(curious)

* * *

a. curious.

f. number of five.

* * *

or fimmt, f. a number of five: fimtar-tala, u, f. a set of five or multiple of five (as fifteen, fifty, etc.), Bs. i. 190.

2. [Swed. femt = a kind of court], a law phrase, a summoning before a court with a notice of five days: a standing phrase in the Norse law, so that the verb fimta means to summon: so, fimtar-grið, n. pl. a truce during a fimt, N. G. L. i. 342, 351; fimmtar-nafn, n. a citation with a fimt’s notice, 86; fimmtar-stefna, u, f. a citation before a court with a fimt’s notice, K. Á. 184: the phrase gera e-m fimt simply means to summon, N. G. L. i. 346, passim; one fimt is the shortest notice for summoning, five fimts the longest,—fimm fimtum hit lengsta, ef hann veit nær þing skal vera, 21:—the law provides that no summoning shall take place on Tuesday, because in that case the court-day would fall on Sunday, the day of summoning not being counted, N. G. L., Jb., and K. Á. passim.—This law term is very curious, and seems to be a remnant of the old heathen division of time into fimts (pentads), each month consisting of six such weeks; the old heathen year would then have consisted of seventy-two fimts, a holy number, as composed of 2 × 36 and 6 × 12. With the introduction of the names of the planetary days (vide dagr) and the Christian week, the old fimt only remained in law and common sayings; thus in Hm. 73,—‘there are many turns of the weather in five days (viz. a fimt), but more in a month,’ which would be unintelligible unless we bear in mind that a fimt just answered to our week; or verse 50,—‘among bad friends love flames high for five days, but is slaked when the sixth comes;’ in a few cases, esp. in ecclesiastical law, sjaund (hebdomad) is substituted for the older fimt, N. G. L. passim; it is curious that in Icel. law (Grág.) the fimt scarcely occurs, as in Icel. the modern week seems to have superseded the old at an early time.

COMPDS: Fimtardómr, Fimtardómseiðr, Fimtardómslög, Fimtardómsmal, Fimtardomsstefna, Fimtardómssök, fimtarþing.

n. vehemence, wrath.

(pl. -ar), m. waterfall.

* * *

n. wrath, rage, ire; snúa fors í frið, grimd í grið, 655 xxxii. 24, Bs. ii. 97; með forsi, haughtily, Sturl. iii. 144, Pass. 13. 2; ferr erkibiskup í fors mikit, he fell into great wrath, Fms. xi. 441; fors ok atköst, Fas. iii. 91; fors ok ílska, Stat. 398.

COMPDS: forsfullr, forsligr, forsmaðr.

mod. foss, m., prob. akin to the preceding word and forr, [Swed.-Dan. foss, North. E. force; a test word of Scandin. language and origin; cp. the curious passage in Constant. Porph. De Admin. Imperii, ch. 9, where the Byzantine author gives some names of waterfalls in Russia in two languages, ρωσιστί and σκλαβινιστί (Russian and Slavonic), with a Greek translation; ρωσιστί, a waterfall, being called βορσί or φόρος (e. g. οὐλ-βορσί = Icel. Hólm-fors, βαρου-φόρος = Icel. Báru-fors), whereas σκλαβινιστί it is called πραχ, i. e. porog or prag: Constantine in another passage states that the Russians were Teutonic or ‘Franks:’ the Garðar (Russia Minor) of that time was in fact a Scandin. country; even the name Russia is by some (P. A. Munch) explained as Scandin., afterwards adopted for the whole empire; it was still regarded so by the Byzantine authors of the 10th century, as opposed to Slavonic]:—a ‘force,’ waterfall, Landn. 291, 292; fors mikill er Sarpr heitir, Ó. H. 49, Landn. 277, v. l.: in many local names, Skóga-f. in southern Icel.; Gýgjar-f. in the north (Goða-f. is a corrupt form, cp. Þorláks-kver, p. 288, and Grett. ch. 68, 69, whence the name); Gull-f., Gold-force, a freq. name in western Icel.

2. a brook, stream; this sense is curious, and peculiar to the Stj. (by bishop Brand, a native of south-eastern Icel.); it is well suited to the district of Skaptafells-sýsla, where all brooks are torrents rushing from glaciers into the ocean; til forsins Bison, Stj. 387. Judges iv. 13; hann grípr einn stein upp ór forsinum, 227; Davíð tók fimm steina ór einum forsi, 464. 1 Sam. xvii. 40; við forsinn Besor, 490. 1 Sam. xxx. 9; yfir fors Cedron, 527. 2 Sam. xv. 23; af forsi drakk hann á götu, 656 C. 2: in the old poem Vsp. fors is evidently used in the same sense; á sér hón ansask aurgum forsi, 31; falla forsar, 58. This idiom perhaps gives a hint as to the native place of this poem; falla forsum, to fall in torrents, Fas. ii. (in a verse). fors-fall, n. a ‘forcefall,’ torrent, Stj. 32, Ó. H. 17, Fms. iv. 361.

m. heathen priest; chief (in Iceland during the republic).

* * *

a, m. [Ulf, renders ἱερεύς by gudja (ufar-gudja, ahumista-gudja, etc.), ἱερατεία by gudjinassus, ἱερατεύειν by gudjinôn; an Icel. gyði, gen. gyðja, would answer better to the Goth. form, but it never occurs, except that the fem. gyðja = goddess and priestess points not to goði, but to a masc. with a suppressed final i, gyði; a word coting occurs in O. H. G. glossaries, prob. meaning the same; and the form guþi twice occurs on Danish-Runic stones in Nura-guþi and Saulva-guþi, explained as goði by P. G. Thorsen, Danske Runem.; (Rafn’s explanation and reading of Nura-guþi qs. norðr á Gauði, is scarcely right): with this exception this word is nowhere recorded till it appears in Icel., where it got a wide historical bearing]:—prop. a priest, sacerdos, and hence a liege-lord or chief of the Icel. Commonwealth.

A. HISTORICAL REMARKS.—The Norse chiefs who settled in Icel., finding the country uninhabited, solemnly took possession of the land (land-nám, q. v.); and in order to found a community they built a temple, and called themselves by the name of goði or hof-goði, ‘temple-priest;’ and thus the temple became the nucleus of the new community, which was called goðorð, n.:—hence hof-goði, temple-priest, and höfðingi, chief, became synonymous, vide Eb. passim. Many independent goðar and goðorð sprang up all through the country, until about the year 930 the alþingi (q. v.) was erected, where all the petty sovereign chiefs (goðar) entered into a kind of league, and laid the foundation of a general government for the whole island. In 964 A. D. the constitution was finally settled, the number of goðorð being fixed at three in each þing ( shire), and three þing in each of the three other quarters, (but four in the north); thus the number of goðar came to be nominally thirty-nine, really thirty-six, as the four in the north were only reckoned as three, vide Íb. ch. 5. On the introduction of Christianity the goðar lost their priestly character, but kept the name; and the new bishops obtained seats in the Lögrétta (vide biskup). About the year 1004 there were created new goðar (and goðorð), who had to elect judges to the Fifth Court, but they had no seats in the Lögrétta, and since that time the law distinguishes between forn ( old) and ný ( new) goðorð;—in Glúm. ch. 1 the word forn is an anachronism. It is curious that, especially in the 12th century, the goðar used to take the lesser Orders from political reasons, in order to resist the Romish clergy, who claimed the right of forbidding laymen to be lords of churches or to deal with church matters; thus the great chief Jón Loptsson was a sub-deacon; at last, about 1185, the archbishop of Norway forbade the bishops of Icel. to ordain any holder of a goðorð, unless they first gave up the goðorð, fyrir því bjóðum vér biskupum at vígja eigi þá menn er goðorð hafa, D. I. i. 291. In the middle of the 13th century the king of Norway induced the goðar to hand their power over to him, and thus the union with Norway was finally brought about in the year 1262; since that time, by the introduction of new codes (1272 and 1281), the name and dignity of goðar and goðorð disappeared altogether, so that the name begins and ends with the Commonwealth.

B. DUTIES.—In the alþingi the goðar were invested with the Lögrettu-skipan (q. v.), that is to say, they composed the Lögrétta (the Legislative consisting of forty-eight members—on the irregularity of the number vide Íb. ch. 5), and were the lawgivers of the country; secondly, they had the dómnefna (q. v.), or right of naming the men who were to sit in the courts, vide dómr:—as to their duties in the quarter-parliaments (vár-þing) vide Grág. Þ. Þ. and the Sagas. The authority of the goðar over their liegemen at home was in olden times somewhat patriarchal, vide e. g. the curious passage in Hænsaþ. S. ch. 2; though no section of law relating to this interesting part of the old history is on record, we can glean much information from the Sagas. It is to be borne in mind that the goðar of the Saga time (10th century) and those of the Grágás and Sturlunga time (12th and 13th centuries) were very different; the former were a kind of sovereign chiefs, who of free will entered into a league; the latter had become officials, who for neglecting their duties in parliament might be fined, and even forfeit the goðorð to their liegemen, vide Grág. Þ. Þ. Neither þing (q. v.) nor goðorð was ever strictly geographical (such is the opinion of Konrad Maurer), but changed from time to time; the very word goðorð is defined as ‘power’ (veldi), and was not subject to the payment of tithe, K. Þ. K. 142. The goðorð could be parcelled out by inheritance or by sale; or they might, as was the case in the latter years of the Commonwealth, accumulate in one hand, vide esp. Sturl. passim, and Grág. The liegemen (þingmenn) were fully free to change their lords (ganga í lög með goða, ganga ór lögum); every franklin (þingmaðr) had in parliament to declare his þingfesti, i. e. to name his liegeship, and say to what goði and þing he belonged, and the goði had to acknowledge him; so that a powerful or skilful chief might have liegemen scattered all over the country. But the nomination to the courts and the right of sitting in the legislative body were always bound to the old names, as fixed by the settlement of the year 964; and any one who sought the name or influence of a goði had first (by purchase, inheritance, or otherwise) to become possessor of a share of one of the old traditionary goðorð; see the interesting chapter in Nj. The three goðar in one þing ( shire) were called sam-goða, joint-goðar; for the sense of allsherjar-goði vide p. 17.

C. NAMES.—Sometimes a chief’s name referred to the god whom he especially worshipped, as Freys-Goði, Hrafn., Gísl., whence Freys-gyðlingar, q. v.; (the ör-goði is dubious); more frequently the name referred to the liegemen or county, e. g. Ljósvetninga-Goði, Tungu-Goði, etc.; but in the Saga time, goði was often added to the name almost as a cognomen, and with some, as Snorri, it became a part of their name (as Cato Censor in Latin); hann varðveitti þá hof, var hann þá kallaðr Snorri Goði, Eb. 42; seg, at sá sendi, er meiri vin var húsfreyjunnar at Fróðá en Goðans at Helgafelli, 332. Names on record in the Sagas:—men living from A. D. 874 to 964, Hallsteinn Goði, Landn., Eb.; Sturla Goði, Landn. 65; Jörundr Goði and Hróarr Tungu-Goði, id.; Ljótólfr Goði, Sd.; Hrafnkell Freys-Goði, Hrafn.; Oddr Tungu-Goði, Landn.; Þormóðr Karnár-Goði, Vd.; Áskell Goði, Rd.; Úlfr Ör-goði, Landn.; Grímkell Goði, Harð. S.; Þorgrímr Freys-goði, Gísl. 100, 110:—964 to 1030, Arnkell Goði, Landn., Eb.; Þorgrímr Goði, Eb.; Geirr Goði, Landn., Nj.; Runólfr Goði, id.; Þóroddr Goði, Kristni S.; Þormóðr Allsherjar-Goði, Landn.; Þorgeirr Goði, or Ljósvetninga-Goði, Nj., Landn.; (Þorkell Krafla) Vatnsdæla-Goði, Vd.; Helgi Hofgarða-Goði, Landn., Eb.; Snorri Hlíðarmanna-Goði, Lv.; Þórarinn Langdæla-Goði, Heiðarv. S.; and last, not least, Snorri Goði:—in the following period goði appears, though very rarely, as an appellative, e. g. Þormóðr Skeiðar-Goði (about 1100):—of the new goðar of 1004, Höskuldr Hvítaness-Goði, Nj.:—used ironically, Ingjaldr Sauðeyja-Goði, Ld.

2. goðorð mentioned by name,—in the south, Allsherjar-goðorð, Landn. (App.) 336; Dalverja-goðorð, Sturl. ii. 48; Lundarmanna-goðorð, i. 223; Reykhyltinga-goðorð, 104, iii. 166, 169; Bryndæla-goðorð, Kjaln. S. 402: in the north, Ljósvetninga-goðorð, Lv. ch. 30; Möðruvellinga-goðorð, Bs. i. 488; Vatnsdæla-goðorð, Fs. 68; Fljótamanna-goðorð, Sturl. i. 138: in the west, Snorrunga-goðorð, 55; Jöklamanna-goðorð, iii. 166; Rauðmelinga-goðorð, Eb. 288; Reyknesinga-goðorð, Sturl. i. 9, 19; Þórsnesinga-goðorð, 198: the new godords of the Fifth Court, Laufæsinga-goðorð, Nj. 151; Melamanna-goðorð, id., Band., Sturl. i. 227. Passages in the Sagas and Laws referring to goðar and goðorð are very numerous, e. g. Íb. ch. 5, Nj. ch. 98, Grág., Lögréttu-þáttr, and Þ. Þ. passim, esp. ch. 1–5, 17, 35, 37, 39, 44, 58, 60, 61, Lv. ch. 4 (interesting), Vd. ch. 27, 41 (in fine), and 42, Vápn., Hrafn. ch. 2, Eb. ch. 10, 56, Sturl. iii. 98, 104, passim; for the accumulation of godords, see i. 227 (3, 22), Bs. i. 54; for the handing over the godords to the king of Norway, D. I. i; and esp. article 3 of the Sáttmáli, D. I. i. 631, 632. The godords were tithe-free, ef maðr á goðorð, ok þarf eigi þat til tíundar at telja, vald er þat en eigi fé:, K. Þ. K. 142.

COMPDS: goðakviðr, goðalýrittr, goðaþáttr.

II. = goð, i. e. good genius, in the Icel. game at dice called goða-tafl, with the formula, heima ræð eg goða minn bæði vel og lengi, … og kasta eg svo fyrir þig, cp. also ást-goði.

gjörð, gerð, f. [göra]:

1. used of making, building, workmanship; görð ok gylling, Vm. 47; kirkju-görð, church-building; húsa-g., house-building; skipa-g., ship-building; garð-g., fence-making:—of performance, vígslu-g., inauguration; messu-g., saying of mass, divine service; þjónustu-g., embættis-g., id.; þakkar-g., thanksgiving; bænar-g., prayer; lof-g., praise; ölmusu-g., alms-giving; frið-g., peace-making; sættar-g., settlement, agreement, arbitration:—of working, akr-g., tillage; ú-gerð, bad workmanship, patchwork; við-gerð, mending:—of yielding (of duties), tíundar-görð, tithe; leiðangrs-g., paying levy:—of cookery and the like, öl-görð, ale-making, brewing; matar-g., cooking; brauð-g., baking: sundr-gerð, show: til-gerð, whims: upp-gerð, dissimulation: eptir-görð, q. v.: í-görð, suppuration.

2. a doing, act, deed; the phrase, orð ok görðir, words and deeds, Fms. iii. 148; ef þú launar svá mína görð, Ísl. ii. 141, Stj. 250, 252, Dipl. i. 7: so in the phrase, söm þín gerð, as good as the deed (in declining a kind offer); góð-görð, vel-görð, a good deed, benefit; íll-görðir (pl.), evil doings; mein-görðir, transgressions: in gramm. the active voice, Skálda 180.

II. a law term, arbitration; the settlement was called sætt or sættar-görð, the umpires görðar-menn, m., Grág., Nj. passim; and the verdict gerð or görð, cp. göra C. IV:—the technical phrases were, leggja mál í görð, to submit a case to arbitration, passim; vóru málin í gerð lagin með umgangi ok sættarboðum góðgjarna manna, Eb. 128; or slá málum í sætt, Rd. 248, Eb. ch. 56; leggja mál undir e-n, Lv. ch. 27: nefna menn til görðar (ch. 4), or taka menn til görðar, to choose umpires; vóru menn til gerðar teknir ok lagðr til fundr, Nj. 146: skilja undir gerð (sátt), or skilja undan, to stipulate, of one of the party making a stipulation to be binding on the umpire (as e. g. the award shall not be outlawry but payment), en þó at vandliga væri skilit undir görðina, þá játaði Þórðr at göra, Eb. 24, cp. Ld. 308, Sturl. ii. 63; göra fé slíkt sem hann vildi, at undan-skildum hérað-sektum ok utanferðum, var þá handsalat niðrfall af sökum, Fs. 74; lúka upp gerð ( to deliver the arbitration), or segja upp gerð, to pronounce or to give verdict as umpire; skyldi Skapti gerð upp segja, Valla L. 225; hann lauk upp gerðum á Þórsness-þingi ok hafði við hina vitrustu menn er þar vóru komnir, Eb. 246; þeir skyldi upp lúka görðinni áðr en þeir færi af þingi, Bjarn. (fine); Þorsteinn kvaðsk ekki mundu görð upp lúka fyr en á nokkuru lögþingi, Fs. 49:—as to the number of umpires,—one only, a trustworthy man, was usually appointed, Eb. ch. 10 (Thord Gellir umpire), ch. 46, Lv. ch. 27 (Gellir), Valla L. ch. 6 (Skapti the speaker), Rd. ch. 6 (Áskell Goði), Sturl. 2. ch. 103 (Jón Loptsson), Sturl. 4. ch. 27 (Thorvald Gizurarson), Bjarn. 17 (the king of Norway), Flóam. S. ch. 3, Hallfr. S. ch. 10, Bjarn. 55: two umpires, Rd. ch. 10, 16, 18, 24, Valla L. ch. 10 (partly a case of sjálfdæmi), Bjarn. (fine): twelve umpires, Nj. ch. 75, 123, 124 (six named by each party): the number and other particulars not recorded, Vd. ch. 39, 40, Nj. ch. 94, Rd. ch. 11, 13, Eb. ch. 27, 56, Lv. ch. 4, 12, 30, Glúm. ch. 9, 23, 27, etc.:—even the sjálfdæmi (q. v.), self-judging, was a kind of arbitration, cp. Vápn. 31, Vd. ch. 29, 34, 44, Lv. ch. 17, Band. pp. 11–13, Ölk. ch. 2–4: curious is the passage, ek vil at vit takim menn til görðar með okkr, Hrafnkell svarar, þá þykisk þú jafn-menntr mér, Hrafn. 10:—görð is properly distinguished from dómr, but is sometimes confounded with it, vóru handsöluð mál í dóm ok menn til görðar nefndir, Lv. 13; málin kómu í dóm Vermundar, en hann lauk gerðum upp á Þórsness-þingi, Eb. 246; as also Nj. (beginning), where lögligir dómar no doubt refers to görð. A section of law about görð is contained in the Grág. at the end of Kaupa-þáttr, ch. 69–81 (i. 485–497), where even the curious case is provided for of one or all the umpires dying, or becoming dumb or mad, before pronouncing their verdict. ☞ This was a favourite way of settlement at the time of the Commonwealth, and suited well the sagacious and law-abiding spirit of the men of old: nor did the institution of the Fifth Court make any change in this; the görð was even resorted to in public matters, such as the introduction of Christianity in A. D. 1000. Good and leading men acted the part of public peacemakers (e. g. Njál in the 10th, Jón Loptsson in the 12th century); until at last, in the 13th century, the king of Norway was resorted to, but he misused the confidence put in him.

* * *

(hefi; hafða, höfðum; hafðr), v.

1) to have (þeir höfðu sjau skip ok flest stór);

hafa elda, to keep up a five;

2) to hold, celebrate (hafa vinaboð, blót, þing);

3) to keep, retain (rifu þær vefinn í sundr, ok hafði hverr þat er hélt á);

4) to use (tvau net eru rý, ok hafa eigi höfð verit);

orð þau sem hann hafði um haft, which he had made use of;

hafa fagrmæli við e-n, to flatter one;

hafa hljóðmæli við e-n, to speak secretly to one;

hafa tvimæli á e-u, to speak doubtfully of a thing;

hafa viðrmæli um e-t, to use mocking words;

hann var mjök hafðr við mál manna, much used to, versed in, lawsuits;

5) to have, hold, maintain;

hafa vináttu við e-n, to maintain friendship with one;

hafa hættumikit, to run a great risk;

hafa heilindi, to have good health;

6) to bring, carry;

hafa e-n heim með sér, to bring one home;

hann hafði lög, út hingat ór Noregi, he brought laws hither from Norway;

hafa sik (to betake oneself) til annara landa;

7) to take, carry off;

troll hafi þik, the trolls take thee;

8) to get, gain, win;

hann hafði eigi svefn, he got no sleep;

hefir sá jafnan, er hættir, he wins that ventures;

hafa gagn, sigr, to gain victor;

hafa meira hlut, to get the upper hand, gain the day;

hafa betr (verr), to get the better (worse) of it;

hafa sitt mál, to win one’s suit;

hafa tafl, to win the game;

hafa erendi, to do one’s errand, succeed;

hafa bana, to suffer death, to die;

hafa sigr, to be worsted;

hafa góðar viðtökur, to be well received;

hafa tíðindi af e-m, to get tidings of, or from, one;

hafa sœmd, óvirðing af e-m, to get honour, disgrace from one;

with gen., hafa e-s ekki, to fail to catch one (hann kemst á skóg undan, ok höfðu þeir hans ekki);

ekki munu vér hans hafa at sinni, we shall not catch him at present;

9) to wear carry (clothes, weapons);

hann hafði blán kyrtil, he wore a blue kirtle;

hafa kylfu í hendi sér, to have a club in one’s hand;

10) to behave, do, or fare, so an so esp. with an adv.;

hafa vel, illa, vetr, to behave (do) well, badly, be worse;

hafa sik vel, to behave;

hafa vel, to be well off or happy;

hafa hart, to be in a wretched plight;

11) with infin., hafa at varðveita, to have in keeping at selja, to have on sale;

lög hafið þér at mæla, you are right;

12) hafa e-n nær e-u, to expose one to (þú hafðir svá nær haft oss úfœru);

hafa nær e-u, to come near to, esp. impers.;

nær hafði okkr nú, it was a narrow escape;

svá nær hafði hausinum, at, the shot so nearly touched the head, that;

ok er nær hafði, skipit mundi fljóta, when the ship was on the point of flloating;

13) as an auxiliary verb, in the earliest time with the pp. of transitive verbs in acc.;

hefir þú hamar um fólginn, hast thou hidden the hammer?;

ek hefi sendan mann, I have sent a man;

later with indecl. neut. pp.;

hefir þú eigi sét mik, hast thou not seen me?;

14) with preps.:

hafa e-t at, to do, act;

hann tók af þér konuna, en þú hafðir ekki at, but thou didst not stir, didst take it tamely;

absol., viltu þess freista, ok vita hvat at hafi, wilt thou try and see what happens?;

hafa e-t at hlífiskildi (skotspœni), to use as a shield (as a target);

hafa e-n háði, hlátri, to mock, laugh at;

hafa e-t at engu, vettugi, to hold for naught, take no notice of;

hafa sakir á e-n have charges against one;

hafa á rás, to take to one’s heels, run off;

hafa e-t eptir, to do or repeat a thing after one;

hafa e-t fram, to produce (vápn þorgils vóru fram höfð); to carry out, hold forth;

hafa mál fram, to proceed with a suit;

var um búit, ekki fram haft, all was made ready but nothing done;

hafa e-t frammi, í frammi, to use, make use of (hafa í frammi kúgan);

ok öll lögmæt skil frammi hafa, and discharge all on official duties;

hafa e-t fyrir satt, to hold for true;

eigi em ek þar fyrir sönnu hafðr, I am not truly aimed for that, it is a false charge;

hafa e-n fyrir sökum um e-t, to charge one with;

hafa í hótum við e-n, to threaten one;

hafa e-t með höndum, to have in hand;

höfum eiai sigrinn ór hendi, let not victory slip out of our hands;

hafa ór við e-n, to behave so and so towards one (hefir þú illa ór haft við mik);

hafa e-t til e-s to use for (höfðu þeir til varnar skot ok spjót); to be a reason or ground for;

vér hyggjum þat til þess haft vera, at þar hafi menn sézt, we believe the foundation of the story is that men have been seen there;

hafa mikit (lítit) til síns máls, to have much (little) in support of one’s case;

hafa e-t til, to have at hand, possess;

orð þau, sem hann hafði um haft, the words which he had used;

keisari hafði fátt um, did not say much;

hafa e-n undir, to get one under, subdue one;

hafa e-t uppi, to take (heave) up (hafa uppi fœri, net);

Skarpheðinn hafði uppi øxina, S. heaved up the axe;

hafa flokk uppi, to raise a party, to rebel;

hafa uppi tafl, to play at a game;

hafa e-n uppi, to bring one to light;

hafa uppi rœður, to begin a discussion;

hafa e-t úti, to have done, finished (hafa úti sitt dagsverk);

hafa við e-m, to be a match for one;

hafa sik við, to exert oneself;

hafa mikit (lítit) við, to make a great (little) display;

hann söng messu ok bafði mikit við, and made much of it;

hann bad jarl leita, bann hafði lítit við þat, he did it lightly;

haf ekki slíkt við, do not say so;

haf þú lítit við at eggja sonu þina, refrain from egging on thy sons;

15) refl., hafast.

* * *

pret. hafði; subj. hefði; pres. sing. hefi (less correctly hefir), hefir, hefir; plur. höfum, hafit, hafa: the mod. pres. sing. is monosyllabic hefr or hefur, and is used so in rhymes—andvara engan hefur | … við glys heims gálaus sefur, Pass. 15. 6, but in print the true old form hefir is still retained; the monosyllabic present is used even by old writers in the 1st pers. before the personal or negative suffix, e. g. hef-k and hef-k-a ek for hefi-g and hefig-a ek, see e. g. Grág. (Kb.) 79, 82, in the old oath formula, hef-k eigi, Hallfred; hef ek, Fms. iii. 10 (in a verse); but not so in 3rd pers., e. g. hefir-a or hefir-at, Grág. l. c.: imperat. haf, hafðu: part. pass. hafðr, neut. haft;—hafat is an απ. λεγ., Vsp. 16, and is prob. qs. hafit from hefja, to heave, lift: [Ulf. haban; A. S. habban; Engl. have; Hel. hebben; Germ. haben; Dutch hebben; Dan. have, Swed. hafva: it is curious the Lat. form habere retains the consonant unchanged, cp. the Romance forms, Ital. avere, Fr. avoir, Span. haber, etc. ☞ Hafa is a weak verb, and thus distinguished from hefja (to lift, begin), which is a strong verb, answering to Lat. capere, incipere; but in sundry cases, as will be seen below, it passes into the sense of this latter word; as also in some instances into that of another lost strong verb, hafa, hóf, to behave, and hœfa, to hit]:—to have.

A. To have; hann hafði með sér ekki meira lið, Fms. i. 39; hafði hverr hirð um sik, 52; höfðu þeir áttján skip, viii. 42; Sverrir hafði tvau hundrað manna, … þeir höfðu annan samnað á landi, 328; hann hafði mikit lið ok frítt, x. 36; þeir höfðu sjau skip ok flest stór, 102; hafa fjölmennar setur, Eb. 22; hann hafði menn sína í síldveri, Eg. 42; mun ek naut hafa þar sem mér þykkir hagi beztr, 716.

II. to hold:

1. to keep, celebrate; hafa ok halda, Dipl. i. 6; hafa átrúnað, 10; hafa dóma, 12; hafa blót, Fms. iv. 254; hafa vina-veizlu, id.; hafa vina-boð, Nj. 2; hafa Jóla-boð, Eg. 516; hafa þing, Fms. ix. 449; hafa haust-boð, Gísl. 27; hafa drykkju, Eb. 154; hafa leik, Fms. x. 201, passim.

2. to hold, observe; hlýðir þat hvergi at hafa eigi lög í landi, Nj. 149; skal þat hafa, er stendr …, Grág. i. 7; skal þat allt hafa er finsk á skrá þeirri …, id.; en hvatki es mis-sagt es í fræðum þessum, þá es skylt at hafa þat (to keep, hold to be true) es sannara reynisk, Íb. 3; ok hafða ek (I kept, selected) þat ór hvárri er framarr greindi, Landn. 320, v. l.

3. to hold, keep, retain; ef hann vill hafa hann til fardaga, Grág. i. 155; skal búandinn hafa hann hálfan mánuð, 154; ok hafði hvárr þat er hélt á, Nj. 279; hitt skal hafa er um fram er, Rb. 56; kasta í burt þrjátigi ok haf þat sem eptir verðr, 494.

4. to hold an office; hafa lögsögu, to hold the office of lögsaga, Íb. passim; hafa jarldóm, konungdóm, passim; þat höfðu haft at fornu Dana-konungar, Eg. 267; þér berit konunga-nöfn svá sem fyrr hafa haft ( have had) forfeðr yðrir, en hafit lítið af ríki, Fms. i. 52; hafa ríki, to reign, Hkr. pref.

5. phrases, hafa elda, to keep a fire, cook, Fms. xi. 129; hafa fjárgæzlu, to tend sheep, Eg. 740; hafa embætti með höndum, Stj. 204; hafa gæzlur á e-u, Fms. ix. 313; hafa … vetr, to have so many winters, be of such an age (cp. Fr. avoir … ans), Íb. 15; margir höfðu lítið fátt þúsund ára, Ver. 7: hafa vörn í máli, Nj. 93; hafa e-t með höndum, to have in hand, Fms. viii. 280, ix. 239; hafa e-t á höndum, Grág. i. 38; hafa fyrir satt, to hold for true, Fms. xi. 10; hafa við orð, to intimate, suggest, Nj. 160; hafa e-t at engu, vettugi, to hold for naught, take no notice of, Fas. i. 318.

6. with prepp. or infin.,

α. with prep.; hafa til, to have, possess; ef annarr þeirra hefir til enn annarr eigi, þá er sá skyldr til at fá honum er til hefir, Grág. i. 33; ef annarr hefir til …, id.; þér ætlið at ek muna eigi afl til hafa, Ld. 28.

β. with infin.; hafa at varðveita, to have in keeping, Eg. 500; lög hafit þér at mæla, you have the law on your tongue, i. e. you are right, Nj. 101; hörð tíðindi hefi ek at segja þér, 64; sá er gripinn hefir at halda, Grág. i. 438; hafa at selja, to have on sale, Ld. 28.

III. to use; var haft til þess sker eitt, Eb. 12; þá höfðu þeir til varnar skot ok spjót, Fms. vii. 193; er þín ráð vóru höfð, that thy advice was taken, Fs. 57; Gríss hafði þessi ráð, Fms. iii. 21; ek vil at þat sé haft er ek legg til, x. 249; þykki mér þú vel hafa ( make good use of) þau tillög er ek legg fyrir þik, xi. 61; til þess alls er jarli þótti skipta, þá hafði hann þessa hluti, 129; tvau ný (net), ok hafa eigi höfð verit ( which have not been used), haf þú ( take) hvárt er þú vilt, Háv. 46; þær vil ek hafa enar nýju, en ek vil ekki hætta til at hafa enar fornu, id.; önnur er ný ok mikil ok hefir ( has) til einskis höfð ( used) verið, id.; buðkr er fyrir húslker er hafðr, Vm. 171; gjalda vápn þau er höfð eru, N. G. L. i. 75; þat hafði hann haft ( used) fyrir skála, Edda 29; þeir vóru hafðir til at festa með hús jafnan, Nj. 118; sá hólmr var hafðr til at …, Fms. i. 218; hann skyldi hafa hinn sama eið, x. 7; orð þau sem hann hafði ( had) um haft ( used), Nj. 56; orð þau er hann hafði ( made use of) í barnskírn, K. Þ. K. 14.

2. more special phrases; hafa fagrmæli við e-n, to flatter one, Nj. 224; hafa hljóðmæli við e-n, to speak secretly to one, 223; allmikil fjölkyngi mun vera við höfð áðr svá fái gört, Edda 27; hafa mörg orð um e-t, Ld. 268; hafa tvímæli á e-u, to discuss, doubt, speak diffidently of a thing, Lv. 52; hafa viðrmæli um e-t, to use mocking words, Nj. 89; hafa nafn Drottins í hégóma, to take the Lord’s name in vain, Fms. i. 310; (hann var) mjök hafðr við mál manna, much used to, versed in lawsuits, Dropl. 8: hafa sik til e-s, to use oneself to a thing, i. e. to do a mean, paltry thing; þeir er til þess vilja hafa sik, at ganga í samkundur manna úboðit, Gþl. 200; ef hann vill sik til þessa hafa, Fms. i. 99: hafa sik við, to exert oneself; skaltú ok verða þik við at hafa um þetta mál, ef þú getr þat af þér fært, Grett. 160: hafa e-n at skotspæni, to use one as a target, Nj. 222; hafa e-n at hlífi-skildi sér, to use one as a shield, 262; hafa e-n at ginningar-fifli, auga-bragði, háði, hlátri, Hm. 133, Nj. 224, passim.

IV. to have, hold, maintain, of a state or condition; hafa vináttu við e-n, to maintain friendship with one, Sks. 662; hafa vanmátt, to continue sick, Eg. 565; hafa hættu-mikit, to run a great risk, Nj. 149; hafa vitfirring, to be insane, Grág. i. 154; hafa heilindi, to have good health, 26, Hm. 67; hafa burði til e-s, to have the birthright to a thing. Eg. 479; hafa hug, áræði, hyggindi, to have the courage …, Hom. 28; hafa vit ( to know), skyn, greind … á e-u, to have understanding of a thing; hafa gaman, gleði, skemtun, ánægju af e-u, to have interest or pleasure in a thing; hafa leiða, ógeð, andstygð, hatr, óbeit á e-u, to dislike, be disgusted with, hate a thing; hafa elsku, mætr, virðing á e-u, to love, esteeem … a thing; hafa allan hug á e-u, to bend the mind to a thing; hafa grun á e-m, to suspect one; hafa ótta, beyg af e-u, to fear a thing; and in numberless other phrases.

2. with prepp.:

α. hafa e-t frammi (fram), to carry out, hold forth; hafa frammi róg, Nj. 166; hafa mál fram, to proceed with a suit, 101; stefnu-för, 78; heitstrengingar, Fms. xi. 103; ok öll lögmælt skil frammi hafa, and discharge all one’s official duties, 232; var um búit en ekki fram haft, all was made ready, but nothing done, viii. 113; beini má varla verða betri en hér er frammi hafðr, xi. 52; hafðú í frammi ( use) kúgan við þá uppi við fjöllin, Ísl. ii. 215; margir hlutir, þó at hann hafi í frammi, Sks. 276.

β. hafa mikit, lítið fyrir e-u, to have much, little trouble about a thing; (hence fyrir-höfn, trouble.)

γ. hafa við e-m (afl or the like understood), to be a match for one, Fms. vii. 170, Lv. 109, Nj. 89, Eg. 474, Anal. 176; hafa mikit, lítið við, to make a great, little display; (hence við-höfn, display, pomp); hann söng messu ok hafði mikit við, he sang mass and made a great thing of it, Nj. 157; þú hefir mikit við, thou makest a great show of it, Boll. 351; hann bað jarl leita, hann hafði lítið við þat, he did it lightly, Nj. 141; haf ekki slíkt við, do not say so, Ld. 182.

B. To take, carry off, win, wield, [closely akin to Lat. capere]:

I. to catch, take, esp. in the phrase, hafa ekki e-s, to miss one; hann kemsk á skóg undan, ok höfðu þeir hans ekki, he took to the forest and they missed him, Nj. 130; ekki munu vér hans hafa at sinni, we sha’nt catch him at present, Fms. vi. 278; hafða ek þess vætki vífs, Hm. 101; þeygi ek hana at heldr hefik, 95: in swearing, tröll, herr, gramir hafi þik, the trolls, ghosts, etc. take thee! tröll hafi líf, ef …, Kormak; tröll hafi Trefót allan! Grett. (in a verse); tröll hafi þína vini, tröll hafi hól þitt, Nj.; herr hafi Þóri til slægan, confound the wily Thorir! Fms. vi. 278, v. l. (emended, as the phrase is wrongly explained in Fms. xii. Gloss.); gramir hafi þik! vide gramr.

II. to carry, carry off, bring; hafði einn hjartað í munni sér, one carried the heart off in his mouth, Nj. 95; hann hafði þat ( brought it) norðan með sér, Eg. 42; hafði Þórólfr heim marga dýrgripi, 4; hann hafði með sér skatt allan, 62; skaltú biðja hennar ok hafa hana heim hingat, Edda 22; fé þat er hann hafði ( had) út haft ( carried from abroad), Gullþ. 13; á fimm hestum höfðu þeir mat, Nj. 74; bókina er hann hafði ( had) út haft, Fms. vii. 156; konungr hafði biskup norðr til Björgynjar með sér, viii. 296; biskup lét hann hafa með sér kirkju-við ok járn-klukku, Landn. 42; hann hafði með sér skulda-lið sitt ok búferli, Eb. 8; hann tók ofan hofit, ok hafði með sér flesta viðu, id.; ok hafa hana í brott, Fms. i. 3; tekr upp barnit, ok hefir heim með sér, Ísl. ii. 20; hann hafði lög út hingat ór Noregi, he brought laws hither from Norway, Íb. 5; haf þú heim hvali til bæjar, Hým. 26; ok hafa hann til Valhallar, Nj. 119.

III. to take, get; hann hafði þá engan mat né drykk, he took no food nor drink, Eg. 602; hann hafði eigi svefn, he got no sleep, Bs. i. 139.

2. to get, gain, win; öfluðu sér fjár, ok höfðu hlutskipti mikit, Eg. 4; eigi þarftú at biðja viðsmjörs þess, þvíat hann mun þat alls ekki hafa, né þú, for neither he nor thou shall get it, Blas. 28; jarl vill hafa minn fund, he will have a meeting with me, 40, Skv. 1. 4: the sayings, hefir sá jafnan er hættir, he wins that risks, ‘nothing venture, nothing have,’ Hrafn. 16; sá hefir krás er krefr, Sl. 29.

3. phrases, hafa meira hlut, to get the better lot, gain the day, Nj. 90, Fms. xi. 93; hafa gagn, sigr, to gain victory, ix. 132, Eg. 7, Hkr. i. 215, Ver. 38; hafa betr, to get the better; hafa verr, miðr, to have the worst of it, Fms. v. 86, Þorst. S. St. 48, passim; hafa mál sitt, to win one’s suit, Grág. i. 7, Fms. vii. 34; hafa kaup öll, to get all the bargain, Eg. 71; hafa tafl, to win the game, Fms. vii. 219; hafa erendi, to do one’s errand, succeed, Þkv. 10, 11, Fas. ii. 517: hafa bana, to have one’s bane, to die, Nj. 8; hafa úsigr, to be worsted, passim; hafa úfrið, to have no peace; hafa gagn, sóma, heiðr, neisu, óvirðing, skömm, etc. af e-u, to get profit, gain, honour, disgrace, etc. from a thing; hafa e-n í helju, to put one to death, Al. 123; hafa e-n undir, to get one under, subdue him, Nj. 95, 128; höfum eigi, sigrinn ór hendi, let not victory slip out of our hands, Fms. v. 294.

4. to get, receive; hann hafði góðar viðtökur, Nj. 4; hón skal hafa sex-tigi hundraða, 3; skyldi Högni hafa land, 118; selja skipit, ef hann hafði þat fyrir ( if he could get for it) sem hann vildi; Flosi spurði í hverjum aurum hann vildi fyrir hafa, hann kvaðsk vildu fyrir hafa land, 259; hafa tíðindi, sögur af e-m, to have, get tidings of or from one, Ld. 28; hafa sæmd, metorð óvirðing, to get honour, disgrace from one’s hands, Nj. 101; hafa bætr, to get compensation, Grág. i. 188; hafa innstæðuna eina, id.; hafa af e-m, to have the best of one, cheat one.

IV. to carry, wear, of clothes, ornaments, weapons:

1. of clothes, [cp. Lat. habitus and Icel. höfn = gear]; hafa hatt á höfði, Ld. 28; hafa váskufl yztan klæða, … þú skalt hafa undir ( wear beneath) hin góðu klæði þín, Nj. 32; hann hafði blán kyrtil, … hann hafði svartan kyrtil, Boll. 358; hafa fald á höfði, to wear a hood; hón hafði gaddan rautt á höfði, Orkn. 304; hann hafði um sik breitt belti, he wore a broad belt, Nj. 91; hafa fingr-gull á hendi, 146: to have about one’s person, vefja saman ok hafa í pungi sínum, Edda 27; hlutir sem mönnum var títt at hafa, Fms. xi. 128.

2. of weapons, to wield, carry; spjót þat er þú hefir í hendi, Boll. 350; hafa kylfu í hendi sér, to have a club in one’s hand, Fms. xi. 129; hafa staf í hendi, to have a stick in the hand, Bárð.; Gunnarr hafði atgeirinn ok sverðit, Kolskeggr hafði saxit, Hjörtr hafði alvæpni, Nj. 93; hann hafdi öxi snaghyrnda, Boll. 358; hann hafði kesjuna fyrir sér, he held the lance in rest, Eg. 532.

V. here may be added a few special phrases; hafa hendr fyrir sér, to grope, feel with the hands (as in darkness); hafa vit fyrir sér, to act wisely; hafa at sér hendina, to draw one’s hand back, Stj. 198; hafa e-t eptir, to do or repeat a thing after one, Konr.; hafa e-t yfir, to repeat (of a lesson): hafa sik, to betake oneself; hafa sik til annarra landa, Grett. 9 new Ed.; hann vissi varla hvar hann átti at hafa sik, he knew not where ( whither) to betake himself, Bs. i. 807; hefir hann sik aptr á stað til munklífisins, Mar.

C. Passing into the sense of hefja (see at the beginning); hafa e-t uppi, to heave up, raise; hafa flokk uppi, to raise a party, to rebel, Fb. ii. 89: hafa uppi færi, net, a fisherman’s term, to heave up, take up the net or line, Háv. 46; Skarphéðinn hafði uppi ( heaved up) öxina, Nj. 144: hafa uppi tafl, to play at a game, Vápn. 29; þar vóru mjök töfl uppi höfð ok sagna-skemtan, Þorf. Karl. 406, v. l.: hafa e-n uppi, to hold one up, bring him to light; svá máttu oss skjótast uppi hafa, Fær. 42: metaph. to reveal, vándr riddari hafði allt þegar uppi, Str. 10.

2. with the notion to begin; Bárðr hafði uppi orð sín ( began his suit) ok bað Sigríðar, Eg. 26, Eb. 142; hafa upp stefnu, to begin the summons, Boll. 350; hafa upp ræður, to begin a discussion; ræður þær er hann hafði uppi haft við Ingigerði, Fms. iv. 144, where the older text in Ó. H. reads umræður þær er hann hafði upp hafit (from hefja), 59; cp. also Vsp., þat langniðja-tal mun uppi hafat (i. e. hafit) meðan öld lifir, 16, (cp. upp-haf, beginning); þó at ek hafa síðarr um-ræðu um hann, better þó at ek hafa (i. e. hefja) síðarr upp ræðu um hann, though I shall below treat of, discuss that, Skálda (Thorodd) 168; er lengi hefir uppi verit haft síðan (of a song), Nj. 135; cp. also phrases such as, hafa á rás, to begin running, take to one’s heels, Fms. iv. 120, ix. 490; næsta morgin hefir út fjörðinn, the next morning a breeze off land arose, Bs. ii. 48: opp. is the phrase, hafa e-t úti, to have done, finished; hafa úti sitt dags-verk, Fms. xi. 431; hafa úti sekt sína, Grett. 149.

D. Passing into the sense of a lost strong verb, hafa, hóf (see at the beginning), to behave, do, act:

I. with an adverb, hafa vel, ílla, or the like, to behave, and in some instances to do well or badly, be happy or unhappy,

α. to behave; en nú vil ek eigi verr hafa en þú, Fms. iv. 342; þeir sögðu at konungr vildi verr hafa en þeir, 313; hefir þú ílla ór (málum or the like understood) haft við mik, Fs. 140; ólikr er Gísli öðrum í þolinmæði, ok hefir hann betr en vér, Gísl. 28.

β. to do so and so (to be happy, unhappy); verr hafa þeir er trygðum slitu, Mkv. 3; ílla hefir sá er annan svíkr, 18; vel hefir sá er þat líða lætr, 6; vel hefir sá ( he is happy) er eigi bíðr slíkt íllt þessa heims, Fms. v. 145; hvílíkt hefir þú, how dost thou? Mar.; hafa hart, to do badly, to be wretched; at sál Þorgils mætti fyrir þær sakir eigi hart hafa, Sturl. iii. 292, Mar.; Ólafr hafði þá hölzti ílla, O. was very poorly, D. N. ii. 156; þykisk sá bezt hafa ( happiest) er fyrstr kemr heim, Fms. xi. 248; þá hefir hann bazt af hann þegir, i. e. that is the best he can do if he holds his tongue, Hm. 19; þess get ek at sá hafi verr ( he will make a bad bargain) er þik flytr, Nj. 128; úlfgi hefir ok vel, the wolf is in a bad plight, Ls. 39; mun sá betr hafa er eigi tekr við þér, id.; betr hefðir þú, ef …, thou wouldest do better, if …, Akv. 16.

γ. adding sik; hafa sik vel, to behave well, Fms. x. 415, Stj. 436.

II. with the prep. at, to do, act, (hence at-höfn, at-hæfi, act, doing); hann lét ekki til búa vígs-málit ok engan hlut at hafa, Nj. 71; en ef þeim þykkir of lítið féit tekit, þá skulu þeir hafa at hit sama, to act in the same way, Grág. ii. 267; hvatki es þeir hafa at, Fms. xi. 132; hann tók af þér konuna, en þú hafðir ekki at, but thou didst not stir, didst take it tamely, Nj. 33; bæði munu menn þetta kalla stórvirki ok íllvirki, en þó má nú ekki at hafa, but there is no help for it, 202; eigi sýnisk mér meðal-atferðar-leysi, at vér höfum eigi at um kvámur hans, i. e. that we submit tamely to his coming, Fs. 32: absol., viltú þess freista, ok vita þá hvat at hafi, wilt thou try and see how it will do? Bjarn. 27; en nú skaltú fara fyrir, ok vita hvat at hafi, Bs. i. 712.

III. phrases, hafa hátt, to be noisy, talk loud, Fms. i. 66; við skulum ekki hafa hátt ( do not cry loud) hér er maðr á glugganum, a lullaby song; hafa lágt, to keep silent; hafa hægt, to keep quiet; hafa sik á (í) hófi, to compose oneself, Ls. 36; hafa í hótum við e-n, to use threatening ( foul) language, Fb. i. 312; hafa í glett við e-n, to banter one, Fms. viii. 289; hafa íllt at verki, to do a bad deed, Ísl. ii. 184.

E. Passing into the sense of the verb hæfa (see at the beginning), to aim at, hit, with dat.:

I. to hit; svá nær hafði hausinum, at …, the shot so nearly hit the head, that …, Fms. ii. 272; þat sama forað, sem henni hafði næst váða, those very precipices from which she had so narrow an escape, Bs. i. 200, Fms. ix. 357; nær hafði nú, at skjótr mundi verða okkarr skilnaðr, Al. 124; nær hafði okkr nú, it struck near us, it was a narrow escape, Fms. viii. 281; kvaðsk svá dreymt hafa ( have dreamed), at þeim mundi nær hafa, ix. 387, v. l.; ok er nær hafði at skipit mundi fljóta, when the ship was on the point of floating, Ld. 58; ok hafði svá nær (it was within a hair’s breadth), at frændr Þorvalds mundu ganga at honum, Nj. 160; ok hafði svá nær at þeir mundi berjask, Íb. 11, cp. Bs. i. 21: the phrase, fjarri hefir, far from it! Edda (in a verse).

2. to charge; eigi em ek þar fyrir sönnu hafðr, I am not truly aimed at for that, ‘tis a false charge, Eg. 64; þeim manni er fyrir sökum er hafðr, i. e. the culprit, Grág. i. 29; cp. the mod. phrase, hafa á e-u, to make a charge of a thing; það varð ekki á því haft, they could not make a case for a charge of it.

II. metaph. to be the ground or reason for, (hence til-hæfa, reason, fact, foundation); til þess ætla vitrir menn þat haft at Ísland sé Tile (i. e. Thule) kallað, at …, learned men suppose that is the reason that Iceland is called Thule, that …, Landn. (pref.); mikit mun til haft, er einmæli er um (there must be some reason for it, because all people say so), Þorgils segir, eigi er fyrir haft ( there is no ground whatever for it), at ek mæla betr fyrir griðum en aðrir menn, Ísl. ii. 379; vér hyggjum þat til þess haft vera, at þar hafi menn sésk, we believe the substance of the story is that men have been seen there, Fms. xi. 158; hvat er til þess haft um þat (what is the truth of the matter?), hefir sundr-þykki orðit með ykkr? Boll. 364: in the saying, hefir hverr til síns ágætis nokkut, every one gets his reputation for something, Nj. 115.

2. to happen, coincide; hefir svá til, at hann var þar sjálfr, Fms. xi. 138, v. l.

β. the phrase, hafa mikit (lítið) til síns máls, to have much ( little) reason for one’s tale, i. e. to be much, little, in the right, Fms. vii. 221, xi. 138 (v. l.), Nj. 88: um þenna hefir svá stórum, it matters so much with this man, (v. l. for mun stórum skipta), Fms. xi. 311.

F. REFLEX. to keep, dwell, abide, but only of a temporary shelter or abode, cp. Lat. habitare, (cp. also höfn, a haven); hann hefsk á náttartíma niðri í vötnum, at night-time he keeps down in the water, Stj. 77: to live, þeir höfðusk mjök í kaupferðum, they spent much of their life in travelling, Hkr. i. 276; hann hafðisk löngum í bænum, Bs. i. 353.

β. with prep. við; hér mun ek við hafask ( I will stay here) en þú far til konungs, Fb. ii. 125; hafðisk hann við á skógum eðr í öðrum fylgsnum, 302; því at hann hafðisk þá á skipum við, Fms. viii. 44; hvílsk heldr ok hafsk við í því landi, rest and stay in that land, Stj. 162; Ásgeirr hafðisk við uppi í dalnum, Sd. 154; hafask lind fyrir, to cover oneself with a shield (?), Vsp. 50; hafask hlífar fyrir, to be mailed in armour, Hkm. 11.

2. hafask at, to do, behave (cp. D. above); vóru þeir þá svá móðir, at þeir máttu ekki at hafask, Fms. ii. 149; en síðan skulut þér at hafa slíkt sem ek kann fyrir segja, i. 158; þat eitt munu við at hafask, at ek mun betr göra en þú, Nj. 19; Lambi sá hvat Steinarr hafðisk at, Eg. 747.

3. hafask vel, to do well, thrive; vaxa ok vel hafask, to wax and do well, Hm. 142; nú er þat bæn mín, at þér hafisk við vel, that you bear yourself well up, Fms. ix. 497; Jungfrúin hafðisk vel við í ferðinni, x. 86; at fé hans mundi eigi hafask at betr at meðal-vetri, Grág. ii. 326.

4. recipr., hafask orð við, to speak to one another; ok er þat ósiðlegt, at menn hafisk eigi orð við, Fs. 14; þar til er þeir hafask réttar tölur við, N. G. L. i. 182.

II. part. hafandi is used in the sense of having conceived, being with child; þá verit hann varr við at hón var hafandi, 656 B. 14; hón skyldi verða hafandi at Guðs syni, id.; generally, allt þat er hafanda var lét burð sinn ok ærðisk, Fms. vii. 187; svá sem hón verðr at honum hafandi, Stj. 178; (hence barns-hafandi, being with child.)

G. The word hafa is in the Icel., as in other Teut. languages, used as an auxiliary verb with a part. pass. of another verb, whereby a compound preterite and pluperfect are formed as follows:

I. in transitive verbs with acc. the participle also was put in acc., agreeing in gender, number, and case with the objective noun or pronoun; this seems to have been a fixed rule in the earliest time, and is used so in all old poems down at least to the middle of the 11th century, to the time of Sighvat (circ. A. D. 990–1040), who constantly used the old form,—átt is an apostrophe for átta in the verse Ó. H. 81:

1. references from poets, Gm. 5, 12, 16; þá er forðum mik fædda höfðu, Vsp. 2; hverr hefði lopt lævi blandit eðr ætt jötuns Óðs mey gefna, 29; þær’s í árdaga áttar höfðu, 60: ek hafða fengna konungs reiði, Ad. 3; en Grjótbjörn um gnegðan hefir, 18; mik hefir marr miklu ræntan, Stor. 10; þó hefir Míms-vinr mér um fengnar bölva bætr, 22: gaupur er Haraldr hafi sveltar, Hornklofi: Loka mær hefir leikinn allvald, Ýt. 7; sá hafði borinn brúna-hörg, 14; jarlar höfðu veginn hann, 15: ek hef orðinn ( found) þann guðföðr (verða is here used as trans.), Hallfred; höfum kera framðan, id.: hann hefir litnar, sénar, hár bárur, Ísl. ii. 223, thus twice in a verse of A. D. 1002; göngu hefik of gengna, Korm. (in a verse); hann hafði farna för, Hkr. i. (Glum Geirason); ek hefi talðar níu orustur, Sighvat; þú hefir vanðan þik, id.; ér hafit rekna þá braut, Ó. H. 63 (Óttar Svarti); hann hefir búnar okkr hendr skrautliga, Sighvat (Ó. H. 13); þeir hafa færð sín höfuð Knúti, id.; hvar hafit ér hugðan mér sess, id.; hafa sér kenndan enn nørðra heims enda, id.; Sighvatr hefir lattan gram, id.; hefir þú hamar um fólginn, Þkv. 7, 8; þú hefir hvatta okkr, Gkv. 6; ek hefi yðr brennda, Am. 39, cp. 56; hefi ek þik minntan, 81; hefir þú hjörtu tuggin, Akv. 36; hefir þú mik dvalðan, Hbl. 51; ek hefi hafðar þrár, I have had throes, Fsm. 51; en ek hann görvan hef-k, svá hefi ek studdan, 12 (verse 13 is corrupt); hann hefir dvalða þik, Hkv. Hjörv. 29; lostna, 30; mik hefir sóttan meiri glæpr, 32; ek hefi brúði kerna, id.; þú hefir etnar úlfa krásir, opt sár sogin, Hkv. 1. 36; sá er opt hefir örnu sadda, 35; hefir þú kannaða koni óneisa, 23; þá er mik svikna höfðut, Skv. 3. 55; hann hafði getna sonu, Bkv. 8; þann sal hafa halir um görvan, Fm. 42; bróður minn hefir þú benjaðan, 25; er hann ráðinn hefir, 37; sjaldan hefir þú gefnar vargi bráðir, Eg. (in a verse).

2. references from prose; this old form has since been turned into an indecl. neut. sing. part. -it. The old form was first lost in the strong verbs and the weak verbs of the first conjugation: in the earliest prose both forms are used, although the indecl. is more freq. even in the prose writers, as Íb., the Heiðarv. S., the Miracle-book in Bs., Njála, Ó. H., (Thorodd seems only to use the old form,) as may be seen from the following references, Björn hafði særða þrjá menn, Nj. 262; hann mundi hana hafa gipta honum, 47; hann hafði þá leidda saman hestana, 264: ek hefi sendan mann, Ísl. (Heiðarv. S.) ii. 333; ek nefi senda menn, id.: hafa son sinn ór helju heimtan, Bs. (Miracle-book) i. 337; en er þeir höfðu niðr settan sveininn, 349; hann hafði veidda fimm tegu fiska, 350: er þér hefir ílla neisu gorva, Ó. H. 107: þá hefi ek fyrri setta þá í stafrófi, Skálda (Thorodd) 161; þar hefi ek við görva þessa stafi fjóra, id.; hafa hann samsettan, 167: góða fylgd hefir þú mér veitta, Þorst Síðu H. 2: sagði, at Ólafr konungr hafði sendan hann, Bs. i. 11: Þyri, er hertogi hafði festa nauðga, Fms. x. 393 (Ágrip): hefi ek þá svá signaða ok magnaða, v. 236: hefir sólin gengna tvá hluti, en einn úgenginn, K. Þ. K. 92 (Lund’s Syntax, p. 12).

β. again, neut. indecl., hana hafði átt fyrr Þoróddr, Ísl. ii. 192: hón hafði heimt húskarl sinn …, Ísl. (Heiðarv. S.) ii. 339; hann hefir ekki svá vel gyrt hest minn, 340; hefir þú eigi séð mik, 341; hve hann hafði lokkat hann. id.; gistingar hefi ek yðr fengit, 343: þeir höfðu haft úfrið ok orrostur, Íb. 12; hann hafði tekið lögsögu, 14: stafr er átt hafði Þorlákr, Bs. (Miracle-book) i. 340; er þær höfðu upp tekit ketilinn ok hafit …, 342; göngu es hann hafði gingit, 344; es sleggjuna hafði niðr fellt, 346; sem maðr hefði nýsett (hana) niðr, id.; jartein þá er hann þóttisk fingit hafa, 347; hafði prestrinn fært fram sveininn, 349: hjálm er Hreiðmarr hafði átt, Edda 73: hafa efnt sína heitstrenging, Fms. (Jómsv. S.) xi. 141: slíkan dóm sem hann hafði mér hugat, Ó. H. 176, etc. passim:—at last the inflexion disappeared altogether, and so at the present time the indecl. neut. sing. is used throughout; yet it remains in peculiar instances, e. g. konu hefi eg mér festa, Luke xiv. 20, cp. Vídal. ii. 21. ☞ This use of the inflexive part. pass. may often serve as a test of the age of a poem, e. g. that Sólarljóð was composed at a later date may thus be seen from verses 27, 64, 72, 73, 75, 79; but this test is to be applied with caution, as the MSS. have in some cases changed the true forms (-inn, -ann, and -it, -an being freq. abbreviated in the MSS. so as to render the reading dubious). In many cases the old form is no doubt to be restored, e. g. in vegit to veginn, Fm. 4, 23; búit to búinn, Hkv. Hjörv. 15; borit to borinn, Hkv. 1. 1; beðit to beðinn, Fsm. 48; orðit to orðin, Og. 23; roðit to roðinn, Em. 5; brotið to brotinn, Vkv. 24, etc.: but are we to infer from Ls. 23, 26, 33, that this poem is of a comparatively late age?

II. the indecl. neut. sing. is, both in the earliest poems and down to the present day, used in the following cases:

1. with trans. verbs requiring the dat. or gen.; ek hefi fengit e-s, hann hafði fengit konu; hafa hefnt e-s, Fms. xi. 25; sú er hafði beðit fjár, Þkv. 32; stillir hefir stefnt mér, Hkv. Hjörv. 33, and so in endless cases.

2. in the reflex. part. pass.; þeir (hann) hafa (hefir) látisk, farisk, sagsk, etc.

3. in part. of intrans. neut. verbs, e. g. þeir þær (hann, hón), hafa (hefir) setið, staðit, gengit, legit, farit, komit, verit, orðit, lifað, dáit, heitið …, also almost in every line both of prose and poetry.

4. in trans. verbs with a neut. sing. in objective case the difference cannot be seen.

☞ The compound preterite is common to both the Romance and Teutonic languages, and seems to be older in the former than in the latter; Grimm suggests that it originated with the French, and thence spread to the Teutons. That it was not natural to the latter is shewn by the facts, that

α. no traces of it are found in Gothic, nor in the earliest Old High German glossaries to Latin words.

β. in the earliest Scandinavian poetry we can trace its passage from declinable to indeclinable.

γ. remains are left in poetry of a primitive uncompounded preterite infinitive, e. g. stóðu = hafa staðit, mundu, skyldu, vildu, etc., see Gramm. p. xxv, col. 2. ☞ We may here note a curious dropping of the verb hefir, at ek em kominn hingat til lands, ok verit áðr ( having been) langa hríð utan-lands, Ó. H. 31, cp. Am. 52; barn at aldri, en vegit slíka hetju sem Þorvaldr var, Glúm. 382. On this interesting matter see Grimm’s remarks in his Gramm. iv. 146 sqq.

u, f. ‘holm-gang, holm-going,’ a duel or wager of battle fought on an islet or ‘holm,’ which with the ancients was a kind of last appeal or ordeal; and wherever a Thing (parliament) was held, a place was appointed for the wager of battle, as the holm in the Axe River in the alþingi. The hólmganga differed from the plain einvígi or duel, as being accompanied by rites and governed by rules, whilst the latter was not,—þvíat á hólmgöngu er vandhæfi en alls eigi á einvígi, Korm. 84. The ancient Icel. Sagas abound in wagers of battle, chiefly the Korm. S. ch. 10 and passim: some champions were nicknamed from the custom, e. g. Hólmgöngu-Bersi (Korm. S.), Hólmgöngu-Starri, Hólmgöngu-Máni, Hólmgöngu-Hrafn, Landn. About A. D. 1006 (see Tímatal), the hólmganga was abolished by law in the parliament, on account of the unhappy feud between Gunnlaug Snake-tongue and Skald-Hrafn, Gunnl. S. ch. 11, cp. Valla L. ch. 5 (þá vóru af tekin hólmgöngu-lög öll ok hólmgöngur), referring to about A. D. 1010; a single instance however of a challenge in the north of Icel. is recorded after this date (about the year 1030–1040), but it was not accepted (Lv. S. ch. 30); the wager in Lv. ch. 17 was previous (though only by a few years) to the fight between Gunnlaug and Rafn. It is curious that Jón Egilsson, in his Lives of Bishops (written about A. D. 1600, Bisk. Ann. ch. 36, Safn i. 64), mentions a wager of battle between the parties of the two bishops, Jón Arason and Ögmund, on the old holm in the Axe River A. D. 1529; but the whole is evidently a mere reproduction of the tale of the Horatii in Livy. Maurer thinks that the two important acts of legislation, the institution of the Fifth Court in 1004 and the abolition of the ordeal of hólmganga a few years later, are closely connected, as the institution of the new court of appeal made the decision by battle superfluous. In Norway, if we are to believe Grett. S. ch. 21 (þá tók Eirekr af allar hólmgöngur í Noregi), the hólmgöngur were abolished about the year 1012. It is very likely that the tournaments of the Norman age, fought in lists between two sets of champions, sprang from the heathen hólmganga, though this was always a single combat. For separate cases see the Sagas, Korm. S. l. c., Gunnl. S. l. c., Eg. ch. 57, 67, Nj. ch. 24, 60, Landn. 2. ch. 13, 3. ch. 7, Rd. ch. 1, 19, Gísl. init., Glúm. ch. 4, Valla L. l. c., Hallfr. S. ch. 10. A curious kind of duel in a tub is recorded in Flóam. S. ch. 17, called kerganga, perhaps akin to the mod. Swed. fight in a belt. For England see Sir Edmund Head’s interesting notes to Glúm.

COMPDS: hólmgönguboð, hólmgöngulög, hólmgöngumaðr, hólmgöngustaðr, hólmgöngusverð.

(-s, -ar), m.

1) a piece of property, article (hann skipar upp gózit, var þar hverr penningr valinn í);

2) coin, money (enskir penningar);

3) penny = 1/10 of an eyrir.

* * *

m., mod. peningr, with a single n; the double n is borne out by rhymes, penningi, kenna, Bragi; a contr. form pengar also occurs, Dipl. i. 8, iii. 4, Bs. i. 699, Mar.: [cp. Engl. penny; Germ. pfennig; Dan. contr. penge; from Lat. pecunia]:—a penny, in sing. a coin, coined piece; in plur. also gener. = money: the word occurs as early as in Bragi, the oldest of Norse poets, who calls the round shield with the painted ring (see baugr) ‘the penny of Walhalla,’ for the halls of the ancients were hung with shields; it also occurs in the Ls. 40. It is probably one of the earliest borrowed Gr.-Lat. words in the Scandin. language; Byzantine and Roman coins up to the end of the 2nd century A. D. have been discovered in Danish cairns and fens (coins of the last decennium of the 2nd century have been discovered in a ‘mose fund’ in Sleswig); see also the remarks s. v. kinga; but money for trade-purposes was little used until after the introduction of Christianity, and the first mint-masters were English; Enskir penningar, English coins, English money, Eg. 767; see the curious records in the Saga, ch. 55, 61, but esp. 88; gull-p., a gold coin; silfr-p., a silver coin: for a coin used as a token see the story in Gísl. 14, 24.

II. a small coin, a penny, a subdivision of an ounce; but the value varies, thus, thirty pence to an ounce, N. G. L. i. 225; sixty to an ounce, Grág. i. 500; tuttugu penningar vegnir í örtog, MS. 732. 16; ten to an ounce, Grág. i. 357; lögsilfr et forna, þat er tíu penningar göra eyri, ii. 188; penning er tíu væri fyrir alin vaðmáls, Hkr. ii. 231; ef pennings er vert eðr meira, 188; hálfum vegnum penningi miðr en hálfan sjótta eyri, 175; þrjá penninga Enska, Fms. ix. 442, v. l.; hann fann grafsilfr ok tók af tuttugu penninga, Landn. 146; þrjá penninga ok tvær örtogar, N. G. L. i. 76; bæta fjórum penningum ok tveim örtogum, id.; þrem penningum minna en eyri = an ounce minus three pennies, 77; þrjá penninga ok fimm ærtogar, … áttján penninga, … tólf penninga, … tvá hluti fimta pennings ok eyri; tvá hluti sétta pennings þat er fimtungi minna en full öln, 78, 79; þrír penningar taldir eru við einn veginn, 732. 16; hálf önnur örtug ok tveir peningar, Dipl. iii. 4; hann görði penning þann er ekki stóð minna en eyri, he made a coin which weighed not less than an ounce, Gísl. 14; gjalda Rúma-skatt einn penning taldan (Peter’s penny), K. Á. 194:—in translations, þrjátigi penninga, 655 vii. 3 ( triginti argenteis of the Vulgate, Gen. xxxvii. 28); tveim hundruðum penninga, 655 xi. 4 (=διακοσίων δηναρίων, John vi. 7); en hver sú kona sem hefir tíu peninga … eg hefi minn pening aptr fundið, Luke xv. 8, 9:—phrases, fyrir-göra hverjum penningi fjár síns, to forfeit every penny, K. Á. 144; hvern penning, every penny, Eg. 72; aldrei fær hann af því er ek á einn penning, MS. 4. 11; vert eins pennings, a penny’s worth, 4. 13; hvárki öln né penning, neither an ell nor a penny, i. e. not a whit, Ls 40.

III. in plur. money; ríkr at penningum, monied, Dropl. 35; penninga upptekt, Fms. v. 162; mildr af penningum, i. 257; fá e-m góða penninga, vii. 319; svá marga penninga sem hér verðr brestr í, Dipl. ii. 10, iv. 3; fríðra penga, i. 8; frami ok fagrligir penningar, Fs. 6; til veraldligra pengi, Mar.; góðs ok penninga, Fms. iii. 91: sing. collect., Al. 4.

COMPDS: penningalauss, penningaleysi, penningaríkr, penningaskortr.

IV. in mod. Icel. usage penningr is used of cattle, live stock; sauð-peningr, sheep; naut-p., neat cattle; mjalta peninginn, to milk the sheep. This curious usage is due to an analogy with the old word fé, q. v.

(gen. -ar; pl. -ir, acc. -u), m. a ten, decade, = tegr, tøgr, togr, tugr; tíu tigir manna, one hundred men; hálfan fjórða tøg skipa, thirty-five ships; sex ins fimta tigar, forty-six; vetri fátt í fjóra tigu, thirty-nine years.

* * *

tegr, also tögr, togr, tugr, m., gen. tigar, pl. tigir, acc. tigu (tögo, tugu), later tigi, Band. 36, Fb. iii. 578; [a Goth. tigus is suggested by the adj. -tigjus; A. S. tig, teg; O. H. G. zic, zuc; Germ. zebn; Dan. ty; Engl. ten.]

A. A ten, decade. The ancient Scandinavians and Teutons had no indeclinable numeral adjectives from twenty to a hundred; the word tigr (like hundrað and þúsund) being a regular substantive. The ancient way of counting is therefore complex and curious; e. g. forty-one was called ‘four tens and one’ or ‘one of the fifth decade;’ forty-eight was called ‘four tens and eight,’ or by counting back, ‘five tens short of two,’ cp. the Lat. un-de-viginti, duo-de-triginta: forty-five was called ‘half the fifth ten,’ and so on, as will best be seen from the references below; and so it goes on to ‘one hundred and twenty,’ for in Icel. a hundred means the duodecimal hundred. In the 14th century (in deeds) ‘tigr’ began to lose its character of a substantive, eg. þrjátigir, fimtigir …, or þrjátigi, fimtigi (used inclecl.), whence at last came the mod. þrjátíu, fjörutíu, fimtíu …, the tíu being a contracted form from the acc. pl. tigu. At the same time hundrað and þúsund became indecl. adjectives, e. g. þrjátiu, brjúhundruð, þrjuþúsund skipum, for the old þrem tiguin hundruðum, þúsundum skipa.

B. REFERENCES: þessi vetr fylidi annan tög aldrs Magnúss konungs, this winter completed the second ten, i. e. the twentieth year, of king Magnus’ life, Fms. vi. 90; þat skipti tögum, it amounted to tens, several tens, ii. 32; þrjá tigu manna, three tens of men, Eg. 41; á þrem tigum daga, on three tens of days, 656 A. ii. 14; þrír tigir hundraða, Dipl. v. 2; níu tigu manna, Eg. 62; þrettán tigi aura, Band. 36; nær fjórum tigum faðma töðu, well-nigh four tens of fathoms, i. e. forty, Dipl. v. 18; fjóra togo dægra, 655 iii. 3; sex togo hundraða, D.I. i. 350; sex tigir manna, Grág. ii. 194; sex tigir þúsunda manna, Post.; sex tigu hundraða, six tens of hundreds, i. e. sixty hundred, i. e. six thousand, Orkn. 416 old Ed.; tíu tigir manna, ten tens of men, i. e. one hundred, Nj. 191; tíu tigo fjár, K. Þ. K. 140; tíu tigum ásauðar, a hundred sheep, Dipl. v. 19; tíu tegu bæja, Fms. viii. 203: ellifu tigir vætta skreiðar, eleven tens, i. e. one hundred and ten, 655 iii. 4; even, þrettán tigi aura, thirteen tens, i. e. one hundred and thirty, Band. 36; fimtán tigum sinna, fifteen tens, i. e. one hundred and fifty, Dipl. ii. 14: repeating, fjóra tigi vetra ok fjóra vetr, four tens of winters and four winters, i. e. forty-four years, ÓH. (pref.); með tveim skipum ok átta togum skipa, Fms. x. 394; sex tigi vetra ok fjóra vetr, Ó. H. (pref.); þrjá tigi ára ok sex ár, three tens of years and six years, Bs. i. 30; eitt skip ok sjau tigu skipa, i. e. seventy-one, Fms. x. 344; hálfan fjórða tög vetra, half the fourth decade, i. e. thirty-five, vi. 430; hálfan fjórða tög skipa, i. 76; hálfr fimti tugr kúgilda, half the fifth decade, i. e. forty-five, Dipl. v. 18; hálfr þriði tögr manna, Ísl. ii. 387, Ld. 292; hálfr átti tögr kirkna, seventy-five, Clem.; á einu ári ins fimmta tigar konungdóms Hákonar, on the first year of the fifth ten, i. e. forty-first, Sturl. iii. 308; hann hafði vetr ens sétta tigar, one winter of the sixth ten, i. e. fifty-one, Fms. ix. 534; á öðru ári ens fjórða tigar, i. 67; annann vetr ens fjórða tigar konungdóms hans, Fms. x. 33, Bs. i. 74; fjóra vetr ens tíunda tegar, Ó. H. (pref.); sex ens fjórða tigar, i. e. thirty-six, Thorodd; vikur tvær ens sétta tegar, i. e. fifty-two, Íb. 7; hann hafði sjau vetr ens sjaunda tigar, i. e. sixty-seven, Ld. 330; á enum sjaunda vetri ens sjaunda tugar aldrs síns, Eb. 125 new Ed.; á enum sétta vetri ens átta tugar aldrs síns, Sturl. ii. 187; Þorkell hafði átta vetr ens fimta tigar þá er hann druknaði, i. e. forty-eight, Ld. 326; átta dagar ens níunda tegar, i. e. eighty-two, 1812. 49; átta aurar ens fimta tigar, Grág. ii. 144; á níunda ári ens sjaunda tigar ens tíunda hundraðs, in the ninth year of the seventh ten of the tenth hundred (i. e. 969 A. D.), Fms. i. 67; þá var Egill á níunda tigi, then was Egil in the ninth ten ( between eighty and ninety years of age), Eg. 764; vetri fátt í fjóra tigu, one year short of four tens, i. e. thirty-nine, Fms. x. 2, v. l.; lítið fátt í fimm tigi vetra, iii. 60; einu ári fátt í fimm tigi, i. e. forty-nine, … vetri einum fátt í níu tigi ára gamall, i. e. aged eighty-nine, Fb. iii. 578: curious is the phrase, af-tig gamall, = Lat. unde-viginti, aged ‘lacking twenty,’ i. e. nineteen years old, Fms. vii. 84 (in a verse); the context and chronology shew that this is the sense, and not as explained in Lex. Poët. s. v. afstigr: níu tigir ok tvau ár (elliptically dropping gen. ára), Dipl. v. 3; whence lastly as adj., þrítigir álnir (sic) lérepts, id.; fjöre-tiger manns, Bs. i. 867. As this method was somewhat unwieldy, the counting by twenty was also resorted to, cp. Gramm. xxi, sex merkr ok tuttugu; spænir þrír ok tuttugu, … sjautján merkr ok tuttugu, Bs. i. 874 (Laur. S.), or the word tigr was altogether discarded, and replaced by skor or sneis (Engl. score, Dan. snees). ☞ As in vellums the numbers are mostly represented by Roman figures, and abbreviations used, the editions cannot in these cases be implicitly relied on; the same is the case with old texts preserved in mod. paper transcripts.

* * *

1) grandfather;

2) man;

afi eptir afa, in regular descent.

* * *

a, m. [cp. Lat. avus, Ulf. avô = μάμμα, and aba = ανήρ, vir], grandfather: it is now frequent, but occurs very rarely in old writers, who almost always use móðurfaðir or föðurfaðir. Yet it occurs in the poem Rm. 16—afi ok amma—and Vþm. 29, where it = föðurfaðir. It is curious to observe that in the poem Skm.—whence it is again transferred into the Grógaldr—it is used in the sense of a boy or a son; cp. as an illustration of this use the Norse phrase—D. N. iv. 848—afi eptir afa = son after father, man after man in uninterrupted succession, in accord- ance to the Gothic aba; Edda 108, Fms. iv. 288, vi. 346, xi. 6. We also say lang-afi, great-grandfather, and langamma, great-grandmother.

COMPD: afasystir.

s, m., pl. ir: [the etymology of this word has been much contested; some—upon the authority of Snorri, hans menn fóru ‘brynjulausir,’ Hkr. i. 11—derive it from ‘berr’ ( bare) and ‘serkr’ [cp. sark, Scot. for shirt]; but this etymology is inadmissible, because ‘serkr’ is a subst. not an adj.: others derive it from ‘berr’ (Germ. bär = ursus), which is greatly to be preferred, for in olden ages athletes and champions used to wear hides of bears, wolves, and reindeer (as skins of lions in the south), hence the names Bjálfi, Bjarnhéðinn, Úlfhéðinn, (héðinn, pellis,)—‘pellibus aut parvis rhenonum tegimentis utuntur,’ Caes. Bell. Gall. vi. 22: even the old poets understood the name so, as may be seen in the poem of Hornklofi (beginning of 10th century), a dialogue between a Valkyrja and a raven, where the Valkyrja says, at berserkja reiðu vil ek þik spyrja, to which the raven replies, Úlfhéðnar heita, they are called Wolfcoats, cp. the Vd. ch. 9; þeir berserkir er Úlfhéðnar vóru kallaðir, þeir höfðu vargstakka ( coats of wild beasts) fyrir brynjur, Fs. 17]:—a ‘bear-sark,’ ‘bear-coat,’ i. e. a wild warrior or champion of the heathen age; twelve berserkers are mentioned as the chief followers of several kings of antiquity, e. g. of the Dan. king Rolf Krake, Edda 82; a Swed. king, Gautr. S. Fas. iii. 36; king Adils, Hrólf. Kr. S. ch. 16 sqq.; Harald Hárfagri, Eg. ch. 9, Grett. ch. 2, Vd. l. c. (Hornklofi, v. above); the twelve sons of Arngrim, Hervar. S. ch. 3–5, Hdl. 22, 23; the two berserkers sent as a present by king Eric at Upsala to earl Hakon of Norway, and by him presented to an Icel. nobleman, Eb. ch. 25. In battle the berserkers were subject to fits of frenzy, called berserks-gangr (furor bersercicus, cp. the phrase, ganga berserksgang), when they howled like wild beasts, foamed at the mouth and gnawed the iron rim of their shields; during these fits they were, according to popular belief, proof against steel and fire, and made great havoc in the ranks of the enemy; but when the fever abated they were weak and tame. A graphical description of the ‘furor bersercicus’ is found in the Sagas, Yngl. S. ch. 6, Hervar. S. l. c., Eg. ch. 27, 67, Grett. ch. 42, Eb. ch. 25, Nj. ch. 104, Kristni S. ch. 2, 8 (Vd. ch. 46); cp. also a passage in the poem of Hornklofi | grenjuðu berserkir, | guðr var þeim á sinnum, | emjaðu Úlfhéðnar | ok ísarn gniiðu—which lines recall to the mind Roman descriptions of the Cimbric war-cry. In the Icel. Jus Eccles. the berserksgangr, as connected with the heathen age, is liable to the lesser outlawry, K. Þ. K. 78; it is mentioned as a sort of possession in Vd. ch. 37, and as healed by a vow to God. In the Dropl. S. Major (in MS.) it is medically described as a disease (v. the whole extract in the essay ‘De furore Bersercico,’ Kristni S. old Ed. in cake); but this Saga is modern, probably of the first part of the 17th century. The description of these champions has a rather mythical character. A somewhat different sort of berserker is also recorded in Norway as existing in gangs of professional bullies, roaming about from house to house, challenging husbandmen to ‘holmgang’ ( duel), extorting ransom (leysa sik af hólmi), and, in case of victory, carrying off wives, sisters, or daughters; but in most cases the damsel is happily rescued by some travelling Icelander, who fights and kills the berserker. The most curious passages are Glúm, ch. 4, 6, Gísl. ch. 1 (cp. Sir Edm. Head’s and Mr. Dasent’s remarks in the prefaces), Grett. ch. 21, 42, Eg. ch. 67, Flóam. S. ch. 15, 17; according to Grett. ch. 21, these banditti were made outlaws by earl Eric, A. D. 1012. It is worth noticing that no berserker is described as a native of Icel.; the historians are anxious to state that those who appeared in Icel. (Nj., Eb., Kr. S. l. c.) were born Norse (or Swedes), and they were looked upon with fear and execration. That men of the heathen age were taken with fits of the ‘furor athleticus’ is recorded in the case of Thorir in the Vd., the old Kveldulf in Eg., and proved by the fact that the law set a penalty upon it. Berserkr now and then occurs as a nickname, Glúm. 378. The author of the Yngl. S. attributes the berserksgangr to Odin and his followers, but this is a sheer misinterpretation, or perhaps the whole passage is a rude paraphrase of Hm. 149 sqq. In the old Hbl. 37 berserkr and giant are used synonymously. The berserkers are the representatives of mere brute force, and it therefore sounds almost blasphemous, when the Norse Barl. S. speaks of Guðs berserkr (a ‘bear-coat’ or champion of God), (Jesus Kristr gleymdi eigi hólmgöngu sins berserks), 54, 197. With the introduction of Christianity this championship disappeared altogether.

in the word bjarkeyjar-réttr, m. town-law, used as opposed to landslög or landsréttr, county-law, Sks. 22; sökin veit til landslaga en eigi til bjarkeyjarréttar, Fms. vii. 130; vide N. G. L. i. 303–336. It is an illustration of this curious word, that the Danes at present call a justice ‘birkedommer,’ and the district ‘birk;’ cp. local names, as in Sweden,—in Birchâ civitate regiâ, Johann. Magnus 542 (Ed. 1554); civitas Birchensis, 556; in Birchâ civitate tum maxima, 541; in Norway, Bjarkey is one of the northern islands, whence the famous Norse family Bjarkeyingar took their name; v. Munch, the pref. to Norge’s Beskrivelse. Etym. uncertain; hedged in with birch (?).

f. whistling (with the mouth).

* * *

f. (blístr, n.), whistling, Mar. 61, Konr. 58 (Fr.): the mod. phrase, standa á blístri, to be swoln like bellows, is curious, and indicates a relation between blása and blístra.

m. the point of a sword, Nj. 246, Eg. 216, 306, Hkr. i. 70; a curious word; does refill here mean a snake? cp. refil-stígar, semita serpentis; cp. also Korm. ch. 9.

(-ar, pl. brœkr), f.

1) one leg of a pair of breeches (ok lét hann leika laust knéit í brókinni);

2) breeches (but the pl. ‘brœkr’ is more common); vera í brókum, to wear breeches; gyrðr í brœkr, with breeches girt over one’s underclothing.

* * *

pl. brækr, [Lat. braca, only in pl.]; this word is of Celtic origin, and identical with the Gaelic braecan = tartan:

I. tartan or party-coloured cloth, from Gaelic breac = versicolor. Roman writers oppose the Celtic ‘braca’ to the Roman ‘toga;’ Gallia Bracata, Tartan Gaul, and Gallia Togata; ‘versicolore sagulo, bracas, tegmen barbarum indutus,’ Tac. Hist. 2, 20, where it exactly answers to the Scot. tartan, the national dress of Celts; a similar sense remains in the Icel. names lang-brók, a surname to a lady because of her tall stature, Nj., Landn.; há-brók, the poët. name of the hawk, from his chequered plumage (?), Gm. 44; loð-brók, the name of the famous mythical Danish king, shaggy coat, though the reason for the name is otherwise given in Ragn. S. ch. I; the name of the Danish flag of war Dannebrog, qs. Dana-brók, pannus Danicus.

II. breeches. Scot. breeks, the sing. denoting one leg; fótinn ok brókina, Eb. 242; ok let hann leika laust knæt í brókinni, Fms. vii. 170: pl. skyrtu gyrða í brækr, Háv. 39, Ld. 136, Stj. 63. Gen. ix. 22, Fbr. 160, Fms. xi. 150, Vápn. 4; leista-brækr, breeches with the socks fixed to them. Eb. l. c.; blárendar ( blue-striped) brækr, Nj. 184; the lesser outlawry might be inflicted by law on a woman wearing breeches, v. the curious passage in Ld. l. c. ch. 35; the passage, berbeinn þú stendr ok hefir brautingja görvi, þatkiþú hafir brækr þínar, bare-legged thou standest, in beggarly attire, without even thy breeches on, Hbl. 6—the poet probably knew the Highland dress; cp. also the story of king Magnús of Norway (died A. D. 1103); hann hafði mjök þá siðu um klæða búnað, sem títt var í Vestrlöndum (viz. Scotland), ok margir hans menn, at þeir gengu berleggjaðir, höfðu stutta kyrtla ok svá yfirhafnir, ok kölluðu margir menn hann Berbein eðr Berfætt, Fms. vii. 63: proverbs, barnið vex, en brókin ekki, the bairn grows, but the breeks not, advice to mothers making the first pair of breeks for a boy, not to make them too tight; þetta verðr aldri barn í brók, this will never be a bairn in breeks, i. e. this will never do.

COMPDS: brókabelti, brókavaðmál, brókarsótt.

and brúð-för, f. a bride’s journey, Landn. 304, cp. Fs. 124, Rd. 255, Fms. iv. 180, Eg. 701, Grág. i. 441 A; as a rule the bridegroom was to carry his bride home, or she was carried home to him, and the wedding feast was held at the house and at the cost of the bridegroom or his parents. The bride came attended and followed by her bridesmaids, friends, and kinsmen, sometimes a host of men; hence originate the words brúðferð, brúðför, and perhaps even brúðhlaup, etc. ‘Dress the hall! now the bride is to turn homeward with me,’ says the bridegroom-dwarf in the beginning of the poem Alvísmál; so the bride Freyja travels to the wedding at the giant’s, Þkv., cp. Rm. 37;—báðu hennar, ok heim óku, giptu Karli, gékk hón und líni, Ld. ch. 7, Nj. ch. 34, Harð. S. ch. 4, Sturl. iii. 181 sqq. In some cases, to shew deference to the father of the bride, the feast might be held at his house, Nj. ch. 2 (skyldi boð vera at Marðar), ch. 10, 14, Lv. ch. 12; cp. the curious case, Sturl. i. 226. In Icel., where there were no inns, the law ordered that a bride and bridegroom, when on the bride’s journey, had the same right as members of parliament on their journey to the parliament; every farmer was bound to shelter at least six of the party, supposing that the bride or bridegroom was among the number, K. Þ. K. 94. One who turned them out was liable to the lesser outlawry, Grág. i. 441.

að, [cp. Lat. Frūgi, frux, fructus, frui; A. S. brucan; Germ. brauchen; Dan. bruge; Swed. bruke, borrowed from Germ.]:—to use, with acc., borrowed from Germ. through Dan.; it seems not to have come into use before the 17th century; it never occurs in the Icel. N. T., and even not in Pass.; in Vídalín (died A. D. 1720) it is used now and then; and at present, although used in common talk, it is avoided in writing. It is curious that the language has no special expression for to use, Lat. uti (hafa, beita neyta, or other words indirectly bearing that sense are used); derived forms—as brúkandi, brúkanligr, adj., óbrúkanligr, adj. unfit, useless—are used, but sound ill. brúkan, f. use, is preferred for brúk, n., Dan. brug = use, etc.

(gen. dags, dat. degi; pl. dagar), m.

1) day;

at kveldi skal dag leyfa, at eventide shall the day be praised;

dagr kemr upp í austri, sezt í vestri, the day rises in the east, sets in the west;

öndverðr dagr, the early day, forenoon;

miðr dagr, midday;

hallandi dagr, declining day;

at kveldi dags, síð dags, late in the day;

sannr sem dagr, true as day;

í dag, today;

á (or um) daginn, during the day;

sama dags, the same day;

annan dag, the next day;

annars dag, another day;

hindra dags, the day after, tomorrow;

dag frá degi, hvern dag frá öðrum, from day to day;

dag eptir dag, day after day;

nótt ok dag, night and day;

dögunum optar, more times than there are days, over and over again;

á deyjanda degi, on one’s death-day;

2) pl., days, times;

ef aðrir dagar (better days) koma;

góðir dagar, happy days;

3) esp. pl., lifetime;

á dögum e-s, um daga e-s, in the days of, during or in the reign of;

eptir minn dag, when I am dead (gaf honum alla sína eign eptir sinn dag);

mátti hann eigi lengr gefa en um sína dagi, than for his lifetime;

ráða (taka) e-n af dögum, to put to death.

* * *

m., irreg. dat. degi, pl. dagar: [the kindred word dœgr with a vowel change from ó (dóg) indicates a lost root verb analogous to ala, ól, cp. dalr and dælir; this word is common to all Teutonic dialects; Goth. dags; A. S. dag; Engl. day; Swed.-Dan. dag; Germ. tag; the Lat. dies seems to be identical, although no interchange has taken place]

I. a day; in different senses:

1. the natural day:—sayings referring to the day, at kveldi skal dag leyfa, at eventide shall the day be praised, Hm. 80 ; allir dagar eiga kveld um síðir; mörg eru dags augu, vide auga; enginn dagr til enda tryggr, no day can be trusted till its end; allr dagr til stefnu, Grág. i. 395, 443, is a law phrase,—for summoning was lawful only if performed during the day; this phrase is also used metaph. = ‘plenty of time’ or the like: popular phrases as to the daylight are many—dagr rennr, or rennr upp, and kemr upp, the day rises, Bm. 1; dagr í austri, day in the east, where the daylight first appears; dagsbrún, ‘day’s brow,’ is the first streak of daylight, the metaphor taken from the human face; lysir af degi, it brightens from the day, i. e. daylight is appearing; dagr ljómar, the day gleams; fyrir dag, before day; móti degi, undir dag, about daybreak; komið at degi, id., Fms. viii. 398; dagr á lopti, day in the sky; árla, snemma dags, early in the morning, Pass. 15. 17; dagr um allt lopt, etc.; albjartr dagr, hábjartr d., full day, broad daylight; hæstr dagr, high day; önd-verðr d., the early day = forenoon, Am. 50; miðr dagr, midday, Grág. i. 413, 446, Sks. 217, 219; áliðinn dagr, late in the day, Fas. i. 313; hallandi dagr, declining day; at kveldi dags, síð dags, late in the day, Fms. i. 69. In the evening the day is said to set, hence dag-sett, dag-setr, and dagr setzt; in tales, ghosts and spirits come out with nightfall, but dare not face the day; singing merry songs after nightfall is not safe, það kallast ekki Kristnum leyft að kveða þegar dagsett er, a ditty; Syrpuvers er mestr galdr er í fólginn, ok eigi er lofat at kveða eptir dagsetr, Fas. iii. 206, Ísl. Þjóðs. ii. 7, 8: the daylight is symbolical of what is true or clear as day, hence the word dagsanna, or satt sem dagr, q. v.

2. of different days; í dag, to-day, Grág. i. 16, 18, Nj. 36, Ld. 76, Fms. vi. 151; í gær-dag, yesterday; í fyrra dag, the day before yesterday, Háv. 50; í hinni-fyrra dag, the third day; annars dags, Vígl. 23, Pass. 50. I; hindra dags, the hinder day, the day after to-morrow, Hm. 109; dag eptir dag, day after day, Hkr. ii. 313; dag frá degi, from day to day, Fms. ii. 230; hvern dag frá öðrum, id., Fms. viii. 182; annan dag frá öðrum. id., Eg. 277; um daginn, during the day; á dögunum. the other day; nótt ok dag, night and day; liðlangan dag, the ‘life-long’ day; dögunum optar, more times than there are days, i. e. over and over again, Fms. x. 433; á deyjanda degi, on one’s day of death, Grág. i. 402.

β. regu-dagr, a rainy day: sólskins-dagr, a sunny day; sumar-dagr, a summer day; vetrar-dagr, a winter day; hátíðis-dagr, a feast day; fegins-dagr, a day of joy; dóms-dagr, the day of doom, judgment day, Gl. 82, Fms. viii. 98; hamingju-dagr, heilla-dagr, a day of happiness; gleði-dagr, id.; brúðkaups-dagr, bridal-day; burðar-dagr, a birthday.

3. in pl. days in the sense of times; aðrir dagar, Fms. i. 216; ek ætlaða ekki at þessir dagar mundu verða, sem nú eru orðnir, Nj. 171; góðir dagar, happy days, Fms. xi. 286, 270; sjá aldrei glaðan dag (sing.), never to see glad days.

β. á e-s dögum, um e-s daga eptir e-s daga, esp. of the lifetime or reign of kings, Fms.; but in Icel. also used of the lögsögumaðr, Jb. repeatedly; vera á dögum, to be alive; eptir minn dag, ‘after my day,’ i. e. when I am dead.

γ. calendar days, e. g. Hvíta-dagar, the White days, i. e. Whitsuntide; Hunda-dagar, the Dog days; Banda-dagr, Vincula Petri; Höfuð-dagr, Decap. Johannis; Geisla-dagr, Epiphany; Imbru-dagar, Ember days; Gang-dagar, ‘Ganging days,’ Rogation days; Dýri-dagr, Corpus Christi; etc.

4. of the week-days; the old names being Sunnu-d. or Drottins-d., Mána-d., Týs-d., Öðins-d., Þórs-d., Frjá-d., Laugar-d. or Þvátt-d. It is hard to understand how the Icel. should be the one Teut. people that have disused the old names of the week-days; but so it was, vide Jóns S. ch. 24; fyrir bauð hann at eigna daga vitrum mönnum heiðnum, svá sem at kalla Týrsdag Óðinsdag, eðr Þórsdag, ok svá um alla vikudaga, etc., Bs. i. 237, cp. 165. Thus bishop John (died A. D. 1121) caused them to name the days as the church does (Feria sccunda, etc.); viz. Þriði-d. or Þriðju-d., Third-day = Tuesday, Rb. 44, K. Þ. K. 100, Ísl. ii. 345; Fimti-d., Fifth-day—Thursday, Rb. 42, Grág. i. 146, 464, 372, ii. 248, Nj. 274; Föstu-d., Fast-day = Friday; Miðviku-d., Midweek-day = Wednesday, was borrowed from the Germ. Mittwoch; throughout the 12th and 13th centuries, however, the old and new names were used indiscriminately. The question arises whether even the old names were not imported from abroad (England); certainly the Icel. of heathen times did not reckon by weeks; even the word week (vika) is probably of eccl. Latin origin (vices, recurrences). It is curious that the Scandinavian form of Friday, old Icel. Frjádagr, mod. Swed.-Dan. Fredag, is A. S. in form; ‘Frjá-,’ ‘Fre-,’ can hardly be explained but from A. S. Freâ-, and would be an irregular transition from the Norse form Frey. The transition of ja into mod. Swed.-Dan. e is quite regular, whereas Icel. ey (in Frey) would require the mod. Swed.-Dan. ö or u sound. Names of weekdays are only mentioned in Icel. poems of the 11th century (Arnór, Sighvat); but at the time of bishop John the reckoning by weeks was probably not fully established, and the names of the days were still new to the people. 5. the day is in Icel. divided according to the position of the sun above the horizon; these fixed traditional marks are called dags-mörk, day-marks, and are substitutes for the hours of modern times, viz. ris-mál or miðr-morgun, dag-mál, há-degi, mið-degi or mið-mundi, nón, miðr-aptan, nátt-mál, vide these words. The middle point of two day-marks is called jafn-nærri-báðum, in modern pronunciation jöfnu-báðu, equally-near-both, the day-marks following in the genitive; thus in Icel. a man asks, hvað er fram orðið, what is the time? and the reply is, jöfnubáðu miðsmorguns og dagmála, half-way between mid-morning and day-meal, or stund til (to) dagmála; hallandi dagmál, or stund af ( past) dagmálum; jöfnu-báðu hádegis og dagmúla, about ten or half-past ten o’clock, etc. Those day-marks are traditional in every farm, and many of them no doubt date from the earliest settling of the country. Respecting the division of the day, vide Pál Vídal. s. v. Allr dagr til stefnu, Finnus Johann., Horologium Island., Eyktamörk Íslenzk (published at the end of the Rb.), and a recent essay of Finn Magnusson.

II. denoting a term, but only in compounds, dagi, a, m., where the weak form is used, cp. ein-dagi, mál-dagi, bar-dagi, skil-dagi.

III. jis a pr. name, Dagr, (freq.); in this sense the dat. is Dag, not Degi, cp. Óðinn léði Dag (dat.) geirs síns, Sæm. 114.

COMPDS: dagatal, dagsbrun, dagshelgi, dagsljós, dagsmark, dagsmegin, dagsmunr.

* * *

(dey; dó, dóum; dáinn), v. to die (deyr fé, deyja frændr); hann dó af eitri, ór sárum, he died of poison, from wounds; á deyjanda degi, on one’s dying day, on one’s deathbed of a limb (dó fótleggrinn allr); of inanimate things, dáinn arfr, an inheritance left to the heir.

* * *

pret. dó, 2nd pers. dótt, later dóst, pl. dó, mod. dóu; part. dáinn; pres. dey, 2nd pers. deyr (in mod. familiar use deyrð): pret. subj. dæi; in the south of Icel. people say dæði, inserting a spurious ð; old poems with neg. suffix, deyr-at, dó-at; a weak pret. form deyði ( died) occurs in the Ann. 1400–1430, and was much used in biographies of later centuries, but is borrowed from Dan. döde, unclassical and unknown in the spoken tongue; Icel. always say dó: [the root is akin to dá, q. v., Gr. θάνατος, etc.; Ulf. uses a part. divans, by which he sometimes renders the Gr. θνητός, φθαρτός; undivans = αθάνατος, αφθαρτος; undivanei = αθανασία; but the Gr. θνήσκειν he renders not by divan but by ga-sviltan; Hel. uses dôjan, but rarely; the A. S. seems not to know the word, but uses sviltan, whereas in Icel. svelta means to starve, die of hanger; the Engl. perhaps borrowed the verb to die from the Scandin., whereas to starve (used by Chaucer = Germ. sterben) now means to die of hunger or cold]:—to die: deyr fé, deyja frændr, Hm. 76; hann dó af eitri, 623. 27; er þat sögn manna, af hón hafi af því dáit, Korm. 164; hann dó ór sárum, Fs. 120; þeir dó allir, Landn. 294; dó þar undir ellifu naut, Bs. i. 320; hann dó litlu síðarr, Fms. i. 108; þat áttu eptir sem erfiðast er, ok þat er at d., Nj. 56: betra er at d. með sæmð en lifa með skömm, Orkn. 28: the proverb, deyja verðr hverr inn sinn, omnes una manet nox: the allit. phrase, á deyjanda degi, Ld. 106, Grág. ii. 207, Hkr. iii. 50: eccl., dauða deyja, Gen. iii. 3, Matth. xv. 4, ‘let him die the death,’ Engl. A. V.; d. góðum, illum dauða, to die a good, bad death, etc.: it sometimes has in it a curious sense of motion, hann kaus at d. í Mælifell, Landn. 192; þeir Selþórir frændr dó í Þórisbjörg, 78; trúði at hann mundi deyja í fjallit, Eb. 7 new Ed., v. l., where it means to die (i. e. pass by death) into the fell, i. e. they believed that after death they would pass into the fell; cp. hinnig deyja ór Helju halir, Vþm. 43.

β. medic. to die, of a limb, Pr. 239.

γ. of inanimate things; dáinn arfr, a law phrase, a dead inheritance, i. e. left to the heir, Gþl. 263; hence dánar-fé, dánar-arfr, q. v.

(-s, pl. -ir, gen. -ja), m.

1) a bold, valiant, chivalrous man; drengr góðr, a goodhearted, nobleminded man (auðigr at fé ok drengr góðr); ekki þykki mér þú sterkr, en drengr ertu g., but thou art a good fellow; drengir, en eigi dáðleysingjar, gallant men, and no fainthearts; at þú mættir drengrinn af verða sem beztr, that you might get the greatest credit from it; hafa dreng í serk, to have a stout heart in one’s breast;

2) a young unmarried man (drengir heita ungir menn búlausir, meðan þeir afla sér fjár eða orðstírs);

3) attendant (þeir heita konungs drengir, er höfðingjum þjóna);

4) fellow (lætr síðan sverðit ríða á hálsinn á þeim leiða dreng);

5) pole cf. ásdrengr.

* * *

m., pl. ir, gen. drengs, pl. drengir, on Runic stones drengjar; this is a most curious word, and exclusively Scandinavian; it occurs in the A. S. poem Byrnoth, but is there undoubtedly borrowed from the Danes, as this poem is not very old.

1. the earliest form was probably drangr, q. v., a rock or pillar, which sense still remains in Edda (Gl.) and in the compds ás-drengr, stýris-drengr, cp. Ivar Aasen; it also remains in the verb drengja.

2. it then metaphorically came to denote a young unmarried man, a bachelor, A. S. hagestald, N. H. G. hagestolz; drengir heita ungir menn ok búlausir, Edda 107; ungr d., a youth, 623. 22, Post. 656 C. 32, Edda 35; drengr, a youth, Stj. 409; hverrar ættar ertú d., 465; (hence the mod. Dan. sense of a boy); far-d., a sailor.

3. hence came the usual sense, a bold, valiant, worthy man, and in this sense it is most freq. in all periods of the language. Drengr is a standing word in the Swed. and Dan. Runic monuments, góðr drengr, drengr harða góðr, denoting a good, brave, gallant man, a bold and gentle heart; lagði þá hverr fram sitt skip sem d. var ok skap hafði til, Fms. vi. 315; drengir heita vaskir menn ok batnandi, Edda 107; hraustr d., a gallant d., Ld. 50; d. fullr, a bluff, out-spoken man, Ísl. ii. 363; göfuligr d., Bær. 12; d. góðr, noble-minded; auðigr at fé ok d. góðr, Fms. vi. 356; hann var enn bezti d. ok hófsmaðr um allt, Ld. loo; drengr góðr ok öriggr í öllu, Nj. 30; ekki þyki mér þú sterkr, en drengr ertú góðr, thou art not strong, but thou art a good fellow, Lv. 109; drengs dáð, a ‘derring do,’ the deed of a drengr, Fbr. 90 (in a verse): also used of a lady, kvennskörungr mikill ok d. góðr ok nokkut skaphörð, Nj. 30 (of Bergthora); allra kvenna grimmust ok skaphörðust ok ( but) d. góðr þar sem vel skyldi vera, 147 (of Hildigunna): the phrases, lítill d., a small dreng, or d. at verri, denoting a disgraced man, Nj. 68; at kalla þik ekki at verra dreng, to call thee a dreng none the less for that, Ld. 42; drengir en eigi dáðleysingjar, ‘drengs’ and no lubbers, Sturl. iii. 135; drengr and níðingr are opposed, N. G. L. ii. 420: at Hallgerðr yrði þeim mestr drengr, greatest helper, prop, Nj. 76; at þú mættir drengrinn af verða sem beztr, that thou couldst get the greatest credit from it, Gísl. 48: the phrase, hafa dreng í serk, to have a man (i. e. a stout, bold heart) in one’s sark, in one’s breast, Fms. ix. 381: in addressing, góðr d., my dear fellow, Eg. 407: cp. ‘et quod ipsi in posterurn vocarentur Drenges,’ Du Cange (in a letter of William the Conqueror).

COMPDS: drengjamóðir, drengjaval, drengsaðal, drengsbót, drengsbragð.