(nightfall)

(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.

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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.

(dag-sátr, Sturl. iii. 185 C), n. ‘day-setting,’ nightfall; um kveld nær dagsetri, Landn. 285; í d., Fms. v. 331, ix. 345; leið til dagsetrs, Grett. III; d. skeið, Fms. ix. 383. dag-sett, n. adj. id., Háv. 40; vide dagr.

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(að), v. to make dark, darken; impers., um kveldit, er dimma tók, when it begtin to grow dark; tekr at dimma af nótt, the night comes on;

refl., dimmast, to grow dark (er nótt dimmaðist).

f. darkness (dimma nætrinnar); dimmu dregr á et, it begins to look gloomy, threatening.

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d, (but dinimaðisk, Fb. i. 91; dimmat, part., Mar.):—to become dim; neut. or impers., um kveldit er d. tók, when it began to grow dark, Fms. viii. 305; dimmir af nótt, the night darkens, iii. 135: also of clouds, to grow dark (of a gale, storm); þá hvesti ok dimdi í fjörðinn, Espol. Árb. 1768.

u, f. dimness, darkness, esp. of clouds, nightfall; seglið bar í fjarðar-dimmuna, Espol. Árb. l. c.: metaph. gloom, Pass. 4. ii; the phrase, dimmu dregr á e-t, it becomes clouded, looks threatening, Band. 10.

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(-da, -dr), v.

1) to go in a certain direction, esp. of sailing (s. inn fjörðinn, út ór firðinum); þat (viz. dýrit) stefndi til Hrútsstaða, it made for H.;

2) to aim at (höggit stefndi á fótlegginn); e-m verðr nær stefnt, one has a narrow escape; betr fór en til var stefnt, better than it was begun, of luck better than foresight; with dat., s. sér til ørkumla, to expose oneself to;

3) to give notice to one, summon one; s. e-m um e-t, to summon one for a thing; ek skal þér Mörðr vera ok s. þér af konunni, and summon thee to give up thy wife;

4) to cite; s. sök, máli, to bring a case (suit) into court;

5) to call, summon (s. e-m til tals við sik, á sinn fund); s. at sér liði, to summon troops; s. e-m saman, to call together (s. saman öllum lýð);

6) with acc. to call together, fix, appoint (þeir stefndu þar þing, en bœndr vildu eigi til koma).

1) direction, course; halttu fram stefnunni, keep on in the same direction;

2) appointed meeting (N. konungr kom fyrr miklu til stefnunnar ok beið þar lengi);

3) the appointed time for meeting (er s. sú var liðin, er á kveðin var, þá etc.);

4) summons; þriggja nátta s., a summons with three days’ notice; Otkell lætr þegar dynja stefnuna, O. immediately thundered out the summons.

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and stemna, d, [stafn, stamn], to ‘point with the stem’ to stand in a certain direction, (esp. of sailing, from which the metaphor is taken); s. inn fjörðinn, Landn. 56, Eg. 128: s. út ór firði. to stand out of the firth, Ó. H. 37; s. út á haf, Fms. i. 26; þeir stefndu inn í Víkina, 60; s. á land upp, vii. 202; s. til bæjarins, Eg. 230; þat stefndi til Rúts-staða, Nj. 35:—to aim at, höggit stefndi á fótlegginn, the blow aimed at the leg, Fms. vii. 325; sendi ör af lásboga, þó óafvitandi á hvern hann stefndi, Stj. 604: phrases, e-m verðr nær stefnt, to escape narrowly, Fms. viii. 328; betr enn til var stefnt, better than it was begun, of luck better than foresight, ix. 414; stefna sér til örkumla, to court, expose oneself to, Bjarn. 56.

II. a law term, to give notice to one, summon him, the person in dat., Grág., N. G. L., Nj.; s. manni í dóm, til alþingis, etc., passim; s. e-m um e-t, Grág. i. 107; s. um sök, 21: with a double dat., s. manni þeirri sök er tólftar-kviðr fylgir, to summon a person in such a case, 20; ek skal þér Mörðr vera ok stefna þér af konunni, Nj. 15.

2. to cite, of a case; stefna sök, to call a case into court, Grág. i. 36; s. máli, Nj. 33; s. dómi til rofs, Grág. ii. 101; s. til alþingis, i. 106; s. í hvárt þing sem vill, 162: the word is used in countless instances in Grág., Nj., and the Sagas: to recite the summons, hann stefndi fyrir málinu, en hann mælti eptir ok stefndi rangt, Nj. 35.

3. to call together, with acc., of a meeting; s. þing, to call a meeting, Fb. ii. 38, Ld. 2, Hkr. iii. 26, Fær. 119, Eg. 338:—s. saman, to call together; stefna saman þegn ok þræl, Stj. 611; s. saman öllum lýð, 541; s. at sér liði, to summon the troops, Eg. 270; s. til sín, 26, 32, 269; s. at sér mönnum, to gather men, Nj. 104; stemna stemnu, to summon formally, Grág. i. 108; s. veizlu, to bid people to a feast, Fms. xi. 45; þessi ætlan er nú er stefnd, Hkr. iii. 384.

or stemna, u, f. a direction, Hkr. i. 158:—an appointed meeting.

II. a law term, a summons, citation; eiga stefnu við e-n, Eg. 271; koma fyrr til stefnu, Fms. vii. 151.

2. the term = stef; þriggja nátta stefna, Fms. viii. 200; mánaðar-s., at liðinni þeirri stefnu, Grág. i. 378; er at þeirri stefnu kom, Eg. 30; er sú s. var liðin, 277; tólt mánaða stemna, N. G. L. i. 43; selja jörð ór stemnu, to sell an estate held by lease, Gþl. 309: the saying, allr dagr til stefnu, all the day for a citation, a summons being lawful if served before nightfall, Jb.; hence metaph., það er allr dagr til stefnu, i. e. plenty of time or leisure, of a thing which is not pressing.

COMPDS: stefnuboð, stefnudagr, stefnudægr, stefnufall, stefnufundr, stefnuför, stefnugörð, stefnujörð, stefnulag, stefnuleiðangr, stefnulið, stefnulýðr, stefnumaðr, stefnumorginn, stefnurof, stefnustaðr, stefnustofa, stefnusök, stefnutal, stefnutími, stefnuvargr, stefnuváttr, stefnuvitni.

(-s, -ar), m. wolf; ala e-m úlfa, to breed wolves for one, plan mischief (spyr ek þat frá, at Danir muni enn ala oss úlfa); fig. enemy.

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m., úlf-gi, Ls. 39; [Ulf. wulfs; A. S. and Hel. wulf; Engl.-Germ. wolf; North. E. Ulf-, in pr. names, Ulpha, Ulverston; Dan.-Swed. ulv; cp. Lat. lupus and vulpes; Gr. λύκος]:—a wolf, Grág. ii. 122; lýsa þar vígi, … kallask hvárki úlfr né björn nema svá heiti hann, N. G. L. i. 6l; úlfa þytr mér þótti íllr vera hjá söngvi svana, Edda (in a verse); úlfa hús, wolf-pits, Gþl. 457: freq. in poets, where ‘to feed the wolf,’ ‘cheer the wolf’ are standing phrases, see Lex. Poët.: a warrior is hence called úlf-brynnandi, -gæðandi, -grennir, -nestir, -seðjandi, -teitir, i. e. the refresher, cheerer, … gladdener of the wolf; úlf-vín, wolf’s wine, i. e. blood, Lex. Poët.

2. sayings, fæðisk úlfr í skógi, the wolf is born in the wood, Mkv.; etask af úlfs munni, and úlfar eta annars eyrindi, see eta (2. δ); eigi hygg ek okkr vera úlfa dæmi, at vér mynim sjálfir um sakask, Hðm. 30; fangs er ván at frekum úlfi, see fang (III. 4); auðþekktr er úlfr í röð; þar er mér úlfs ván er ek eyru sé’k, I know the wolf when I see the ears, Fm. 35, Finnb. 244; hafa úlf undir bægi, evidently from the fable of the wolf in sheep’s clothes; sem úlfr í sauða dyn, Sd. 164; ala e-m úlfa, to breed wolves to one, brood over evil; spyr ek þat frá, at Danir muni enn ala oss úlfa, Fms. viii. 303, Kormak; sýna úlfs ham, to appear to a person in a wolf’s skin, i. e. savagely; eigi heldr þykkisk eg honum eðr öðrum fátækum prestum þann úlfs ham sýnt hafa, at þeir megi eigi mér opinbera neyð sína, H. E. iii. 438 (in a letter of bishop Gudbrand); hafa úlfs hug við e-n, má vera at Guðrúnu þykki hann úlfs hug við okkr hafa, Fas. i. 211; skala úlf ala ungan lengi, Skv. 3. 12; annas barn er sem úlf at frjá, Mkv.; úlfr er í ungum syni, Sdm. 35: for legends of were-wolves cp. Völs. S. ch. 8.

3. úlfa þytr, howling; þær báðu honum ílls á móti, var inn mesti úlfa þytr ( wailing) til þeirra at heyra, Grett. 98; finnr Sigmundr menn ok lét úlfs röddu, Fas. i. 131; úlfum líkir þykkja allir þeir sem eiga hverfan hug, Sól. 31.

II. in poets, wolves are the ‘steeds’ on which witches ride through the air during the night, Edda. At nightfall wizards were supposed to change their shape, hence the nickname kveld-úlfr, evening wolf, of a were-wolf; in Icel. the fretful mood caused by sleepiness in the evening is called kveld-úlfr; thus the ditty, Kveldúlfr er kominn hér | kunnigr innan gátta | sólin líðr sýnisk mér | senn er mál að hátta, Icel. Almanack 1870; or, Kveldúlfr er kominn í kerlinguna mína, the evening wolf has entered my child, a lullaby, Sveinb. Egilsson’s Poems, cp. en dag hvern er at kveldi kom, þá görðisk hann styggr, svá at fáir menn máttu orðum við hann koma; hann var kveld-svæfr, þat var mál manna at hann væri mjök hamramr, hann var kallaðr Kveldúlfr, Eg. ch. 1. In the mythology there is the wolf Fenrir, Edda; whence Úlfs-bági, the ‘Wolf’s foe’ = Odin, Stor.; Úlfs-faðir, the Wolf’s father = Loki, Ls.: mock suns were imagined to be wolves persecuting the sun, Gm. 37; hence in popular Icel., úlfa-kreppa, u, f. ‘wolf-strait,’ when the sun is surrounded by four mock suns (sól í úlfa kreppu), Ísl. Þjóðs. i. 658.

III. freq. in pr. names, Úlfr, Úlfarr, Úlf-hamr, Úlf-héðinn, Úlf-ljótr, Úlf-kell; women, Úlf-hildr, Úlf-eiðr, Úlf-rún; esp. as the latter part in men’s names, being then sounded (and often spelt) -ólfr, Ás-ólfr, Auð-ólfr, Bót-ólfr, Brynj-ólfr, Björg-ólfr, Eyj-ólfr, Grím-ólfr, Ing-ólfr, Ís-ólfr, Herj-ólfr, Þór-ólfr, Þjóð-ólfr, Stein-ólfr, Rún-ólfr, Ljót-ólfr, Örn-ólfr, Móð-úlfr, etc.: contracted are, Snjólfr = Snæ-úlfr, Hrólfr = Hróð-úlfr, Sjólfr = Sæ-úlfr, Bjólfr = Bý-úlfr = A. S. Beowulf (Bee-wolf, i. e. honey-thief, a name of the bear, from popular tales, in which the bear, being fond of honey, is made to rob hives; the name has of late been thus explained by Mr. Sweet).

n. nightfall (um kveld nær dagsetri).

n. the time about nightfall.

pp. n., er dagsett var, when the day was at an end, at nightfall.

(røkkr, -, røkkvit), v. to grow dark (hann þorði hvergi at fara, þegar er r. tók); er røkkvit var, after nightfall.