(lines+also)

* * *

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.

* * *

n. clay, loam, mud.

* * *

n., as in leirinu, Stj. 72, 414; með góðu leiri ok seigu, Sks. 417; leirit, Fms. ix. 511, v. l. In mod. usage leirr, m., which also occurs in Fms. ix. 511 (leirrinn); grár leirr, Orkn. 374 (in a verse); leirinum, Fb. i. 354, Orkn. 336, but leirinu öllu two lines below; leirnum, Fas. iii. 583; leirinn, Orkn. 374 (Fb.); thus the older vellums prefer the neut., the later the masc.; [Dan. leer; Swed. ler; Scot. lair]:—clay, earth, loam, but also mud, esp. on the beach, passim, see the references above: in plur. leirar = leira (q. v.)

II. metaph. and poët., arnar leir, ‘eagle’s mud’ = bad poetry, referring to the legend told in the Edda 49, alluded to in Gd. 2, Sturl. ii. 56 (in a verse); as also in mod. usage, whence leir-skáld, n. a poetaster: local names, Leir-á, Leir-vík, etc.

COMPDS: leirbakki, leirblót, leirbolli, leirbrúsi, leirburðr, leirbúð, leirdepill, leirgata, leirgröf, leirjötunn, leirkelda, leirker, leirkerasmiðr, leirkrukka, leirljós, leirmaðr, leirpottr, leirskáld, leirsletta, leirsmiðr, leirstokkinn, leirtjörn, leirvaðill, leirvík, Leirvör.

* * *

(-tta, -ttr), v.

1) to grant, give (v. e-m líð, hjálp, huggun, grið, trygðir);

2) to help, assist, stand by one (þeir veittu Gizuri hvíta í hverju máli);

3) to grant, permit (Þ. beiddist at sjá gripina, ok þat veitti hón henni); v. e-m bœn, to grant one a request;

4) v. veizlu, to give a feast; v. brúðkaup e-s, to hold a wedding; v. útferð e-s, to hold a funeral feast; also absol. to give a feast or entertainment (v. stórmannliga, með inni mestu rausn);

5) to entertain, treat (konungr veitti sveitungum sínum);

6) to sustain, support an indigent person (síra Hafliði veitti þessi góðu konu allt til dauðadags);

7) of a performance; v. e-u áhald, to lay hold on; v. atfór, heimferð at e-m, to make an expedition against one; v. e-m atsókn, to allack; v. e-m áverka, to inflict a wound on; v. e-m eptirför, to pursue one;

8) e-t veitir e-m þungt, erfitt, it proves hard, difficult for one (Dönum veitti þungt atsóknin); impers., keisaranum veitti þungt, the emperor had the luck against him; e-t veitir erfitt, it is hard work; Geirmundi veitti betr, G. got the better of it, carried the day;

9) to happen (þat veitir sjaldan, optliga, stundum);

10) recipr., veitast at, to back one another (vit Egill munum nú v. at); þeir veittust at öllum málum, they stood by one another in all suits.

(-tta, -ttr), v. to convey, lead (water), with acc. or dat. (v. vatn or vatni); v. ánni ór enum forna farveg, to divert the river from its old course; impers., veitir vatn til sjóvar, the rivers trend towards the sea.

1) draining;

2) ditch; trench;

3) = veitiengi.

* * *

t, [Dan. yde], to grant, give; veita far, to give a man a passage, Grág. ii. 268; veita e-m lið, to give one help, assist (lið-veizla), Fms. xi. 27, 121; veita hjálp, aðstoð, huggun, to give help, comfort; veita grið, trygðir, várar, etc., passim; veita manni fyrir Guðs sakir, to give alms, Gþl. 274; konungr veitti honum skatta alla, condoned, remitted, Fms. i. 120: absol. to help, assist, þeir veittu Giziri hvíta at hverju máli, Nj. 86; veita frændum þínum ok mágum, 226; hann veitti þeim Ingólfi (in a battle), Landn. 32.

2. veita veizlu, to give a feast, Nj. 6, Fb. ii. 177, 301; veita brúðkaup e-s, to hold a wedding; veitti hann brúðkaup þeirra um vetrinn þar at Helga-felli, Eb. 142, Fms. x. 47; veita útferð e-s, to hold an ‘arvel,’ funeral feast. Fas. i. 387; konungr veitti Jól í Björgyn, Fms.; veita Jól sín, Fb. iii. 274: also absol. to give a feast or entertainment, konungr veitti sveitungum sínum, Fms. ix. 340; veita stórmannliga, Eg. 62; konungr skyldi veita í þeim tveim tréhöllum … lét konungr þar veita í, Fms. x. 13.

3. to give a grant, grant a fief; Sveinn veitti Eireki Raum-ríki, Fms. iii. 15.

4. to grant a request, allow, permit; þat munu vér nú veita þér, Ld. 218; veita e-m eina bæn, Fms. i. 12; eigi mun ek þat veita ykkr, Eg. 95; konungr kvaðsk veita mundu, 86; veitti hann þeim at vígja Jón, Fms. vii. 240.

5. of a performance; veita e-m þjónustu, Eg. 112; veita e-m nábjargir (q. v.), Nj. 154; veita tíðir, to perform the service, 195; veita sér afskipti, to take part in, Grág. ii. 241; veita e-u áhald, to lay hold on, Fms. x. 393; veita umbúð, to manage, Nj. 115; veita formála (= mæla fyrir), Eg. 389; veita órskurð, to give a decision, 281; veita tilkall, to claim, Grett. 88; veita þögn, to be silent, Fms. x. 401; veita e-m atför, heimferð, to make an expedition against one, i. 54, Eg. 73; veita atsókn, to attack, Nj. 124; veita áverka, to inflict a wound, 98; veita áþján, to tyrannise, Eg. 47; veita e-m vegskarð, Nj. 118.

II. spec. usages; e-t veitir so and so, a thing turns, proves (hard, easy); veitti þat flestum þungt, it proved hard, difficult, Eg 754; keisaranum veitti þungt, the emperor had the luck against him, Fms. i. 121; e-t veitir ervitt, Nj. 171; ok hefir oss ervitt veitt, it has been hard work indeed, 117; ervitt hafa draumar veitt, dreams have been hard, Ld. 270; þeir börðusk, veitti Geirmundi betr, G. carried the day, Landn. 125: the phrase, honum veitir ekki af, he has nothing to spare.

2. to happen; þat verðr ok veitir optliga, it often happens and comes to pass, Stj. 38; veitir þat jafnan, at þeir fá …, Js. 53; nú kann veita þat stundum, at bændr fá eigi vinnu-menn, Jb. 373; því veitir þat allopt, at þeir fá fyrst mann-skaðann, Gþl. 169; ef honum veitir þat optarr, N. G. L. i. 11.

III. recipr. to give, grant to one another; þeir veittusk at öllum málum, backed one another, Lv. 36; vit Egill munum nú veitask at, Eg. 425.

IV. pass., a Latinism, to be given, 623. 20, H. E. i. 514; yðr skal fyrr veitast öll þjónusta, Fms. vi. 48, 94, xi. 309.

t, qs. vreita, probably different from the preceding word, [see the following]:—to make a trench, make an aqueduct, lead water, with acc. and dat.; hann veitti sjáinn í gögnum háva hálsa, Al. 93; veita vatn, göra stíflur, grafa engi sitt, veita svá vatn á engit, Grág. ii. 281; grafa mikit díkit ok veita vatni í á eptir, Fb. ii. 124; veita vötnum, Grág. (Kb.) ii. 97; but a few lines below, ok skal eigi þá (acc.) veita, ef menn veita merki-vötn; so also, Grímr veitti honum (the brook) á eng sína ok gróf land Ljóts, Landn. 145; hann veitti vatnið (þau vötn veitti hann, v. l.) með fjölkyngi austr fyrir Sólheima … síðan veitti hvárr þeirra vötnin frá sér, 250, 251, freq. in mod. usage, but then always with dat.

II. reflex., in the following passages the word may be vita …, q. v.; einn stjörnu-veg, hverr upp ríss af sjó Frisiæ, ok veittist ( trends) meðal Teuthoniam ok Galliam, Karl. 129; ok hefir hann (acc.) undan veitt, turned him to flight (?), Bret. 66; veitir vatn til sjóvar, rivers trend towards the sea, Grág.

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.

* * *

(blœt; blét, blétum; blótinn), v.

1) to worship, to worship with sacrifice, with acc. of that which is worshipped; blóta hof, lund, fors, heiðit goð, álfa, heiðnar vættir, lifandi menn, to worship temple, grove, waterfall, &c.; very rare with dat. (blóta goðum);

2) to sacrifice, with dat. of the object sacrificed (blóta mönnum ok fé); absol., blóta til friðar, sigrs, langlífis, árs, byrjar, to make a sacrifice for peace, victory, long life, good season, fair wind.

(að), v.

1) = blóta (blœt, etc.);

2) to curse, with dat. = banna( bið þú fyr þeim, er þér blóta); absol., to swear;

refl., blótast, to go about swearing.

* * *

in old use a strong (and originally a redupl.) verb, blóta—blét—blétu—blótinn; pres. blœt, and with the suffixed negative blœtka ( I worship not), Stor. 22 (the Ed. wrongly blotka, without change of vowel); this form also occurs K. Þ. K. (Kb.) ch. 7, the Ed. 1853 has wrongly blœt(a)r, but a few lines below blótar (weak), probably altered from blœtr; pret. sing. blét, Hkr. (Yngl.) 56, 269; pl. blétu, 56; subj. blétim, 623. 61; imperat. blótt, Am. 75; part. blótinn, and sup. blótið are freq., Hkr. i. 34, 35, 239, Landn. 47, Fas. i. 255: more freq. weak, blóta, að; pres. blótar, blótast, Fas. i. 87, Fbr. 78; pret. blótaði, Landn. 224, 291, 322, Bs. i. 6 (Kr. S.), Nj. 272, Gísl. 140, Fær. 272, Fas. i. 463, 531, Bret., Fms. ii. 263, Hkr. i. 34, 35, Ísl. ii. 109, Fs. 50; only the weak sup. and part. are rare in old writers; blótuð, Hom. 153 (Norse); blótað (sup.), Bs. i. 5 (paper transcript); in Yngl. S. Hkr. i. 34, 35, Unger’s Edition has the old form blét, blótið, but Cod. Fris. l. c. the later mod. form.: [Ulf. blotan (redupl. verb) = λατρεύειν, σέβεσθαι, cp. guþbloteins = παράκλησις, guþblostreis = θεοσεβής; A. S. blôtan = immolare; O. H. G. blozan; the root is probably akin to bletsian, Engl. to bless]:—gener. to worship, to worship with sacrifice; with acc. of the being worshipped, but dat. of the object sacrificed; thus b. hof, lund, fors, goð, álfa, vættir, to worship temple, grove, force, gods, elves, beings; but b. mönnum, þrælum, kvikendum, to sacrifice with men, thralls, beasts, i. e. to sacrifice, slay them: also used absol.:

I. with acc. or absol. to worship; skal Þórólfr b. ok leita heilla þeim bræðrum, Eg. 257, 623. 61, Landn. 40, Hkr. i. 34 sqq., Fs. 41; heiðnar vættir, Nj. 272, Fær. 139, cp. Bret. 84, 94, Landn. 36, Ib. ch. 7, Bs. i. 25; b. til friðar, sigrs, langlífis, árs, byrjar, to make a sacrifice for peace, victory, long life, good season, fair wind, Hkr. i. 239, 34, 56, 11. 97, Fs. 173: of the worship of natural objects, at Giljá stóð steinn ( a stone), er (acc.) þeir frændr höfðu blótað, Bs. i. 5, Harð. S. Ísl. ii. 109; hann blótaði lundinn, he worshipped the grove (cp. Tacitus, sacrum nemus), Landn. 224; hann blótaði forsinn, 291: worship of men (rare), Gríms sonar þess er blótinn var dauðr fyrir þokkasæld ok kallaðr Kamban, 47, Fb. ii. 7; þau vóru bæði blótuð, Edda 83: b. hof, in the phrase, heiðnir menn hof b., Grág., Ísl. ii. 381; blót er oss ok kviðjat, at vér skulum eigi b. heiðit goð, né hauga né hörga, N. G. L. i. 18: worship of animals, Ögvaldr konungr blét kú eina, Hkr. i. 269, Fas. i. 255.

β. with dat. (extremely rare); blótar hann einum gölt (sic!), prob. corrupt = einn (acc.) gölt, Fas. i. 187 a paper transcript.

II. with dat. to sacrifice; sacrifices of men are recorded, Hkr. i. 34, 35, 56, 239, Gísl. 140, Eb. l. c., Fas. i. 452 (Hervar. S.): slaves and criminals were esp. sacrificed, thus representing the executions of modern times; heiðingjar blóta enum verstum mönnum, ok hrinda þeim fyrir björg ok hamra …; enir heiðnu menn höfðu þá stefnu, ok tóku þat ráð at b. tveim mönnum ór hverjum fjórðungi, Bs. i. (Kr. S.) 23: captives, Ó. H. ch. 131; kom þat ásamt með þeim at hafa Hallfreð til blóta, Fs. 102; b. þrælum, Fms. x. 323; b. mönnum ok fé, Fs. (Vd.) 50, Am. 75, Fms. i. 174: a sort of self-immolation is recorded Fb. ii. 72.

III. to curse, swear, vide blót II; with dat. or absol., hann blótar hestunum, Fbr. 78; eigi kvíði ek því þótt biskup blóti mér eðr banni, Bs. i. 708; blótuð verð þú, Hom. 153: reflex, blótask, to go about swearing, Fms. viii. 294: vide Maurer, Bekehr. ii. 195 sqq.

* * *

1) the act of binding or settling, opp. to lausn;

fig., lausn ok band allra vandamála, the decision in all difficult cases;

2) band, cord (mjótt band);

3) in pl.:

a) bonds, fetters (hafa e-n í böndum);

b) bond, confederacy (ganga í bönd ok eið);

c) poet., the gods, cf. höpt;

blóta bönd, to worship the gods;

at mun banda, at the will of the gods.

* * *

n. pl. bönd, [binda; Ulf. bandi, f. δεσμός; O. H. G. pfand, whence the mod. Dan. pant; N. H. G. band; Engl. band and bond; Dan. baand.]

I. prop. in sing. any kind of band; mjótt band, a thin cord, Edda 20, Grág. ii. 119.

β. a yarn of wool, v. bandvetlingar.

γ. metaph. a bond, obligation; lausn ok b. allra vandamála, Fms. v. 248, Bs. i. 689.

II. in pl. also,

1. bonds, fetters, Lat. vincula; í böndum, in vinculis, Bs. i. 190, Fms. ii. 87, 625. 95: theol., synda bönd, 656 A; líkams bönd, Blas. 40.

2. a bond, confederacy; ganga í bönd ok eið, to enter into a bond and oath, Band. 22; cp. hjónaband, marriage; handaband, a shaking of hands, etc.

3. poët. the gods, cp. hapt; of providence ruling and uniting the world, Hkm. 10; banda vé, the temples, Hkr. i. 204; at mun banda, at the will of the gods, 210; vera manu bönd í landi, the gods (i. e. lares tutelares) are present in the land, Bs. i. 10; gram reki bönd af löndum, Eg. (in a verse); blóta bönd, to worship the gods; vinr banda, the friend of the gods; bönd ollu því, the gods ruled it, Haustl.; vide Lex. Poët., all the instances being taken from heathen poems. Egilsson suggests a reference to the imprisoning of the three gods, Odin, Hænir, and Loki, mentioned Edda 72; but bönd is that which binds, not is bound; (band means vinculum not vinctus.)

4. metric. a kind of intricate intercalary burden (klofastef). This seems to be the meaning in the word Banda-drápa, where the burden consists of five intercalary lines occurring in sets of three verses | Dregr land at mun banda || Eiríkr und sik geira | veðrmildr ok semr hildi || gunnblíðr ok réð síðan | jarl goðvörðu hjarli; but as this metrical term is nowhere else recorded, the name of the poem may have come from the word ‘banda’ (gen. pl. deorum), Hkr. i. 210 sqq.

COMPDS: bandadagr, bandamenn, bandaríki, bandaþing.

(gen. dura), f. pl. door opening, doorway (Oddr hljóp út or durunum).

* * *

n. or f. pl., in mod. usage always fem., and often so in old writers; sometimes even in old MSS.: neut. with the article; dyrrin with a double r (or dyrin, Kb. 42 new Ed., Stj. 520, Edda 29, Nj. 198): fem. dyrnar; aðrar dyrr, Fms. iv. 220, 221; dyrr byrgðar, Stj. 40; einar dyr, Sturl. i. 189; dyr opnar, id. (but dyrin, id., one line below, perhaps wrongly by the transcriber), önnur dyrr, Clem. 143 (Unger): in most cases, however, the gender of the gen. and dat. cannot be discerned: there is hardly any instance of its neuter use if joined to an adjective; thus, in Njála we read, gengu þeir þá inn allir ok skipnðusk í dyrrin (neut.); but only four lines below, ef nokkurar væri laundyrr á: hversu margar dyrr eru á Valhöll eða hversu stórar, Edda 25; but settisk Þórr í dyrrin, 29: in old writers the gen. and dat. are spelt with u, dura, durum, and that they were so pronounced may be seen from Skálda 163—þegar gestrinn kveðr ‘dura,’ þá skyldi eigi bóndinn ‘dúra;’ cp. also Grág. ii. 194, Fms. iv. 221, viii. 161, Gm. 23, Sturl. iii. 218, Edda 25, Landn. 231; but dyra, dyrum, Ísl. ii. 342 (rare): in mod. usage y throughout (spelt dyra, dyrum, proncd. as i):—[Gr. θύρα; Goth. daur, neut., and dauro, fem.; A. S. duru; Old Engl. dore (now door); Dan. dör; Swed. dörr: Germ. thüre: the root vowel is short in Gr. and Goth. as well as the Scandin.]:—a door, viz. the opening (hurð is Lat. janua); karl-dyrr, branda-d., úti-d., leyni-d., and-d., eldahús-d., Sturl. iii. 218: synztu-d., id.: úti-dyrr enar syðri, 185; suðr-dyrr, 186; syðri-d., 190; skála-d. nyrðri, 187; kvenna-skála-d., 188; í þeim dyrum er skálar mættusk, 189; and-dyri hit syðra, 218; sund-d. (= suðr-dyr?), ii. 106; stofu-d., 181; dýrshöfuðs-d., i. 106, a door over which a stag’s head is placed.

COMPDS: duradómr, duragætti, durastafr, durastoð, duraumbuningr, duraveggr, duravörðr, dyradrótt.

(-s, -ar), m.

1) the fourth part, quarter;

fjórðungr rastar, a distance of about a mile;

2) a weight = ten pounds;

3) in Iceland, one of the Quarters into which the whole land was divided (Austfirðinga, Vestfirðinga, Norðlendinga, Sunnlendinga fjórðungr).

* * *

m., generally the fourth part, quarter, D. I. i. 470, Grág. i. 144; f. héraðsmanna, N. G. L. i. 352; f. rastar, the fourth part of a mile, Fms. viii. 63; fjórðungr vísu, the fourth part of a verse-system or stanza, = two lines, Edda (Ht.); hence fjórðunga-lok, n. the last quarter of a verse, Fms. vi. 387: a coin (cp. Engl. farthing), N. G. L. iii. ch. 13.

2. a liquid-measure = ten pots or twenty ‘merkr;’ fjórðungs-fata, a vat holding a quarter.

3. a weight = ten pounds or twenty ‘merkr,’ Jb. 375, Grág. Kb. 232, Dipl. iii. 4, Grág. ii. 362: the law allows a person to bequeath the fourth part of his property, this is called fjórðungs-gjöf, f., Gþl. 270, cp. Jb., Dipl. v. 1.

4. the Icel. tithe (tíund) was divided into four shares, each of them called ‘fjórðungr,’—to the poor, bishop, church, and priest, Grág., Tl., passim.

II. in Norway counties were divided into fjórðungar quarters (þriðjungar ridings, sextungar sextants, áttungar octants, etc.), vide D. N.; hence fjórðungs-kirkja, a quarter church, parish church, N. G. L.; fjórðungs-maðr, a man from the same quarter or parish; fjórðungs-prestr, the priest of a fjórðungs-kirkja; fjórðungs-þing, the meeting of a f.; fjórðungs-korn, corn due to the priest, D. N., N. G. L., the statutes passim; fjórðungs-ból, a farm yielding a certain rent, and many others. Again, in Icel. the whole land was politically divided into quarters or fjórðungar (this division seems to have taken place A. D. 964, and exists up to the present time), thus, Austfirðinga-, Vestfirðinga-, Norðlendinga-, Sunnlendinga-fjórðungr, or east-, west-, north-, and south quarters; each of the quarters had three or four shires or þing, and each had a parliament called Fjórðungs-þing or Fjórðunga-þing, and a court called Fjórðungs-dómar, Quarter-courts, Eb. ch. 10, Landn. 2. 12; (it is uncertain whether the writer Eb. l. c. intended to make a distinction between Fjórðunga-þing and Fjórðungs-þing, denoting by the latter a ‘general quarter parliament,’ cp. also Landn. 150.)

COMPDS: fjórðungamót, fjórðungaskipti, fjórðungshöfðingi, fjórðungsmenn, fjórðungssekt, fjórðungsúmagi.

* * *

(að), v.

1) to soften, mitigate;

2) to soothe, alleviate (linit harmi mínum); impers., e-u linar, it abates (við átak hans linat þegar sóttinni);

3) l. til, to give way;

4) refl., linast, to be softened, give way (þá linuðust hugir þeirra).

* * *

u, f. a line, and as a naut. term, the bowline, Edda (Gl.), cp. bóglína: a rope, hann tók glófana, beltið ok knífinn ok línu mjófa, … eptir þat fór hann í festina ok lét línuna draga sik af berginu undir fossinn, Gullþ. 8. Norsemen mostly used ropes of walrus skin (svörðr), but ropes of flax are also mentioned; meðan strengr ok lína brestr eigi, Orkn. (in a verse).

2. mathem. a line, Rb. 472, 474; Miðjarðar-lína and Lína = the Line, Equator, mod.: a line in a book or writing (mod.), skrifa línu-skakkt, to write the lines unevenly.

II. lín, a head-dress; Hlín línu, poët. a lady, Kormak; línu jörð, the earth of the lín = the head, Fms. v. 200 (in a verse); laut und línu, lysti at kyssa, Þkv. 27.

COMPDS: línuakkeri, línustrengr.

(gen. -ar), m. veto, interdict; verja e-t lýriti, to put a veto on, forbid by law.

* * *

m., or better lýritr or lýrittr, gen. lyritar (but lyrits, Grág. ii. 233), dat. lyriti, plur. lyritar. N. G. L. ii. 94, Jb. 193; the quantity cannot be ascertained because the vellums do not distinguish between long and short vowels; it is spelt with one t throughout the Grág. (Kb.); the alliterative phrase lagalyritr, as also the invariable spelling in the Grágás, shew that the word had no initial h. Former attempts at an etymology, from læ and rifta (Björn á Skarðsá), hlýrar and réttir (Pal Vídal.), lygi and rift (Fritzner), must be dismissed; tiie spelling lyriftar, which once or twice occurs in Norse MSS. of the 14th century (N. G. L. i. 394, ii. 94, v. l. 19), is probably a mere corruption. Lyritr is a compd word from lög, law, and rör or reyr, a landmark, which word in the old Swed. law exactly answers to lyrit in the Norse law; lyrit is thus qs. lý-ryr-ti, by assimilation and by weakening the y into i, lyritti; the t being inflexive: its literal sense, therefore, is a lawful rör or landmark. In Sweden there were often five mark-stones, but it is added (Schlyter iii. s. v. rör)—fiuri stenar oc þri stenar mughu rör heta = four stones and even three stones may be called rör, i. e. make a ‘law-rör,’ a lawful landmark, a lyrit; this, we believe, is the etymology of this much-contested word. About the gender (masc., not fem.) there can be no doubt, from the numerous instances in the Grágás; but in the 13th century the word began to become neuter, thus we have lyritit, Grág. (Kb.) i. 103, lines 14 and 21, but lyritinn several times in the same page: nom. lyriti in Grág. (Sb.) ii. 226; and elalausu lyriti, Nj. passim.

B. SENSE:

I. prop. when the boundary of a field or estate was to be drawn, the law prescribed that a mark-stone (mark-steinn) should be raised on the spot, and three other stones laid beside it; these three stones were called landmark-stones (lyrit-steinar or lyritar); by their number and position they were distinguished from all other stones in the field, see N. G. L. ii. 94, cp. note 19 (Jb. 193).

II. metaph. in the Icel. law, a full title of possession, lawful claim to right or property; thus defined by Konrad Maurer—‘Lyrit bedeutet in der Grágás und in den ältern Sagas, das volle Eigentums-recht, oder auch den Bann, der dem Grunde gentümer zum Schutze seines Eigentumes, dem Goden aber Kraft seiner Amtsgewalt zusteht:’

1. the earliest kind was probably the land-lyrit or ‘land-ban;’ this law term was originally borrowed from the mark-stones themselves, and then came to mean a full title to land, field, pasture, or estate, Grág. ii. 224, 225:—eignar-lyritr, full lawful possession, a legal title of ownership; hafa eignar-lyrit fyrir landi, 204, 222.

2. a veto; Goða-lyritr, the veto of a Goði ( Priest), forbidding the court or neighbours to deliver a sentence or verdict in a case, and thus quashing the suit. A Goði alone, by virtue of his office, was entitled to stop a court in this way, whether personally or by one of his liegemen, so that if any one else wished thus to stop a suit, he had first to go to his liegelord (Goði) and be authorised by him to do so; cp. the phrases, taka lyrit af Goða, selja lyrit, ef Goði færir lyrit sinn sjálfr fram, and similar law phrases, Grág. i. 109–111, cp. esp. Þ. Þ. ch. 38; neglect of this was contempt of court, punishable by the lesser outlawry. The word lyritr occurs at every step in the Grágás, esp. in the phrase, verja lyriti, or verja e-t lyriti, to defend through a lyrit, i. e. to put under veto, to vindicate one’s right, forbid, or the like; eigi varðar hagabeit, nema lyriti sé varið, Grág. ii. 224; verja lyriti haga, 225; þótt maðr veri fleirum lyriti (dat.), 226, Nj.; láta lyrit koma fyrir sök, to stop on a case, Grág. i. 109; kaupa land lagn kaupi ok lyritar, to buy land by a lawful bargain and with full tide of possession, ii. 213; eptir þat nefndi Þorkéll sér vátta, ok setti (varði?) þeim lyriti, ok fyrirbauð þeim at dæma, Lv. 31; ok er únýt stefna hans eðr lyriti (lyritr?), Grág. ii. 226; hann (the Goði) skal nefna sér vátta, áðr hann færi lyrit fram, í þat vætti, at ek ver lyriti, goða-lyriti, löglyriti fullum dómendum at dæma um sök þá … enda skal hann svá verja kviðmönnum lyriti, at bera kviðu um hann, i. 111; ek ver lyriti mínum, löglyriti dómendum at dæma, id.; færa lyrit sinn fram, to utter one’s veto, id.; fara með land-lyriti, ii. 225.

COMPDS: lyritareiðr, lyritarvarzla, lyritarvörn.

* * *

(að), v.

1) to arrange, place in order, draw up, with dat. (Egill skipaði svá mönnum þeim, er merkit báru); s. e-m fyrir e-t or yfir e-t, to put one in charge of; s. e-m hjá e-m, to assign a seat to one beside another (jarlinn skipaði þeim hjá Gunnlaugi); fig. to explain; s. draumi, to interpret a dream;

2) with acc. to take up, occupy; skipuðu konur pall, the women were seated on the pallr; hann skipaði öndvegi, he had his place in the high-seat; to arrange, array, s. fylking sína, to draw up one’s line of battle; var skjöldum skipat allt húsit um veggina, the walls were all hung with shields;

3) s. e-m e-t, to assign a thing to one (skipaði hann nú allt land sínum sýslumönnum); also without dat. (Geirmundr skipar jarðir sínar á laun);

4) to man (skipuðu þeir skipin sem bezt); ek skal s. húskörlum mínum annat skipit, I will man one of them with my house-carles;

5) s. til e-s, to arrange, make ready for (s. til atlögu); s. til búa sinna, to put one’s household in order; þó mun eigi of skipat til ánna, there will not be too many rams for the ewes;

6) to change; bið hann, at þit skipit máldaga, ask him to change the bargain;

7) reflex., skipast, to draw up (gengu þeir þá inn allir ok skipuðust í dyrrin); skipuðust menn þar í sæti, the men took their seats; to undergo a change (mart hefir skipazt í Haukadal, ok vertu varr um þik); s. á betri leið, to change for the better; s. við e-t, to yield to, he moved by (s. við orð, fortölur e-s); s. við orðsending e-s, to answer to one’s call; þenna kost gerðum, vér Hákoni, skipaðist hann vel við, he took it in good part; impers., var heitit fyrir henni mörgu, ok skipaðist henni ekki viðr, it had no effect.

(að), v., s. e-t upp, to unload (þeir tóku land ok skipuðu þar upp).

* * *

að, [from this word has come the Fr. équiper; Engl. equip]:— to give order or arrangement to things, with dat., i. e. to draw up, place in order, arrange them, of seats, lines, rows; hann skipaði mönnum í skjaldborg, Ó. H. 206; þá fylktu þeir liði sínu ok skipaðu, 205; þeirra hverr á at skipa tveim mönnum í Lögréttu, öðrum fyrir sér, en öðrum á bak sér, Grág. i. 5; Gunnarr hafði marga boðsmenn, ok skipaði hann svá sínum mönnum, hann sat á miðjan bekk, en innar frá Þráinn … þá var skipat konum í annat sinn, sat þá Þorgerðr meðal brúða, Nj. 50, 51; svá var skipat sessum, at …, Fms. x. 16; Egill skipaði svá mönnum þeim er merkit báru, Hkr. i. 150; skipaðu höfðingjar herinum til atlögu, Fms. ii. 303; jarl skipaði svá atlögunni, ix. 430; þeir skipaðu svá sinni ferð, at …, 468; konungr skipaði Haraldi í sína sveit, vi. 168; Gizurr skipaði Oddi yfir Skaga-fjörð, x. 60; hann skipaði sonum sínum til landa, Rb. 316; skipuðu Ribbungar þar öllum sýslum, Fms. ix. 393; bændr ok þingu-nautar skyldu fyrst gunga á þingit ok skipa dómum eptir lögum, vii. 138; hann skipaði allri bygð ok skipti í skipreiður, Hkr. i. 146; er skipat í þáttu allri skrá þessi, Rb. 4.

2. metaph. to explain; skipa draumi, to read a dream, Fms. xi. 6; skipaði konungr fyrst þeirra máli, ix. 396; ok skipuðu málum þeim sem nauðsyn bar til, x. 32: in the phrase, of a song, eg kann kvæðið, en kann ekki að skipa því, I know the song by heart, but cannot give the order of the verses.

II. with acc. to take up, occupy; konur skipuðu pall, Nj. 11; Haraldr ok hans lið skipaði langbekkinn, Fms. vi. 193; hann skipaði öndvegi, Vígl. 52 new Ed.; skipa fylking sína, to draw up one’s line of battle, Eg. 292; Vagn ok Björn skipa annan arm, Fms. xi. 126: part., vágrinn var skipaðr herskipnm, ix. 360; var skipuð öll höllin, Nj. 269; hirð hans er skipuð afreks-mönnum einum, Eg. 19; höllin var skipuð hæverskum höfðingjum, Fms. vi. 3; vóru skipaðir þrettán stólar, x. 16; var skjöldum skipat allt húsit um veggina, the walls all hung with shields, vii. 147.

2. to establish, ordain, appoint, the place or office given being in acc.; þá skipaði hann lög, … ok setti þat í lögum, at …, Fms. i. 6; skipaði hann héraðit sínum félögum, Landn. 57; skipuðu þeir löndin Arnfinni jarli, Fms. i. 201; skipaði hann nú allt land sínum sýslu-mönnum, viii. 244; vóru þeim skipuð ríki þau á Íslandi sem konungr hafði þá heimildum á tekit, x. 45; skipa klerkum kirkjur, K. Á. 232; skipaði konungr ríki sín um öll Upplönd, ix. 410; Skúli hertogi hafði skipat allar sýslur fyrir norðan Staði, 478; fór hann inn í Sogn ok skipaði allt ríkit, x. 189; ok er skipat var ríkit með þessum hætti, Fas. i. 376; hann fékk honum umboð sitt at s. jarðir sínar, Eg. 590; Geirmundr skipar jarðir sínar á laun, Ld. 112; láta drepa stórmenni en hefja upp lítilmenni, hafa þeir verr skipat landit, Fms. vii. 183; hann skipaði dalinn vinum sínum, Gullþ. 44.

3. to compose, arrange; skipa bækr, Sks. 568; skipa máldaga (acc.), Nj. 4; skyldi Ólafr frálsliga mega skipa þenna skurð til hverrar jarðar sem hann vildi, Dipl. iv. 12; at hann skipaði ( settled matters) milli þeirra, Fms. vii. 270:—skipa til e-s, to arrange; skipa til um fylkingar, ix. 489; skipa til atlögu, vii. 357; þeir skipuðu til bús með Sigríði, Eg. 94; at s. þar til bús, Nj. 54; skipuðu þeir til á hverju skipi, 8; s. til búa sinna, to put one’s household in order, 219, 251, 259; um daginn eptir var þar skipat til leiks, Ld. 196; s. til um fylkingar, Ó. H. 215; þó mun eigi of skipat til ánna, there will not be too many rams for the ewes, Fms. xi. 149.

4. to man; skipaði konungr hana (i. e. the hall) hraustum drengjum, Fms. vi. 3; ek skal s. húskörlum mínum annat skipit en bóndum annat, Nj. 42; skipuðu þeir skipin sem bezt, Fms. ix. 401; hverr skal þau (the ships) skipa, Nj. 42; sex skip, öll vel skipuð, Eg. 87; tré alskipað af epluni, Stj. 73.

III. to bid, command, Lat. jubere: s. e-m e-ð, freq. in mod. but not found in old writers; hann skipaði mér að fara.

B. Reflex. to take a seat or place, draw themselves up; gengu þeir þá inn allir ok skipuðusk í dyrrin, Nj. 198; er menn skipuðusk í sæti sín, Eg. 248; þar var fjöldi fyrir boðs-manna, skipuðusk menn þar í sæti, Nj. 11; víl ek at menn skipisk í sveitir, … skipisk menn nú í sveitir, en síðan skal sveitum skipa í fylking, Ó. H. 205 (skipta, Fms, v. 53, v. l.); þá skipaðisk jarl til atlögu, Fms. i. 169.

2. to undergo a change, sometimes with the notion for the better, to be improved; hugr yðvarr hefir skipask, 656 C. 42; mart hefir skipask í Haukadal, ok vertú varr um þik, Gísl. 20; ok er hann hafði þessa vísu kveðit, skipask nokkut hugr þeirra bræðra, Fas. i. 267; hví skipaðisk svá skjótt hugr þinn um málin í dag? Fs. 75; hefir þu mikit skipask síðan vit sámk næst, Fms. vi. 303; kvað eigi son sinn hafa vel skipask, Fas. i. 528; litr hennar skipaðisk á engan veg, Hkr. i. 102; hversu skipaðisk máttr konungsins, Fms. ix. 214: skipask á betri leið. Eg. 416: the saying, mart skipask á manns æfinni, Ó. H. 139, Fms. vii. 156; skjótt hefir hér nú skipask, 148; hvegi er síðan hefir skipask, Grág. i. 227: skipask við e-t, to yield to, be moved by; ekki er þess ván, at pit skipisk við framhvöt orða, ef þit íhugit ekki …, Ld. 260; skipask við fortölur e-s, Fms. i. 285; konungr skipaðisk við fortölur Magnúss, vii. 210, Eg. 167; skipask við orð e-s, id., Fms. ii. 134, xi. 38, Ó. H. 48; s. við orðsending e-s, to answer to one’s call, Fms. xi. 29; hann hét þeim dauða ok meiðslum, þeir skipuðusk ekki við þat, Hkr. i. 277; þenna kost görðu vér Hákoni, skipaðisk hann vel við, he took it in good part, Fms. ii. 35; of health, var heitið fyrir henni ok skipaðisk henni ekki viðr, it took no effect, Bs. i. 791; lagði Hrani um hana beltið ok skipaðisk skjótt við, Fb. ii. 9.

II. pass., þeir skipuðusk múrr ok skjöldr, Mar. (a Latinism).

III. part. fit, meet; vel skipaðr til klerks, Fms. x. 88; skipaðrar þjónustu af Guði, ii. 199; til-skipað sacramentum, xi. 443.

(pl. stuðlar), m.

1) stud, prop, stay;

2) an upright on board ship;

3) either of the two alliterative letters in the odd lines of a verse.

* * *

m. [styðja], anything that ‘steadies,’ a stud, prop, stay; styrkir stuðlar, Barl. 5; þá skulu styrkir stuðlar styðja þik alla vegu, 41; tjöld ok tveir stuðlar, Stj. 308 (= columna of the Vulgate); þeir settu þar í stuðla, ok festu þar við víggyrðlana, Fms. viii. 216; öruggir stuðlar bæði brjósti ok herðum, Anecd. 4.

2. spec. usages, an upright on board ship, Edda (Gl.): the four posts of a box are called stuðlar (meis-stuðull, opp. to rim, q. v.): pentagonal basalt columns are also called stuðlar, and stuðla-berg, n. is a basaltic dyke.

II. metaph. and as a metrical term, the supporter, second repeated letter in an alliterative verse; thus in ‘sól varp sunnan sinni mána,’ the s in ‘sunnan’ and ‘sinni’ is stuðill, supporting the head-stave in ‘sól’ (see höfuðstafr, p. 308, col. 2), Edda i. 596, 612, ii. 150.