atför, atreið, atsókn, etc.

β. metaph., kom at þeim svefnhöfgi, deep sleep fell on them, Nj. 104. Esp. of weather, in the impers. phrase, hríð, veðr, vind, storm görir at e-m, to be overtaken by a snow storm, gale, or the like; görði þá at þeim þoku mikla, they were overtaken by a thick fog, Bárð. 171.

6. denoting around, of clothing or the like; bregða skikkju at höfði sér, to wrap his cloak over his head, Ld. 62; vefja motri at höfði sér, to wrap a snood round her head, 188; sauma at, to stick, cling close, as though sewn on; sauma at höndum sér, of tight gloves, Bs. i. 453; kyrtill svá þröngr sem saumaðr væri at honum, as though it were stitched to him, Nj. 214; vafit at vándum dreglum, tight laced with sorry tags, id.; hosa strengd fast at beini, of tight hose, Eg. 602; hann sveipar at sér iðrunum ok skyrtunni, he gathers up the entrails close to him and the skirt too, Gísl. 71; laz at síðu, a lace on the side, to keep the clothes tight, Eg. 602.

β. of burying; bera grjót at einum, to heap stones upon the body, Eg. 719; var gör at þeim dys or grjóti, Ld. 152; gora kistu at líki, to make a coffin for a body, Eb. 264, Landn. 56, Ld. 142.

γ. of summoning troops or followers; stefna at sér mönnum, to summon men to him, Nj. 104; stefna at sér liði, Eg. 270; kippa mönnum at sér, to gather men in haste, Ld. 64.

7. denoting a business, engagement; ríða at hrossum, at sauðum, to go looking after after horses, watching sheep, Glúm. 362, Nj. 75; fara at fé, to go to seek for sheep, Ld. 240; fara at heyi, to go a-haymaking, Dropl. 10; at veiðum, a-hunting; at fuglum, a-fowling; at dýrum, a-sbooting; at fiski, a-fishing; at veiðiskap, Landn. 154, Orkn. 416 (in a verse), Nj. 25; fara at landskuldum, to go a-collecling rents, Eg. 516; at Finnkaupum, a-marketing with Finns, 41; at féföngum, a-plundering, Fms. vii. 78; ganga at beina, to wait on guests, Nj. 50; starfa at matseld, to serve at table, Eb. 266; hitta e-n at nauðsynjum, on matters of business; at máli, to speak with one, etc., Fms. xi. 101; rekast at e-m, to pursue one, ix. 404; ganga at liði sér, to go suing for help, Grág. ii. 384.

β. of festivals; snúa, fá at blóti, veizlu, brullaupi, to prepare for a sacrificial banquet, wedding, or the like, hence at-fangadagr, Eb. 6, Ld. 70; koma at hendi, to happen, befall; ganga at sínu, to come by one’s own, to take it, Ld. 208; Egill drakk hvert full er at honum kom, drained every horn that came to him, Eg. 210; komast at keyptu, to purchase dearly, Húv. 46.

8. denoting imaginary motion, esp. of places, cp. Lat. spectare, vergere ad…, to look or lie towards; horfði botninn at höfðanum, the bight of the bay looked toward the headland, Fms. i. 340, Landn. 35; also, skeiðgata liggr at læknum, leads to the brook, Ísl. ii. 339; á þann arminn er vissi at sjánum, on that wing which looked toward the sea, Fms. viii. 115; sár þau er horft höfðu at Knúti konungi, xi. 309.

β. even connected with verbs denoting motion; Gilsáreyrr gengr austan at Fljótinu, G. extends, projects to F. from the east, Hrafh. 25; hjá sundi því, er at gengr þingstöðinni, Fms. xi. 85.

II. WITHOUT MOTION; denoting presence at, near, by, at the side of, in, upon; connected with verbs like sitja, standa, vera…; at kirkju, at church, Fms. vii. 251, K. f). K. 16, Ld. 328, Ísl. ii. 270, Sks. 36; vera at skála, at húsi, to be in, at home, Landn. 154; at landi, Fms. i. 82; at skipi, on shipboard, Grág. i. 209, 215; at oldri, at a banquet, inter pocula; at áti, at dinner, at a feast, inter edendum, ii. 169, 170; at samförum ok samvistum, at public meetings, id.; at dómi, in a court; standa (to take one’s stand) norðan, sunnan, austan, vestan at dómi, freq. in the proceedings at trials in lawsuits, Nj.; at þingi, present at the parliament, Grág. i. 142; at lögbergi, o n the hill of laws, 17, Nj.; at baki e-m, at the back of.

2. denoting presence, partaking in; sitja at mat, to sit at meat, Fms. i. 241; vera at veizlu, brullaupi, to be at a banquet, nuptials, Nj. 51, Ld. 70: a law term, vera at vígi, to be an accessory in manslaying, Nj. 89, 100; vera at e-u simply means to be about, be busy in, Fms. iv. 237; standa at máli, to stand by one in a case, Grág. ii. 165, Nj. 214; vera at fóstri, to be fostered, Fms. i. 2; sitja at hégóma, to listen to nonsense, Ld. 322; vera at smíð, to be at one’s work, Þórð. 62: now absol., vera at, to go on with, be busy at.

3. the law term vinna eið at e-u has a double meaning:

α. vinna eið at bók, at baugi, to make an oath upon the book by laying the band upon it, Landn. 258, Grág., Nj.; cp. Vkv. 31, Gkv. 3. 3, Hkv. 2. 29, etc.: ‘við’ is now used in this sense.

β. to confirm a fact (or the like) by an oath, to swear to, Grág. i. 9, 327.

γ. the law phrase, nefna vátta at e-u, of summoning witnesses to a deed, fact, or the like; nefna vátta at benjum, to produce evidence, witnesses as to the wounds, Nj., Grág.; at görð, Eg. 738; at svörum, Grág. i. 19: this summoning of witnesses served in old lawsuits the same purpose as modern pleadings and depositions; every step in a suit to be lawful must be followed by such a summoning or declaration.

4. used ellipt., vera at, to be about, to be busy at; kvalararnir er at vóru at pína hann, who were tormenting him; þar varstu at, you were there present, Skálda 162; at várum þar, Gísl. (in a verse): as a law term ‘vera at’ means to be guilty, Glúm. 388; vartattu at þar, Eg. (in a verse); hence the ambiguity of Glum’s oath, vask at þar, I was there present: var þar at kona nokkur ( was there busy) at binda sár manna, Fms. v. 91; hann var at ok smíðaði skot, Rd. 313; voru Varbelgir at ( about) at taka af, þau lög …, Fms. ix. 512; ek var at ok vafk, I was about weaving, xi. 49; þeir höfðu verit at þrjú sumur, they had been busy at it for three summers, x. 186 (now very freq.); koma at, come in, to arrive unexpectedly; Gunnarr kom at í því, G. came in at that moment; hvaðan komtú nú at, whence did you come? Nj. 68, Fms. iii. 200.

5. denoting the kingdom or residence of a king or princely person; konungr at Danmörk ok Noregi, king of…, Fms. i. 119, xi. 281; konungr, jarl, at öllum Noregi, king, earl, over all N., íb. 3, 13, Landn. 25; konungr at Dyflinni, king of Dublin, 25; but í or yfir England!, Eg. 263: cp. the phrase, sitja at landi, to reside, of a king when at home, Hkr. i. 34; at Joini, Fms. xi. 74: used of a bishop; biskup at Hólum, bishop of Hólar, Íb. 18, 19; but biskup í Skálaholti, 19: at Rómi, at Rome, Fbr. 198.

6. in denoting a man’s abode (vide p. 5, col. 1, l. 27), the prep. ‘at’ is used where the local name implies the notion of by the side of, and is therefore esp. applied to words denoting a river, brook, rock, mountain, grove, or the like, and in some other instances, by, at, e. g. at Hofi (a temple), Landn. 198; at Borg ( a castle), 57; at Helgafelli (a mountain), Eb. constantly so; at Mosfelli, Landn. 190; at Hálsi (a hill), Fms. xi. 22; at Bjargi, Grett. 90; Hálsum, Landn. 143; at Á ( river), 296, 268; at Bægisá, 212; Giljá, 332; Myrká, 211; Vatnsá, id.; þverá, Glúm. 323; at Fossi (a ‘force’ or waterfall), Landn. 73; at Lækjamoti (waters-meeting), 332; at Hlíðarenda ( end of the lithe or hill), at Bergþórshváli, Nj.; at Lundi (a grove), at Melum (sandhill), Landn. 70: the prep. ‘á’ is now used in most of these cases, e. g. á Á, á Hofi, Helgafelli, Felli, Hálsi, etc.

β. particularly, and without any regard to etymology, used of the abode of kings or princes, to reside at; at Uppsölum, at Haugi, Alreksstöðum, at Hlöðum, Landn., Fms.

γ. konungr lét kalla at stofudyrum, the king made a call at the hall door, Eg. 88; þeir kölluðu at herberginu, they called at the inn, Fms. ix. 475.

7. used ellipt. with a gen., esp. if connected with such words as gista, to be a guest, lodge, dine, sup (of festivals or the like) at one’s home; at Marðar, Nj. 4; at hans, 74; þingfesti at þess bóanda, Grág. i. 152; at sín, at one’s own home, Eg. 371, K. Þ. K. 62; hafa náttstað at Freyju, at the abode of goddess Freyja, Eg. 603; at Ránar, at Ran’s, i. e. at Ran’s house, of drowned men who belong to the queen of the sea, Ran, Eb. 274; at hins heilaga Ólafs konungs, at St. Olave’s church, Fms. vi. 63: cp. ad Veneris, εις Κίμωνος.

B. TEMP.

I. at, denoting a point or period of time; at upphafi, at first, in the beginning, Ld. 104; at lyktum, at síðustu, at lokum, at last; at lesti, at last, Lex. Poët., more freq. á lesti; at skilnaði, at parting, at last, Band. 3; at fornu, in times of yore, formerly, Eg. 267, D. I. i. 635; at sinni, as yet, at present; at nýju, anew, of present time; at eilífu, for ever and ever; at skömmu, soon, shortly, Ísl. ii. 272, v. l.

II. of the very moment when anything happens, the beginning of a term; denoting the seasons of the year, months, weeks, the hours of the day; at Jólum, at Yule, Nj. 46; at Pálmadegi, on Palm Sunday, 273; at Páskum, at Easter; at Ólafsvöku, on St. Olave’s eve, 29th of July, Fms.; at vetri, at the beginning of the winter, on the day when winter sets in, Grág. 1. 151; at sumarmálum, at vetrnáttum; at Tvímánaði, when the Double month (August) begins, Ld. 256, Grág. i. 152; at kveldi, at eventide, Eg. 3; at því meli, at that time; at eindaga, at the term, 395; at eykð, at 4 o’clock p. m., 198; at öndverðri æfi Abra hams, Ver. II; at sinni, now at once, Fms. vi. 71; at öðruhverju, every now and then.

β. where the point of time is marked by some event; at þingi, at the meeting of parliament (18th to the 24th of June), Ld. 182; at féránsdómi, at the court of execution, Grág. i. 132, 133; at þinglausnum, at the close of the parliament (beginning of July), 140; at festarmálum, eðr at eiginorði, at betrothal or nuptials, 174; at skilnaði, when they parted, Nj. 106 (above); at öllum minnum, at the general drinking of the toasts, Eg. 253; at fjöru, at the ebb; at flæðum, at flood tide, Fms. viii. 306, Orkn. 428; at hrörum, at an inquest, Grág. i. 50 (cp. ii. 141, 389); at sökum, at prosecutions, 30; at sinni, now, as yet, v. that word.

III. ellipt., or adding ‘komanda’ or ‘er kemr,’ of the future time:

1. ellipt., komanda or the like being understood, with reference to the seasons of the year; at sumri, at vetri, at hausti, at vári, next summer, winter…, Ísl. ii. 242; at miðju sumri, at ári, at Midsummer, next year, Fas. i. 516; at miðjum vetri, Fms. iv. 237,

2. adding ‘komanda’ or ‘er kemr;’ at ári komanda, Bárð. 177; at vári er kemr, Dipl. iii. 6.

IV. used with an absolute dat. and with a pres. part.:

1. with pres. part.; at morni komanda, on the coming morrow, Fms. i. 263; at sér lifanda, in vivo, in his life time, Grág. ii. 202; at þeim sofundum, illis dormientibus, Hkr. i. 234; at öllum ásjándum, in the sight of all, Fms. x. 329; at úvitanda konungi, illo nesciente, without his knowledge, 227; at áheyranda höfðingjanum, in the chief’s bearing, 235.

2. of past time with a past part. (Lat. abl. absol.); at hræjum fundnum, on the bodies being found, Grág. ii. 87; at háðum dómum ok föstu þingi, during the session, the courts being set, i. 484; at liðnum sex vikum, after six weeks past, Band. 13; at svá búnu, so goru, svá komnu, svá mæltu (Lat. quibus rebus gestis, dictis, quo facto, dicto, etc.), v. those words; at úreyndu, without trial, without put ting one to the test, Ld. 76; at honum önduðum, illo mortuo.

3. ellipt. without ‘at;’ en þessum hlutum fram komnum, when all this has been done, Eb. 132.

V. in some phrases with a slight temp, notion; at görðum gildum, the fences being strong, Gþl. 387; at vörmu spori, at once, whilst the trail is warm; at úvörum, unawares, suddenly, Nj. 95, Ld. 132; at þessu, at this cost, on that condition, Eb. 38, Nj. 55; at illum leiki, to have a narrow escape, now við illan leik, Fms. ix. 473; at því, that granted, Grág. ii. 33: at því, at pessu, thereafter, thereupon, Nj. 76.

2. denoting succession, without interruption, one after another; hverr at öðrum, annarr maðr at öðrum, aðrir at öðrum; eina konu at annarri, Eg. 91, Fms. ii. 236, vi. 25, Bs. i. 22, 625. 80, H. E. i. 522.

C. METAPH. and in various cases:

I. denoting a transformation or change into, to, with the notion of destruction; brenna at ösku, at köldum kolum, to burn to ashes, to be quite destroyed, Fms. i. 105, Edda 3, Sturl. ii. 51: with the notion of transformation or transfiguration, in such phrases as, verða at e-u, göra e-t at e-u, to turn it into:

α. by a spell; verða at ormi, to become a snake, Fms. xi. 158; at flugdrekum, Gullþ. 7; urðu þau bönd at járni, Edda 40.

β. by a natural process it can often be translated by an acc. or by as; göra e-n at urðarmanni, to make him an outlaw, Eg. 728; græða e-n at orkumlamanni, to heal him so as to maim him for life, of bad treatment by a leech, Eb. 244: in the law terms, sár görist at ben, a wound turning into a ben, proving to be mortal, Grág., Nj.; verða at ljúgvætti, to prove to be a false evidence, Grág. i. 44; verða at sætt, to turn into reconciliation, Fms. i. 13; göra e-t at reiði málum, to take offence at, Fs. 20; at nýjum tíðindum, to tell as news, Nj. 14; verða fátt at orðum, to be sparing of words, 18; kveðr (svá) at orði, to speak, utter, 10; verða at þrifnaði, to geton well, Fms. vii. 196: at liði, at skaða, to be a help or hurt to one; at bana, to cause one’s death, Nj. 223, Eg. 21, Grág. ii. 29: at undrum, at hlátri, to become a wonder, a laughing-stock, 623. 35, Eg. 553.

II. denoting capacity, where it may be translated merely by as or for; gefa at Jólagjöf, to give for a Christmas-box, Eg. 516; at gjöf, for a present; at erfð, at láni, launum, as an inheritance, a loan; at kaupum ok sökum, for buying and selling, Ísl. ii. 223, Grág. i. 423; at solum, ii. 204; at herfangi, as spoil or plunder; at sakbótum, at niðgjöldum, as a compensation, weregeld, i. 339, ii. 171, Hkr. ii. 168; taka at gíslingu, to take as an hostage, Edda 15; eiga e-n at vin, at óvin, to have one as friend or foe, illt er at eiga þræl at eingavin, ‘tis ill to have a thrall for one’s bosom friend (a proverb), Nj. 77; fæða, eiga, at sonum (syni), to beget a son, Edda 8, Bs. i. 60 (but eiga at dóttur cannot be said); hafa möttul at yfirhöfn, Fms. vii. 201; verða nökkut at manni (mönnum), to turn out to be a worthy man; verða ekki at manni, to turn out a worthless person, xi. 79, 268.

2. in such phrases as, verða at orðum, to come towards, Nj. 26; var þat at erindum, Eg. 148; hafa at veizlum, to draw veizlur ( dues) from, Fms. iv. 275, Eg. 647; gora e-t at álitum, to take it into consideration, Nj. 3.

III. denoting belonging to, fitting, of parts of the whole or the like; vóru at honum (viz. the sword) hjölt gullbúin, the sword was ornamented with a hilt of gold, Ld. 330; umgörð at ( belonging to) sverði, Fs. 97 (Hs.) in a verse; en ef mór er eigi at landinu, if there be no turf moor belonging to the land, Grág. ii. 338; svá at eigi brotnaði nokkuð at Orminum, so that no harm happened to the ship Worm, Fms. x. 356; hvatki er meiðir at skipinu eðr at reiðinu eðr at viðum, damage done t o …, Grág. ii. 403; lesta ( to injure) hús at lásum, við eðr torfi, 110; ef land hefir batnað at húsum, if the land has been bettered as to its buildings, 210; cp. the phrase, göra at e-u, to repair: hamlaðr at höndum eðr fótum, maimed as to hands or feet, Eg. 14; heill at höndum en hrumr at fótum, sound in band, palsied in foot, Fms. vii. 12; lykill at skrá, a key belonging, fitting, to the latch; hurð at húsi; a key ‘gengr at’ ( fits) skrá; and many other phrases. 2. denoting the part by which a thing is held or to which it belongs, by; fá, taka at…, to grasp by …; þú tókt við sverði hans at hjöltunum, you took it by the bill, Fms. i. 15; draga út björninn at hlustum, to pull out the bear by the ears, Fas. ii. 237; at fótum, by the feet, Fms. viii. 363; mæla ( to measure) at hrygg ok at jaðri, by the edge or middle of the stuff, Grág. i. 498; kasta e-m at höfði, head foremost, Nj. 84; kjósa e-n at fótum, by the feet alone, Edda 46; hefja frændsemi at bræðrum, eða at systkynum, to reckon kinship by the brother’s or the sister’s side, Grág. i. 28; kjósa at afli, at álitum, by strength, sight, Gs. 8, belongs rather to the following.

IV. in respect of, as regards, in regard to, as to; auðigr at fé, wealthy of goods, Nj. 16, 30, 51; beztir hestar at reið, the best racehorses, 186; spekingr at viti, a man of great intellect, Ld. 124; vænn (fagr) at áliti, fair of face, Nj. 30, Bs. i. 61; kvenna vænst at ásjónu ok vits munum, of surpassing beauty and intellect, Ld. 122; fullkominn at hyggju, 18; um fram aðra menn at vinsældum ok harðfengi, of surpassing popularity and hardihood, Eb. 30.

2. a law term, of challenging jurors, judges, or the like, on account of, by reason of; ryðja ( to challenge) at mægðum, guðsifjum, frændsemi, hrörum …; at leiðarlengd, on account of distance, Grág. i. 30, 50, Nj. (freq.)

3. in arithm. denoting proportion; at helmingi, þriðjungi, fjórðungi, tíunda hluta, cp. Lat. ex asse, quadrante, for the half, third… part; máttr skal at magni (a proverb), might and main go together, Hkr. ii. 236; þú munt vera at því mikill fræðimaðr á kvæði, in the same proportion, as great, Fms. vi. 391, iii. 41; at e-s hluta, at… leiti, for one’s part, in turn, as far as one is con cerned, Grág. i. 322, Eg. 309, Fms. iii. 26 (freq.): at öðrum kosti, in the other case, otherwise (freq.) More gener., at öllu, öngu, in all (no) respects; at sumu, einhverju, nokkru, partly; at flestu, mestu, chiefly.

4. as a paraphrase of a genitive; faðir, móðir at barni (= barns); aðili at sök (= sakar a.); morðingi at barni (= barns), faðerni at barni (barns); illvirki at fé manna (cp. Lat. felo de se), niðrfall at sökum (saka), land gangr at fiskum (fiska), Fms. iv. 274, Grág. i. 277, 416, N. G. L. i. 340, K. Þ. K. 112, Nj. 21.

5. the phrase ‘at sér,’ of himself or in himself, either ellipt. or by adding the participle görr, and with the adverbs vel, ilia, or the like; denoting breeding, bearing, endowments, character …; væn kona, kurteis ok vel at sér, an accomplished, well-bred, gifted lady, Nj. I; vitr maðr ok vel at sér, a wise man and thoroughly good in feeling and bearing, 5; þú ert maðr vaskr ok vel at þér, 49; gerr at sér, accomplished, 51; bezt at sér görr, the finest, best bred man, 39, Ld. 124; en þó er hann svá vel at sér, so generous, Nj. 77; þeir höfðingjar er svá vóru vel at sér, so noble-minded, 198, Fms. i. 160: the phrase ‘at sér’ is now only used of knowledge, thus maðr vel að sér means clever, a man of great knowledge; illa að sér, a blockhead.

6. denoting relations to colour, size, value, age, and the like; hvitr, svartr, grár, rauðr … at lit, white, swarthy, gray, red … of colour, Bjarn. 55, 28, Ísl. ii. 213, etc.; mikill, lítill, at stærð, vexti, tall, small of size, etc.; ungr, gamall, barn, at aldri, young, old, a child of age; tvítugr, þrítugr … at aldri, twenty, thirty … years of age (freq.): of animals; kyr at fyrsta, öðrum … kálfi, a cow having calved once, twice…, Jb. 346: value, amount, currency of money, kaupa e-t at mörk, at a mark, N. G. L. 1. 352; ok er eyririnn at mörk, amounts to a mark, of the value of money, Grág. i. 392; verðr þá at hálfri murk vaðmála eyrir, amounts to a half a mark, 500.

β. metaph. of value, connected with verbs denoting to esteem, hold; meta, hafa, halda at miklu, litlu, vettugi, engu, or the like, to hold in high or low esteem, to care or not to care for (freq.): geta e-s at góðu, illu, öngu, to mention one favourably, unfavourably, indifferently … (freq.), prop. in connection with. In many cases it may be translated by in; ekki er mark at draumum, there is no meaning in dreams, no heed is to be paid to dreams, Sturl. ii. 217; bragð er at þá barnið finnr, it goes too far, when even a child takes offence (a proverb): hvat er at því, what does it mean? Nj. 11; hvert þat skip er vöxtr er at, any ship of mark, i. e. however small, Fms. xi. 20.

V. denoting the source of a thing:

1. source of infor mation, to learn, perceive, get information from; Ari nam ok marga fræði at Þuríði, learnt as her pupil, at her hands, as St. Paul at the feet of Gamaliel, (just as the Scotch say to speer or ask at a person); Ari nam at Þorgeiri afraðskoll, Hkr. (pref.); nema kunnáttu at e-m, used of a pupil, Fms. i. 8; nema fræði at e-m, xi. 396.

2. of receiving, acquiring, buying, from; þiggja e-t at e-m, to receive a thing at his hands, Nj. 51; líf, to be pardoned, Fms. x. 173; kaupa land at e-m, to buy it from, Landn. 72, Íb. II, (now af is more freq. in this sense); geta e-t at e-m, to obtain, procure at one’s hands, impetrare; þeirra manna er þeir megu þat geta at, who are willing to do that, Grág. i. I; heimta e-t at e-m (now af), to call in, demand (a debt, money), 279; fala e-t at e-m (now af), to chaffer for or cheapen anything, Nj. 73; sækja e-t at e-m, to ask, seek for; sækja heilræði ok traust at e-m, 98; leiga e-t at e-m (now af), to borrow, Grág. ii. 334; eiga e-t (fé, skuld) at e-m, to be owed money by any one, i. 399: metaph. to deserve of one, Nj. 113; eiga mikit at e-m, to have much to do with, 138; hafa veg, virðing, styrk, at, to derive honour, power from, Fms. vi. 71, Eg. 44, Bárð. 174; gagn, to be of use, Ld. 216; mein, tálma, mischief, disadvantage, 158, 216, cp. Eg. 546; ótta, awe, Nj. 68.

VI. denoting conformity, according to, Lat. secundum, ex, after; at fornum sið, Fms. i. 112; at sögn Ara prests, as Ari relates, on his authority, 55; at ráði allra vitrustu manna, at the advice of, Ísl. ii. 259, Ld. 62; at lögum, at landslögum, by the law of the land, Grág., Nj.; at líkindum, in all likelihood, Ld. 272; at sköpum, in due course (poet.); at hinum sama hætti, in the very same manner, Grág. i. 90; at vánum, as was to be expected, Nj. 255; at leyfi e-s, by one’s leave, Eg. 35; úlofi, Grág. ii. 215; at ósk, vilja e-s, as one likes…; at mun, id. (poet.); at sólu, happily (following the course of the sun), Bs. i. 70, 137; at því sem …, as to infer from …, Nj. 124: ‘fara, láta, ganga at’ denotes to yield, agree to, to comply with, give in, Ld. 168, Eg. 18, Fms. x. 368.

VII. in phrases nearly or quite adverbial; gróa, vera græddr, at heilu, to be quite healed, Bárð. 167, Eb. 148; bíta at snöggu, to bite it bare, Fms. xi. 6; at þurru, till it becomes dry, Eb. 276; at endilöngu, all along, Fas. ii; vinnast at litlu, to avail little, 655 x. 14; at fullu, fully, Nj. 257, Hkr. i. 171; at vísu, of a surety, surely, Ld. 40; at frjálsu, freely, 308; at líku, at sömu, equally, all the same, Hom. 80, Nj. 267; at röngu, wrongly, 686 B. 2; at hófi, temperately, Lex. Poët.; at mun, at ráði, at marki, to a great extent; at hringum, utterly, all round, (rare), Fms. x. 389; at einu, yet, Orkn. 358; svá at einu, því at einu, allt at einu, yet, however, nevertheless.

VIII. connected with comparatives of adverbs and adjectives, and strengthening the sense, as in Engl. ‘the,’ so much the more, all the more; ‘at’ heldr tveimr, at ek munda gjarna veita yðr öllum, where it may be translated by so much the more to two, as I would willingly grant it to all of you; hon grét at meir, she grat (wept) the more, Eg. 483; þykir oss at líkara, all the more likely, Fms. viii. 6; þess at harðari, all the harder, Sturl. iii. 202 C; svá at hinn sé bana at nær, Grág. ii. 117; at auðnara, at hólpnara, the more happy, Al. 19, Grett. 116 B; þess at meiri, Fms. v. 64; auvirðismaðr at meiri, Sturl. ii. 139; maðr at vaskari, id.; at feigri, any the more fey, Km. 22; maðr at verri, all the worse, Nj. 168; ok er ‘at’ firr…, at ek vil miklu heldr, cp. Lat. tantum abest… ut, Eg. 60.

β. following after a negation; eigi at síðr, no less, Nj. 160, Ld. 146; eigi… at meiri maðr, any better, Eg. 425, 489; erat héra at borgnara, any the better off for that, Fms. vii. 116; eigi at minni, no less for that, Edda (pref.) 146; eigi at minna, Ld. 216, Fms. ix. 50; ekki at verri drengr, not a bit worse for that, Ld. 42; er mér ekki son minn at bættari, þótt…, 216; at eigi vissi at nær, any more, Fas. iii. 74.

IX. following many words:

1. verbs, esp. those denoting, a. to ask, enquire, attend, seek, e. g. spyrja at, to speer (ask) for; leita at, to seek for; gæta, geyma at, to pay attention to; huga, hyggja at; hence atspurn, to enquire, aðgæzla, athugi, attention, etc.

β. verbs denoting laughter, play, joy, game, cp. the Engl. to play at …, to laugh at …; hlæja, brosa at e-u, to laugh, smile at it; leika (sér) at e-u, to play at; þykja gaman at, to enjoy; hæða, göra gys at …, to make sport at …

γ. verbs denoting assistance, help; standa, veita, vinna, hjálpa at; hence atstoð, atvinna, atverk:—mode, proceeding; fara at, to proceed, hence atför and atferli:—compliance; láta, fara at e-u, v. above:— fault; e-t er at e-u, there is some fault in it, Fms. x. 418; skorta at e-u, to fall short of, xi. 98:—care, attendance; hjúkra at, hlýja at, v. these words:—gathering, collecting; draga, reiða, flytja, fá at, congerere:—engagement, arrival, etc.; sækja at, to attack; ganga at, vera at, to be about; koma at, ellipt. to arrive: göra at, to repair: lesta at, to impair (v. above); finna at, to criticise (mod.); telja at, id.: bera at, to happen; kveða at e-m, to address one, 625. 15, (kveða at (ellipt.) now means to pronounce, and of a child to utter (read) whole syllables); falla at, of the flood-tide (ellipt.): metaph. of pains or straits surrounding one; þreyngja, herða at, to press hard: of frost and cold, with regard to the seasons; frjósa at, kólna at, to get really cold (SI. 44), as it were from the cold stiffening all things: also of the seasons themselves; hausta, vetra að, when the season really sets in; esp. the cold seasons, ‘sumra at’ cannot be used, yet we may say ‘vára að’ when the spring sets in, and the air gets mild.

δ. in numberless other cases which may partly be seen below.

2. connected ellipt. with adverbs denoting motion from a place; norðan, austan, sunnan, vestan at, those from the north, east…; utan at, innan at, from the outside or inside.

3. with adjectives (but rarely), e. g. kærr, elskr, virkr (affectionate), vandr (zealous), at e-m; v. these words.

WITH ACC.

TEMP.: Lat. post, after, upon, esp. freq. in poetry, but rare in prose writers, who use eptir; nema reisi niðr at nið (= maðr eptir mann), in succession, of erecting a monument, Hm. 71; in prose, at þat. posthac, deinde, Fms. x. 323, cp. Rm., where it occurs several times, 2, 6, 9, 14, 18, 24, 28, 30, 35; sonr á at taka arf at föður sinn, has to take the inheritance after his father, Grág. i. 170 new Ed.; eiga féránsdóm at e-n, Grág. i. 89; at Gamla fallinn, after the death of G., Fms. x. 382; in Edda (Gl.) 113 ought to be restored, grét ok at Oð, gulli Freyja, she grat (wept) tears of gold for her lost husband Od. It is doubtful if it is ever used in a purely loc. sense; at land, Grág. (Sb.)ii. 211, is probably corrupt; at hönd = á hönd, Grág. (Sb.) i. 135; at mót = at móti, v. this word.

☞ In compounds (v. below) at- or að- answers in turn to Lat. ad- or in- or con-; atdráttr e. g. denotes collecting; atkoma is adventus: it may also answer to Lat. ob-, in atburðr = accidence, but might also be compared with Lat. occurrere.

and að, the mark of the infinitive [cp. Goth. du; A. S. and Engl. to; Germ. zu]. Except in the case of a few verbs ‘at’ is always placed immediately before the infinitive, so as to be almost an inseparable part of the verb.

I. it is used either,

1. as, a simple mark of the infinitive, only denoting an action and independent of the subject, e. g. at ganga, at hlaupa, at vita, to go, to run, to know; or,

2. in an objective sense when following such verbs as bjóða segja…, to invite, command …; hann bauð þeim at ganga, at sitja, be bade, ordered them to go, sit, or the like; or as gefa and fá; gefa e-m at drekka, at eta, to give one to drink or to eat, etc. etc.

β. with the additional notion of intention, esp. when following verba cogitandi; hann ætlaði, hafði í hyggju at fara, he had it in his mind to go (where ‘to go’ is the real object to ætlaði and hafði í hyggju).

3. answering to the Gr. ινα, denoting intention, design, in order to; hann gékk í borg at kaupa silfr, in order to buy, Nj. 280; hann sendi riddara sína með þeim at varðveita þær, 623. 45: in order to make the phrase more plain, ‘svá’ and ‘til’ are frequently added, esp. in mod. writers, ‘svá at’ and contr. ‘svát’ (the last however is rare), ‘til at’ and ‘til þess at,’ etc.

II. in the earlier times the infin., as in Greek and Lat., had no such mark; and some verbs remain that cannot be followed by ‘at;’ these verbs are almost the same in Icel. as in Engl.:

α. the auxiliary verbs vil, mun ( μέλλω), skal; as in Engl. to is never used after the auxiliaries shall, will, must; ek vil ganga, I will go; ek mun fara, (as in North. E.) I mun go; ek skal göra þat, I shall do that, etc.

β. the verbs kunna, mega, as in Engl. I can or may do, I dare say; svá hygginn at hann kunni fyrir sökum ráða, Grág. ii. 75; í öllu er prýða má góðan höfðingja, Nj. 90; vera má, it may be; vera kann þat, id.: kunnu, however, takes ‘at’ whenever it means to know, and esp. in common language in phrases such as, það kann að vera, but vera kann þat, v. above.

γ. lata, biðja, as in Engl. to let, to bid; hann lét (bað) þá fara, he let (bade) them go.

δ. þykkja, þykjast, to seem; hann þykir vera, he is thought to be: reflex., hann þykist vera, sibi videtur: impers., mér þykir vera, mibi videtur, in all cases without ‘at.’ So also freq. the verbs hugsa, hyggja, ætla, halda, to think, when denoting merely the act of thinking; but if there be any notion of intention or purpose, they assume the ‘at;’ thus hann ætlaði, hugði, þá vera góða menn, he thought them to be, acc. c. inf.; but ætlaði at fara, meant to go, etc.

ε. the verbs denoting to see, bear; sjá, líta, horfa á … ( videre); heyra, audire, as in Engl. I saw them come, I heard him tell, ek sá þá koma, ek heyrði hann tala.

ζ. sometimes after the verbs eiga and ganga; hann gékk steikja, be went to roast, Vkv. 9; eiga, esp. when a mere periphrasis instead of skal, móður sína á maðr fyrst fram færa (better at færa), Grág. i. 232; á þann kvið einskis meta, 59; but at meta, id. l. 24; ráða, nema, göra …, freq. in poetry, when they are used as simple auxiliary verbs, e. g. nam hann sér Högna hvetja at rúnum, Skv. 3. 43.

η. hljóta and verða, when used in the sense of must (as in Engl. he must go), and when placed after the infin.of another verb; hér muntu vera hljóta, Nj. 129; but hljóta at vera: fara hlýtr þú, Fms. 1. 159; but þú hlýtr at fara: verða vita, ii. 146; but verða at vita: hann man verða sækja, þó verðr (= skal) maðr eptir mann lifa, Fms. viii. 19, Fas. ii. 552, are exceptional cases.

θ. in poetry, verbs with the verbal neg. suffix ‘-at,’ freq. for the case of euphony, take no mark of the infinitive, where it would be indispensable with the simple verb, vide Lex. Poët. Exceptional cases; hvárt sem hann vill ‘at’ verja þá sök, eða, whatever he chooses, either, Grág. i. 64; fyrr viljum vér enga kórónu at bera, en nokkut ófrelsi á oss at taka, we would rather bear no crown than …, Fms. x. 12; the context is peculiar, and the ‘at’ purposely added. It may be left out ellipt.; e. g. þá er guð gefr oss finnast (= at finnast), Dipl. ii. 14; gef honum drekka (= at drekka), Pr. 470; but mostly in unclassical writers, in deeds, or the like, written nastily and in an abrupt style.

and að, conj. [Goth. þatei = οτι; A. S. þät; Engl. that; Germ, dass; the Ormul. and Scot. at, see the quotations sub voce in Jamieson; in all South-Teutonic idioms with an initial dental: the Scandinavian idioms form an exception, having all dropped this consonant; Swed. åt, Dan. at]. In Icel. the Bible translation (of the 16th century) was chiefly based upon that of Luther; the hymns and the great bulk of theol. translations of that time were also derived from Germany; therefore the germanised form það frequently appears in the Bible, and was often employed by theol. authors in sermons since the time of the Reformation. Jón Vidalin, the greatest modern Icel. preacher, who died in 1720, in spite of his thoroughly classical style, abounds in the use of this form; but it never took root in the language, and has never passed into the spoken dialect. After a relative or demonstr. pronoun, it freq. in mod. writers assumes the form eð, hver eð, hverir eð, hvað eð, þar eð. Before the prep. þú (tu), þ changes into t, and is spelt in a single word attú, which is freq. in some MS.;—now, however, pronounced aððú, aððeir, aððið …, = að þú…, with the soft Engl. th sound. It gener. answers to Lat. ut, or to the relat. pron. qui.

I. that, relative to svá, to denote proportion, degree, so…, that, Lat. tam, tantus, tot…, ut; svá mikill lagamaðr, at…, so great a lawyer, that…, Nj. 1; hárið svá mikit, at þat…, 2; svá kom um síðir því máli, at Sigvaldi, it came so far, that…, Fms. xi. 95, Edda 33. Rarely and unclass., ellipt. without svá; Bæringr var til seinn eptir honum, at hann … (= svá at), Bær. 15; hlífði honum, at hann sakaði ekki, Fas. iii. 441.

II. it is used,

1. with indic, in a narrative sense, answering partly to Gr. οτι, Lat. quod, ut, in such phrases as, it came to pass, happened that …; þat var einhverju sinni, at Höskuldr hafði vinaboð, Nj. 2; þat var á palmdrottinsdag, at Ólafr konungr gékk út um stræti, Fms. ii. 244.

2. with subj. answering to Lat. acc. with infin., to mark the relation of an object to the chief verb, e. g. vilda ek at þú réðist, I wished that you would, Nj. 57.

β. or in an oblique sentence, answering to ita ut…; ef svá kann verða at þeir láti…, if it may be so that they might…, Fms. xi. 94.

γ. with a subj. denoting design, answering to ϊνα or Lat. ut with subj., in order that; at öll veraldar bygðin viti, ut sciat totus orbis, Stj.; þeir skáru fyrir þá melinn, at þeir dæi eigi af sulti, ut ne fame perirent, Nj. 265; fyrsti hlutr bókarinnar er Kristindómsbálkr, at menn skili, in order that men may understand, Gþl. p. viii.

III. used in connection with conjunctions,

1. esp. þó, því, svá; þó at freq. contr. þótt; svát is rare and obsolete.

α. þóat, þótt (North. E. ‘thof’), followed by a subjunctive, though, although, Lat. etsi, quamquam (very freq.); þóat nokkurum mönnum sýnist þetta með freku sett… þá viljum vér, Fms. vi. 21: phrases as, gef þú mér þó at úverðugri, etsi indignae (dat.), Stj. MS. col. 315, are unclass., and influenced by the Latin: sometimes ellipt. without ‘þó,’ eigi mundi hón þá meir hvata göngu sinni, at (= þóat) hon hraeddist bana sinn, Edda 7, Nj. 64: ‘þó’ and ‘at’ separated, svarar hann þó rétt, at hann svari svá, Grág. i. 23; þó er rétt at nýta, at hann sé fyrr skorinn, answering to Engl. yet—though, Lat. attamen —etsi, K. Þ. K.

β. því at, because, Lat. nam, quia, with indic.; því at allir vóru gerfiligir synir hans, Ld. 68; því at af íþróttum verðr maðr fróðr, Sks. 16: separated, því þegi ek, at ek undrumst, Fms. iii. 201; því er þessa getið, at þat þótti, it i s mentioned because …, Ld. 68.

γ. svá at, so that, Lat. ut, ita ut; grátrinn kom upp, svá at eingi mátti öðrum segja, Edda 37: separated, so … that, svá úsvúst at …, so bad weather, that, Bs. i. 339, etc.

2. it is freq. used superfluously, esp. after relatives; hver at = hverr, quis; því at = því, igitur; hverr at þekkr ok þægiligr mun verða, Fms. v. 159; hvern stvrk at hann mundi fá, 44; ek undrumst hvé mikil ógnarraust at liggr í þér, iii. 201; því at ek mátti eigi þar vera elligar, því at þar var kristni vel haldin, Fas. i. 340.

IV. as a relat. conj.:

1. temp, when, Lat. quum; jafnan er ( est) mér þá verra er ( quum) ek fer á braut þaðan, en þá at ( quum) ek kem, Grett. 150 A; þar til at vér vitum, till we know, Fms. v. 52; þá at ek lýsta (= þá er), when, Nj. 233.

2. since, because; ek færi yðr (hann), at þér eruð í einum hrepp allir, because of your being all of the same Rape, Grág. i. 260; eigi er kynlegt at ( though) Skarphéðinn sé hraustr, at þat er mælt at…, because (since) it is a saying that…, Nj. 64.

V. in mod. writers it is also freq. superfluously joined to the conjunctions, ef að = ef, si, (Lv. 45 is from a paper MS.), meðan að = meðan, dum; nema að, nisi; fyrst að = fyrst, quoniam; eptir að, síðan að, postquam; hvárt að = hvárt, Lat. an. In the law we find passages such as, þá er um er dæmt eina sök, at þá eigu þeir aptr at ganga í dóminn, Grág. i. 79; ef þing ber á hina helgu viku, at þat á eigi fyrir þeim málum at standa, 106; þat er ok, at þeir skulu reifa mál manna, 64; at þeir skulu með váttorð þá sök sækja, 65: in all these cases ‘at’ is either superfluous or, which is more likely, of an ellipt. nature, ‘the law decrees’ or ‘it is decreed’ being understood. The passages Sks. 551, 552, 568, 718 B, at lokit (= at ek hefi lokit), at hugleitt (= at ek hefi h.), at sent (= at ek hefi sent) are quite exceptional.

and að, an indecl. relat. pronoun [Ulf. þatei = ος, ος αν, οστις, οσπερ, οιος, etc.; Engl. that, Ormul. at], with the initial letter dropped, as in the conj. at, (cp. also the Old Engl. at, which is both a conj. and a pronoun, e. g. Barbour vi. 24 in Jamieson: ‘I drede that his gret wassalage, | And his travail may bring till end, | That at men quhilc full litil wend.’ | ‘His mestyr speryt quhat tithings a t he saw.’—Wyntoun v. 3. 89.) In Icel. ‘er’ (the relat. pronoun) and ‘at’ are used indifferently, so that where one MS. reads ‘er,’ another reads ‘at,’ and vice versâ; this may easily be seen by looking at the MSS.; yet as a rule ‘er’ is much more freq. used. In mod. writers ‘at’ is freq. turned into ‘eð,’ esp. as a superfluous particle after the relative pron. hverr (hver eð, hvað eð, hverir eð, etc.), or the demonstr. sá (sá eð, þeir eð, hinir eð, etc.):—who, which, that, enn bezta grip at ( which) hafði til Íslands komið, Ld. 202; en engi mun sá at ( cui) minnisamara mun vera, 242; sem blótnaut at ( quae) stærst verða, Fms. iii. 214; þau tiðendi, at mér þætti verri, Nj. 64, etc. etc.

n. collision (poët.); odda at, crossing of spears, crash of spears, Höfuðl. 8.

β. a fight or bait of wild animals, esp. of horses, v. hesta-at and etja.

the negative verbal suffix, v. -a.

* * *

I. with dat.

1) before, in front of (ok vóru fyrir honum borin merkin);

fyrir dyrum, before the door;

2) before one, in one’s presence;

hón nefndist fyrir þeim Gunnhildr, she told them that her name was G.;

3) for;

hann lét ryðja fyrir þeim búðina, he had the booth cleared for them, for their reception;

4) before one, in one’s way;

fjörðr varð fyrir þeim, they came to a fjord;

sitja fyrir e-m, to lie in wait for one;

5) naut. term. before, off;

liggja fyrir bryggjum, to lie off the piers;

fyrir Humru-mynni, off the Humber;

6) before, at the head of, over;

vera fyrir liði, to be over the troops;

vera fyrir máli, to lead the case;

sitja fyrir svörum, to undertake the defence;

7) of time, ago;

fyrir þrem nóttum, three nights ago;

fyrir stundu, a while ago;

fyrir löngu, long ago;

vera fyrir e-u, to forebode (of a dream);

8) before, above, superior to;

Hálfdan svarti var fyrir þeim brœðrum, H. was the foremost of the brothers;

9) denoting disadvantige, harm, suffering;

þú lætr Egil vefja öll mál fyrir þér, thou lettest E. thwart all thy affairs;

tók at eyðast fyrir herm lausa-fé, her money began to fail;

10) denoting obstacle, hindrance;

mikit gøri þer mér fyrir þessu máli, you make this case hard for me;

varð honum lítit fyrir því, it was a small matter for him;

Ásgrími þótti þungt fyrir, A. thought that things looked bad;

11) because of, for;

hon undi sér hvergri fyrir verkjum, she had no rest for pains;

fyrir hræðslu, for fear;

illa fœrt fyrir ísum, scarcely, passable for ice;

gáðu þeir eigi fyrir veiðum at fá heyjanna, because of fishing, they neglected to make hay;

fyrir því at, because, since, as;

12) against;

gæt þín vel fyrir konungi ok hans mönnum, guard thee well against the king and his men;

beiða griða Baldri fyrir alls konar háska, against all kinds of harm;

13) fyrir sér, of oneself;

mikill fyrir sér, strong, powerful;

minnstr fyrir sér, smallest, weakest;

14) denoting manner or quality, with;

hvítr fyrir hærum, while with hoary hair;

II. with acc.

1) before, in front of;

halda fyrir augu sér, to hold (one’s hands) before one’s eyes;

2) before, into the presence of;

stefna e-m fyrir dómstól, before a court;

3) over;

hlaupa fyrir björg, to leap over a precipice;

kasta fyrir borð, to throw overboard;

4) in one’s way, crossing one’s way;

ríða á leið fyrir þá, to ride in their way, so as to meet them;

5) round, off;

sigla fyrir nes, to weather a point;

6) along, all along;

fyrir endilangan Noreg, all along Norway, from one end to the other;

draga ör fyrir odd, to draw the arrow past the point;

7) of time, fyrir dag, before day;

fyrir e-s minni, before one’s memory;

8) for, on behalf of;

vil ek bjóða at fara fyrir þik, I will offer to go for thee, in thy stead;

lögvörn fyrir mál, a lawful defence for a case;

9) for, for the benefit of;

þeir skáru fyrir þá melinn, they cut the lyme-grass for them (the horses);

10) for, instead of, in place of, as;

11) for, because of (vilja Gunnar dauðan fyrir höggit);

fyrir þín orð, for thy words (intercession);

fyrir sína vinsæld, by reason of his popularity;

12) denoting value, price;

fyrir þrjár merkr, for three marks;

fyrir hvern mun, by all means, at any cost;

13) in spite of, against (giptast fyrir ráð e-s);

14) joined with adverbs ending in -an, governing acc. (fyrir austan, vestan, sunnan, norðan, útan innan, framan, handan, ofan, neðan);

fyrir austan, sunnan fjall, east, south of the fell;

fyrir neðan brú, below the bridge;

fyrir handan á, beyond the river;

fyrir innan garð, inside the fence;

III. as adverb or ellipt.

1) ahead, before, opp. to eptir;

þá var eigi hins verra eptir ván, er slíkt fór fyrir, when this came first, preceded;

2) first;

mun ek þar eptir gera sem þér gerit fyrir, I shall do to you according as you do first;

3) at hand, present, to the fore;

föng þau, er fyrir vóru, stores that were at hand;

þar var fyrir fjöldi boðsmanna, a host of guests was already present (before the bride and bridegroom came);

4) e-m verðr e-t fyrir, one takes a certain step, acts so and so;

Kolbeini varð ekki fyrir, K. was at a loss what to do;

e-t mælist vel (illa) fyrir, a thing is well (ill) spoken or reported of (kvæðit mæltist vel fyrir).

* * *

prep., in the Editions spelt differently; in MSS. this word is usually abbreviated either  (i. e. firir), or Ꝼ̆, fur͛, fvr͛ (i. e. fyrir); in some MSS. it is idiomatically spelt with i, fir͛, e. g. Arna-Magn. 382 (Bs. i. 263 sqq.); and even in the old Miracle-book Arna-Magn. 645 (Bs. i. 333 sqq.), just as ifir is written for yfir ( over); in a few MSS. it is written as a monosyllable fyr, e. g. D. I. i. 475, Mork. passim; in Kb. (Sæm.-Edda) occurs fyr telia, Vsp. I; fyr norðan, 36; fyr dyrum, Gm. 22; fyr vestan ver, Hkv. 2. 8; in other places as a dissyll. fyrir, e. g. Hm. 56, Gm. 54, Skm. 34, Ls. 15, Am. 64, Hkv. 2. 2, 19 (quoted from Bugge’s edition, see his preface, p. xvi); fyr and fyrir stand to one another in the same relation as ept to eptir, und to undir, of ( super) to yfir: this monosyllabic form is obsolete, save in the compds, where ‘for-’ is more common than ‘fyrir-;’ in some cases both forms are used, e. g. for-dæming and fyrir-dæming; in others only one, but without any fixed rule: again, the forms fyri, fyre, or fire, which are often used in Edd., are just as wrong, as if one were to say epti, undi, yfi; yet this spelling is found now and then in MSS., as, fyre, Ó. H. (facsimile); fire, Grág. Sb. ii. 288 (also facsimile): the particles í and á are sometimes added, í fur, Fms. iv. 137; í fyrir, passim; á fur, Haustl. 1. [Ulf. faur and faura; A. S. fore and for; Engl. for and fore-; Germ. für and vor; Dan. for; Swed. för; Gr. προ-; Lat. pro, prae.]

WITH DAT., chiefly without the notion of movement.

A. LOCAL:

I. before, in front of; fyrir dyrum, before the doors, at the doors, Nj. 14, Vsp. 53, Hm. 69, Edda 130; niðr f. smiðju-dyrum, Eg. 142:—ahead, úti fyrir búðinni, Nj. 181; kómusk sauðirnir upp á fjallit f. þeim, ahead of them, 27; vóru fyrir honum borin merkin, the banner was borne before him, 274; göra orð fyrir sér, to send word before one, Fms. vii. 207, Hkr. iii. 335 (Ó. H. 201, l. c., frá sér):—also denoting direction, niðri í eldinum f. sér, beneath in the fire before them, Nj. 204; þeir sá f. sér bæ mikinn, they saw before them a great building, i. e. they came to a great house, Eg. 546; öðrum f. sér ( in front) en öðrum á bak sér, Grág. i. 5.

2. before one, before one’s face, in one’s presence; úhelgaða ek Otkel f. búum, before the neighbours, Nj. 87; lýsi ek f. búum fimm, 218; lýsa e-u ( to proclaim) f. e-m, Ld. 8; hann hermdi boð öll f. Gizuri, Nj. 78; hón nefndisk f. þeim Gunnhildr, told them that her name was G., Fms. i. 8; kæra e-t f. e-m, Ó. H. 60; slíkar fortölur hafði hann f. þeim, Nj. 200; the saying, því læra börnin málið að það er f. þeim haft, bairns learn to speak because it is done before them, i. e. because they hear it; hafa gott (íllt) f. e-m, to give a good (bad) example, e. g. in the presence of children; lifa vel f. Guði, to live well before God, 623. 29; stór ábyrgðar-hluti f. Guði, Nj. 199; sem þeir sjá réttast f. Guði, Grág. i. (pref.); fyrir öllum þeim, Hom. 89; á laun f. öðrum mönnum, hidden from other men, unknown to them, Grág. i. 337, Jb. 378; nú skaltú vera vin minn mikill f. húsfreyju minni, i. e. when you talk to my wife, Nj. 265; fyrir Drottni, before the Lord, Merl. 2. 78.

3. denoting reception of guests, visitors; hann lét ryðja f. þeim búðina, he had the room cleared for them, for their reception, Nj. 228; Valhöll ryðja fyr vegnu fólki, i. e. to clear Valhalla for slain folk, Em. I; ryðja vígvöll f. vegundum, Nj. 212; ljúka upp f. e-m, to open the door for one, Fms. xi. 323, Stj. 5; rýma pallinn f. þeim, Eg. 304; hann lét göra eld f. þeim, he had a fire made for them, 204; þeir görðu eld. f. sér, Fms. xi. 63; … veizlur þar sem fyrir honum var búit, banquets that were ready for him, Eg. 45.

II. before one, in one’s way; þar er díki varð f. þeim, Eg. 530; á (fjörðr) varð f. þeim, a river, fjord, was before them, i. e. they came to it, 133, 161; at verða eigi f. liði yðru, 51; maðr sá varð f. Vindum, that man was overtaken by the V., Hkr. iii. 363; þeirra manna er f. honum urðu, Eg. 92.

2. sitja f. e-m, to lie in wait for one, Ld. 218, Nj. 107; lá f. henni í skóginum, Edda (pref.); sitja f. rekum, to sit watching for wrecks, Eg. 136 (fyrir-sát).

3. ellipt., menn urðu at gæta sín er f. urðu, Nj. 100; Egill var þar f. í runninum, E. was before (them), lay in ambush, Eg. 378; hafði sá bana er f. varð, who was before (the arrow), i. e. he was hit, Nj. 8.

4. verða f. e-u, to be hit, taken, suffer from a thing; ef hann verðr f. drepi, if he be struck, Grág. ii. 19; verða f. áverka, to be wounded, suffer injury, Ld. 140; verða f. reiði konungs, to fall into disgrace with the king, Eg. 226; verða f. ósköpum, to become the victim of a spell, spell-bound, Fas. i. 130; sitja f. hvers manns ámæli, to be the object of all men’s blame, Nj. 71; vera eigi f. sönnu hafðr, to be unjustly charged with a thing, to be innocent.

III. a naut. term, before, off; liggja f. bryggjum, to lie off the pier, Ld. 166; skip fljóta f. strengjum, Sks. 116; þeir lágu f. bænum, they lay off the town, Bs. i. 18; liggja úti f. Jótlands-síðu, off Jutland, Eg. 261; hann druknaði f. Jaðri, off the J., Fms. i. II; þeir kómu at honum f. Sjólandi, off Zealand, x. 394; hafa úti leiðangr f. landi, Hkr. i. 301; f. Humru-minni, off the Humber, Orkn. 338, cp. Km. 3, 8, 9, 13, 19, 21; fyrir Nesjum, off the Ness, Vellekla; fyrir Tungum, Sighvat; fyrir Spáni, off Spain, Orkn. 356.

IV. before, at the head of, denoting leadership; smalamaðr f. búi föður síns, Ver. 26 (of king David); vera f. liði, to be over the troops, Eg. 292, Nj. 7; vera f. máli, to lead the case, Band. 8; vera forstjóri f. búi, to be steward over the household, Eg. 52; ráða f. landi, ríki, etc., to rule, govern, Ó H. 33, Nj. 5; hverr f. eldinum réði, who was the ringleader of the fire, Eg. 239; ráða f. e-u, to rule, manage a thing, passim: the phrase, sitja f. svörum, to respond on one’s behalf, Ölk. 36, Band. 12; hafa svör f. e-m, to be the chief spokesman, Fms. x. 101, Dipl. v. 26.

V. special usages; friða f. e-m, to make peace for one, Fms. vii. 16, Bs. i. 65; bæta f. e-m, to make things good for one, Hom. 109; túlka, vera túlkr, flytja (etc.) f. e-m, to plead for one, Fms. iii. 33, Nj. 128,—also spilla f. e-m, to disparage one, Eg. 255; haga, ætla f. e-u, to manage, arrange for one, Ld. 208, Sturl. i. 14, Boll. 356; rífka ráð f. e-m, to better one’s condition, Nj. 21; ráða heiman-fylgju ok tilgjöf f. frændkonu sinni, Js. 58; standa f. manni, to stand before, shield a man, stand between him and his enemy, Eg. 357, Grág. ii. 13; vera skjöldr f. e-m, 655 xxxii. 4; hafa kostnað f. e-u, to have the expences for a thing, Ld. 14; vinna f. e-m, to support one by one’s work, Sks. 251; starfa f. fé sínu, to manage one’s money, Ld. 166; hyggja f. e-u, to take heed for a thing, Nj. 109; hyggja f. sér, Fs. 5; hafa forsjá f. e-m, to provide for one, Ld. 186; sjá f. e-u, to see after, Eg. 118, Landn, 152; sjá þú nokkut ráð f. mér, Nj. 20: ironic. to put at rest, Háv. 40: ellipt., sjá vel f., to provide well for, Nj. 102.

B. TEMP. ago; fyrir þrem nóttum, three nights ago; fyrir stundu, a while ago, Nj. 80; fyrir litlu, a little while ago, Fms. i. 76, Ld. 134; fyrir skömmu, a sbort while ago; fyrir löngu, a long while ago, Nj. 260, Fms. i. 50; fyrir öndverðu, from the beginning, Grág. i. 80, ii. 323, 394, Finnb. 342; fyrir þeim, before they were born, Fms. i. 57.

2. the phrase, vera f. e-u, to forebode; vera f. stórfundum, Nj. 107, 277; þat hygg ek vera munu f. siða-skipti, Fms. xi. 12; þessi draumr mun vera f. kvámu nökkurs manns, vii. 163; dreyma draum f. e-u, 8; fyrir tiðendum, ii. 65:—spá f. e-m, to ‘spae’ before, prophecy to one, Nj. 171.

C. METAPH.:

I. before, above; þóttu þeir þar f. öllum ungum mönnum, Dropl. 7; þykkisk hann mjök f. öðrum mönnum, Ld. 38; ver f. hirðmönnum, be first among my herdsmen, Eg. 65; Hálfdan svarti var f. þeim bræðrum, H. was the foremost of the brothers, Fms. i. 4; þorgrímr var f. sonum Önundar, Grett. 87; var Haraldr mest f. þeim at virðingu, Fms. i. 47.

II. denoting help, assistance; haun skal rétta vættið f. þeim, Grág. i. 45 (vide above A. IV and V).

2. the following seem to be Latinisms, láta lífit f. heilagri Kristni, to give up one’s life for holy Christianity, = Lat. pro, Fms. vii. 172; ganga undir píslir fyrir Guðs nafni, Blas. 38; gjalda önd mína f. önd þinni, Johann. 17; gefa gjöf f. sál sinni ( pro animâ suâ), H. E. i. 466; fyrir mér ok minni sál, Dipl. iv. 8; færa Guði fórnir f. e-m, 656 A; heita f. e-m, biðja f. e-m, to make a vow, pray for one (orare pro), Fms. iii. 48, Bs. i. 70; biðja f. mönnum, to intercede for, 19, Fms. xi. 287: even with a double construction, biðja f. stað sinn (acc., which is vernacular) ok heilagri kirkju (dat., which is a Latinism), x. 127.

III. denoting disadvantage, harm, suffering; þú lætr Egil vefja öll mál fyrir þér, thou lettest Egil thwart all thy affairs, Eg. 249; únýtir hann þá málit fyrir sér, then he ruins his own case, Grág. i. 36, Dropl. 14, 16; Manverjar rufu safnaðinn f. Þorkatli, the Manxmen broke up the assembly, i. e. forsook Thorkel, Fms. ix. 422; kom upp grátr f. henni, she burst into tears, 477; taka fé f. öðrum, to take another’s money, N. G. L. i. 20; knörr þann er konungr lét taka fyrir Þórólfi, Landn. 56; ef hross verðr tekit f. honum, if a horse of his be taken, Grág. i. 436; hann tók upp fé fyrir öllum, he seized property for them all, Ó. H. 60; e-t ferr ílla f. e-m, a thing turns out ill for one; svá fór f. Ólófu, so it came to pass for O., Vígl. 18; loka dyrr f. e-m, to lock the door in one’s face, Edda 21: þeir hafa eigi þessa menn f. yðr drepit, heldr f. yðrar sakir þessi víg vegit, i. e. they have not harmed you, but rather done you a service in slaying those men, Fbr. 33; tók at eyðask f. henni lausa-fé, her money began to fail, Nj. 29; rak á f. þeim storma ok stríðviðri, they were overtaken by gales and bad weather, Vígl. 27; Víglundr rak út knöttinn f. Jökli, V. drove the ball for J., i. e. so that he had to run after it, 24; sá er skar tygil f. Þóri, he who cut Thor’s line, Bragi; sverð brast f. mér, my sword broke, Korm. 98 (in a verse); brjóta e-t f. e-m, to break a thing for one, Bs. i. 15 (in a verse); Valgarðr braut krossa fyrir Merði ok öll heilög tákn, Nj. 167; árin brotnaði f. honum, his oar broke; allar kýrnar drápust fyrir honum, all his cows died.

2. denoting difficulty, hindrance; sitja f. sæmd e-s, to sit between oneself and one’s honour, i. e. to hinder one’s doing well, Sturl. 87; mikit göri þér mér f. þessu máli, you make this case sore for me, Eb. 124; þér er mikit f. máli, thy case stands ill, Fms. v. 325; ekki er Guði f. því, it is easy for God to do, 656 B. 9; varð honum lítið f. því, it was a small matter for him, he did it easily, Grett. III; mér er minna f. því, it is easier for me, Am. 60; þykkja mikit f. e-u, to be much grieved for a thing, do it unwillingly, Nj. 77; Icel. also say, þykja fyrir (ellipt.), to feel hurt, be displeased:—ellipt., er þeim lítið fyrir at villa járnburð þenna, it is a small matter for them to spoil this ordeal, Ó. H. 140; sem sér muni lítið f. at veiða Gunnar, Nj. 113; fast mun f. vera, it will be fast-fixed before (one), hard to move, Ld. 154; Ásgrími þótti þungt f., A. thought that things looked sad (heavy), Nj. 185; hann var lengi f., he was long about it, Fms. x. 205; hann var lengi f. ok kvað eigi nei við, he was cross and said not downright no, Þorf. Karl. 388.

IV. in a causal sense, for, because of, Lat. per, pro; sofa ek né mákat fugls jarmi fyrir, I cannot sleep for the shrill cry of birds, Edda 16 (in a verse); hon undi sér hvergi f. verkjum, she had no rest for pains, Bjarn. 69; fyrir gráti, tárum, = Lat. prae lacrymis; fyrir harmi, for sorrow; f. hlátri, for laughter, as in Engl.; þeir æddust f. einni konu, they went mad for the sake of one woman, Sól. 11; ílla fært f. ísum, scarce passable for ice, Fms. xi. 360; hætt var at sitja útar f. Miðgarðs-ormi, Edda 35; hann var lítt gengr f. sárinu, he could hardly walk for the wound, Fbr. 178; fyrir hræðslu, for fear, Hbl. 26; heptisk vegrinn f. þeim meinvættum sem …, Fs. 4; gáðu þeir eigi f. veiðum at fá heyjanna, because of fishing they took no care to make hay, Landn. 30; fyrir riki konungs, for the king’s power, Eg. 67, 117; fyrir ofríki manna, Grág. i. 68; fyrir hví, for why? Eluc. 4; fyrir hví þeir væri þar, Eg. 375; fyrir því, at …, for that, because, Edda 35, Fms. i. 22, vii. 330, Ld. 104; en fyrir því nú at, now since, Skálda 171; nú fyrir því at, id., 169: the phrase, fyrir sökum, for the sake of, because of, passim; vide sök.

V. by, by the force of; öxlin gékk ór liði fyrir högginu, the shoulder was disjointed by the force of the stroke, Háv. 52.

2. denoting contest; falla f. e-m, to fall before one, i. e. fighting against one, Fms. i. 7, iv. 9, x. 196; verða halloki f. e-m, to be overcome in fighting one, Ld. 146; látask f. e-m, to perish by one, Eb. 34; hafa bana f. e-m, to be slain by one, Nj. 43; þeir kváðu fá fúnað hafa f. honum, 263; mæddisk hann f. þeim, he lost his breath in fighting them, Eg. 192; láta ríki f. e-m, to lose the kingdom before another, i. e. so that the latter gains it, 264; láta lausar eignir mínar f. þér, 505; láta hlut sinn f. e-m, Fs. 47; standask f. e-m, to stand one’s ground before one, Edda (pref.); hugðisk hann falla mundu f. sjóninni einni saman, that he would sink before his glance, 28, Hým. 12; halda hlut f. e-m, Ld. 54; halda frið ok frelsi f. várum óvinum, Fms. viii. 219; fara mun ek sem ek hefi áðr ætlað f. þínum draum ( thy dream notwithstanding), Ld. 216; þér farit hvárt er þér vilit f. mér, you go wherever you like for me, so far as I am concerted, Fær. 37; halda vöku f. sér, to keep oneself awake, Fms. i. 216.

β. with verbs, flýja, hlaupa, renna, stökkva f. e-m, to fly, leap, run before one, i. e. to be pursued, Bs. i. 774, Grág. ii. 359; at hann rynni f. þrælum hans, Ld. 64; fyrir þessum úfriði stökk Þangbrandr til Noregs, 180; skyldi hann ganga ór á f. Hofsmönnum, Landn. 178; ganga f. e-u, to give way before, yield to a thing, Fms. i. 305, x. 292; vægja f. e-m, to yield to one, give way, Eg. 21, 187, Nj. 57, Ld. 234.

VI. against; verja land f. e-m, Eg. 32; verja landit f. Dönum ok öðrum víkingum, Fms. i. 23; til landvarnar f. víkingum, Eg. 260; landvarnar-maðr f. Norðmönnum, Fms. vi. 295; gæta brúarinnar f. bergrisum, Edda 17; gæt þín vel f. konungi ok hans mönnum, guard thee well against the king and his men, Eg. 113; góð aðstoð f. tröllum ok dvergum, Bárð. 163; beiða Baldri griða f. allskonar háska, Edda 36; auðskæðr f. höggum, Eg. 770.

VII. in the sense of being driven before; fyrir straumi, veðri, vindi, before the stream, wind, weather (forstreymis, forvindis), Grág. ii. 384, Fms. vii. 262; halda f. veðri, to stand before the wind, Róm. 211.

2. rýrt mun verða f. honum smá-mennit, he will have an easy game with the small people, Nj. 94: ellipt., hafði sá bana er f. varð, 8; sprakk f., 16, 91.

VIII. fyrir sér, of oneself, esp. of physical power; mikill f. sér, strong, powerful; lítill f. sér, weak, feeble, Nj. 20, Ísl. ii. 368, Eg. 192; þér munuð kalla mik lítinn mann f. mér, Edda 33; minnstr f. sér, smallest, weakest, Eg. 123; gildr maðr f. sér, Ísl. ii. 322, Fms. ii. 145; herðimaðr mikiil f. sér, a hardy man, Nj. 270; hvat ert þú f. þér, what kind of fellow art thou? Clem. 33; vera einn f. sér, to be a strange fellow, Grett. 79 new Ed.; Icel. also say, göra mikið (lítið) f. sér, to make oneself big ( little).

β. sjóða e-t f. sér, to hesitate, saunter, Nj. 154; mæla f. munni, to talk between one’s teeth, to mutter, Orkn. 248, Nj. 249.

IX. denoting manner or quality; hvítr f. hærum, white with hoary hairs, Fms. vi. 95, Fas. ii. 540; gráir fyrir járnum, grey with steel, of a host in armour, Mag. 5; hjölt hvít f. silfri, a hilt white with silver = richly silvered, Eb. 226.

X. as adverb or ellipt.,

1. ahead, in front, = á undan, Lat. prae, opp. to eptir; þá var eigi hins verra eptir ván, er slíkt fór fyrir, as this came first, preceded, Nj. 34; at einhverr mundi fara heim fyrir, that some one would go home first (to spy), Eg. 580; Egill fór f., E. went in before, id.; at vér ríðim þegar f. í nótt, 283.

β. first; hann stefndi f. málinu, en hann mælti eptir, one pronounced the words first, but the other repeated after him, Nj. 35; mun ek þar eptir göra sem þér gerit f., I shall do to you according as you do first, 90:—temp., sjau nóttum f., seven nights before, Grág. ii. 217.

2. to the fore, at hand, present; þar var fyrir fjöldi boðsmanna, a host of guests was already to the fore, i. e. before the bride and bridegroom came, Nj. 11; úvíst er at vita hvar úvinir sitja á fleti fyrir, Hm. 1; skal þá lögmaðr þar f. vera, he shall be there present, Js. 3; heima í túni fyrir, Fær. 50; þar vóru fyrir Hildiríðar-synir, Eg. 98; var honum allt kunnigt fyrir, he knew all about the localities, 583; þeim ómögum, sem f. eru, who are there already, i. e. in his charge, Grág. i. 286: of things, föng þau er f. vóru, stores that were to the fore, at hand, Eg. 134.

3. fore, opp. to ‘back,’ of clothes; slæður settar f. allt gullknöppum, Eg. 516; bak ok fyrir, back and front, = bak ok brjóst, Mar.

XI. in the phrase, e-m verðr e-t fyrir, a thing is before one, i. e. one takes that and that step, acts so and so in an emergency; nú verðr öðrum þeirra þat f., at hann kveðr, now if the other part alleges, that …, Grág. i. 362; Kolbeini varð ekki f., K. had no resource, i. e. lost his head, Sturl. iii. 285:—the phrase, e-t mælisk vel (ílla) fyrir, a thing is well ( ill) reported of; víg Gunnars spurðisk ok mæltisk ílla fyrir um allar sveitir, Nj. 117, Sturl. ii. 151; mun þat vel f. mælask, people will like it well, Nj. 29, Þórð. 55 new Ed.; ílla mun þat f. mælask at ganga á sættir við frændr sína, Ld. 238; ok er lokit var, mæltisk kvæðit vel f., the people praised the poem, Fms. vii. 113.

XII. in special senses, either as prep. or adv. (vide A. V. above); segja leið f. skipi, to pilot a ship, Eg. 359; segja f. skipi, to say a prayer for a new ship or for any ship going to sea, Bs. i. 774, Fms. x. 480; mæla f. e-u, to dictate, Grág. ii. 266; mæla f. minni, to bring out a toast, vide minni; mæla f. sætt, i. 90; skipa, koma e-u f., to arrange, put right; ætla f. e-u, to make allowance for; trúa e-m f. e-u, to entrust one with; það fer mikið f. e-u (impers.), it is of great compass, bulky; hafa f. e-u, to have trouble with a thing; leita f. sér, to enquire; biðjask f., to say one’s prayers, vide biðja; mæla fyrir, segja f., etc., to order, Nj. 103, Js. 3: of a spell or solemn speaking, hann mælti svá f., at …, Landn. 34; spyrjask f., to enquire, Hkr. ii. 333; búask f., to prepare, make arrangement, Landn. 35, Sks. 551; skipask f., to draw up, Nj. 197; leggjask f., to lie down in despair, Bs. i. 194; spá fyrir, to ‘spae’ before, foretell; þeir menn er spá f. úorðna hluti, Fms. i. 96; segja f., to foretell, 76, Bb. 332; Njáll hefir ok sagt f. um æfi hans, Nj. 102; vita e-t f., to ‘wit’ beforehand, know the future, 98; sjá e-t f., to foresee, 162; ef þat er ætlat f., fore-ordained, id.

WITH ACC., mostly with the notion of movement.

A. LOCAL:

I. before, in front of; fyrir dyrrin, Nj. 198; láta síga brýnn f. brár, Hkv. Hjörv. 19; halda f. augu sér, to hold (one’s hands) before one’s eyes, Nj. 132; leggja sverði fyrir brjóst e-m, to thrust a sword into his breast, 162, Fs. 39.

2. before one, before a court; stefna e-m f. dómstól, Fms. xi. 444; ganga, koma f. e-n, to go, come before one, Fms. i. 15, Eg. 426, Nj. 6, 129, passim; fyrir augu e-s, before one’s eyes, Stj. 611.

3. before, so as to shield; hann kom skildinum f. sik, he put the shield before him, Nj. 97, 115; halda skildi f. e-n, a duelling term, since the seconder had to hold one’s shield, Ísl. ii. 257.

4. joined to adverbs such as fram, aptr, út, inn, ofan, niðr, austr, vestr, suðr, norðr, all denoting direction; fram f., forward; aptr f., backward, etc.; hann reiddi öxina fram f. sik, a stroke forward with the axe, Fms. vii. 91; hann hljóp eigi skemra aptr en fram fyrir sik, Nj. 29; þótti honum hann skjóta brandinum austr til fjallanna f. sik, 195; komask út f. dyrr, to go outside the door, Eg. 206:—draga ofan f. brekku, to drag over the hill, Ld. 220; hrinda f. mel ofan, to thrust one over the gravel bank, Eg. 748; hlaupa f. björg, to leap over a precipice, Eb. 62, Landn. 36; elta e-n f. björg, Grág. ii. 34; hlaupa (kasta) f. borð, to leap ( throw) overboard, Fms. i. 178, Hkr. iii. 391, Ld. 226; síga ( to be hauled) niðr f. borgar-vegg, 656 C. 13, Fms. ix. 3; hlaupa niðr f. stafn, Eg. 142; niðr f. skaflinn, Dropl. 25; fyrir brekku, Orkn. 450, Glúm. 395 (in a verse).

II. in one’s way, crossing one’s way; þeir stefndu f. þá, Fms. ix. 475; ríða á leið f. þá, to ride in their way, so as to meet them, Boll. 348; hlaupa ofan f. þá, Nj. 153; vóru allt komin f. hann bréf, letters were come before him, in his way, Fms. vii. 207; þeir felldu brota f. hann, viz. they felled trees before him, so as to stop him, viii. 60, ix. 357; leggja bann f. skip, to lay an embargo on a ship, Ld. 166.

III. round, off a point; fyrir nesit, Nj. 44; út f. Holm, out past the Holm, Fms. vii. 356: esp. as a naut. term, off a point on the shore, sigla f. England, Norðyrnbraland, Þrasnes, Spán, to sail by the coast of, stand off England, Northumberland, … Spain, Orkn. 338, 340, 342, 354; fyrir Yrjar, Fms. vii. (in a verse); fyrir Siggju, Aumar, Lista, Edda 91 (in a verse); er hann kom f. Elfina, when be came off the Gotha, Eg. 80; leggja land f. skut, to lay the land clear of the stern, i. e. to pass it, Edda l. c.; göra frið f. land sitt, to pacify the land from one end to another, Ld. 28; fyrir uppsprettu árinnar, to come to ( round) the sources of the river, Fms. iii. 183; fyrir garðs-enda, Grág. ii. 263; girða f. nes, to make a wall across the ness, block it up, cp. Lat. praesepire, praemunire, etc., Grág. ii. 263; so also binda f. op, poka, Lat. praeligare, praestringere; hlaða f. gat, holu, to stop a hole, opening; greri f. stúfinn, the stump (of the arm or leg) was healed, closed, Nj. 275; skjóta slagbrandi f. dyrr, to shoot a bolt before the door, to bar it, Dropl. 29; láta loku (lás) f. hurð, to lock a door, Gísl. 28; setja innsigli f. bréf, to set a seal to a letter, Dipl. i. 3: ellipt., setr hón þar lás fyrir, Ld. 42, Bs. i. 512.

2. along, all along; f. endilanga Danmörk, f. endilangan Noreg, all along Denmark, Norway, from one end to the other, Fms. iv. 319, xi. 91, Grett. 97:—öx álnar f. munn, an axe with an ell-long edge, Ld. 276; draga ör f. ödd, to draw the arrow past the point, an archer’s term, Fms. ii. 321.

IV. with verbs, fyrir ván komit, one is come past hope, all hope is gone, Sturl. i. 44, Hrafn. 13, Fms. ii. 131; taka f. munn e-m, to stop one’s mouth; taka f. háls, kverkar, e-m, to seize one by the throat, etc.; taka mál f. munn e-m, ‘verba alicujus praeripere,’ to take the word out of one’s mouth, xi. 12; taka f. hendr e-m, to seize one’s hands, stop one in doing a thing, Eb. 124; mod., taka fram f. hendrnar á e-m.

B. TEMP.: fyrir dag, before day, Eg. 80; f. miðjan dag, Ld. 14; f. sól, before sunrise, 268; f. sólar-lag, before sunset; f. miðjan aptan, Nj. 192; f. náttmál, 197; f. óttu, Sighvat; f. þinglausnir, Ölk. 37; f. Jól, Nj. 269; f. fardaga, Grág. ii. 341; viku f. sumar, 244; f. mitt sumar, Nj. 138; litlu f. vetr, Eg. 159; f. vetrnætr, Grág. ii. 217; f. e-s minni, before one’s memory, Íb. 16.

C. METAPH.:

I. above, before; hann hafdi mest fyrir aðra konunga hraustleikinn, Fms. x. 372.

II. for, on behalf of; vil ek bjóða at fara f. þik, I will go for thee, in thy stead, Nj. 77; ganga í skuld f. e-n, Grág. i. 283; Egill drakk … ok svá f. Ölvi, Eg. 210; kaupa e-t f. e-n, Nj. 157; gjalda gjöld f. e-n, Grág. i. 173; verja, sækja, sakir f. e-n, Eg. 504; hvárr f. sik, each for oneself, Dipl. v. 26; sættisk á öll mál f. Björn, Nj. 266; tók sættir f. Björn, Eg. 168; svara f. e-t, Fms. xi. 444; hafa til varnir f. sik, láta lýrit, lög-vörn koma f.; færa vörn f. sik, etc.; verja, sækja sakir f. sik, and many similar law phrases, Grág. passim; biðja konu f. e-n, to woo a lady for another, Fms. x. 44; fyrir mik, on my behalf, for my part, Gs. 16; lögvörn f. mál, a lawful defence for a case, Nj. 111; hafa til varnar f. sök, to defend a case, Grág. i. 61; halda skiladómi f. e-t, Dipl. iv. 8; festa lög f. e-t, vide festa.

III. in a distributive sense; penning f. mann, a penny per man, K. Þ. K. 88; fyrir nef hvert, per nose = per head, Lv. 89, Fms. i. 153, Ó. H. 141; hve f. marga menn, for how many men, Grág. i. 296; fyrir hverja stiku, for each yard, 497.

IV. for, for the benefit of; brjóta brauð f. hungraða, Hom. 75; þeir skáru f. þá melinn, they cut the straw for them (the horses), Nj. 265; leggja kostnað f. e-n, to defray one’s costs, Grág. i. 341.

V. for, instead of; hann setti sik f. Guð, Edda (pref.); hafa e-n f. Guð (Lat. pro Deo), Stj. 73, Barl. 131; geta, fá, kveðja mann f. sik, to get a man as one’s delegate or substitute, Grág. i. 48 passim; þeir höfðu vargstakka f. brynjur, Fs. 17; manna-höfuð vóru f. kljána, Nj. 275; gagl f. gás ok grís f. gamalt svín, Ó. H. 86; rif stór f. hlunna, Háv. 48; buðkr er f. húslker er hafðr, Vm. 171; auga f. auga, tönn f. tönn, Exod. xxi. 24; skell f. skillinga, Þkv. 32.

VI. because of, for; vilja Gunnar dauðan fyrir höggit, Nj. 92, Fms. v. 162; eigi f. sakleysi, not without ground, i. 302; fyrir hvat (why, for what) stefndi Gunnarr þeim til úhelgi? Nj. 101; ok urðu f. þat sekir, Landn. 323; hafa ámæli f. e-t, Nj. 65, passim.

2. in a good sense, for one’s sake, for one; fyrir þín orð, for thy words, intercession, Ísl. ii. 217; vil ek göra f. þín orð, Ld. 158, Nj. 88; fyrir sína vinsæld, by his popularity, Fms. i. 259: the phrase, fyrir e-s sök, for one’s sake, vide sök: in swearing, a Latinism, fyrir trú mína, by my faith! (so in Old Engl. ‘fore God), Karl. 241; fyrir þitt líf, Stj. 514; ek særi þik f. alla krapta Krists ok manndóm þinn, Nj. 176. VII. for, at, denoting value, price; fyrir þrjár merkr, for three marks, Eg. 714; er sik leysti út f. þrjú hundruð marka, Fms. ix. 421; ganga f. hundrað, to pass or go for a hundred, D. I. i. 316:—also of the thing bought, þú skalt reiða f. hana þrjár merkr, thou shall pay for her three marks, Ld. 30; fyrir þik skulu koma mannhefndir, Nj. 57; bætr f. víg, Ísl. ii. 274; bætr f. mann, Eg. 259, passim; fyrir áverka Þorgeirs kom legorðs-sökin, Nj. 101:—so in the phrase, fyrir hvern mun, by all means, at any cost; fyrir öngan mun, by no means, Fms. i. 9, 157, Gþl. 531:—hafði hverr þeirra mann f. sik, eða tvá …, each slew a man or more for himself, i. e. they sold their lives dearly, Ó. H. 217.

2. ellipt., í staðinn f., instead of, Grág. i. 61; hér vil ek bjóða f. góð boð, Nj. 77; taka umbun f., Fms. vii. 161; svara slíku f. sem …, Boll. 350; þér skulut öngu f. týna nema lífinu, you shall lose nothing less than your head, Nj. 7.

VIII. by means of, by, through; fyrir þat sama orð, Stj.; fyrir sína náttúru, Fms. v. 162; fyrir messu-serkinn, iii. 168; fyrir þinn krapt ok frelsis-hönd, Pass. 19. 12; svikin f. orminn, by the serpent, Al. 63,—this use of fyrir seems to be a Latinism, but is very freq. in eccl. writings, esp. after the Reformation, N. T., Pass., Vídal.; fyrir munn Davíðs, through the mouth of David, etc.:—in good old historical writings such instances are few; þeir hlutuðu f. kast ( by dice), Sturl. ii. 159.

IX. in spite of, against; fyrir vilja sinn, N. G. L. i. 151; fyrir vitorð eðr vilja e-s, against one’s will or knowledge, Grág. ii. 348; kvángask (giptask) f. ráð e-s, i. 177, 178, Þiðr. 190; nú fara menn f. bann ( in spite of an embargo) landa á milli, Gþl. 517; hann gaf henni líf f. framkvæmd farar, i. e. although she had not fulfilled her journey ( her vow), Fms. v. 223; fyrir várt lof, vi. 220; fyrir allt þat, in spite of all that, Grett. 80 new Ed.; fyrir ráð fram, heedlessly; fyrir lög fram, vide fram.

X. denoting capacity, in the same sense as ‘at,’ C. II, p. 27, col. 1; scarcely found in old writers (who use ‘at’), but freq. in mod. usage, thus, eigi e-n f. vin, to have one for a friend, in old writers ‘at vin;’ hafa e-n f. fífl, fól, to make sport of one.

2. in old writers some phrases come near to this, e. g. vita f. vist, to know for certain, Dipl. i. 3; vita f. full sannindi, id., ii. 16; hafa f. satt, to take for sooth, believe, Nj. 135; koma f. eitt, to come ( turn) all to one, Lv. 11, Nj. 91, Fms. i. 208; koma f. ekki, to come to naught, be of no avail, Ísl. ii. 215; fyrir hitt mun ganga, it will turn the other way, Nj. 93; fyrir hann er einskis örvænt orðs né verks, from him everything may be expected, Ísl. ii. 326; hafa e-s víti f. varnað, to have another’s faults for warning, Sól. 19.

XI. joined with adverbs ending in -an, fyrir austan, vestan, sunnan, norðan, útan, innan, framan, handan, ofan, neðan, either with a following acc. denoting. direction, thus, fyrir austan, sunnan … fjall, east, south of the fell, i. e. on the eastern, southern side; fyrir neðan brú, below the bridge; fyrir útan fjall = Lat. ultra; fyrir innan fjall = Lat. infra; fyrir handan á, beyond the river; fyrir innan garð, inside the yard; fyrir ofan garð, above, beyond the yard, etc.; vide these adverbs:—used adverb., fyrir sunnan, in the south; fyrir vestan, in the west; fyrir norðan, in the north; fyrir austan, in the east,—current phrases in Icel. to mark the quarters of the country, cp. the ditty in Esp. Árb. year 1530; but not freq. in old writers, who simply say, norðr, suðr …, cp. Kristni S. ch. 1: absol. and adverb., fyrir ofan, uppermost; fyrir handan, on the other side:—fyrir útan e-t, except, save, Anal. 98, Vkv. 8; fyrir fram, vide fram.

☞ For- and fyrir- as prefixes, vide pp. 163–167 and below:

I. fore-, for-, meaning before, above, in the widest sense, local, temp., and metaph. furthering or the like, for-dyri, for-nes, for-ellri, for-beini, etc.

β. before, down, for-brekkis, -bergis, -streymis, -vindis, -viðris, etc.

2. in an intens. sense = before others, very, but not freq.; for-dyld, -góðr, -hagr, -hraustr, -kostuligr, -kuðr, -lítill, -ljótr, -prís, -ríkr, -snjallr.

II. (cp. fyrir, acc., C. IX), in a neg. or priv. sense; a few words occur even in the earliest poems, laws, and writers, e. g. for-að, -átta, -dæða, -nám, -næmi, -sending, -sköp, -verk, -veðja, -viða, -vitni, -ynja, -yrtir; those words at least seem to be original and vernacular: at a later time more words of the same kind crept in:

1. as early as writers of the 13th and 14th centuries, e. g. for-boð, -bænir, -djarfa, -dæma (fyrir-dæma), -taka (fyrir-taka), -þóttr; fyrir-bjóða, -fara, -göra, -koma, -kunna, -líta, -muna, -mæla, -vega, -verða.

2. introduced in some words at the time of the Reformation through Luther’s Bible and German hymns, and still later in many more through Danish, e. g. for-brjóta, -drífa, -láta, -líkast, -merkja, -nema, -sorga, -sóma, -standa, -svara, -þénusta, and several others; many of these, however, are not truly naturalised, being chiefly used in eccl. writings:—it is curious that if the pronoun be placed after the verb (which is the vernacular use in Icel.) the sense is in many cases reversed; thus, fyrir-koma, to destroy, but koma e-u fyrir can only mean to arrange; so also fyrir-mæla, to curse, and mæla fyrir, to speak for; for-bænir, but biðja fyrir e-m, etc.; in the latter case the sense is good and positive, in the former bad and negative; this seems to prove clearly that these compds are due to foreign influence.

* * *

a negative suffix to verbs, not;

era útmakligt, at it is not unmeet that.

* * *

á, prep., often used elliptically, or even adverbially, [Goth. ana; Engl. on; Germ. an. In the Scandinavian idioms the liquid n is absorbed. In English the same has been supposed to happen in adverbial phrases, e. g. ‘along, away, abroad, afoot, again, agate, ahead, aloft, alone, askew, aside, astray, awry,’ etc. It is indeed true that the Ormulum in its northern dialect freq. uses o, even in common phrases, such as ‘o boke, o land, o life, o slæpe, o strande, o write, o naht, o loft,’ etc., v. the glossary; and we may compare on foot and afoot, on sleep (Engl. Vers. of Bible) and asleep; A. S. a-butan and on-butan (about); agen and ongean (again, against); on bæc, aback; on life, alive; on middan, amid. But it is more than likely that in the expressions quoted above, as well as in numberless others, as well in old as in modern English, the English a- as well as the o- of the Ormulum and the modern Scottish and north of England o- are in reality remains of this very á pronounced au or ow, which was brought by the Scandinavian settlers into the north of England. In the struggle for supremacy between the English dialects after the Conquest, the Scandinavian form á or a won the day in many cases to the exclusion of the Anglo-Saxon on. Some of these adverbs have representatives only in the Scandinavian tongues, not in Anglo-Saxon; see below, with dat. B. II, C. VII; with acc. C. I. and VI. The prep. á denotes the surface or outside; í and ór the inside; at, til, and frá, nearness measured to or from an object: á thus answers to the Gr. επί; the Lat. in includes á and i together.]

With dat. and acc.: in the first case with the notion of remaining on a place, answering to Lat. in with abl.; in the last with the notion of motion to the place, = Lat. in with acc.

WITH DAT.

A. Loc.

I. generally on, upon; á gólfi, on the floor, Nj. 2; á hendi, on the hand (of a ring), 48, 225; á palli, 50; á steini, 108; á vegg, 115; á sjá ok á landi, on sea and land. In some instances the distinction between d and i is loose and wavering, but in most cases common sense and usage decide; thus ‘á bók’ merely denotes the letters, the penmanship, ‘í’ the contents of a book; mod. usage, however, prefers ‘í,’ lesa í bók, but stafr á bók. Old writers on the other hand; á bókum Enskum, in English books, Landn. 24, but í Aldafars bók, 23 (in the book De Mensurâ Temporum, by Bede), cp. Grág. i. 76, where á is a false reading instead of at; á bréfi, the contents of a letter: of clothing or arms, mítr á höfði, sverð á hlið, mitre on head, sword on side, Fms. i. 266, viii. 404; hafa lykil á sér, on one’s person, 655 xxvii. 22; möttull á tyglum, a mantle hanging on (i. e. fastened by) laces, Fms. vii. 201: á þingi means to be present at a meeting; í þingi, to abide within a jurisdiction; á himni, á jörðu, on (Engl. in) heaven and earth, e. g. in the Lord’s Prayer, but í helviti, in hell; á Gimli, Edda (of a heavenly abode); á báti, á skipi denote crew and cargo, ‘í’ the timber or materials of which a ship is built, Eg. 385; vera í stafni á skipi, 177: á skógi, to be abroad in a wood (of a hunter, robber, deer); but to be situated (a house), at work (to fell timber), í skógi, 573, Fs. 5, Fms. iii. 122, viii. 31, xi. 1, Glúm. 330, Landn. 173; á mörkinni, Fms. i. 8, but í mörk, of a farm; á firðinum means lying in a firth, of ships or islands (on the surface of the water), þær eyjar liggja á Breiðafirði, Ld. 36; but í firði, living in a district named Firth; á landi, Nj. 98, Fms. xi. 386.

II. á is commonly used in connection with the pr. names or countries terminating in ‘land,’ Engl. in, á Englandi, Írlandi, Skotlandi, Bretlandi, Saxlandi, Vindlandi, Vínlandi, Grænalandi, Íslandi, Hálogalandi, Rogalandi, Jótlandi, Frakklandi, Hjaltlandi, Jamtalandi, Hvítramannalandi, Norðrlöndum, etc., vide Landn. and the index to Fms. xii. In old writers í is here very rare, in modern authors more frequent; taste and the context in many instances decide. An Icelander would now say, speaking of the queen or king, ‘á Englandi,’ ruling over, but to live ‘í Englandi,’ or ‘á Englandi;’ the rule in the last case not being quite fixed.

2. in connection with other names of countries: á Mæri, Vörs, Ögðum, Fjölum, all districts of Norway, v. Landn.; á Mýrum (in Icel.), á Finnmörk, Landn., á Fjóni (a Danish island); but í Danmörk, Svíþjóð (á Svíþjóðu is poët., Gs. 13).

3. before Icel. farms denoting open and elevated slopes and spaces (not too high, because then ‘at’ must be used), such as ‘staðr, völlr, ból, hjalli, bakki, heimr, eyri,’ etc.; á Veggjum, Landn. 69; á Hólmlátri, id.: those ending in ‘-staðr,’ á Geirmundarstöðum, Þórisstöðum, Jarðlangsstöðum…, Landn.: ‘-völlr,’ á Möðruvöllum: á Fitjum (the farm) í Storð (the island), í Fenhring (the island) á Aski (the farm), Landn., Eg.: ‘-nes’ sometimes takes á, sometimes í (in mod. usage always ‘í’), á Nesi, Eb. 14, or í Krossnesi, 30; in the last case the notion of island, νησος, prevails: so also, ‘fjörðr,’ as, þeir börðust á Vigrafirði (of a fight o n the ice), Landn. 101, but orusta í Hafrsfirði, 122: with ‘-bær,’ á is used in the sense of a farm or estate, hón sa á e-m bæ mikit hús ok fagrt, Edda 22; ‘í bæ’ means within doors, of the buildings: with ‘Bær’ as pr. name Landn. uses ‘í,’ 71, 160, 257, 309, 332.

4. denoting on or just above; of the sun, when the time is fixed by regarding the sun in connection with points in the horizon, a standing phrase in Icel.; sól á gjáhamri, when the sun is on the crag of the Rift, Grág. i. 26, cp. Glúm. 387; so, brú á á, a bridge on a river, Fms. viii. 179, Hrafn. 20; taka hús á e-m, to surprise one, to take the house over his head, Fms. i. 11.

III. á is sometimes used in old writers where we should now expect an acc., esp. in the phrase, leggja sverði (or the like) á e-m, or á e-m miðjum, to stab, Eg. 216, Gísl. 106, Band. 14; þá stakk Starkaðr sprotanum á konungi, then Starkad stabbed the king with the wand, Fas. iii. 34; bíta á kampi (vör), to bite the lips, as a token of pain or emotion, Nj. 209, 68; taka á e-u, to touch a thing, lay hold of it, v. taka; fá á e-u, id. (poët.); leggja hendr á (better at) síðum, in wrestling, Fms. x. 331; koma á úvart á e-m, to come on one unawares, ix. 407 (rare).

B. TEMP. of a particular point or period of time, at, on, in:

I. gener. denoting during, in the course of; á nótt, degi, nætrþeli …, Bs. i. 139; or spec. adding a pron. or an adject., á næsta sumri, the next summer; á því ári, þingi, misseri, hausti, vári, sumri …, during, in that year …, Bs. i. 679, etc.; á þrem sumrum, in the course of three summers, Grág. i. 218; á þrem várum, Fms. ii. 114; á hálfs mánaðar fresti, within half a month’s delay, Nj. 99; á tvítugs, sextugs … aldri, á barns, gamals aldri, etc., at the age of …, v. aldr: á dögum e-s, in the days of, in his reign or time, Landn. 24, Hrafn. 3, Fms. ix. 229.

II. used of a fixed recurrent period or season; á várum, sumrum, haustum, vetrum, á kveldum, every spring, summer …, in the evenings, Eg. 711, Fms. i. 23, 25, vi. 394, Landn. 292: with the numeral adverbs, cp. Lat. ter in anno, um sinn á mánuði, ári, once a month, once a year, where the Engl. a is not the article but the preposition, Grág. i. 89.

III. of duration; á degi, during a whole day, Fms. v. 48; á sjau nóttum, Bárð. 166; á því meli, during that time, in the meantime, Grág. i. 259.

IV. connected with the seasons (á vetri, sumri, vári, hausti), ‘á’ denotes the next preceding season, the last winter, summer, autumn, Eb. 40, 238, Ld. 206: in such instances ‘á’ denotes the past, ‘at’ the future, ‘í’ the present; thus í vetri in old writers means this winter; á vetri, last winter; at vetri, next winter, Eb. 68 (in a verse), etc.

C. In various other relations, more or less metaphorically, on, upon, in, to, with, towards, against:

I. denoting object, in respect of, against, almost periphrastically; dvelja á náðum e-s, under one’s protection, Fms. i. 74; hafa metnað á e-u, to be proud of, to take pride in a thing, 127.

2. denoting a personal relation, in; bæta e-t á e-m, to make amends, i. e. to one personally; misgöra e-t á e-m, to inflict wrong on one; hafa elsku (hatr) á e-m, to bear love ( hatred) to one, Fms. ix. 242; hefna sín á e-m, to take revenge on one’s person, on anyone; rjúfa sætt á e-m, to break truce on the person of any one, to offend against his person, Nj. 103; hafa sár á sér, 101; sjá á e-m, to read on or in one’s face; sér hann á hverjum manni hvárt til þín er vel eðr illa, 106; var þat brátt auðséð á hennar högum, at …, it could soon be seen in all her doings, that …, Ld. 22.

3. also generally to shew signs of a thing; sýna fáleika á sér, to shew marks of displeasure, Nj. 14, Fs. 14; taka vel, illa, lítt, á e-u, to take a thing well, ill, or indifferently, id.; finna á sér, to feel in oneself; fann lítt á honum, hvárt …, it could hardly be seen in his face, whether …, Eb. 42; líkindi eru á, it is likely, Ld. 172; göra kost á e-u, to give a choice, chance of it, 178; eiga vald á e-u, to have power over …, Nj. 10.

II. denoting encumbrance, duty, liability; er fimtardómsmál á þeim, to be subject to …, Nj. 231; the phrase, hafa e-t á hendi, or vera á hendi e-m, on one’s hands, of work or duty to be done; eindagi á fé, term, pay day, Grág. i. 140; ómagi (skylda, afvinna) á fé, of a burden or encumbrance, D. I. and Grág. in several passages.

III. with a personal pronoun, sér, mér, honum …, denoting personal appearance, temper, character, look, or the like; vera þungr, léttr … á sér, to be heavy or light, either bodily or mentally; þungr á sér, corpulent, Sturl. i. 112; kátr ok léttr á sér, of a gay and light temper, Fms. x. 152; þat bragð hafði hann á sér, he looked as if, … the expression of his face was as though …, Ld., cp. the mod. phrase, hafa á sér svip, bragð, æði, sið, of one’s manner or personal appearance, to bear oneself as, or the like; skjótr (seinn) á fæti, speedy ( slow) of foot, Nj. 258.

IV. as a periphrasis of the possessive pronoun connected with the limbs or parts of the body. In common Icel. such phrases as my hands, eyes, head … are hardly ever used, but höfuð, eyru, hár, nef, munnr, hendr, fætr … á mér; so ‘í’ is used of the internal parts, e. g. hjarta, bein … í mér; the eyes are regarded as inside the body, augun í honum: also without the possessive pronoun, or as a periphrasis for a genitive, brjóstið á e-m, one’s breast, Nj. 95, Edda 15; súrnar í augum, it smarts in my eyes, my eyes smart, Nj. 202; kviðinn á sér, its belly, 655 xxx. 5, Fms. vi. 350; hendr á henni, her hands, Gísl. (in a verse); í vörunum á honum, on his lips, Band. 14; ristin á honum, his step, Fms. viii. 141; harðr í tungu, sharp of tongue, Hallfred (Fs. 114); kalt (heitt) á fingrum, höndum, fótum …, cold ( warm) in the fingers, hands, feet …, i. e. with cold fingers, etc.; cp. also the phrase, verða vísa (orð) á munni, of extemporising verses or speeches, freq. in the Sagas; fastr á fótum, fast by the leg, of a bondsman, Nj. 27: of the whole body, díla fundu þeir á honum, 209. The pers. pron. is used only in solemn style (poetry, hymns, the Bible), and perhaps only when influenced by foreign languages, e. g. mitt hjarta hví svo hryggist þú, as a translation of ‘warumb betrübst du dich mein Herz?’ the famous hymn by Hans Sachs; instead of the popular hjartað í mér, Sl. 43, 44: hjartað mitt is only used as a term of endearment, as by a husband to his wife, parents to their child, or the like, in a metaphorical sense; the heart proper is ‘í mér,’ not ‘mitt.’

2. of other things, and as a periphrasis of a genitive, of a part belonging to the whole, e. g. dyrr á husi = húsdyrr, at the house-doors; turn á kirkju = kirkju turn; stafn, skutr, segl, árar … á skipi, the stem, stern, sail … of a ship, Fms. ix. 135; blöð á lauk, á tré …, leaves of a leek, of a tree …, Fas. i. 469; egg á sverði = sverðs egg; stafr á bók; kjölr á bók, and in endless other instances.

V. denoting instrumentality, by, on, or a-, by means of; afla fjár á hólmgöngum, to make money a-duelling, by means of duels, Eg. 498; á verkum sínum, to subsist on one’s own work, Njarð. 366: as a law term, sekjast á e-ju, to be convicted upon …, Grág. i. 123; sekst maðr þar á sínu eigini ( a man is guilty in re sua), ef hann tekr af þeim manni er heimild ( possessio) hefir til, ii. 191; falla á verkum sínum, to be killed flagranti delicto, v. above; fella e-n á bragði, by a sleight in wrestling; komast undan á flótta, to escape by flight, Eg. 11; á hlaupi, by one’s feet, by speed, Hkr. ii. 168; lifa á e-u, to feed on; bergja á e-u, to taste of a thing; svala sér á e-u, to quench the thirst on.

VI. with subst. numerals; á þriðja tigi manna, up to thirty, i. e. from about twenty to thirty, Ld. 194; á öðru hundraði skipa, from one to two hundred sail strong, Fms. x. 126; á níunda tigi, between eighty and ninety years of age, Eg. 764, v. above: used as prep., á hendi, on one’s hand, i. e. bound to do it, v. hönd.

VII. in more or less adverbial phrases it may often be translated in Engl. by a participle and a- prefixed; á lopti, aloft; á floti, afloat; á lífi, alive; á verðgangi, a-begging; á brautu, away; á baki, a-back, behind, past; á milli, a-tween; á laun, alone, secretly; á launungu, id.; á móti, against; á enda, at an end, gone; á huldu, hidden; fara á hæli, to go a-heel, i. e. backwards, Fms. vii. 70;—but in many cases these phrases are transl. by the Engl. partic. with a, which is then perh. a mere prefix, not a prep., á flugi, a-flying in the air, Nj. 79; vera á gangi, a-going; á ferli, to be about; á leiki, a-playing, Fms. i. 78; á sundi, a-swimming, ii. 27; á verði, a-watching, x. 201; á hrakningi, a-wandering; á reiki, a-wavering; á skjálfi, a-shivering; á-hleri, a-listening; á tali, a-talking, Ísl. ii. 200; á hlaupi, a-running, Hkr. ii. 268; á verki, a-working; á veiðum, a-hunting; á fiski, a-fishing; á beit, grazing: and as a law term it even means in flagranti, N. G. L. i. 348.

VIII. used absolutely without a case in reference to the air or the weather, where ‘á’ is almost redundant; þoka var á mikil, a thick fog came on, Nj. 267; niðamyrkr var á, pitch darkness came on, Eg. 210; allhvast á norðan, a very strong breeze from the north, Fms. ix. 20; þá var á norðrænt, a north wind came on, 42, Ld. 56; hvaðan sem á er, from whatever point the wind is; var á hríð veðrs, a snow storm came on, Nj. 282; görði á regn, rain came on, Fms. vi. 394, xi. 35, Ld. 156.

WITH ACC.

A. Loc.

I. denoting simple direction towards, esp. connected with verbs of motion, going, or the like; hann gékk á bergsnös, Eg. 389; á hamar, Fas. ii. 517.

2. in phrases denoting direction; liggja á útborða, lying on the outside of the ship, Eg. 354; á annat borð skipinu, Fms. vii. 260; á bæði borð, on both sides of the ship, Nj. 124, Ld. 56; á tvær hliðar, on both sides, Fms. v. 73. Ísl. ii. 159; á hlið, sidewards; út á hlið, Nj. 262, Edda 44; á aðra hönd henni, Nj. 50, Ld. 46; höggva á tvær hendr, to hew or strike right and left, Ísl. ii. 368, Fas. i. 384, Fms. viii. 363, x. 383.

3. upp á, upon; hann tók augu Þjaza ok kastaði upp á himin, Edda 47: with verbs denoting to look, see, horfa, sjá, líta, etc.; hann rak skygnur á land, he cast glances towards the land, Ld. 154.

II. denoting direction with or without the idea of arriving:

1. with verbs denoting to aim at; of a blow or thrust, stefna á fótinn, Nj. 84; spjótið stefnir á hann miðjan, 205: of the wind, gékk veðrit á vestr, the wind veered to west, Fms. ix. 28; sigla á haf, to stand out to sea, Hkr. i. 146, Fms. i. 39: with ‘út’ added, Eg. 390, Fms. x. 349.

2. conveying the notion of arriving, or the intervening space being traversed; spjótið kom á miðjan skjöldinn, Eg. 379, Nj. 96, 97; langt upp á land, far up inland, Hkr. i. 146: to reach, taka ofan á belti, of the long locks of a woman, to reach down to the belt, Nj. 2; ofan á bringu, 48; á þa ofan, 91.

III. without reference to the space traversed, connected with verbs denoting to go, turn, come, ride, sail, throw, or the like, motion of every kind; hann kastar honum á völlinn, he flings him down, Nj. 91; hlaupa á skip sitt, to leap on board his ship, 43; á hest, to mount quickly, Edda 75; á lend hestinum, Nj. 91; hann gengr á sáðland sitt, he walks on to his fields, 82: on, upon, komast á fætr, to get upon one’s legs, 92; ganga á land, to go a-shore, Fms. i. 40; ganga á þing, vii. 242, Grág. (often); á skóg, á merkr ok skóga, into a wood, Fb. i. 134, 257, Fms. xi. 118, Eg. 577, Nj. 130; fara á Finnmörk, to go travelling in Finmark, Fms. i. 8; koma, fara á bæ, to arrive at the farm-house; koma á veginn, Eg. 578; stíga á bát, skip, to go on board, 158; hann gékk upp á borg, he went up to the burg (castle), 717; en er þeir komu á loptriðið, 236; hrinda skipum á vatn, to float the ships down into the water, Fms. i. 58; reka austr á haf, to drift eastwards on the sea, x. 145; ríða ofan á, to ride down or over, Nj. 82.

IV. in some cases the acc. is used where the dat. would be used, esp. with verbs denoting to see or hear, in such phrases as, þeir sá boða mikinn inn á fjörðinn, they saw great breakers away up in the bight of the firth, the acc. being due perhaps to a motion or direction of the eye or ear towards the object, Nj. 124; sá þeir fólkit á land, they saw the people in the direction of land, Fas. ii. 517: in phrases denoting to be placed, to sit, to be seated, the seat or bench is freq. in the acc. where the dat. would now be used; konungr var þar á land upp, the king was then up the country, the spectator or narrator is conceived as looking from the shore or sea-side, Nj. 46; sitja á miðjan bekk, to be seated on the middle bench, 50; skyldi konungs sæti vera á þann bekk … annat öndvegi var á hinn úæðra pall; hann setti konungs hásæti á miðjan þverpall, Fms. vi. 439, 440, cp. Fagrsk. l. c., Sturl. iii. 182; eru víða fjallbygðir upp á mörkina, in the mark or forest, Eg. 58; var þar mörk mikil á land upp, 229; mannsafnaðr er á land upp (viewed from the sea), Ld. 76; stóll var settr á mótið, Fas. i. 58; beiða fars á skip, to beg a passage, Grág. i. 90.

V. denoting parts of the body; bíta e-n á barka, to bite one in the throat, Ísl. ii. 447; skera á háls, to cut the throat of any one, Nj. 156; brjóta e-n á háls, to break any one’s neck; brjóta e-n á bak, to break any one’s back, Fms. vii. 119; kalinn á kné, frozen to the knees with cold, Hm. 3.

VI. denoting round; láta reipi á háls hesti, round his horse’s neck, 623. 33; leggja söðul á hest, Nj. 83; and ellipt., leggja á, to saddle; breiða feld á hofuð sér, to wrap a cloak over his head, 164; reyta á sik mosa, to gather moss to cover oneself with, 267; spenna hring á hönd, á fingr, Eg. 300.

VII. denoting a burden; stela mat á tvá hesta, hey á fimtán hesta, i. e. a two, a fifteen horse load, Nj. 74: metaph., kjósa feigð á menn, to choose death upon them, i. e. doom them to death, Edda 22.

B. TEMP.

I. of a period of time, at, to; á morgun, to-morrow (í morgun now means the past morning, the morning of to-day), Ísl. ii. 333.

II. if connected with the word day, ‘á’ is now used before a fixed or marked day, a day of the week, a feast day, or the like; á Laugardag, á Sunnudag …, on Saturday, Sunday, the Old Engl. a-Sunday, a-Monday, etc.; á Jóladaginn, Páskadaginn, on Yule and Easter-day; but in old writers more often used ellipt. Sunnudaginn, Jóladaginn …, by dropping the prep. ‘á,’ Fms. viii. 397, Grág. i. 18.

III. connected with ‘dagr’ with the definite article suffixed, ‘á’ denotes a fixed, recurring period or season, in; á daginn, during the day-time, every day in turn, Grett. 91 A.

IV. connected with ‘evening, morning, the seasons,’ with the article; á kveldit, every evening, Ld. 14; á sumarit, every summer, Vd. 128, where the new Ed. Fs. 51 reads sumrum; á haust, every autumn, Eg. 741 (perh. a misprint instead of á haustin or á haustum); á vetrinn, in the winter time, 710; á várit, every spring, Gþl. 347; the sing., however, is very rare in such cases, the old as well as mod. usage prefers the plur.; á nætrnar, by night, Nj. 210; á várin, Eg. 710; á sumrin, haustin, á morgnana, in the morning (á morgin, sing., means to-morrow); á kveldin, in the evening, only ‘dagr’ is used in sing., v. above (á daginn, not á dagana); but elliptically and by dropping the article, Icelanders say, kveld og morgna, nótt og dag, vetr sumar vor og haust, in the same sense as those above mentioned.

V. denoting duration, the article is dropped in the negative phrase, aldri á sinn dag, never during one’s life; aldri á mína daga, never in my life, Bjarn. 8, where a possess. pron. is put between noun and prep., but this phrase is very rare. Such phrases as, á þann dag, that day, and á þenna dag, Stj. 12, 655 xxx. 2. 20, are unclassical.

VI. á dag without article can only be used in a distributive sense, e. g. tvisvar á dag, twice a-day; this use is at present freq. in Icel., yet instances from old writers are not on record.

VII. denoting a movement onward in time, such as, liðið á nótt, dag, kveld, morgun, sumar, vetr, vár, haust (or nóttina, daginn …), jól, páska, föstu, or the like, far on in the night, day …, Edda 33; er á leið vetrinn, when the winter was well on, as the winter wore on, Nj. 126; cp. áliðinn: also in the phrase, hniginn á inn efra aldr, well stricken in years, Ld. 68.

C. Metaph. and in various relations:

I. somewhat metaphorically, denoting an act only (not the place); fara á fund, á vit e-s, to call for one, Eg. 140; koma á ræðu við e-n, to come to a parley with, to speak, 173; ganga á tal, Nj. 103; skora á hólm, to challenge to a duel on an island; koma á grið, to enter into a service, to be domiciled, Grág. i. 151; fara á veiðar, to go a-hunting, Fms. i. 8.

β. generally denoting on, upon, in, to; bjóða vöxtu á féit, to offer interest on the money, Grág. i. 198; ganga á berhögg, to come to blows, v. berhögg; fá á e-n, to make an impression upon one, Nj. 79; ganga á vápn e-s, to throw oneself on an enemy’s weapon, meet him face to face, Rd. 310; ganga á lagið, to press on up the spear-shaft after it has passed through one so as to get near one’s foe, i. e. to avail oneself of the last chance; bera fé á e-n, to bribe, Nj. 62; bera öl á e-n, to make drunk, Fas. i. 13; snúinn á e-t, inclined to, Fms. x. 142; sammælast á e-t, to agree upon, Nj. 86; sættast, verða sáttr á e-t, in the same sense, to come to an agreement, settlement, or atonement, 78, Edda 15, Eb. 288, Ld. 50, Fms. i. 279; ganga á mála, to serve for pay as a soldier, Nj. 121; ganga á vald e-s, to put oneself in his power, 267; ganga á sætt, to break an agreement; vega á veittar trygðir, to break truce, Grág. ii. 169.

II. denoting in regard to, in respect to:

1. of colour, complexion, the hue of the hair, or the like; hvítr, jarpr, dökkr … á hár, having white, brown, or dark … hair, Ísl. ii. 190, Nj. 39; svartr á brún ok brá, dark of brow and eyebrow; dökkr á hörund, id., etc.

2. denoting skill, dexterity; hagr á tré, a good carpenter; hagr á járn, málm, smíðar …, an expert worker in iron, metals …, Eg. 4; fimr á boga, good at the bow: also used of mastership in science or arts, meistari á hörpuslátt, a master in striking the harp, Fas. iii. 220; fræðimaðr á kvæði, knowing many poems by heart, Fms. vi. 391; fræðimaðr á landnámssögur ok forna fræði, a learned scholar in histories and antiquities (of Are Frode), Ísl. ii. 189; mikill á íþrótt, skilful in an art, Edda (pref.) 148; but dat. in the phrase, kunna (vel) á skíðum, to be a cunning skater, Fms. i. 9, vii. 120.

3. denoting dimensions; á hæð, lengd, breidd, dýpt …, in the heighth, length, breadth, depth …, Eg. 277; á hvern veg, on each side, Edda 41 (square miles); á annan veg, on the one side, Grág. i. 89.

β. the phrase, á sik, in regard to oneself, vel (illa) á sik kominn, of a fine ( ugly) appearance, Ld. 100, Fas. iii. 74.

III. denoting instrumentality; bjargast á sínar hendr, to live on the work of one’s own hands, (á sínar spýtur is a mod. phrase in the same sense); (vega) á skálir, pundara, to weigh in scales, Grág. ii. 370; at hann hefði tvá pundara, ok hefði á hinn meira keypt en á hinn minna selt, of a man using two scales, a big one for buying and a little one for selling, Sturl. i. 91; á sinn kostnað, at one’s own expense; nefna e-n á nafn, by name, Grág. i. 17, etc. The Icel. also say, spinna á rokk, snældu, to spin on or with a rock or distaff; mala á kvern, to grind in a ‘querne,’ where Edda 73 uses dat.; esp. of musical instruments, syngja, leika á hljóðfæri, hörpu, gígju …; in the old usage, leika hörpu …, Stj. 458.

IV. denoting the manner or way of doing:

1. á þessa lund, in this wise, Grág. ii. 22; á marga vega, á alla, ymsa vega, in many, all, respects, Fms. i. 114; á sitt hóf, in its turn, respectively, Ld. 136, where the context shews that the expression answers to the Lat. mutatis mutandis; á Þýðersku, after German fashion, Sks. 288.

2. esp. of language; mæla, rita á e-a tungu, to speak, write in a tongue; á Írsku, in Irish, Ld. 76; Norrænu, in Norse, Eb. 330, Vm. 35; a Danska tungu, in Danish, i. e. Scandinavian, Norse, or Icelandic, Grág. i. 18; á Vára tungu, i. e. in Icelandic, 181; rita á Norræna tungu, to write in Norse, Hkr. (pref.), Bs. i. 59:—at present, dat. is sometimes used.

3. in some phrases the acc. is used instead of the dat.; hann sýndi á sik mikit gaman, Fms. x. 329; hann lét ekki á sik finna, he shewed no sign of motion, Nj. 111; skaltú önga fáleika á þik gera (Cod. Kalf.), 14.

V. used in a distributive sense; skal mörk kaupa gæzlu á kú, eðr oxa fim vetra gamlan, a mark for every cow, Grág. i. 147; alin á hvert hross, 442; á mann, per man (now freq.): cp. also á dag above, lit. B.

VI. connected with nouns,

1. prepositional; á hendr (with dat.), against; á hæla, at heel, close behind; á bak, at back, i. e. past, after; á vit (with gen.), towards.

2. adverbially; á braut, away, abroad; á víxl, in turns; á mis, amiss; á víð ok dreif, a-wide and a-drift, i. e. dispersedly.

3. used almost redundantly before the following prep.; á eptir, after, behind; á undan, in front of; á meðal, á milli, among; á mót, against; á við, about, alike; á frá (cp. Swed. ifrån), from (rare); á fyrir = fyrir, Haustl. 1; á hjá, beside (rare); á fram, a-head, forwards; á samt, together; ávalt = of allt, always: following a prep., upp á, upon; niðr á, down upon; ofan á, eptir á, post eventum, (temp.) á eptir is loc., id., etc.

VII. connected with many transitive verbs, answering to the Lat. ad- or in-, in composition, in many cases periphrastically for an objective case. The prep. generally follows after the verb, instead of being prefixed to it as in Lat., and answers to the Engl. on, to; heita kalla, hrópa á, to call on; heyra, hlusta, hlyða á, to hearken to, listen to; hyggja, hugsa á, to think on; minna á, to remind; sjá, líta, horfa, stara, mæna, glápa, koma auga … á, to look on; girnast á, to wish for; trúa á, to believe on; skora á, to call on any one to come out, challenge; kæra á, to accuse; heilsa á, to greet; herja, ganga, ríða, hlaupa, ráða … á, to fall on, attack, cp. ágangr, áreið, áhlaup; ljúga á, to tell lies of, to slander; telja á, to carp at; ausa, tala, hella, kasta, verpa … á, to pour, throw on; ríða, bera, dreifa á, to sprinkle on; vanta, skorta á, to fall short of; ala á, to plead, beg; leggja á, to throw a spell on, lay a saddle on; hætta á, to venture on; gizka á, to guess at; kveða á, to fix on, etc.: in a reciprocal sense, haldast á, of mutual strife; sendast á, to exchange presents; skrifast á, to correspond (mod.); kallast á, to shout mutually; standast á, to coincide, so as to be just opposite one another, etc.

f. [Lat. aqua; Goth. ahva; Hel. aha; A. S. eâ; O. H. G. aha, owa; cp. Germ. ach and aue; Fr. eau, eaux; Engl. Ax-, Ex-, etc., in names of places; Swed.-Dan. å; the Scandinavians absorb the hu, so that only a single vowel or diphthong remains of the whole word]:—a river. The old form in nom. dat. acc. sing. is , v. the introduction to A, page 1, Bs. i. 333 sq., where ́n, ́ (acc.), and ́na; so also Greg. 677; the old fragm. of Grág. ii. 222, 223, new Ed. In the Kb. of the Edda the old form occurs twice, viz. page 75, ́na (acc.), (but two lines below, ána), í ́nni (dat.) The old form also repeatedly occurs in the Kb. and Sb. of the Grág., e. g. ii. 266, 267: gen. sing. ár; nom. pl. ár, gen. á contracted, dat. ám, obsolete form ́m; Edda 43, Eg. 80, 99, 133, 185: proverbs, at ósi skal á stemma, answering to the Lat. principiis obsta, Edda 60; hér kemr á til sæfar, here the river runs into the sea, metaph. = this is the very end, seems to have been a favourite ending of old poems; it is recorded in the Húsdrápa and the Norðsetadrápa, v. Edda 96, Skálda 198; cp. the common saying, oil vötn renna til sævar, ‘all waters run into the sea.’ Rivers with glacier water are in Icel. called Hvítá, White river, or Jökulsá: Hitá, Hot river, from a hot spring, opp. to Kaldá, v. Landn.: others take a name from the fish in them, as Laxá, Lax or Salmon river (freq.); Örriða á, etc.: a tributary river is þverá, etc.: ár in the Njála often means the great rivers Ölfusá and Þjórsá in the south of Iceland. Áin helga, a river in Sweden, Hkr. ii: á is also suffixed to the names of foreign rivers, Tempsá = Thames; Dóná, Danube (Germ. Don-au), (mod.), etc. Vide Edda (Gl.) 116, 117, containing the names of over a hundred North-English and Scottish rivers.

COMPDS: áráll, árbakki, árbrot, ardjúp, árfarvegr, árfors, árgljúfr, árhlutr, ármegin, árminni, ármót, áróss, árreki, árstraumr, árströnd, árvað, árvegr, árvöxtr.

I) (older form es), rel. part. in old poems and in law phrases ‘es’ is suffixed to a demonstrative or interrogative word, pron. or adv., as s: sás, sús, þats, þeims, þærs; þars, þás, þegars, síðans, hveims, hvars, &c., = sá es, sú es, þar es, þá es, &c.

I. used as a rel. pron., indecl., who, which, that;

1) Mörðr hét maðr, er (nom.) kallaðr var gígja;

grös fögr, er (acc.) hón hafði í hendi;

aðra hluti þá, er (gen.) menn vildu visir verða;

þann einn son, er (dat.) hann ann lítit;

2) with a prep. placed at the end of the sentence;

land, er hann kom frá, the land he came from;

jötunn, er ór steini var höfuðit á (viz. honum), whose head was of stone;

3) ellipt., the prep. being understood;

ór þeim ættum, er mér þóttu fuglarnir fljúga (viz. ór), from the quarter that I thought the birds flew from;

þeir hafa nú látit líf sitt, er mér þykkir eigi vert at lifa (viz. eptir), whom I think it is not worth while to outlive;

4) a personal or demonstr. pron. may be added to the rel. part., er þú, er þik; er hann, er hón, er hana, er hans, er hennar, er þeim, er þeiri, er þeira, etc.;

œrr ertu, Loki, er þú (who) yðra telr ljóta leiðstafi;

sá maðr, er hann vill, that man who wishes;

nema ein Goðrún, er hón æva grét, who never wept;

ekkja heitir sú, er búandi hennar (whose husband) varð sóttdauðr;

þann konung, er undir honum eru skatt-konungar, that king under whom are tributary kings;

5) in the fourteenth century added to the int. pron., hverr;

þat herbergi, í hverju er hann ( in which = er hann í því) hefir sitt ráð ok ræðr;

II. as a conj. and adv.

1) local, er, þar er, there where;

hann sá á eldinum fölskann, er netit hafði brunnit, where the net had been burnt;

Ó. gekk þar til, er H. lá, to the spot where H. lay;

2) of time, er, þá er, when;

ok er, and when;

en er, but when;

þar til er, until;

í því er, just when;

eptir (þat) er, when;

þegar er, as soon as (þegar er lýsti, stóð konungr upp);

síðan er, since;

meðan er, while;

næst er vér kómum, next when we came;

þá lét í hamrinum, sem er reið gengr, as when it thunders;

3) = at, that;

ok fannst þat á öllu, er hón þóttist vargefin, that she thought she was thrown away;

ek em þess sæll, er okkart félag sleit, I am happy that;

skyldi fara fyrst leyniliga, en þó kom þar, er allir vissu, but it came to this, that every one knew of it.

II) from vera.

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old form es, mod. sometimes eð, but usually ‘er;’ indecl. Particle used as relat. pron. or as relat. adv.; in very old MSS. always es, and rhymed so by old poets; in the 12th century it changed into er. In poems and in law phrases the particle ‘es’ is suffixed to the pronoun or adverb, as s or z, e. g. thus: as pron., sá’s = sá es (so in ‘people’s Engl.’ he as, him as, for he who, etc.), Hkr. iii. 11 (Sighvat); dat. þeim’s = þeim es, illi qui, Hm. 3, Fms. vi. 38 (Sighvat); acc. masc. þann’z or þann’s = þann es, illum qui, Vsp. 45 (MS.), Od. i, Hm. 44, 120, Hým. 39, Am. 90; neut. þatz = þat es, illud quod, Hm. 39, Am. 37, Hkv. Hjörv. 3, Fms. iii. 9 (Hallfred): as conj. or adv., hvárt’z … eða = hvárt es … eða, utrum … an, Grág. (Ed. 1853); hvárt’z hann vill at reiða eða …, i. 25, 145, 152, 155, 156, 161, 233, ii. 50: as adv., þegar’s = þegar es, as soon as, Grág. (Ed. 1853) i. 94, Am. 30; síðan’s = síðan es, since (Old Engl. sithens, sithence), 78; even sem’s = sem es, Am. 103; hvar’s = hvar es, wherever, 47, Mork. 138, Hm. 138; hve’s = hve es, however, 140 (MS. hvers), Skálda 190 (in a verse); þar’s = þar es, there where, i. e. where, Grág. i. 46, 153, Hm. 66, Hbl. 60, Gm. 8, Ls. 50, Mork. 18, 34, 37, 62, 170, Skálda 189 (Bragi), Edda (Ht.) 124, where this anastrophe is called bragar-mál, poetical diction; hvarge’s = hvarge es, wherever, Grág. ii. 44. The Icel. has no relat. pron. but only the relat. particles er and sem, both of them indecl. in gender, case, and number; in simple sentences the sense (gender etc.) is clear from the context; and the language has certain expedients to meet the deficiency.

A. Used as relat. pron. which, who, that:

I. used alone, where there is perhaps an ellipse of the demonstrative, er = er hann (þeir, þær, þeim, etc.);

α. nom., á þeim bæ, er Abia heitir, 625. 83; Mörðr hét maðr, er kallaðr var Gigja, Nj. 1; hann átti dóttur eina, er Unnr hét, id.; þá skulu þeir, er fær eru ( who are) saman, Grág. i. 9; maðr, er þessa þurfi, id.; at þeim svörum, er verða, 19; lið þat, er þeim hafðI þangat fylgt, Fms. i. 62; konur þær, er völfur vóru kallaðar, iii. 212; þeim unga manni, er þar sitr hjá þér, id.

β. acc., þingfesti manna þeirra, er ( quos) menn vilja sækja, Grág. i. 19; sakar þeirrar, er ( quam) ek hefi höfðað, id.

γ. gen., aðra hluti þá, er ( quorum) menn viidu vísir verða, Fms. iii. 212.

δ. dat., þann einn, er ( cui) hann ann lítið, Fms. i. 86.

ε. joined to a demonstrative; allir Þrændir, þeir er …, all the Th., who …, Fms. i. 62.

II. with a prep., which, as often in Engl., is placed at the end of the sentence; er hann kom til, whom he came to; land, er hann kom frá, the land he came from; so Lat. quocum venit = er hann kom með sub quibus = er … undir; in quibus = er … í, etc.: the prep. may also be a penultimate, e. g. the phrase, er mér er á ván, wlich I have a hope of; or, er hann var yfir settr, whom he was set over, etc.; this use of the pronoun is undoubtedly elliptical, the corresponding demonstrative pronoun being left out, although the ellipse is not felt; þvengrinn sá er muðrinn Loka var saman rifjaðr með (Kb. omits the prep.), the lace that the mouth of Loki was stitched with, Edda 71; öðrum höfðingjum, þeim er honum þótti liðs at ván (that is to say, þeim, er honum þótti liðs van at þeim), at whose hands, i. e. from whom he thought help likely to come, Fms. i; þeir er ek mæli þetta til (= er ek mæli þetta til þeirra), those to whom I speak, xi. 12; er engi hefir áðr til orðit, Nj. 190; in stórúðgi jötunn, er ór steini var höfuðit á (= er ór steini var höfuðit á honum), whose head was of stone. Hbl. 15; því er vér urðum á sáttir, Fms. xi. 34; við glugg þann í loptinu, er fuglinn hafðI áðr við setið. the window close to which the bird sat. Eg.: nokkurum þeim höfðingja, er mér sé eigandi vinátta við (viz. þá). Ó. H. 78: þá sjón, er mér þykir mikils um vert (viz. hana), 74; er mér þat at sýn orðit, er ek hefi opt heyrt frá sagt (= frá því sagt), 57; til vatns þess, er Á en Helga fellr ór, 163: til kirkju þeirra, es bein eru færð til, Grág. i. 13 new Ed.

2. ellipt. the prep. being understood, esp. to avoid the repetition of it; ekirinn sá er brendr vár Ásgarðr (viz. með), Edda (pref.); hann gékk til herbergis þess, er konungr var inni (viz. í), he went to the house that the king was in, Ó. H. 160, Fb. iii. 251; dyrr þær, er ganga mátti upp á húsit (viz. gegnum, through), the doors through which one could walk up to the house, Eg. 421; ór þeim ættum er mér þóttu fuglarnir fljúga (viz. ór), the airt ( quarter) that I thought the birds flew from, Ísl. ii. 196; yfir þeim manni, er Mörðr hafði sök sína fram sagt (viz. yfir), the man over whose head ( to whom) Mord had pleaded his suit, Nj. 242; þrjú þing, þau er menn ætluðu (viz. á), three parliaments, in ( during) which men thought …, 71; nær borg þeirri, er konungr sat (viz. í), near the town the king resided in, Eg. 287; Montakassin, er dyrkast Benedictus, Monte Cassino, where B. is worshipped, Fms. xi. 415; þeir hafa nú látið lif sitt fyrir skömmu, er mér þykir eigi vert at lifa (viz. eptir), they, whom methinks it is not worth while to outlive, 150; fara eptir með hunda, er þeir vóru vanir at spyrja þá upp (viz. með), er undan hljópusk, they pursued with hounds, that they were wont to pick up fugitives with, i. e. with bloodbounds, v. 145; þat er í þrem stöðum, er dauðum má sök gefa (viz. í), it is in three places that a man can be slain with impunity, N. G. L. i. 62; þat er í einum stað, er maðr hittir (viz. í), it is in one place that …, id.

III. a demonstrative pron. may be added to the relat. particle, e. g. er þeirra = quorum, er þeim = quibus, er hans, er hennar = cujus; but this is chiefly used in old translations from Lat., being rarely found in original writings; þann konung, er undir honum eru skatt-konungar, that king under whom vassals serve, Edda 93; ekkja heitir sú, er búandi hennar ( whose husband) varð sótt-dauðr; hæll er sú kona kölluð er búandi hennar er veginn, 108; sú sam-stafa, er raddar-stafr hennar er náttúrlega skammr, that syllable, the vowel of which is naturally short, Skálda 179; sá maðr, er hann vill, that man who wishes, Grág. i. 19; sá maðr, er hann skal fasta, 36; nema ein Guðrún, er hón æva grét, G. that never wailed, Gh. 40; þess manns, er hann girnisk, Hom. 54; sæl er sú bygghlaða … er ór þeirri …, felix est illud horreum … unde …, Hom. 15; engi er hærri speki en sú, er í þeirri …, nulla melior est sapientia quam ea, qua …, 28; varðveita boðorð hans, fyrir þann er vér erum skapaðir, ejusque mandata custodire, per quem creati sumus, 28; harða göfugr er háttr hófsemi, fyrir þá er saman stendr …, nobilis virtus est valde temperantia, per quam …, id.; elskendum Guð þann er svá mælti, Deum diligentibus qui ait, id.; skírn Græðara várs, er í þeirri, 56; er á þeim = in quibus, 52: rare in mod. writers, enginn kann að játa eðr iðrast réttilega þeirrar syndar, er hann þekkir ekki stærð hennar og ílsku, Vídal. i. 226.

IV. in the 14th century, the relat. pron. hverr was admitted, but by adding the particle er; yet it has never prevailed, and no relative pronoun is used in Icel. (except that this pronoun occurs in the N. T. and sermons, e. g. Luke xi. 1, whose blood Pilate had mingled, is rendered hverra blóði Pilatus hafði blandað; an old translator would have said, er P. hafði blandað blóði þeirra): hvern er þeir erfðu, M. K. 156; hverjar er hón lauk mér, id.; af hverju er hann megi marka, Stj. 114; hvat er tákna mundi, Fms. xi. 12.

V. the few following instances are rare and curious, er þú, er ek, er mér, er hón; and are analogous to the Germ. der ich, der du, I that, thou that; in Hm. l. c. ‘er’ is almost a superfluous enclitic, eyvitar fyrna er maðr annan skal, Hm. 93; sáttir þínar er ek vil snemma hafa, Alm. 7; ójafnt skipta er þú mundir, Hbl. 25; þrár hafðar er ek hefi, Fsm. 50; auði frá er mér ætluð var, sandi orpin sæng, Sl. 49; lauga-vatn er mér leiðast var eitt allra hluta, 50; ærr ertu Loki, er þú yðra telr, Ls. 29, cp. 21, Og. 12, Hkv. 2. 32; tröll, er þik bíta eigi járn, Ísl. ii. 364. ☞ This want of a proper relat. pron. has probably preserved Icel. prose from foreign influences; in rendering Lat. or mod. Germ. into Icel. almost every sentence must be altered and broken up in order to make it vernacular.

B. Conj. and adv. joined with a demonstrative particle, where, when:

1. loc., þar er, there where = ubi; þar er hvárki sé akr né eng, Grág. i. 123; hvervetna þess, er, N. G. L. passim.

2. temp. when; ok er, and when; en er, but when: þá er, then when; þar til er, until, etc., passim; annan dag, er menn gengu, Nj. 3; brá þeim mjök við, er þan sá hann, 68; sjaldan fór þá svá, er vel vildi, Ld. 290; ok í því er Þórgils, and in the nick of time when Th., id.: þá lét í hamrinum sem er ( as when) reið gengr, Ísl. ii. 434; næst er vér kómum, next when we came, Eg. 287; þá er vér, when we, id.

II. conj. that (vide ‘at’ II, p. 29); þat er (is) mitt ráð er ( that) þú kallir til tals, Eg. 540; ok þat, er hann ætlar, Nj. 7: ok fansk þat á öllu, er ( that) hon þóttisk vargefin, 17; en þessi er (is) frásögn til þess, er ( that) þeir vóru Heljar-skinn kallaðir, Sturl. i. 1; ok finna honum þá sök, er (en MS.) hann hafði verit, that he had been, Fms. vii. 331; af hverju er hann megi marka, from which he may infer, Stj. 135; hvárt er (en MS.) er (is) ungr eða gamall, either that he is young or old, N. G. L. i. 349; spurði hann at, hvárt er, asked him whether, Barl. 92; mikill skaði, er slíkr maðr, that such a man, Fms. vi. 15; hlægligt mér þat þykkir, er ( that) þú þinn harm tínir, Am. 53; er þér gengsk illa, that it goes ill with thee, 53, 89; hins viltú geta, er ( that) vit Hrungnir deildum, Hbl. 15.

2. denoting cause; er dóttir mín er hörð í skapi, for that my daughter is hard of heart, Nj. 17.

β. er þó, although, Skálda 164.

3. þegar er, as soon as, when, Fms. iv. 95, cp. þegar’s above: alls er þú ert, for that thou art, i. 305; síðan er, since, after that, Grág. i. 135; en siðan er Freyr hafði heygðr verít, Hkr. (pref.); but without ‘er,’ N. G. L. i. 342. In the earliest and best MSS. distinction is made between eptir er ( postquam), þegar er ( quum), meðan er ( dum), síðan er ( postquam), and on the other hand eptir ( post), þegar ( jam), meðan ( interdum), síðan (post, deinde); cp. meðan’s, síðan’s, þegar’s, above; but in most old MSS. and writers the particle is left out, often, no doubt, merely from inaccuracy in the MSS., or even in the editions, (in MSS. ‘er’ is almost always spelt  and easily overlooked): again, in mod. usage the particle ‘at, að,’ is often used as equivalent to ‘er,’ meðan að, whilst; síðan að, since that; þegar að, postquam, (vide ‘at’ V, p. 29.)

3rd pers. pres. is, vide vera.

* * *

(geng; gekk, gengum; genginn), v.

1) to walk (reið jarl, en Karkr gekk);

2) to go;

ganga heim, to go home;

ganga braut, to go away;

ganga til hvílu, to go to bed;

ganga á skip, to go on board;

ganga af skipi, to go ashore;

with infin., ganga sofa or at sofa, to go to sleep;

ganga at eiga konu, to marry a woman;

3) to go about grazing, to graze (kálfrinn gekk í túni um sumarit);

4) of a ship, to run, sail (gekk skipit brátt út á haf);

5) to stretch out, extend, project (nes mikit gekk í sæ út);

6) of report, tales, to be current (litlar sögur megu ganga af hesti mínum);

7) to prevail;

gekk þaðan af í Englandi Valska, thereafter the French tongue prevailed in E.;

8) of money, to be current (peningar þeir, sem nú ganga);

of laws, to be valid (þau lög, er gengu á Uppsalaþingi);

of sickness, plague, famine, to rage (þá gekk landfarsótt, drepsótt, hallæri);

9) to go on, last (gnustu þá saman vápnin, ok gekk þat um hríð);

impers., gekk því lengi, so it went on for a long while;

10) láta ganga e-t, to let go on;

láta höggin ganga, to rain blows;

Birkibeinar létu ganga lúðrana, blew the trumpets vigorously;

11) to succeed;

ef þat gengr eigi, if that will not do;

impers., svá þykt, at þeim gekk þar eigi at fara, so close, that they could not go on there;

þeim gekk ekki fyrir nesit, they could not clear the ness;

12) to turn out, go in a specified way;

ganga andæris, to go all wrong;

mart gengr verr en varir, many a thing goes worse than is looked for;

gekk þeim lítt atsókinn, they made little progress with the attack;

impers., e-m gengr vel (illa), one fares (goes on, gets on) well (badly);

13) with acc., ganga e-n á bak, to force one to go backwards (harm gengr bjöninn á bak);

14) with dat., to discharge (gekk bann þá blóði);

15) with preps. and adverbs:

ganga af e-u, to depart from, leave (þá gekk af honum móðrinn);

ganga af vitinu, to go out of one’s wits;

ganga af trú sinni, to apostatize;

to pass (síðan gengu af páskarnir);

to go off (gekk þegar af höfuðit);

to be left as surplus (þat er af skuldinni gekk);

nú gengr honum hey af, now he has some hay left;

ganga af sér, to go to extremities, to go beyond oneself (mjök ganga þeir fóstbrœðr nú af sé);

ganga aptr, to revert (return) to the former proprietor (síðan gengu þau lönd aptr undir Árna);

to be void, annulled (þá skal kaup aptr ganga);

of a ghost, to walk again; of a door, to close, shut (gekk eigi aptr hurðin);

ganga at e-m, to attack one;

ganga at e-u, to agree to, accept a choice or offer (Flosi gekk fljótt at þessu öllu); to fit (skaltu fá mér lukla þá, sem ganga at kistum yðrum);

ganga á e-t, to encroach upon (ganga á ríki e-s); to break (ganga á orð sín, eiða, grið, sættir, trygðir); to pierce, penetrate;

hann var í panzara, er ekki gekk á, that was proof against any weapons;

ganga á vald e-s or e-m, ganga á hönd (hendr) e-m, to submit to, give oneself up to, surrender to one;

ganga á bak e-u, to contravene;

ganga eptir e-u, to go for, go to fetch (göngum heim eptir verðinu); to pursue, claim;

ganga eptir, to prove true, be fulfilled (þetta gekk allt eptir, sem M. sagði fyrir);

ganga frá e-u, to part with, lose (sumir munu ganga frá öllu fénu);

ganga fram, to step forward;

ganga fram vel, to go forward bravely, in a battle;

to come to pass, come into execution (skal þess bíða, er þetta gengr fram);

to increase (fé Hall gerðar gekk fram ok gørðist allmikit);

to depart this life (H. bóndi gengr fram til frænda sinna);

ganga fyrir e-n, to present oneself before one (ganga fyrir konung);

ganga fyrir e-u, to take charge of, manage (var þar mart fólk, en húsbóndi gekk svá fyrir, at ekkert skorti); to yield to, be swayed by (hann gekk þá fyrir fortölum hennar);

ganga í gegn e-m, to set oneself against one;

ganga í gegn e-u, to confess, acknowledge;

maðr gengr í gegn, at á braut kveðst tekit hafa, the man confessed and said that he had taken it away;

ganga í mál, to undertake a case;

ganga með e-m (of a woman), to marry;

ganga með barni, to be with child;

ganga með burði (of animals), to be with young;

ganga með e-u, to assist in, plead (ganga með máli, bónorði);

ganga milli (á m., í m.), to go between, intercede;

ganga móti (á m., í m.) e-m, to go to meet one;

ganga móti e-u, to resist, oppose;

to confess, = ganga í gegn, ganga við e-u;

ganga nær e-m, to be troublesome to one (þótti hón œrit nær ganga Þórgerði);

ganga e-m nær, to approach, come near to one (sá hefir á brott komizt, er næst gekk Gunnari um alla hluti);

ganga saman, to marry;

of an agreement, bargain, to be brought about;

saman gekk kaupit með þeim, they came to a bargain;

ganga sundr (í s.), to go asunder, part;

ganga til, to go up to a thing (gangit til ok hyggit at); of the wind, to veer (veðrit gekk til útsuðrs);

e-m gengr e-t til e-s, one has some reason for doing a thing;

en þat gekk mér til þess (that was my reason), at ek ann þér eigi;

hversu hefir ykkr til gengit, how have you fared?

Loka gekk lítt til, it fared ill with L.;

ganga um e-t, to go about a thing;

ganga um beina, to wait upon guests;

ganga um sættir, to go between, as peacemaker;

ganga um e-n, to befall, happen to one (þess, er um margan gengr guma); of the wind, to go round, veer (gekk um veðrit ok styrmdi at þeim); to manage (fékk hón svá um gengit, at);

ganga undan, to escape to absent oneself;

g. undir e-t, to take upon oneself, undertake (a duty);

ganga undir e-n, to subject oneself to;

ganga upp, to be wasted (of money);

to get loose, to he torn loose (þeir glímdu svá at upp gengu stokkar allir á húsinu);

of a storm, gale, to get up, rise (veðr gekk upp);

of an ice-bound river, áin var gengin upp, swollen with ice;

ganga við staf, to walk with a stick;

ganga við e-u or e-t, to avow;

ganga yfir e-t, to go beyond, disregard (hann vildi eigi ganga yfir þat, er hann vissi réttast);

ganga yfir e-n, to overcome, to befall, happen to one;

slíkt sem yfir hefir gengit, all that has happened;

eitt skal yfir okkr ganga, we shall share one fate;

16) refl., gangast.

1) walking (hann mœddist í göngu);

vera í göngu, to be on foot, to walk;

2) course (ganga tungls, vinds).

* * *

pret. gekk or gékk, 2nd pers. gékkt, mod. gékst; pl. gengu, geingu, or géngu, and an old poët. gingu; gengengu in Vsp. 12 is a mere misspelling (vide Sæm. Möb. 258); pres. geng, pl. göngum; pret. subj. gengi (geingi); imperat. gakk and gakktú; with the neg. suffix geng-at, gengr-at, gékk-at, gakk-attu, passim; a middle form göngumk firr, go from me, Gm. 1: a contracted form gá occurs now and then in mod. hymns; it is not vernacular but borrowed from Germ. and Dan.: [cp. Ulf. gaggan; A. S. and Hel. gangan; Scot. and North. E. gang, mod. Engl. go; Dan.-Swed. gange or gå; Germ. gehen; Ivar Aasen ganga: Icel., Scots, and Norsemen have preserved the old ng, which in Germ. and Swed.-Dan. only remains in poetry or in a special sense, e. g. in Germ. compds.]

A. To go:

I. to walk; reið jarl en Karkr gékk, Fms. i. 210, Rm. 1, 2, 6, 14, 23, 24, 30, Edda 10, Grág. ii. 95, passim; ganga leiðar sinnar, to go one’s way, Fms. x. 290, Krók. 26: adding acc., g. alla leið, Fms. xi. 202, 299; g. berg, to climb a cliff; g. afréttar, to search the fell-pastures (fjallganga), Háv. 39; also g. ( to climb) í fjall, í kletta, Fms. x. 313: Icel. also say, ganga skó og sokka, to wear out shoes and socks; hann gékk tvenna skó; ganga berserks gang, q. v.

β. absol. to go a-begging, Grág. i. 226, 232, Ísl. ii. 25; ganga vergang, húsgang, id. (göngumaðr).

II. adding adverbs, infinitives, adjectives, or the like,

α. an adverb denoting direction; g. út ok inn, Vkv. 4, Lv. 26; g. inn, Fms. i. 16, vi. 33; g. út, to go out, Lat. exire, Nj. 194; g. aptr, to return, Fms. x. 352; g. fram, to step forward, Hm. 1, Eg. 165; g. upp, to go up, ashore; g. ofan, niðr, to go down; g. heiman, 199; g. heim, to go home; gakk hingat, come hither! 488; g. móti, í gegn e-m, to go against, to meet one; g. braut, to go away; g. til e-s, or at e-m, to go to one; g. frá e-m, to leave one; g. með e-m, to go with one; g. hjá, to pass by; g. saman, to go together; g. yfir, to go over; g. gegnum, to go through; g. undir, to go under; g. undan, fyrir, to go before; g. eptir, to go behind; g. um, to rove, stroll about, and so on passim; g. í sæti, to go to one’s seat, take a seat, Eg. 551; g. til hvílu, to go to bed, Nj. 201; g. til matar, to go to dinner, Sturl. iii. 111, Eg. 483; g. til vinnu, verks, to go to one’s work, cp. Hm. 58; g. í kirkju, to go to church, Rb. 82; g. á fjall, to go on the fells, Hrafn. 34; g. á skip, to go on board, Fms. x. 10; g. af skipi, to go ashore.

β. with infin., in old poems often dropping ‘at;’ ganga sofa, to go to sleep, Fm. 27; g. at sofa, Hm. 19; g. vega, to go to fight, Vsp. 56, Ls. 15; g. at eiga konu, to go to be married, Grág. i. 318.

γ. with an adj.; g. hræddr, to be afraid; g. úviss, to be in ignorance, etc., Fms. vii. 271, Sks. 250, 688.

2. in a more special sense; g. til einvígis, bardaga, to go to a duel, battle, Nj. 64; g. á hólm (hólmganga), Eg. 504, 506; g. á eintal, Nj. 103; g. til máls við e-n, to speak to one, Eg. 199, 764; g. í glímu, to go a-wrestling, Ísl. ii. 246; g. á fang, id., Ld. 206; g. í danz, to go a-dancing; g. til skripta, to go to shrift, Hom. 157; g. at brúðkaupi, to go to be married, Fms. vii. 278; g. í skóla, klaustr, to go to school, go into a cloister (as an inmate), (hence skóla-genginn, a school-man, scholar), Bs. passim; g. í þjónustu, to take service, Nj. 268; g. í lið með e-m, to enter one’s party, side with one, 100; g. í lög, to enter a league with one; g. ór lögum, to go out of a league, passim; g. í félag, ór félagi, id.; g. á mala, to take service as a soldier, 121; g. á hönd, g. til handa, to submit to one as a liegeman, surrender, Eg. 19, 33, Ó. H. 184, Fms. vii. 180; g. á vald e-m, to give oneself up, Nj. 267; g. á hendr e-m, to encroach upon, Ver. 56; g. í skuld, to bail, Grág. i. 232, Dipl. ii. 12; g. í trúnað, to warrant, Fms. xi. 356; g. til trygða, Nj. 166, and g. til griða, to accept truce, surrender, Fas. ii. 556; g. í mál, to enter, undertake a case, Nj. 31; g. í ánauð, to go into bondage, Eg. 8; g. til lands, jarðar, ríkis, arfs, to take possession of …, 118, Stj. 380, Grág., Fms. passim; g. til fréttar, to go to an oracle, take auspices, 625. 89; g. til Heljar, a phrase for to die, Fms. x. 414; g. nær, to go nigh, go close to, press hard on, Ld. 146, 322, Fms. xi. 240 (where reflex.); var sá viðr bæði mikill og góðr því at Þorkell gékk nær, Th. kept a close eye on it, Ld. 316.

B. Joined with prepp. and adverbs in a metaph. sense:—g. af, to depart from, go off; þá gékk af honum móðrinn ok sefaðisk hann, Edda 28; þá er af honum gékk hamremin, Eg. 125, Eb. 136, Stj. 118; g. af sér, to go out of or beyond oneself; mjök g. þeir svari-bræðr nú af sér, Fbr. 32; í móti Búa er hann gengr af sér ( rages) sem mest, Fb. i. 193; þá gékk mest af sér ranglæti manna um álnir, Bs. i. 135: so in the mod. phrases, g. fram af sér, to overstrain oneself; and g. af sér, to fall off, decay: to forsake, g. af trú, to apostatize, Fms. ii. 213; g. af vitinu, to go out of one’s wits, go mad, Post. 656 C. 31; g. af Guðs boðorðum, Stj. passim: to pass. Páskar g. af, Ld. 200: to be left as surplus (afgangr), Rb. 122, Grág. i. 411, K. Þ. K. 92:—g. aptr, to walk again, of a ghost (aptrganga), Ld. 58, Eb. 278, Fs. 131, 141, passim; and absol., g. um híbýli, to hunt, Landn. 107: to go back, be void, of a bargain, Gþl. 491:—g. at e-m, to go at, attack, Nj. 80, 160: to press on, Grág. i. 51, Dipl. ii. 19 (atgangr): g. at e-u, to accept a choice, Nj. 256; g. at máli, to assist, help, 207: to fit, of a key, lykla þá sem g. at kístum yðrum, Finnb. 234, Fbr. 46 new Ed., N. G. L. i. 383: medic. to ail, e-ð gengr at e-m; ok gengr at barni, and if the bairn ails, 340, freq. in mod. usage of ailment, grief, etc.:—g. á e-t, to go against, encroach upon; ganga á ríki e-s, Fms. i. 2; g. upp á, to tread upon, vii. 166; hverr maðr er ólofat gengr á mál þeirra, who trespasses against their measure, Grág. i. 3: to break, g. á orð, eiða, sættir, trygðir, grið, Finnb. 311, Fms. i. 189, Ld. 234; g. á bak e-u, to contravene, Ísl. ii. 382; ganga á, to go on with a thing, Grág. ii. 363; hence the mod. phrase, mikið gengr á, much going on; hvað gengr á, what is going on? það er farið að g. á það (of a task or work or of stores), it is far advanced, not much left:—g. eptir, to go after, pursue, claim (eptirgangr), Nj. 154, Þórð. 67, Fms. vii. 5; g. eptir e-m, to humour one who is cross, in the phrase, g. eptir e-m með grasið í skónum; vertu ekki að g. eptir stráknum; hann vill láta g. eptir ser (of a spoilt boy, cross fellow): to prove true, follow, hón mælti mart, en þó gékk þat sumt eptir, Nj. 194; eptir gékk þat er mér bauð hugr um, Eg. 21, Fms. x. 211:—g. fram, to go on well in a battle, Nj. 102, 235, Háv. 57 (framgangr): to speed, Nj. 150, Fms. xi. 427: to grow, increase (of stock), fé Hallgerðar gékk fram ok varð allmikit, Nj. 22; en er fram gékk mjök kvikfé Skallagríms, Eg. 136, Vígl. 38: to come to pass, skal þess bíða er þetta gengr fram, Nj. 102, Fms. xi. 22: to die, x. 422:—g. frá, to leave (a work) so and so; g. vel frá, to make good work; g. ílla frá, to make bad work; það er ílla frá því gengið, it is badly done:—g. fyrir, to go before, to yield to, to be swayed by a thing; heldr nú við hót, en ekki geng ek fyrir slíku, Fms. i. 305; þó at vér gangim heldr fyrir blíðu en stríðu, ii. 34, Fb. i. 378, Hom. 68; hvárki gékk hann fyrir blíðyrðum né ógnarmálum, Fms. x. 292; hann gékk þá fyrir fortülum hennar, Bs. i. 742: in mod. usage reflex., gangast fyrir íllu, góðu: to give away, tók hann þá at ganga fyrir, Fb. i. 530: Icel. now say, reflex., gangast fyrir, to fall off, from age or the like (vide fyrirgengiligr): to prevent, skal honum þá eigi fyrnska fyrir g., N. G. L. i. 249; þá er hann sekr þrem mörkum nema nauðsyn gangi fyrir, 14; at þeim gangi lögleg forföll fyrir, Gþl. 12:—g. í gegn, to go against, to meet, in mod. usage to deny, and so it seems to be in Gþl. 156; otherwise in old writers it always means the reverse, viz. to avow, confess; maðr gengr í gegn, at á braut kveðsk tekit hafa, the man confessed and said that he had taken it away, Ísl. ii. 331; ef maðr gengr í gegn legorðinu, Grág. i. 340; sá goði er í gegn gékk ( who acknowledged) þingfesti hans, 20; hann iðraðisk úráðs síns, ok gékk í gegn at hann hefði saklausan selt herra sinn, Sks. 584,—this agrees with the parallel phrase, g. við e-t, mod. g. við e-u, to confess, both in old and mod. usage, id.:—g. hjá, to pass by, to waive a thing, Fms. vi. 168:—g. með, to go with one, to wed, marry (only used of a woman, like Lat. nubere), þú hefir þvert tekit at g. með mér, Ld. 262, Sd. 170, Grág. i. 178, Þiðr. 209, Gkv. 2. 27, Fms. xi. 5: medic., g. með barni, to go with child, i. 57; with acc. (barn), Bs. i. 790, and so in mod. usage; a mother says, sama sumarið sem eg gékk með hann (hana) N. N., (meðgöngutími); but dat. in the phrase, vera með barni, to be with child; g. með burði, of animals, Sks. 50, Stj. 70; g. með máli, to assist, plead, Eg. 523, Fms. xi. 105, Eb. 210; g. með e-u, to confess [Dan. medgaae], Stj., but rare and not vernacular:—g. milli, to go between, intercede, esp. as a peacemaker, passim (milli-ganga, meðal-ganga):—g. í móti, to resist, Nj. 90, 159, 171: of the tide, en þar gékk í móti útfalls-straumr, Eg. 600:—g. saman, to go together, marry, Grág. i. 324, Fms. xi. 77: of a bargain, agreement, við þetta gékk saman sættin, Nj. 250; saman gékk kaupit með þeim, 259:—g. sundr, to go asunder, part, and of a bargain, to be broken off, passim:—g. til, to step out, come along; gangit til, ok blótið, 623. 59; gangit til, ok hyggit at, landsmenn, Fms. iv. 282: to offer oneself, to volunteer, Bs. i. 23, 24: the phrase, e-m gengr e-ð til e-s, to purpose, intend; en þat gékk mér til þess ( that was my reason) at ek ann þér eigi, etc., Ísl. ii. 269; sagði, at honum gékk ekki ótrúnaðr til þessa, Fms. x. 39; gékk Flosa þat til, at …, Nj. 178; gengr mér meirr þat til, at ek vilda firra vini mína vandræðum, Fms. ii. 171; mælgi gengr mér til, ‘tis that I have spoken too freely, Orkn. 469, Fms. vi. 373, vii. 258: to fare, hversu hefir ykkr til gengið, how have you fared? Grett. 48 new Ed.; Loka gékk lítt til, it fared ill with L., Fb. i. 276: mod., þat gékk svá til, it so happened, but not freq., as bera við is better, (tilgangr, intention):—g. um e-t, to go about a thing; g. um sættir, to go between, as peacemaker, Fms. v. 156; g. um beina, to attend guests, Nj. 50, passim: to manage, fékk hón svá um gengit, Grett. 197 new Ed.; hversu þér genguð um mitt góðs, 206: to spread over, in the phrase, má þat er um margan gengr; þess er um margan gengr guma, Hm. 93: to veer, go round, of the wind, gékk um veðrit ok styrmdi at þeim, the wind went round and a gale met them, Bs. i. 775:—g. undan, to go before, escape, Ver. 15, Fms. vii. 217, Blas. 49: to be lost, wasted, jafnmikit sem undan gékk af hans vanrækt, Gþl. 338: to absent oneself, eggjuðusk ok báðu engan undan g., Fms. x. 238:—g. undir, to undertake a duty, freq.: to set, of the sun, Rb. 468, Vígl. (in a verse): to go into one’s possession, power, Fms. vii. 207;—g. upp, to be wasted, of money, Fær. 39, Fms. ix. 354: of stones or earth-bound things, to get loose, be torn loose, þeir glímdu svá at upp gengu stokkar allir í húsinu, Landn. 185; flest gékk upp þat sem fyrir þeim varð, Háv. 40, Finnb. 248; ok gékk ór garðinum upp ( was rent loose) garðtorfa frosin, Eb. 190: to rise, yield, when summoned, Sturl. iii. 236: of a storm, gale, to get up, rise, veðr gékk upp at eins, Grett. 94, Bárð. 169; gengr upp stormr hinn sami, Bs. ii. 50: of an ice-bound river, to swell, áin var ákafliga mikil, vóru höfuðísar at báðum-megin, en gengin upp ( swoln with ice) eptir miðju, Ld. 46, Fbr. 20 new Ed., Bjarn. 52; vötnin upp gengin, Fbr. 114; áin var gengin upp ok íll yfirferðar, Grett. 134:—g. við, in the phrase, g. við staf, to go with a staff, rest on it: with dat., g. við e-u, to avow (vide ganga í gegn above):—g. yfir, to spread, prevail, áðr Kristnin gengi yfir, Fms. x. 273; hétu á heiðin goð til þess at þau léti eigi Kristnina g. yfir landit, Bs. i. 23: the phrase, láta eitt g. yfir báða, to let one fate go over both, to stand by one another for weal and woe; hefi ek því heitið honum at eitt skyldi g. yfir okkr bæði, Nj. 193, 201, 204, Gullþ. 8: so in the saying, má þat er yfir margan gengr, a common evil is easier to bear, Fbr. 45 new Ed. (vide um above); muntu nú verða at segja slíkt sem yfir hefir gengið, all that has happened, Fms. xi. 240; þess gengr ekki yfir þá at þeir vili þeim lengr þjóna, they will no longer serve them, come what may, Orkn. 84: to overrun, tyrannize over, þeir vóru ójafnaðar menn ok ganga þar yfir alla menn, Fms. x. 198 (yfirgangr): to transgress, Hom. 109: to overcome, þótti öllum mönnum sem hann mundi yfir allt g., Fms. vii. 326: a naut. term, to dash over, as spray, áfall svá mikit at yfir gékk þegar skipit, Bs. i. 422; hence the metaph. phrase, g. yfir e-n, to be astonished; það gengr yfir mig, it goes above me, I am astonished.