(referring+to

f. a heroic laudatory poem with refrains in the central portion (contrasted with flokkr).

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u, f. a heroic, laudatory poem; this word is probably derived from drepa, to strike, i. e. to strike the chords of an instrument, vide drepa A. I, as poems were at early times accompanied by instrumental music: the drápas were usually composed in the so-called ‘drótt-kvætt’ metre, q. v., and were much in fashion from the 10th to the 12th or even to the 13th century, but esp. flourished at the end of the 10th and during the 11th; the earliest poems of this kind on record are of the end of the 9th century: even poems in honour of gods, Christ, the holy cross, saints, etc. are called drápur if composed in the proper metre; but most of them are in honour of kings, earls, princes, or eminent men, vide Skáldatal. A drápa usually consisted of three parts, upp-haf introduction, stef or stefjamál the burden or middle part interpolated with artificial burdens, whence the name stefja-drápa, and lastly slæmr or peroration; according to the length, a drápa is tvítug or a poem of twenty stanzas, sextug or sixty stanzas, and so on; it is called erfi-drápa if in praise of a deceased man, mansöngs-drápa (Germ. minne-sang) if addressed to a lady-love, etc.; as to metre, we have tog-drápa, hrynhend drápa, etc.; drápa is sometimes distinguished from flokkr, a less laudatory and shorter poem without burdens, Fms. vi. 391; hví ortir þú flokk um konunginn, eðr þótti þér hann ekki drápunnar verðr, Ísl. ii. 237, and the classical passage Knytl. S. ch. 19. Passages in the Sagas referring to the delivery of these poems are very numerous, e. g. Gunnl. S. ch. 7–9, Eg. ch. 62, 63 (Höfuð-lausn), 80 (Sonatorek and Arinbjarnar-d.), 81 (Beru-drápa), Ld. ch. 29 (Hús-drápa), Hallfr. S. ch. 6, II, Bjarn. 6, 39, Fms. iii. 65, v. 173–175, Knytl. S. l. c., O. H. L. ch. 60, 61, Har. S. Harð. (Fms. vi.) ch. 24, 66, 110 (the interesting story of Stuf the Blind), Skáldat. 252, 268, Fb. iii. 241, 242, Hkr. i. 185, 186; the last on record is Sturl. iii. 303–306, referring to A. D. 1263, cp. also Sturl. ii. 56; most of these poems derive their name from the king or person in whose honour they were composed, e. g. Ólafs-d., Knúts-d. (king Canute), Eiríks-d., etc., vide Fms. xii, s. v. kvæði, or Jómsvíkinga-d., Íslendinga-d., the name of a laudatory poem addressed to the Icelandic people; or referring to other subjects, as Vell-ekla (want of gold), Hafgerðinga-d., Landn. 106, or Kross-d., Róða-d. ( the Holy Rood), etc. Mythical drápas are, e. g. Ragnars-d., Haustlöng, Hús-d.

COMPDS: drápumál, drápustúfr.

(sín, sitt), poss. pron. his, her, its, their;

1) referring to the subj. in a sentence, Hallgerðr fastnaði dóttur sína, H. betrothed her daughter;

Hrútr var harðráðr við úvini sína, H. was stern towards his foes;

2) referring to the object;

hvat vill Haraldr bjóða Nóregs konungi fyrir sitt starf, what will H. offer to the king of Norway for his (viz. the latter’s) trouble? Sigurðr jarl gaf upp Orkneyingum óðul sín, their odals;

hann þakkar honum sitt sinni, he thanks him for his help;

3) neut. as subst.;

kostaði hann einn allt fyrir, en bœndr ekki af sínu, nothing of their own;

allt mun þat sínu fran fara um aldr manna, it will all go its own course to a man’s life;

4) with sjálfr both words are declined;

þeir báðu hana taka sjálfrar sinnar ráð, they bade her take her own counsel;

5) with hvárr and hverr in a distributive sense;

tók sitt langskip hvárr þeira, each of the two took a long ship;

sinn vetr þá hvárr heimboð at öðrum, they visited each other, winter about;

sínu sinni at hvárs búum, alternately on each other’s estates;

sinn veg hvárr, one each way;

þykkir nökkut sinn veg hváru, each took his own view of the matter;

ferr sinn veg hverr um skóginn, they (all) went each his own way in the wood;

skulu vaka sinn þriðjung nætr hverir tveir, two and two in turn.

n. time;

eitt sinn, einu sinni, one time, once (þat var eitt sinn, at Egill gekk til elda at verma sik);

eitthvert sinn, einhverju sinni = eitt sinn, einu sinni;

einhverju sinni bar svá til, at, one time it happened that;

ekki sinn, engu sinni, never;

aldri sinn, never more (aldri skaltu koma í mína rekkju sinn síðan);

þat sinn, that time;

þessu sinni, this time;

(í) annat sinn, öðru sinni, a second time, again;

hit fyrra sinn, the first time;

hit þriðja sinn, for the third time;

at sinni, for the present (þeir skilja tal sitt at sinni);

um sinn, once (veg þú aldri meirr í inn sama knérunn en um sinn);

for this one time (ek mun leysa þik ór vandræði þessu um sinn);

um sinns sakir, for this once (eigi vil ek synja þér um sinns sakir þessa);

dat. pl., sjau sinnum, seven times;

endr ok sinnum, now and then, from time to time;

nökkurum sinnum, several times.

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sín, sitt, pron. possess. reflex.; the better and true form is sínn, sín, sítt, with í throughout, see the remarks on minn; [Ulf. seins, etc.]:—his, hers, its, theirs = Lat. suus, usually placed after, but also, if emphatic, before; þar sitr Sigyn um sínum ver, Vsp. 39; síns um freista frama, Hm. 2; mál síns maga, 20; síns ins heila hugar, síns ins svára sofa, 105: properly referring to the subject in a sentence, Hallgerðr fastnaði dóttur sína, H. gave away her daughter. Nj. 51; Hrútr var hagráðr við vini sína, 2; hann skipaði sínum mónnum, 50; þeir leiða hesta sína, 265; hann kvaddi Ólaf stjúpson sinn til at söðla sér hest, Ó. H. 15; síðan vóru honum öll ráð sín þungrærð ok torsótt, 195; var honum sjálfum hugr sinn bæði fyrir skjöld ok brynju, Fbr. 56 new Ed. The pronoun may also refer to the object, or, in a complex sentence, to a second person in the predicate of the sentence, hvat vill Haraldr bjóða Noregs konungi fyrir sitt starf, what will H. offer to the king of Norway for his (i. e. the Norse king’s) trouble? Fms. vi. 415; Sigurðr jarl gaf upp Orkneyingum óðul sín (their odals), Orkn. 20, cp. the Lat. ‘Syracusanis res suas restituit;’ sagði Dufþakr at Ormr skyldi hafa byrði sína, i. e. as much as O. could carry, Fb. i. 523; eigi þér at bæta prestinum rétt sinn, to the priest his due, Bs. i. 709; Eyjólfr þakkar konungi gjafir sínar ok vinmæli for his (the king’s) gifts, Lv. 112; hann þakkar honum sitt sinni, he thanks him for his help, Fas. ii. 542: so also in mod. writers, og hann gaf hann aptr sinni móður, Luke vii. 15 (Vídal.); ræn ei Guð Sínum rétti, rob thou not God of his right, Pass. 7. 11, and passim.

II. neut. as subst.; allt mun þat sínu fram fara ( go its own course) um aldr manna, Nj. 259; ryðik hann um sitt, = Lat. pro virili, i. e. for his own part, with might and main, Fms. xi. 132: ellipt., hann segir sínar (viz. farar) eigi sléttar, Korm. 158; kom hann svá sinni (viz. ár) fyrir borð, Fas. i. 524.

III. with sjálfr, both words are declined; skaða sjálfs síns, one’s own self’s scathe, Sks. 228 B; minni sjálfs síns, one’s own recollection, D. N. ii. 110; þeir báðu hana taka sjálfrar sinnar ráð. ‘take her own self’s rede,’ act for herself, Fms. x. 103; með höndum sjálfra sinna, Barl. 25; leggr hón í veð sjálfra sinna eignir, D. N. ii. 82; sakir óforsjó sálfra sinna, i. 107: in mod. usage both the possessive and the indeclinable forms are used, thus, sjálfs síns eignum, but if placed after, eignum sjálfs sín; the possessive however is more freq., as it also is the better form of the two.

IV. with hvárr (dual), hverr (plur.), in a distributive sense:

α. sinn-hverr in n purely distributive sense; tók sitt langskip ‘hvárr þeirra, they took a long ship, each of the two, Eg. 74; England ok Skotland er ein ey, ok er þó sitt hvárt konungs-ríki, England and Scotland are one island, and yet each is a separate kingdom, Symb. 14: lét sitt naut hvárr fram leiða, Eg. 506; sinn vetr þá hvúrr heimboð at öðrum, each his winter, alternately, Nj. 51; ef sinn lögsögu-mann vilja hvárir, Grág. i. 1; þeirra manna er tví-tyngðir eru ok hafa í sínum hváptinum hvára tunguna, Al. 4; hón hélt sinni hendi um háls hvárum þeirra, … liggi til sinnar handar mér hvárr ykkar, Fms. i. 9.

β. sinn hverr (plur.), ferr sinn veg hverr um skóginn, they went each his own way in the wood, i. e. dispersed, Glúm. 329; skulu vaka sinn þriðjung nætr hverir tveir, two and two in turn, Fms. iv. 299; hann selr sína bolöxi í hendr hverjum þeirra, v. 288; hann sá þrjú hásæti ok sátu þrír menn, sinn í hverju, Edda 2; hann kastaði um öxl hverja sínum sauðum tveimr, Grett. 134 new Ed.; fór sinn veg hverr, they went each his own way, i. e. they parted; but, fór hverr sinn veg, each his (appointed) way: rarely with the possessive placed after, fóru hvárir leið sína, Nj. 34; fara hvárir til síns heima, Korm. 222. In mod. usage, when sinn is placed after hverr, it gives emphasis with the notion of one’s due, one’s own, thus, gefa hverjum sitt, to give every one his due, Lat. suum cuique; whereas ‘sitt hverjum,’ with the order reversed, is merely distributive; thus hver fékk sinn penning, Matth. xx. 9 (of wages due to each); whereas ‘fékk sinn pening hverr’ would be said of alms distributed.

B. COMPDS: sinn-veg, sinn-eg, sinn-ig, adv. one each way; þykkir nokkut sinnveg hváru, they disagreed, Ld. 90; talaði annarr at öðrum, ok hóf sinneg; hverr, they all spoke in turn, and each began his speech differently, Fms. vii. 222. Also, sinns-ig, adv.; flýði sinnsig hverr, Fms. viii. 413, v. l.; sinnsiginn var litr hvers steins, Konr.; skildu þeir svá sínu tali, at sinnsiginn líkaði hverjum, Bs. (Laur.); segir svá Gregorius papa, at sinnsig á hvern á at minna, each has to be admonished in his own way, one this way, another that, 655 xi. 2.

n. street (ganga úti um stræti).

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n. [from the Lat. strāta; A. S. stræt; Engl. street; O. H. G. straza; Germ. strasse; Dan. stræde]:— a street in a town (braut, q. v., is a road). The word is no doubt borrowed from the Latin, for as the old Northmen and Teutons had no towns, they had no streets; it is therefore strange to find such a word in an old poem like Hðm. 13, (the passage is prob. corrupt); so also, einn dag var þat er Kormakr gékk um stræti, Korm. 228, referring to the middle of the 10th century; but as the Saga is of the 12th, the words may perhaps here too be taken as an anachronism; Ólafr konungr gékk einn dag úti á stræti, Fs. 115, referring to Níðarós of the year 996; since in the 11th, and esp. in the 12th and 13th centuries, the word becomes freq. in Sagas referring to Norway, but never to Icel., Fms. vi. 363, vii. 39, Blas. 40. In the old Norse market-towns of the 11th, 12th, and following centuries, the ‘street’ ran along the shore (bryggjur), with ‘scores’ or cross lanes (veitur or almenningar) leading up to the houses (garðar), N. G. L. ii. 240, 243; strætis-búð, a street-booth, opp. to garðs-búð, iii. 112; strætis-görð, ii. 244; strætis-kaup, i. 324; strætis-lopt, -stofa, D. N. (Fr.)

2. a kind of gangway on board of a ship, [cp. Fr. pont]; göra með bryggjum útan tvá vega slétt stræti, til ástigs hjá viðum, Sks. 400.

II. Streiti or Stræti, a local name, Landn., Þórst. Síðu H., is no doubt a different word, perh. Gaelic.

mod. dans, n. a word of for. origin; [cp. mid. Lat. dansare; Fr. danser; Ital. danzare; Engl. dance; Germ. tanz, tanzen.] This word is certainly not Teutonic, but of Roman or perhaps Breton origin: the Icel. or Scandin. have no genuine word for dancing,—leika means ‘to play’ in general: the word itself (danza, danz, etc.) never occurs in the old Sagas or poetry, though popular amusements of every kind are described there; but about the end of the 11th century, when the Sagas of the bishops (Bs.) begin, we find dance in full use, accompanied by songs which are described as loose and amorous: the classical passage is Jóns S. (A. D. 1106–1121), ch. 13. Bs. i. 165, 166, and cp. Júns S. by Gunnlaug, ch. 24. Bs. i. 237—Leikr sá var kær mönnum áðr en hinn heilagi Jón varð biskup, at kveða skyldi karlmaðr til konu í danz blautlig kvæði ok rægilig; ok kona til karlmanns mansöngs vísur; þenna leik lét hann af taka ok bannaði styrkliga; mansöngs kvæði vildi hann eigi heyra né kveða láta, en þó fékk hann því eigi af komið með öllu. Some have thought that this refers to mythical (Eddic) poetry, but without reason and against the literal sense of the passage; the heathen heroic poems were certainly never used to accompany a dance; their flow and metre are a sufficient proof of that. In the Sturl. (Hist. of the 12th and 13th century) dancing is mentioned over and over again; and danz is used of popular ballads or songs of a satirical character (as those in Percy’s ballads): flimt ( loose song) and danz are synonymous words; the Sturl. has by chance preserved two ditties (one of A. D. 1221, running thus—Loptr liggr í Eyjum, bítr lunda bein | Sæmundr er á heiðum, etr berin ein. Sturl. ii. 62, and one referring to the year 1264—Mínar eru sorgirnar þungar sem blý, Sturl. iii. 317) sufficient to shew the flow and metre, which are exactly the same as those of the mod. ballads, collected in the west of Icel. (Ögr) in the 17th century under the name of Fornkvæði, Old Songs, and now edited by Jon Sigurdsson and Svend Grundtvig. Danz and Fornkvæði are both of the same kind, and also identical with Engl. ballads, Dan. kæmpeviser. There are passages in Sturl. and B.S. referring to this subject — færðu Breiðbælingar Lopt í flimtun ok görðu um hann danza marga, ok margskonar spott annat, Sturl. ii. 57, cp. 62; Danza-Bergr, the nickname of a man (Stud, ii), prob. for composing comic songs; danza-görð, composing comic songs; fylgðar-menn Kolbeins fóru með danza-görð, … en er Brandr varð varr við flimtan þeirra, iii. 80; þá hrökti Þórðr hestinn undir sér, ok kvað danz þenna við raust, 317.

β. a wake, Arna S. ch. 2; in Sturl. i. 23; at the banquet in Reykhólar, 1119, the guests amused themselves by dancing, wrestling, and story-telling; þá var sleginn danz í stofu, ii. 117; í Viðvík var gleði mikil ok gott at vera; þat var einn Drottins dag at þar var danz mikill; kom þar til fjöldi manna; ok ríðr hann í Viðvík til danz, ok var þar at leik; ok dáðu menn mjök danz hans, iii. 258, 259; honum var kostr á boðinn hvat til gamans skyldi hafa, sögur eða danz um kveldit, 281;—the last reference refers to the 21st of January, 1258, which fell on a Sunday (or wake-day): in ballads and tales of the Middle Ages the word is freq.:—note the allit. phrase, dansinn dunar, Ísl. Þóðs. ii. 8: the phrases, stiga danz; ganga í danz; brúðir í danz, dansinn heyra; dans vill hun heyra, Fkv. ii. 7. Many of the burdens to the mod. Icel. ballads are of great beauty, and no doubt many centuries older than the ballads to which they are affixed; they refer to lost love, melancholy, merriment, etc., e. g. Blítt lætur veröldin, fölnar fögr fold | langt er síðan mitt var yndið lagt í mold, i. 74; Út ert þú við æginn blá, eg er hér á Dröngum, | kalla eg löngum, kalla eg til þin löngum; Skín á skildi Sól og sumarið fríða, | dynur í velli er drengir í burtu riða, 110; Ungan leit eg hofmann í fögrum runni, | skal eg í hljóði dilla þeim mér unm; Austan blakar laufið á þann linda, 129; Fagrar heyrða eg raddirnar við Niflunga heim; Fagrt syngr svanrinn um sumarlanga tíð, | þá mun list að leika sér mín liljan fríð, ii. 52: Einum unna eg manninum, á meðan það var, | þó hlaut eg minn harm að bera í leyndum stað, 94; Svanrinn víða. svanurinn syngr viða, 22; Utan eptir firðinum, sigla fagrar fleyr | sá er enginn glaður eptir annan þreyr, 110; Svo er mér illt og angrsamt því veldur þú, | mig langar ekki í lundinn með þá jungfrú, Espol. Ann. 1549. The earliest ballads seem to have been devoted to these subjects only; of the two earliest specimens quoted in the Sturl. (above), one is satirical, the other melancholy; the historical ballads seem to be of later growth: the bishops discountenanced the wakes and dancing (Bs. l. c., Sturl. iii), but in vain: and no more telling proof can be given of the drooping spirits of Icel. in the last century, than that dancing and wakes ceased, after having been a popular amusement for seven hundred years. Eggert Olafsson in his poems still speaks of wakes, as an eyewitness; in the west of Icel. (Vestfirðir) they lasted longer, but even there they died out about the time that Percy’s ballads were published in England. The Fornkvæði or songs are the only Icel. poetry which often dispenses with the law of alliteration, which in other cases is the light and life of Icel. poetry; vide also hofmaðr, viki-vakar, etc. In the 15th century the rímur (metrical paraphrases of romances) were used as an accompaniment to the danz, höldar danza harla snart, ef heyrist vísan mín; hence originates the name man-söngr ( maid-song), minne-sang, which forms the introduction to every ríma or rhapsody; the metre and time of the rímur are exactly those of ballads and well suited for dancing. An Icel. MS. of the 17th century, containing about seventy Icel. Fornkvæði, is in the Brit. Mus. no. 11,177; and another MS., containing about twenty such songs, is in the Bodl. Libr. no. 130.

m. ‘doom-ring,’ ‘judgment-ring;’ (cp. also vé-bönd, the sacred bounds or bar): the courts of heathen times were surrounded by the dómhringr, about a bow-shot from the centre where the benches were placed; no evil-doer might enter this hallowed ring, or commit an act of violence within it; if he did so, he was called a vargr í véum (lupus in sanctii); the Engl. law term ‘bar’ answers to this old word, cp. Gr. δρύφακτοι, Lat. cancelli; the Goth. staua, = court and judge, properly means a staff, bar; the bar was, according to Eg. l. c., a pole of hazel-wood, hesli-stengr: classical passages referring to this,—þar sér enn dómhring þann, er menn vóru dæmdir í til blóts, í þeim hring stendr Þórs steinn, etc., Eb. ch. 10; þar stendr enn Þórs steinn … ok þar ‘hjá’ (better) er sá domhringr er ( in which) menn skyldi til blóts dæma, Landn. 98: another classical passage is Eg. ch. 57 beginning; cp. also Fas. iii. Gautr. S. ch. 7, Edda 10, though the ‘ring’ is not expressly mentioned in these last two passages: hann gengr í dómhringinn ok setzk niðr, Band. 6; en þeir eigu at rísa ór dóminum ok sitja í dómhring innan meðan um þá sök er dæmt, Grág. i. 78, cp. 17, 26: in early heathen times this sacred circle was formed by a ring of stones, cp. dóm-steinar: no doubt some of the so-called Celtic or Druidical stone circles are relics of these public courts, e. g. the Stones of Stennis in the Orkneys; cp. Scott’s last note to the Pirate, referring to this subject: even in later times, when the thing was obsolete, the name still remained.

* * *

n. house (leita nú um hvert h. á þeim bœ);

pl. the group of buildings on a farm, = bœr;

taka hús (pl.) á e-m, to take a person by surprise in his house;

at húsa baki, at the back of the houses.

* * *

n. [Ulf. renders οἰκία by gards and razn, and δωμα by hrôt, whereas hûs only occurs once in the compd gudhus = ἱερόν, John xviii. 20; in all other Teut. languages, old and new, hûs is the general word; A. S., O. H. G., Dan., and Swed. hûs; Engl. house; Germ. haus; Dutch huys]:—a house; hús eru þrjú í hvers manns híbýlum, … eitt er stofa, annat eldhús, þriðja búr, Grág. i. 459; leita nú um hvert hús á þeim bæ, 215, x. 270; þeir fara til bæjarins ok hlaupa þar inn í hús, Eg. 385; í næsta húsi, Ld. 318; af hverju húsi, from every house, Fms. x. 226; eitthvert mikit hús, Sks. 62; eitt fagrt hús, Fb. i. 467; at húsinu, nær dyrrum hússins, id.; bæn-hús, a prayer-house, chapel; söng-hús, a choir; eld-hús, fjós (fé-hús), hest-hús (qq. v.)

2. a house, family, rare in old writers; sonr húss, the son of the house, Rm. 11: freq. in eccl. writers, í húsi Heber, 625. 11; af annars-háttar ættum ok húsi, Stj. 246: freq. in the N. T., af húsi Davíðs, Luke ii. 4: a religious house, monastic order; af Prédikara húsi, from the house of the Preaching Friars, the Dominican order, Bs. passim.

3. a case = húsi (q. v.), corporale með hús, B. K. 84, Vm. 83, 189, Pm. 73, Rb. 358.

II. in pl. = bær, the group of buildings of which a house consists, built in a row, the front (hús-bust) facing the sea, or a river if in a dale, or looking south; the back (húsa-bak) turned to the mountain; the pavement along the front is in Icel. called stétt, the open place in front hlað, q. v.; the buildings are parted by a lane (sund, bæjar-sund); the whole surrounded by a wall, called húsa-garðr; a lane, called geilar or tröð, leads up to the houses and house-yard, see Eggert Itin. 22; distinction is made between bæjar-hús or heima-hús, the ‘home-houses,’ homesteads, or úti-hús, the out-houses, and fjár-hús, sheep-houses, which are at a distance from the homesteads; geymslu-hús, store-houses. That this was the same in olden times is borne out by the freq. use of the plur., even when referring to a single house (cp. Lat. aedes, tecta); konur skulu ræsta húsin ok tjalda, Nj. 175, 220; þeir sóttu at húsunum, 115; þeir hlaupa upp á húsin, Eb. 214; biðjast húsa, skipta húsum, ráða sínum húsum, N. G. L. i. 109; hér milli húsa, Ld. 204; taka hús (pl.) á e-m, to take a person by surprise in his houses, Fms. viii. 172; inni í húsum, Sturl. i. 181; þeir stigu af baki fyrir sunnan húsin … ok gengu þá í einum dun heldr hljóðliga heim at húsum, iii. 185; varð þá brátt reykr mikill í húsunum, 189; tóku þá húsin mjök at loga, 186; nú tóku at loga öll húsin, nema elda-hús brann eigi ok litla-stofa ok skyrbúr, 191; þar vóru öll hús mjök vönduð at smíð, 193; hann hljóp upp á húsin ok rifu þakit, 218; rofin húsin yfir þeim, 220. Passages in the Sagas referring to buildings are very numerous: for Iceland, esp. in Sturl. 4. ch. 33, 50, 5. ch. 3–8, 6. ch. 31, 32, 35, 9. ch. 1–5, 8, 20, 52, Nj. ch. 34, 48, 78, 80, 117, 128–133, 137, Gísl. 28 sqq., Dropl. 28 sqq., etc.; for the Orkneys, Orkn. ch. 18, 33, 34, 70 (interesting), 105, 113, 115; for Norway, Eg., Hkr., Ó. H. passim.

COMPDS:

I. in plur., húsa-bak, n. the back of the houses; at húsa baki. húsa-búnaðr, m. = búsbúnaðr, Ó. H. 175. húsa-bær, m. buildings, farms, Rm. (prose), Nj. 130; mikill húsabær, Orkn. 244; góðr h., Fms. xi. 192, Fas. iii. 20; lítill h., Ó. H. 152. húsa-garðr, m. = húsabær, the yard-wall, Nj. 120, v. l. húsa-gras, n. herbs growing on a house roof, such as house-leek, Stj. 644. húsa-hagi, a, m. home pasture, Gþl. 404. húsa-kostr, m. lodgings, a means of dwelling, Ísl. ii. 139. húsa-kot, n. a cottage, Sturl. ii. 50, Ó. H. 152. húsa-kynni, n. a dwelling; mikil, góð húsakynni, Bs. i. 700, Fms. ii. 84; h. ok borðbúnaðr, Ó. H. 175. húsa-leiga, u, f. house rent, Barl. 194. húsa-mót, n. pl. the joining of buildings, Sturl. ii. 59, Fms. ix. 24. húsa-skildagi, a, m. a contract for the tenure of a house, Gþl. 330. húsa-skipan, f. the order, arrangement of buildings, Gísl. 28, Eg. 235, Post. 656 B. 8. húsa-skipti, n. a sharing of houses, Gþl. 341. húsa-skjól, n. house shelter. húsa-skygni, n. a ‘house-shed,’ shelter, Stj. 121. húsa-smiðr, m. a house-wright, Post. 153. húsa-smíð, f. house-building, Post. húsa-snotra, u, f. a ‘house-neat,’ house-cleaner; the exact meaning of this word is dubious; Finn Magnusson suggested a broom: the word only occurs in Fas. ii. (see hnísa) and in Fb. i. 548 (Symb. 14, Ant. Amer. 291); the latter instance is esp. interesting, as the ‘house-neat’ which is there mentioned (about A. D. 1002) was made from an American tree. húsa-staðr, m. a house-stead, the site of a building, Post. húsa-timbr, n. house timber. húsa-torf, n. house turf for walls and roof, Dipl. v. 5. húsa-tópt, f. house walls, without the roof, Lat. rudera, Fs. 158 (a local name). húsa-umbót, f. house repairs, Jb. 215. húsa-viðr, m. house timber, Grág. i. 200, Nj. 82 (v. l.), Ld. 32, Bs. i. 144. húsa-vist, f. abiding, an abode, Fb. ii. 456.

II. in local names, Húsa-fell, Húsa-garðr, Húsa-vaðill, Húsa-vík, Landn., Dipl. i. 7: Hús-víkingr, Hús-fellingr, m. a man from H.

(-ar, -ar), m.

1) author, originator;

2) judge (rare).

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m., gen. ar; the masc. inflex. - undr reminds one of the Gothic (Gramm. p. xxxii. B. V); in old writers the word is found only four times, always in the sense of a judge, and referring chiefly to Gothland in Sweden; Höfundr (a mythol. pr. name) var manna vitrastr, ok svá réttdæmr, at hann hallaði aldri réttum dómi, … ok af hans nafni skyldi sá höfundr heita í hverju ríki er mál manna dæmdi, Fas. (Hervar. S.) i. 523, cp. 513: as also in Hrólfs S. Kraka (referring to Gothland), höfundr einn var þar til settr at skora þetta mál með sannindum, settusk margir í þetta sæti, ok kallaði höfundr öngum sæma, Þórir gengr seinastr ok sezk hann þegar í stólinn; höfundr mælti, þér er sætið hæfiligast, ok muntu dæmdr til þessarar stjórnar, Fas. i. 58: sigr-höfundr, the judge of victory, the Lord of battle, a name given to Odin by Egil, Stor. 21: lastly in Thorodd, skáld eru höfundar allrar rýnni eða máls-greina, sem smiðir málmgripa (?), eðr lögmenn laga, the poets are judges in all matters of grammar and syntax, as smiths in workmanship, and lawyers in law, Skálda (Thorodd) 164; this passage as well as the preceding is erroneously rendered in the earlier translations, as also in Lex. Poët.

II. an author, originator; the revival of this ancient word, in quite a different sense, is curious; it does not occur in any of the earliest glossaries of the 17th century nor in the Bible nor in Vídalín, but, as it seems for the first time, in the Lexidion Islandico-Latinum, published at Copenhagen A. D. 1734, as a rendering of the Latin auctor, and was probably inserted by some learned philologer (Jon Ólafsson?) from the passage in Skálda, by a mistake.

2. by the end of the century it came to be used = a writer, and is now freq. in that sense, either rit-höfundr or singly; but still in 1781, in the preface to Fél. of that year, ritsmiðr ( writ-smith) and höfundr are both used, shewing that the latter was not yet settled, though at present the use of this word is quite fixed.

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n. pl. Yule, a great midwinter feast in the heathen time, afterwards applied to Christmas.

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n. pl., in rhymes, gólig, Jóla, Ó. H. (in a verse); [A. S. geôl, sometimes used of the whole month of December, whereas December is also called æra geola = fore Yule, and January æftera geola = after Yule; the plur. in Icel. perhaps refers to this double month. The origin and etymology of the word Yule is much contested, and has been treated at length by Grimm (Gesch. der Deutschen Sprache), who tries to make out a relation between the Lat. Jūlus or Jūlius and the Teut. Yule, the one being a midsummer month, the other a midwinter month; like former etymologists, he also derives the word from hjól, a wheel, as referring to the sun’s wheeling round at midwinter and midsummer time. The resemblance of the words is striking, as also the old northern celebration of the midsummer feast Jónsvaka (see below), which was in fact a kind of midsummer Yule.]

B. Yule, a great feast in the heathen time, afterwards applied to Christmas (as still in North. E.) In Icel. popular usage Yule-eve is a kind of landmark by which the year is reckoned, so that a man is as many years old as he has passed Yule nights, hafa lifað (so and so) margar Jóla-nætr; for the year counts from Yule night, whence the phrase, vera ílla or vel á ár kominn, to become well or ill in the year; thus a person born shortly before Yule is ‘ílla á ár kominn,’ for at next Yule he will be reckoned one year old, whereas one born just after it is ‘vel á ár kominn.’ The heathen Yule lasted thirteen days, whence are derived the names Þrettándi, the thirteenth = Epiphany, i. e. the 6th of January, as also the Engl. ‘Twelfth-night;’ it is however probable that the heathen feast was held a little later than the Christian (see hökunótt). The heathen Yule was a great merry-making, and tales of ghosts, ogres, and satyrs were attached to it, esp. the Jóla-sveinar or ‘Yule-lads,’ a kind of goblins or monster satyrs, thirteen in number, one to each day of the feast, sons of the kidnapping hag Grýla (q. v.), whose names were used to frighten children with, see Ísl. Þjóðs. i. 219, 220. As the night lengthens and the day shortens, the ghosts gain strength, and reach their highest at Yule time, see Grett. ch. 34–37, 67–70, Eb. ch. 34, Flóam. S. ch. 22. The day next before Yule is called atfanga-dagr (q. v.) Jóla, when stores were provided and fresh ale brewed, Jóla-öl. Passages in the Sagas referring to Yule are numerous, e.g. Hervar. S. ch. 4, Hálfd. S. Svarta ch. 8, Har. S. Hárf. ch. 16 (in a verse), Hák. S. Góða ch. 12, 15, 19, Ó. H. ch. 151, Eb. ch. 31, Landn. 3. ch. 15 (in the Hb.), Bjarn. 51 sqq., Sturl. iii. 127. As for Yule games cp. the Norse and Danish Jule-buk, Jola-geit (Ivar Aasen) = a Yule goat, Dan. Jule-leg = a Yule game.

II. in poetry a feast (generally); hugins jól, a raven’s feast, Fms. vi. 255 (in a verse), cp. Bjarn. 36.

COMPDS: Jólaaptan, Jólabál, Jólaboð, Jólabók, Jóladagr, Jóladrykkja, Jólafasta, Jólafriðr, Jólaföstubók, Jólaföstutíð, Jólagjöf, Jólagrið, Jólahald, Jólahelgi, Jólahöll, Jólakveld, Jólales, Jólamorgin, Jólanótt, Jólaskrá, Jólasveinar, Jólatíð, Jólatíðir, Jólatíðabók, Jólatungl, Jólaveizla, Jólavist, Jólaöl.

m., -lið, n. cavalry, Hkr. i. 216 (of the German emperor’s troops), Fms. i. 258 (referring to Wales), vii. 235, Ld. 78 (referring to Ireland), Stj. 513.

n. scald, poet.

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n., pl. skáld; the word is in poetry rhymed as skald (with a short vowel), skald and kalda, aldri and skaldi, Kormak, and so on; but the plural is always spelt skáld, not sköld; the mod. Dan. skjald is borrowed from the Icel.: [the etymology and origin of this word is contested; Prof. Bergmann, in Message de Skirnir, Strasburg, 1871, p. 54, derives it from the Slavonic skladi = composition, skladacz = compositeur; but the earliest usages point to a Teutonic and a different root. In the ancient law skáldskapr meant a libel in verse, and was synonymous with flimt, danz, níð, q. v.; the compds skáld-fífl, leir-skáld (q. v.) also point to the bad sense as the original one, which is still noticeable in popular Icel. usages and phrases such as skálda (the verb), skáldi, skældinn ( libellous), see also skáldmær below. On the other hand, skálda, Germ. schalte, means a pole (sec skálda, skáld-stöng below); libels and imprecations were in the ancient heathen age scratched on poles, see the remarks s. v. níð, níðstöng. The word is therefore, we believe, to be traced back to the old libel-pole, ‘scald-pole;’ if so, Engl. scold = to abuse, Germ. schelten, may be kindred words; the old Lat. phrase (of Mart. Capella) barbara fraxineis sculpatur runa tabellis may even refer to this scratching of imprecations on pieces of wood.]

B. A poet, in countless instances; þeir vóru skáld Haralds komings ok kappar, Fas. i. 379; forn-skáld, þjóð-skáld, níð-skáld, hirð-skáld, leir-skáld, krapta-skáld, ákvæða-skáld, as also sálma-skáld, rímna-skáld; in nicknames, Skáld-Helgi, Skáld-Hrafn, Skáld-Refr, Landn., names given to those who composed libellous love-songs (?); Svarta-skáld, Hvíta-skúld. Some of the classical passages in the Sagas referring to poets, esp. to the hirð-skáld, are Har. S. hárf. ch. 39, Hák. S. Góða ch. 32, Eg. ch. 8, Gunnl. S. ch. 9, Ó. H. ch. 52–54, 128, 203, 205, O. H. L. ch. 57, 58, 60–62, Har. S. harðr. (Fms. vi.) ch. 24, 101, 108, 110. The Egils S., Korm. S., Hallfred. S., Gunnl. S. are lives of poets; there are also the chapters and episodes referring to the life of the poet Sighvat, esp. in the Fb., cp. also Sturl. 1. ch. 13, 9. ch. 16; for imprecations or libels in verse see níð.

COMPDS: skáldagemlur, skáldaspillir, Skáldatal.

n. [A. S. wæpen-getæc; Engl. wapentake]

I. a weapon-grasping, a law phrase; in their assemblies the ancients used to express their consent bv waving or brandishing their weapons, ‘si placuit [sententia] frameas concutiunt, honoratissimum assensus genus est armis laudare,’ Tacit. Germ. ch. 11; ‘more Dacorum tela mutuae voluntatis pacto una concusserunt,’ Dudo De Moribus et Actis Normannorum, iii. 96; ‘collisione armorum et contactu,’ Andreas Suneson (Lex Scan.); var Sverri gefit konungs-nafn á þessu átta-fylkna-þingi ok dæmt með vápna-taki. Fms. viii. 41; æptu allir upp með vápna-taki, at þeir skyldi allir vera útlægir, Hkr. iii. 325, v. l.

2. metaph. a vote or decree, resolution passed at a public assembly; veita göra vápnatak, eiga v. at e-u; skulu þingmenn honum jörð dæma ok veita honum v. til þess, at hann knegi verja jörð sína með lögum ok dómi, N. G. L. i. 89; þá eigu býjar-menn at leggja dóm á ok veita v. at, Grág. ii. 409 (referring to Norway); beiddi þess alla er á vóru þinginu, liðsmenn, bændr ok bæjarmenn, at þeir skyldi göra v. at því, at dæma með lögum …, Fms. vii. 293; áttu þeir handfesti ok v. at þessu heiti er konungr mælti fyrir, viii. 55; var þá gört lögtekit, ok átt v. at, at Sveinn konungr skyldi kjósa þann af sonum sínum sem hann vildi til konungs eptir sik í Danmörk, xi. 213; njóti sá vátta sinna ok æsti bændr vápnataks, N. G. L. i. 250; þá eigu þingmenn honum með vápnataki jörð at skeyta, 96; ef maðr rýfr þann dóm er dæmdr er á alþingi, ok v. er at átt innan Lögréttu ok útan, Js. 7, N. G. L. ii. 190; ok vér saman settum ok samþyktum ok lýst vár þá í Túnsbergi fyrir almúganum ok v. á tekit ( resolved) at fyrir lög skyldi dæma …, iii. 206.

II. in the Icel. parliament (alþingi) the word assumed a peculiar sense, for in the Grág. ‘vápnatak’ means the breaking up of the session, when the men resumed their weapons, which had been laid aside during the session (see vápnaburðr, vápn A); þat skal vera fjórtán nóttum eptir vápnatak, en þat heitir v. er alþýða ríðr af alþingi, Hrafn. 19, referring to the middle of the 10th century, where however it may be an anachronism; but in the Grágás and in Icel. of the 12th and 13th centuries it was a standing term, see Grág. passim; eptir vápnatak, i. 80; fjórtán nóttum eptir vápnatak, 123, 194, ii. 178.

III. in that part of England which formed the ancient Denelagu, ‘wæpentak’ or ‘wapentagia’ came to mean a subdivision, answering to ‘hundred’ in the Saxon shires. Although altered in sense, this word was no doubt imported from the Danish, for in Leges Edvardi Confessoris, ch. 30, the words ‘sub lege Anglorum’ and ‘lingua Anglica’ are simply an error of a scribe for Danorum, Danica, for ‘taka’ is not A. S., but Norse, see Konrad Maurer, Germania xiv. 317 sqq.

f. freebooting voyage, piracy, (hann var í v. á sumrum ok fekk sér fjár); liggja í víkingu ok hernaði, to be engaged in freebooting expedition and warfare; fara í v., to go out on a freebooting expedition.

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f. a freebooting voyage, piracy; see víkingr. In heathen days it was usual for young men of distinction, before settling down, to make a warlike expedition to foreign parts, this voyage was called ‘víking,’ and was part of a man’s education like the grand tour in modern times; hence the saying in the old Saga,—‘when I was young and on my voyage (víking), but now I am old and decrepit;’ so a son begs his father to give him a ‘langskip,’ that he may set out on a ‘víking,’ cp. the scene of the young Egil and his mother Bera, and the reference Fms. i. 69; see B. The custom was common among Teutonic tribes, and is mentioned by Caesar B.G. vi. ch. 23 (latrocinia nullam habent infamiam, quae extra fines cujusque civitatis fiunt, sqq.), only there it is a foray on land; (cp. the mod. American filibustering.)

B. REFERENCES illustrating this word: Leifr fór í hernað í vestr-víking, Landn. 32; Ólafr inn hvíti herjaði í vestr-víking ok vann Dyflinni, 108; Geirmundr heljar-skinn var herkonungr, hann herjaði í vestr-víking, 121; hann kom út síð landnáma-tíðar, hann hafði verit í vestr-víking ok haft ór vestr-víking þræla Írska, 133; Ánn varð missáttr við Harald konung inn hárfagra, hann fór því ór landi í vestr-víking, 140; Ingimundr var víkingr mikill ok herjaði í vestr-víking jafnan, 174; Ævarr fór til Íslands ór víkingu, ok synir hans, 185; Björn var á sumrum í vestr-víking en á vetrum með Öndótti, Eyvindr fór þá í vestr-víking, 204; þá var Þorsteinn son Ásgríms í víkingu, en Þorgeirr annarr son hans var tíu vetra, 292; hann var í víking á sumrum ok fékk sér fjár, Hkr. i. 171; Hjörleifr konungr féll í víkingu, Fas. ii. 35; leggjask í víking ok hernað, Fms. xi. 73; fara í víking, Eg. 260; Grímr, þeir vóru í vestr-víking, ok drápu í Suðreyjum Ásbjörn jarl skerja-blesa, ok tóku þar at herfangi Ólöfu konu hans, Grímr fór til Íslands, Landn. 314; þá er ek var ungr ok í víkingu … en nú hálfu síðr at ek em gamall ok örvasi, Glúm. 337; ek vil senda yðr austr til Svíþjóðar á fund tins bezta vinar míns, er nú er kallaðr Hákon gamli, við vórum lengi báðir samt í víking, var með okkr inn kærasti félagskapr, ok áttum einn sjóð, Fms. i. 69; en er hann var á unga aldri, lá hann í víkingu ok hernaði, Eg. (begin.); Björn var farmaðr mikill, var stundum í víking en stundum í kaupferðum, 154; er mér þat nær skapi, sagði hann, at þú fáir mér langskip ok þar lið með, ok fara ek í víking (the words of a son to his father), 157: of an expedition in the East (in the Baltic), þeir fóru um sumarit í víking í Austrveg, fóru heim at hausti ok höfðu aflat fjár mikils … skip þat höfðu þeir fengit um sumarit í víking, Eg. 170, 171; Björn var nú í víkingu at afla sér fjár ok frægðar, Bjarn. 13: the word occurs also on Swed. Runic stones, sá varð dauðr í vestr-vegum í víkingu, Baut. 962: þá lögðusk sumir menn út í víking ok á herskip, ok mörg endemi tóku menn þá til önnur þau er nú mundi ódæmi þykkja ef menn henti slíkt, Bs. i. 62 (referring to Iceland of A. D. 1056–1180): one of the last instances on record is Sturl. i. 152,—hann hafði verit útan nokkura vctr ok verit í víkingu, referring to A. D. 1195: in the Orkneys, among the Norsemen, the viking-life lasted till the 13th century, if not longer.

* * *

prep. w. dat.

I. Of place:

1) off, from;

G. hljóp af hesti sínum, G. jumped off his horse;

ganga af mótinu, to go away from the meeting;

Flosi kastaði af sér skikkjunni, threw off his cloak;

Gizzur gekk af útsuðri at gerðinu, from the south-west;

hann hafði leyst af sér skúa sína, he had taken off his shoes;

Steinarr vildi slíta hann af sér, throw him off;

tók Gísli þá af sér vápnin, took off his arms;

bréf af Magnúsi konungi, a letter from king Magnus;

land af landi, from one land to the other;

hverr af öðrum, one after another, in succession;

vil ek þú vinnir af þér skuldina, work off the debt;

muntu enga sætt af mér fá, no peace at my hand;

rísa af dauða, to rise from the dead;

vakna af draumi, to awaken from a dream;

lúka upp af hrossi, to open a gate from off a horse;

vindr stóð af landi, the wind blew from the land;

2) out of;

verða tekinn af heimi, to be taken out of the world;

gruflar hón af læknum, she scrambles out of the brook;

Otradalr var mjök af vegi, far out of the way.

Connected with út; föstudaginn fór út herrinn af borginni, marched out of the town.

II. Of time; past, beyond:

af ómagaaldri, able to support oneself, of age;

ek em nú af léttasta skeiði, no longer in the prime of life;

þá er sjau vikur eru af sumri, when seven weeks of summer are past;

var mikit af nótt, much of the night was past.

III. In various other relations:

1) þiggja lið af e-m, to receive help from one;

hafa umboð af e-m, to be another’s deputy;

vera góðs (ills) maklegr af e-m, to deserve good (bad) of one;

féll þar lið mart af Eyvindi, many of Eyvind’s men fell there;

þá eru þeir útlagir ok af goðorði sínu, have forfeited their goðorð;

þá skalt þú af allri fjárheimtunni, forfeit all the claim;

ek skal stefna þér af konunni, summon thee to give up;

2) off, of;

höggva fót, hönd, af e-m, to cut off one’s foot, hand;

vil ek, at þú takir slíkt sem þér líkar af varningi, whatever you like of the stores;

þar lá forkr einn ok brotit af endanum, with the point broken off;

absol., beit hann höndina af, bit the hand off;

fauk af höfuðit, the head flew off;

3) of, among;

hinn efniligasti maðr af ungum mönnum, the most promising of the young men;

4) with;

hláða, (ferma) skip af e-u, to load (freight) a ship with;

fylla heiminn af sínu kyni, to fill the world with his offspring;

5) of (= ór which is more frequent);

húsit var gert af timbr stokkum, was built of trunks of trees;

6) fig., eigi vita menn hvat af honum er orðit, what has become of him;

hvat hefir þú gert af Gunnari, what hast thou done with Gunnar?;

7) denoting parentage, descent, origin;

ok eru af þeim komnir Gilsbekkingar, are descended from them;

kominn af Trójumönnum, descended from the Trojans;

8) by, of (after passive);

ek em sendr hingat af Starkaði, sent hither by;

ástsæll af landsmónnum, beloved of;

9) on account of, by reason of, by;

úbygðr at frosti ok kulda, because of frost and cold;

ómáli af áverkum, speechless from wounds;

af ástæld hans, by his popularity;

af því, therefore;

af hví, wherefor why;

af því at, because;

10) by means of, by;

framfœra e-n af verkum sínum, by means of his own labour;

af sínu fé, by one’s own means;

absol., hann fekk af hina mestu sœmd, derived great honour from it;

11) with adjectives, in regard to;

mildr af fé, liberal of money;

góðr af griðum, merciful;

fastr af drykk, close (stingy) in regard to drink;

12) used absol. with a verb, off away;

hann bað hann þá róa af fjörðinn, to row the firth off;

ok er þeir höfðu af fjörðung, when they had covered one forth of the way;

sofa af nóttina, to sleep the night away.

* * *

prep. often used elliptically by dropping the case, or even merely adverbially, [Ulf. af; A. S. and Engl. of, off; Hel. ab; Germ. ab; Gr. άπό; Lat. a, ab.] With dat. denoting a motion a loco; one of the three prepp. af, ór, frá, corresponding to those in loco—á, í, við, and ad locum—á, í, at. It in general corresponds to the prepp. in loco—á, or in locum— til, whilst ór answers more to í; but it also frequently corresponds to yfir, um or í. It ranges between ór and frá, generally denoting the idea from the surface of, while ór means from the inner part, and frá from the outer part or border. The motion from a hill, plain, open place is thus denoted by af; by ór that from an enclosed space, depth, cavity, thus af fjalli, but ór of a valley, dale; af Englandi, but ór Danmörk, as mörk implies the notion of a deep wood, forest. The wind blows af landi, but a ship sets sail frá landi; frá landi also means a distance from: af hendi, of a glove, ring; ór hendi, of whatever has been kept in the hand (correl. to á hendi and í hendi). On the other hand af is more general, whilst frá and ór are of a more special character; frá denoting a departure, ór an impulse or force; a member goes home af þingi, whereas ór may denote an inmate of a district, or convey the notion of secession or exclusion from, Eb. 105 new Ed.; the traveller goes af landi, the exile ór landi: taka e-t af e-m is to take a thing out of one’s hand, that of taka frá e-m to remove out of one’s sight, etc. In general af answers to Engl. of, off, ór to out of, and frá to from: the Lat. prepp. ab, de, and ex do not exactly correspond to the Icelandic, yet as a rule ór may answer to ex, af sometimes to ab, sometimes to de. Of, off, from among; with, by; on account of by means of, because of concerning, in respect of.

A. Loc.

I. With motion, off, from:

1. prop. corresp. to á,

α. konungr dró gullhring af hendi sér (but á hendi), Ld. 32; Höskuldr lætr bera farm af skipi, unload the ship (but bera farm á skip), id.; var tekit af hestum þeirra, they were unsaddled, Nj. 4; Gunnarr hafði farit heiman af bæ sínum, he was away from home, 82; Gunnarr hljóp af hesti sínum, jumped off his horse (but hl. á hest), 83; hlaupa, stökkva af baki, id., 112, 264 ; Gunnarr skýtr til hans af boganum, from the bow, where af has a slight notion of instrumentality, 96; flýja af fundinum, to fly from off the battle-field, 102; ríða af Þríhyrningshálsum, 206; út af Langaholti, Eg. 744 ; sunnan ór Danmörk ok af Saxlandi, 560; ganga af mótinu, to go from the meeting, Fms. vii. 130; af þeirra fundi reis María upp ok fór, 625. 85 ; Flosi kastaði af ser skikkjunni, threw his cloak off him (but kasta á sik),Nj. 176; taka Hrungnis fót af honum, of a load, burden, Edda 58; land þat er hann fiskði af, from which he set off to fish, Grág. i. 151, is irregular, frá would suit better; slíta af baki e-s, from off one’s back, ii. 9 ; bera af borði, to clear the table, Nj. 75.

β. where it more nearly answers to í; þeir koma af hafi, of sailors coming in (but leggja í haf), Nj. 128 ; fara til Noregs af Orkneyjum (but í or til O.), 131; þeim Agli fórst vel ok komu af hafi i Borgarfjörð, Eg. 392 ; hann var útlagi ( outlawed) af Noregi, where ór would be more regular, 344; af Islandi, of a traveller, Fms. x. 3; búa her af báðum ríkjunum, to take a levy from, 51; hinir beztu bændr ór Norðlendingafjórðungi ok af Sunnlendingafjórðungi, the most eminent Southerners and Northerners, 113; Gizzurr gékk af útsuðri at gerðinu, from south-west, Sturl. ii. 219; prestar af hvárutveggja biskupsdæmi, from either diocess, Dipl. ii. 11; verða tekinn af heimi, to be taken out of the world, 623. 21; gruflar hon af læknum, scrambles out of the brook, Ísl. ii. 340; Egill kneyfði af horninu í einum drykk, drained off the horn at one draught, literally squeezed every drop out of it, Eg. 557; brottuaf herbúðunurn, Fms. x. 343.

γ. of things more or less surrounding the subject, corresp. to yfir or um; láta þeir þegar af sér tjöldin, break off, take down the tents in preparing for battle, Eg. 261; kyrtillinn rifnaði af honum, his coat burst, caused by the swollen body, 602; hann hafði leyst af sér skúa sína, he untied his shoes (but binda á sik), 716; Steinarr vildi slíta hann af sér, throw him off, of one clinging to one’s body, 747; tók Gísli þá af sér vápnin, took off his arms, Fms. vii. 39. Of putting off clothes; fara af kápu, Nj. 143; far þú eigi af brynjunni, Bs. i. 541; þá ætlaði Sigurðr at fara af brynjunni, id.; þá var Skarphéðinn flettr af klæðunum, Nj. 209: now more usually fara or klæðum, fötum, exuere, to undress.

δ. connected with út; föstudaginn for út herrinn af borginni, marched out of the town, Nj. 274; ganga út af kirkjunni, to go out of the church, now út úr, Fms. vii. 107: drekki hann af þeirri jörðunni, of something impregnated with the earth, Laekn. 402.

ε. more closely corresponding to frá, being in such cases a Latinism (now frá); bréf af páfa, a pope’s bull, Fms. x. 6; rit af hánum, letter from him, 623. 52; bréf af Magnúsi konungi, a letter from king Magnus, Bs. i. 712; farið þér á brautu af mér í eilífan eld, Hom. 143; brott af drottins augliti, Stj. 43.

ζ. denoting an uninterrupted continuity, in such phrases as land aflandi, from land to land, Eg. 343, Fas. ii. 539; skip af skipl. from ship to ship, Fms. v. 10; brann hvat af öðru, one after another, of an increasing fire, destroying everything, i. 128; brandr af brandi brenn, funi kveykist af funa, one from another, Hm. 56; hverr af öðrum, one after another, in succession, also hverr at öðrum, Eb. 272, 280 (where at in both passages).

2. metaph., at ganga af e-m dauðum, to go from, leave one dead on the spot, of two combatants; en hann segiz bani hins ef hann gekk af dauðum manni, Grág. ii. 88, Hkr. 1. 327; undr þykir mér er bróðir þinn vildi eigi taka af þér starf þetta, would not take this toil from thee, Nj. 77; þegnar hans glöddust af honum, were fain of him, Fms. x. 380; at koma þeim manni af sér er settr var á fé hans, to get rid of, Ld. 52; vil ek þú vinriir af þér skuldina, work off the debt, Njarð. 366; reka af sér, to repel, Sturl. ii. 219; hann á þá sonu er aldri munu af oss ganga, who will never leave us, whom we shall never get rid of, Fas. i. 280; leysa e-n af e-u, to relieve, 64; taka e-n af lífi, to kill, Eg. 48, 416, Nj. 126; af lífdögum, Fms. vii. 204; ek mun ná lögum af því máli, get the benefit of the law in this case, Eg. 468; muntu enga sætt af mér fá, no peace at my hand, 414; rísa af dauða, to rise from death, Fms. ii. 142; guð bætti honum þó af þessi sótt, healed him of this sickness, ix. 390; vakna af sýn, draumi, svefni, to awaken from a vision, dream, sleep, 655 xxxii. I, Gísl. 24, Eb. 192, Fas. i. 41. Rather with the notion out of, in the phrase af sér etc., e. g. sýna e-t af scr, to shew, exhibit a disposition for or against, Ld. 18; gera mikit af sér, to shew great prowess, Ísl. ii. 368; éf þú gerir eigi meira af þér um aðra leika, unless you make more of thyself, Edda 32; Svipdagr hafði mikit af sér gert, fought bravely, Fas. i. 41; góðr (illr) af sér, good ( bad) of oneself, by nature; mikill af sjálfum sér, proud, bold, stout, Nj. 15; ágætastr maðr af sjálfum sér, the greatest hero, Bret.: góðr af ser, excellent, Hrafn. 7; but, on the contrary, af sér kominn, ruinous, in decay; this phrase is used of old houses or buildings, as in Bs. i. 488 = Sturl. l. c.; af sér kominn af mæði can also be said of a man fallen off from what he used to be; kominn af fotum fram, off his legs from age, Sturl. i. 223, Korm. 154 (in a verse).

II. WITHOUT MOTION:

1. denoting direction from, but at the same time continuous connection with an object from which an act or thing proceeds, from; tengja skip hvárt fram af stafni annars, to tie the ships in a line, stem to stern, Fms. i. 157, xi. 111; svá at þeir tóku út af borðum, jutted out of the boards, of rafters or poles, iv. 49; stjarna ok af sem skaft, of a comet, ix. 482; lúka upp af hrossi, to open a gate from off a horse, Grág. ii. 264; hon svarar af sínu sæti sem álpt af baru, Fás. i. 186; þar er sjá mátti utau af firði, af þjóðleið, that might be seen from the fareway on the sea when sailing in the firth, Hkr. ii. 64; þá mun hringt af (better at) Burakirkju, of bells rung at the church, Fms. xi. 160; gengr þar af Meðalfellsströnd, projects from, juts out, of a promontory, Ld. 10.

2. denoting direction alone; upp af víkinni stóð borg mikil, a burg inland from the inlet, Eg. 161; lokrekkja innar af seti, a shut bed inward from the benches in the hall, Ísl. ii. 262; kapella upp af konungs herbergjum, upwards from, Fms. x. 153; vindr stóð af landi, the wind stood off the land, Bárð. 166.

β. metaph., stauda af e-u, vide VI. 4.

γ. ellipt., hallaði af norðr, of the channel, north of a spot, Boll. 348; also, austr af, suðr af, vestr af, etc.

3. denoting absence; þingheyendr skulu eigi vera um nótt af þingi ( away from the meeting), eðr lengr, þá eru þeir af þingi ( away from (be meeting) ef þeir eru or ( out of) þingmarki, Grág. i. 25; vera um nótt af várþingi, 115; meðan hann er af landi héðan, abroad, 150.

β. metaph., gud hvíldi af öllum verkum sínum á sjaunda degi, rested from his labours, Ver. 3.

4. denoting distance; þat er komit af þjóðleið, out of the high road, remote, Eg. 369; af þjóðbraut, Grág. ii. 264, i. 15; Otradalr (a farm) var mjök af vegi, far out of the way, Háv. 53.

B. TEMP, past, from, out of, beyond:

1. of a person’s age, in the sense of having past a period of life; af ómaga aldri, of age, able to support oneself, Grág. i. 243; af aeskualdri, stricken in years, having past the prime of life, Eg. 202; lítið af barnsaldri, still a child, Ld. 74; ek em nú af léttasia skeiði, no longer in the prime of life, Háv. 40.

2. of a part or period of time, past; eigi síðar en nótt er af þingi, a night of the session past, Grág. i. 101; þá er sjau vikur eru af sumri, seven weeks past of the summer, 182; tíu vikur af sumri, Íb. 10; var mikit af nótt, much of the night was past, Háv. 41; mikið af vetri, much of the winter was past, Fas. ii. 186; þriðjungr af nótt, a third of the night past, Fms. x. 160; stund af degi, etc.; tveir mánoðr af sumri, Gþl. 103.

3. in adverbial phrases such as, af stundu, soon; af bragði, at once; af tómi, at leisure, at ease; af nýju, again; af skyndingu, speedily; af bráðungu, in a hurry, etc.

C. In various other relations:

I. denoting the passage or transition of an object, concrete or abstract, of, from.

1. where a thing is received, derived from, conferred by a person or object; þiggja lið af e-m, to derive help from, Edda 26; taka traust af e-m, to receive support, comfort from, Fms. xi. 243; taka mála af e-m, to be in one’s pay, of a soldier, Eg. 266; halda land af e-m, to hold land of any one, 282; verða viss af e-m, to get information from, 57, Nj. 130; taka við sök af manni (a law term), to undertake a case, suit, Grág. i. 142; hafa umboð af e-m, to be another’s deputy, ii. 374; vera góðs (ills) maklegr af e-m, to deserve good (bad) of, Vd. 88 (old Ed., the new reads frá), Fs. 45; afla matar af eyjum, to derive supplies from, Eb. 12.

2. where an object is taken by force:

α. prop. out of a person’s hand; þú skalt hnykkja smíðit af honum, wrest it out of his hand, Nj. 32; cp. taka, þrífa, svipta e-u (e-t) af e-m, to wrest from.

β. metaph. of a person’s deprival of anything in general; hann tók af þér konuna, carried thy wife off, Nj. 33; tók Gunnarr af þér sáðland þitt, robbed thee of seedland, 103; taka af honum tignina, to depose, degrade him, Eg. 271; vinna e-t af e-m, to carry off by force of arms, conquer, Fms. iii. 29; drepa menn af e-m, for one, slay one’s man, Eg. 417; fell þar lið mart af Eyvindi, many of Eyvind’s people fell there, 261.

γ. in such phrases as, hyggja af e-u (v. afhuga), hugsa af e-u, to forget; hyggja af harmi; sjá af e-u, to lose, miss; var svá ástúðigt með þeim, at livargi þóttist mega af öðrum sjá, neither of them could take his eyes off the other, Sturl. i. 194; svá er mörg við ver sinn vær, at varla um sér hon af hoiuun nær, Skálda 163.

3. denoting forfeiture; þá eru þeir útlagir, ok af goðorði sínu, have forfeited their priesthood, Grág. i. 24; telja hann af ráðunum fjár síns alls, to oust one, on account of idiocy or madness, 176; verða af kaupi, to be off the bargain, Edda 26; þá skalt þú af allri fjárheimtunni, forfeit all the claim, Nj. 15; ek skal stefna þér af konunni, summon thee to forfeit, a case of divorce, id.; ella er hann af rettarfari um hana, has forfeited the suit, Grág. i. 381.

β. ellipt., af ferr eindagi ef, is forfeited, Grág. i. 140.

II. denoting relation of a part to a whole, off, of, Lat. de; höggva hönd, höfuð, fót af e-um, to cut one’s hand, head, foot off, Nj. 97, 92, Bs. i. 674; höggva spjót af skapti, to sever the blade from the shaft, 264; hann lét þá ekki hafa af föðurarfi sínum, nothing of their patrimony, Eg. 25; vil ek at þú takir slíkt sem þér líkar af varningi, take what you like of the stores, Nj. 4; at þú eignist slíkt af fé okkru sem þú vili, 94.

β. ellipt., en nú höfum vér kjörit, en þat er af krossinum, a slice of, Fms. vii. 89; Þórðr gaf Skólm frænda sínum af landnámi sínu, a part of, Landn. 211; hafði hann þat af hans eigu er hann vildi, Sturl. ii. 169; þar lá forkr einn ok brotið af endanum, the point broken off, Háv. 24, Sturl. i. 169.

γ. absol. off; beit hann höndina af, þar sem nú heitir úlfliðr, bit the hand off, Edda 17; fauk af höfuðit, the head flew off, Nj. 97; jafnt er sem þér synist, af er fótrinn, the foot is off, id.; af bæði eyru, both ears off, Vm. 29.

2. with the notion of—among; mestr skörungr af konum á Norðrlöndum, the greatest heroine in the North, Fms. i. 116; hinn efniligasti maðr af ungum mönnum í Austfjörðum, the most hopeful of youths in the Eastfirths, Njarð. 364; af ( among) öllurn hirðmönnuni virði konungr mest skáld sín, Eg. 27; ef hann vildi nokkura kaupa af þessum konum, Ld. 30; ör liggr þar útiá vegginum, ok er sú af þeirra örum, one of their own arrows, Nj. 115.

β. from, among, belonging to; guð kaus hana af ollum konum sér til móður, of the Virgin Mary, Mar. A. i. 27.

γ. metaph., kunna mikit (lítið) af e-u, to know much, little of, Bragi kann mest af skáldskap, is more cunning of poetry than any one else, Edda 17.

δ. absol. out of, before, in preference to all others; Gunnarr bauð þér góð boð, en þú vildir eingi af taka, you would choose none of them, Nj. 77; ráða e-t af, to decide; þó mun faðir minn mestu af ráða, all depends upon him, Ld. 22; konungr kveðst því mundu heldr af trúa, preferred believing that of the two, Eg. 55; var honum ekki vildara af ván, he could expect nothing better, 364.

3. with the additional sense of instrumentality, with; ferma skip af e-u, to freight a ship with, Eg. 364; hlaða mörg skip af korni, load many ships with corn, Fms. xi. 8; klyfja tvá hesta af mat, Nj. 74; var vágrinn skipaðr af herskipum, the bay was covered with war ships, 124; fylla ker af glóðum, fill it with embers, Stj. 319; fylla heiminn af sínu kyni, to fill the world with his offspring, Ver. 3.

III. denoting the substance of which a thing is made, of; used indifferently with ór, though ór be more frequent; þeir gerðu af honum jörðina, af blóði hans sæinn ok vötnin, of the creation of the world from the corpse of the giant Ymir; the poem Gm. 40, 41, constantly uses ór in this sense, just as in modern Icelandic, Edda 5; svá skildu þeir, at allir hlutir væri smíðaðir af nokkru efni, 147 (pref.); húsit var gert af timbrstokkum, built of trunks of timber, Eg. 233; hjöhin vóru af gulli, of gold, golden, Fms. i. 17; af osti, of cheese, but in the verse 1. c. ór osti, Fms. vi. 253; línklæði af lérepti, linen, Sks. 287.

2. metaph. in the phrases, göra e-t af e-n ( to dispose of), verða af ( become of), hvat hefir þú gört af Gunnari, what hast thou done with Gunnar? Njarð. 376; hvat af motrinuni er orðit, what has become of it? of a lost thing, Ld. 208; hverfr Óspakr á burt, svá eigi vita menn hvat af honum er orðit, what has become of him? Band. 5.

IV. denoting parentage, descent, origin, domicile, abode:

1. parentage, of, from, used indifferently with frá; ok eru af þeim komnir Gilsbekkingar, descend from them, but a little below—frá honum eru konmir Sturlungar, Eb. 338, cp. afkvæmi; af ætt Hörðakára, Fms. i. 287; kominn af Trojumönnum, xi. 416; af Ása-ætt (Kb. wrongly at), Edda I.

β. metaph., vera af Guði (theol.), of God, = righteous, 686 B. 9; illr ávöxtr af íllri rót, Fms. ii. 48; Asia er kölluð af nafni nokkurar konu, derives her name from, Stj. 67; af honum er bragr kallaðr skáldskapr, called after his name, Edda 17.

2. of domicile; af danskri tungu, of Danish or Scandinavian origin, speaking the Danish tongue, Grág. ii. 73; hvaðan af löndum, whence, native of what country? Ísl.

β. especially denoting a man’s abode, and answering to á and í, the name of the farm (or country) being added to proper names, (as in Scotland,) to distinguish persons of the same name; Hallr af Síðu, Nj. 189; Erlingr af Straumey, 273; Ástríðr af Djúpárbakka, 39; Gunnarr af Hlíðarenda (more usual frá); þorir haklangr konungr af Ögðum, king of Agdir, Eg. 35, etc.; cp. ór and frá.

V. denoting a person with whom an act, feeling, etc. originates, for the most part with a periphrastic passive:

1. by, the Old Engl. of; as, ek em sendr hingað af Starkaði ok sonum hans, sent hither by, Nj. 94; inna e-t af hendi, to perform, 257; þó at alþýða væri skírð af kennimönnum, baptized of, Fms. ii. 158; meira virðr af mönnum, higher esteemed, Ld. 158; ástsæll af landsmönnum, beloved, íb. 16; vinsæll af mönnum, Nj. 102; í allgóðu yfirlæti af þeim feðgum, hospitably treated by them, Eg. 170; var þá nokkut drukkið af alþjóð, there was somewhat hard drinking of the people, Sturl. iii. 229; mun þat ekki upp tekið af þeim sükudólgum mínum, they will not clutch at that, Nj. 257; ef svá væri í hendr þér búit af mér, if í had so made everything ready to thy hands, Ld. 130; þá varð fárætt um af föður hans, his father said little about it, Fms. ii. 154.

2. it is now also sometimes used as a periphrase of a nom., e. g. ritað, þýtt af e-m, written, translated, edited by, but such phrases scarcely occur in old writers.

VI. denoting cause, ground, reason:

1. originating from, on account of, by reason of; af frændsemis sökum, for kinship’s sake, Grág. ii. 72; ómáli af áverkum, speechless from wounds, 27; af manna völdum, by violence, not by natural accident, of a crime, Nj. 76; af fortölum Halls, through his pleading, 255; af ástsæld hans ok af tölum þeirra Sæmundar, by his popularity and the eloquence of S., Íb. 16; af ráðum Haralds konungs, by his contriving, Landn. 157; úbygðr af frosti ok kulda, because of frost and cold, Hkr. i. 5.

β. adverbially, af því, therefore, Nj. 78; af hví, why? 686 B. 9; þá verðr bóndi heiðinn af barni sínu, viz. if he does not cause his child to be christened, K. Þ. K. 20.

2. denoting instrumentality, by means of; af sinu fé, by one’s own means, Grág. i. 293; framfæra e-n af verkum sinum, by means of one’s own labour, K. Þ. K. 142; draga saman auð af sökum, ok vælum ok kaupum, make money by, 623. I; af sínum kostnaði, at hi s own expense, Hkr. i. 217.

β. absol., hún fellir á mik dropa svá heita at ek brenn af öll, Ld. 328; hann fékk af hina mestu sæmd, derived great honotur from it, Nj. 88; elli sótti á hendr honum svá at hann lagðist í rekkju af, he grew bedridden from age, Ld. 54; komast undan af hlaupi, escape by running, Fms. viii. 58; spinna garn af rokki, spin off a wheel (now, spinna á rokk), from a notion of instrumentality, or because of the thread being spun out (?), Eb. 92.

3. denoting proceeding, originating from; lýsti af höndum hennar, her hands spread beams of light, Edda 22; allir heimar lýstust ( were illuminated) af henni, id.; en er lýsti af degi, when the day broke forth, Fms. ii. 16; lítt var lýst af degi, the day was just beginning to break, Ld. 46; þá tók at myrkja af nótt, the ‘mirk-time’ of night began to set in, Eg. 230; tók þá brátt at myrkva af nótt, the night grew dark, Hkr. ii. 230.

4. metaph., standa, leiða, hljótast af, to be caused by, result from; opt hlýtst íllt af kvenna hjali, great mischief is wrought by women’s gossip (a proverb), Gísl. 15, 98; at af þeim mundi mikit mein ok úhapp standa, be caused by, Edda 18; kenna kulda af ráðum e-s, to feel sore from, Eb. 42; þó mun her hljótast af margs manns bani, Nj, 90.

5. in adverbial phrases, denoting state of mind; af mikilli æði, in fury, Nj. 116; af móð, in great emotion, Fms. xi. 221; af áhyggju, with concern, i. 186; af létta, frankly, iii. 91; af viti, collectedly, Grág. ii. 27; af heilu, sincerely, Eg. 46; áf fári, in rage; af æðru, timidly, Nj. (in a verse); af setning, composedly, in tune, Fms. iii. 187; af mikilli frægð, gallantly, Fas. i. 261; af öllu afli, with all might, Grág. ii. 41; af riki, violently, Fbr. (in a verse); af trúnaði, confidently, Grág. i. 400.

VII. denoting regard to, of, concerning, in respect of, as regards:

1. with verbs, denoting to tell of, be informed, inquire about, Lat. de; Dioscorides segir af grasi því, speaks of, 655 xxx. 5; er menn spurðu af landinu, inquired about it, Landn. 30; halda njósn af e-u, Nj. 104; er þat skjótast þar af at segja, Eg. 546, Band. 8.

β. absol., hann mun spyrja, hvárt þér sé nokkut af kunnigt hversu for með okkr, whether you know anything about, how, Nj. 33; halda skóla af, to hold a school in a science, 656 A. i. 19 (sounds like a Latinism); en ek gerða þik sera mestan mann af öllu, in respect of all, that you should get all the honour of it, Nj. 78.

2. with adjectives such as mildr, illr, góðrafe-u, denoting disposition or character in respect to; alira manna mildastr af fo, very liberal, often-banded, Fms. vii. 197; mildr af gulli, i. 33; góðr af griðum, merciful, Al. 33; íllr af mat en mildr af gulli, Fms. i. 53; fastr af drykk, close, stingy in regard to, Sturl. ii. 125; gat þess Hildigunnr at þú mundir góðr af hestinum, that you would be good about the horse, Nj. 90, cp. auðigr at, v. at, which corresponds to the above phrases; cp. also the phrase af sér above, p. 4, col. I, ll. 50 sqq.

VIII. periphrasis of a genitive (rare); provincialis af öllum Predikaraklaustrum, Fms. x. 76; vera af hinum mesta fjandskap, to breathe deep hatred to, be on bad terms with, ix. 220; af hendi, af hálfu e-s, on one’s behalf, v. those words.

IX. in adverbial phrases; as, af launungu, secretly; af hljóði, silently; v. those words.

β. also used absolutely with a verb, almost adverbially, nearly in the signification off, away; hann bað þá róa af fjörðinn, pass the firth swiftly by rowing, row the firth off, Fms. ix. 502; var pá af farit þat seni skerjóttast var, was past, sailed past, Ld. 142; ok er þeir höfðu af fjórðung, past one fourth of the way, Dropl. 10: skína af, to clear up, of the skv, Eb. 152; hence in common language, skína af sér, when the sun breaks forth: sofa af nóttina, to sleep it away, Fms. ii. 98; leið af nóttin, the night past away, Nj. 53; dvelja af stundir, to kill the time, Band. 8; drepa af, to kill; láta af, to slaughter, kill off;

γ. in exclamations; af tjöldin, off with the awnings, Bs. i. 420, Fins, ix. 49.

δ. in the phrases, þar af, thence; hér af, hence, Fms. ii. 102; af fram, straight on, Nj. 144; now, á fram, on, advance.

X. it often refers to a whole sentence or to an adverb, not only like other prepp. to hér, hvar, þar, but also redundantly to hvaðan, héðan, þaðan, whence, hence, thence.

2. the preposition may sometimes be repeated, once elliptically or adverbially, and once properly, e. g. en er af var borit at borðinu, the cloth was taken off from the table, Nj. 176; Guð þerrir af (off, away) hvert tár af ( from) augum heilagra manna, God wipes off every tear from the eyes of his saints, 655 xx. vii. 17; skal þó fyrst bætr af lúka af fé vegaiula, pay off, from, Gþl. 160, the last af may be omitted—var þá af borið borðinu—and the prep. thus be separated from its case, or it may refer to some of the indecl. relatives er or sem, the prep. hvar, hér, þar being placed behind them without a case, and referring to the preceding relative, e. g. oss er þar mikit af sagt auð þeim, we have been told much about these riches, Band. 24; er þat skjótast þar af at segja, in short, shortly. Eg. 546; þaðan af veit ek, thence í infer, know, Fms. i. 97.

XI. it is moreover connected with a great many verbs besides those mentioned above, e. g. bera af, to excel, whence afbragð, afbrigði; draga af, to detract, deduct, hence afdráttr; veita ekki af, to be hard with; ganga at, to be left, hence afgangr; standast af um e-t, to stand, how matters stand; sem af tekr, at a furious rate; vita af, to be conscious, know about (vide VII).

D. As a prefix to compounds distinction is to be made between:

I. af privativum, denoting diminution, want, deduction, loss, separation, negation of, etc., answering indifferently to Lat. ab-, de-, ex-, dis-, and rarely to re- and se-, v. the following COMPDS, such as segja, dicere, but afsegja, negare; rækja, colere, but afrækja, negligere; aflaga, contra legem; skapligr, normalis, afskapligr, deformis; afvik, recessus; afhús, afhellir, afdalr, etc.

II. af intensivum, etymologically different, and akin to of, afr-, e. g. afdrykkja = ofdrykkja, inebrietas; afbrýði, jealously; afbendi, tenesmus; afglapi, vir fatuus, etc. etc. Both the privative and the intensive af may be contracted into á, esp. before a labial f, m, v, e. g. á fram = af fram; ábrýði = afbrýði; ávöxtr = afvöxtr; áburðr = afburðr; ávíta = afvíta (?). In some cases dubious. With extenuated and changed vowel; auvirðiligr or övirðiligr, depreciated, = afv- etc., v. those words.

f. the booth in the parliament (alþingi) belonging to the allsherjargoði. Its site is fixed, Sturl. ii. 44, 126 (referring to events in the year 1215).

n. [þing], mod. form alþing, by dropping the inflective i; the gen., however, still remains unchanged, alþingis. The parliament or general assembly of the Icel. Commonwealth, invested with the supreme legislative and judicial power, consisting of the legislative lögrétta (q. v.), and the courts, v. dómr, fimtardómr, fjórðungsdómar; v. also goði, goðorð, lügsögumaðr, lögsaga, lögberg, and many other words referring to the constitution and functions of the alþingi. It was founded by Ulfljot about A. D. 930, Ib. ch. 3; and reformed by Thord Gellir A. D. 964, who instituted the courts and carried out the political divisions of Icel. into goðorð, fjórðungar, and þing, ch. 5. In the years 1272 and 1281 the alþing, to some extent, changed its old forms, in order to comply with the new state of things. In the year 1800 it was abolished altogether. A kind of parliament, under the old name alþingi, was again established in the year 1843, and sat at Reykjavík. Before the year 930 a general assembly was held in Kjalarnes, whence it was removed under the name of alþingi to the river Öxará, near to the mountain Ármannsfell. The much-debated passage in Hænsaþ. S. ch. 14—en þingit var þá undir Ármannsfelli—therefore simply means that the events referred to happened after the removal of the Kjalarnesping. The parliament at first met on the Thursday beginning the tenth week of the summer, which fell between the 11th and the 17th of June; by a law of the year 999 its opening was deferred to the next following Thursday, between the 18th and 24th of June, old style; after the union with Norway, or after A. D. 1272 or 1281, the time of meeting was further deferred to June 29. July 2 (Vis. B. V. M.) is hence called Þing-Maríumessa. The parliament lasted for a fortnight; the last day of the session, called vápnatak, because the weapons having been laid aside during the session were again taken (cp. Engl. wapentake), thus fell on the first or second Wednesday in July. As to the rules of the alþingi, vide esp. the first chapter of the Þ. Þ. Grág. (Kb.) i. p. 38 sqq. The most eventful years in the history of the alþingi are, A. D. 930 (foundation), 964 (reform), 1000 (introduction of Christianity), 1004 (institution of the Fifth Court), 1024 (repudiation of the attempt of the king of Norway to annex Iceland), 1096 (introduction of tithes), 1117 (first codification of laws), 1262–1264 (submission to the king of Norway), 1272 and 1281 (new codes introduced). In the year 1338 there was no alþing held because of civil disturbances, eytt alþingi ok þóttu þat údærni, Ann. s. a., Grág. (Þ. Þ.) Íslend. bók, Kristni S., Njála, Sturl., Árna b. S., Ó. H. (1853), ch. 114; of modern writers, vide esp. Maurer, Entsteh. des Ísl. Staates; Dasent, Introd. to Burnt Njal; some of the Introductions by Jón Sigurðsson in D. I., esp. that to the Gamli Sáttmáli of the year 1262.

COMPDS: alþingisdómr, alþingisför, alþingishelgun, alþingislof, alþingismál, alþingisnefna, alþingisreið, alþingissátt, alþingissáttarhald, alþingissekt, alþingissektarhald.

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(gen. pl. augna), n.

1) eye;

lúka (bregða) upp augum, bregða augum í sundr, to open (lift up) the eyes;

lúka aptr augum, to shift the eyes;

renna (bregða, leiða) augum til e-s, to turn the eyes to;

leiða e-n augum, to measure one with the eyes;

berja augum í e-t, to take into consideration;

koma augum á e-t, to set eyes on, become aware of;

hafa auga á e-u, t have, keep, an eye upon;

segja e-t í augu upp, to one’s face, right in the face;

unna e-m sem augum í höfði sér, as one’s own eye-balls;

e-m vex e-t í augu, one has scruples about;

náit er nef augum, the nose is neighbor to the eyes;

gløggt er gests augat, a guest’s eye is sharp;

mörg eru dags augu, the day has many eyes;

eigi leyna augu, ef ann kona manni, the eyes cannot hide it if a woman loves a man;

2) hole, aperture in a needle (nálarauga), in a millstone (kvarnarauga) or an axe-head;

3) pit full of water.

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n., gen. pl. augna, [Lat. oculus, a dimin. of an obsolete ocus; Gr. οφθαλμός (Boeot. οκταλμός); Sanskr. aksha: the word is common to Sanskrit with the Slavonic, Greek, Roman, and Teutonic idioms: Goth. augo; Germ, auge; A. S. eâge; Engl. eye; Scot. ee; Swed. öga; Dan. öje, etc. Grimm s. v. suggests a relationship to Lat. acies, acutus, etc. The letter n appears in the plur. of the mod. northern languages; the Swedes say ‘ögon,’ oculi, the Danes ‘öjne;’ with the article ‘ögonen’ and ‘öjnene;’ Old Engl. ‘eyne;’ Scot. ‘een’]

I. an eye. It is used in Icel. in a great many proverbs, e. g. betr sjá augu en auga, ‘two eyes see better than one,’ i. e. it is good to yield to advice: referring to love, unir auga meðan á sér, the eye is pleased whilst it can behold (viz. the object of its affection), Fas. i. 125, cp. Völs. rím. 4. 189; eigi leyna augu, ef ann kona manni, the eyes cannot bide it, if a woman love a man, i. e. they tell their own tale, Ísl. ii. 251. This pretty proverb is an απ. λεγ. l. c. and is now out of use; it is no doubt taken from a poem in a dróttkvætt metre, (old proverbs have alliteration, but neither rhymes nor assonance, rhyming proverbs are of a comparatively late date): medic., eigi er sá heill er í augun verkir, Fbr. 75; sá drepr opt fæti ( slips) er augnanna missir, Bs. i. 742; hætt er einu auganu nema vel fari, he who has only one eye to lose will take care of it (comm.); húsbóndans auga sér bezt, the master’s eye sees best; glögt er gests augat, a guest’s eye is sharp; mörg eru dags augu, the day has many eyes, i. e. what is to be hidden must not be done in broad daylight, Hm. 81; náið er nef augum, the nose is near akin to the eyes (tua res agitur paries quum proximus ardet), Nj. 21; opt verðr slíkt á sæ, kvað selr, var skotinn í auga, this often happens at sea, quoth the seal, when he was shot in the eye, of one who is in a scrape, Fms. viii. 402. In many phrases, at unna ( to love) e-m sem augum í höfði sér, as one’s own eye-balls, Nj. 217; þótti mér slökt it sætasta ljós augna minna, by his death the sweetest light of my eyes was quenched, 187: hvert grætr þú nú Skarphéðinn? eigi er þat segir Skarphéðinn, en hitt er satt at súrnar í augum, the eyes smart from smoke, 200: renna, líta augum, to seek with the eyes, to look upon: it is used in various connections, renna, líta ástaraugum, vánaraugum, vinaraugum, trúaraugum, öfundaraugum, girndarauga, with eyes of love, hope, friendship, faith, envy, desire: mæna a. denotes an upward or praying look; stara, fixed; horfa, attentive; lygna, blundskaka, stupid or slow; blína, glápa, góna, vacant or silly; skima, wandering; hvessa augu, a threatening look; leiða e-n a., to measure one with the eyes; gjóta, or skjóta hornauga, or skjóta a. í skjálg, to throw a side glance of dislike or ill-will; gjóta augum is always in a bad sense; renna, líta mostly in a good sense: gefa e-u auga, oculum adjicere alicui; hafa auga á e-u, to keep an eye on it; segja e-m e-t í augu upp, to one’s face, Orkn. 454; at augum, adverb. with open eyes, Hervar. S. (in a verse), etc. As regards various movements of the eyes; ljúka upp augum, to open the eyes; láta aptr augun, to shut the eyes; draga auga í pung, to draw the eye into a purse, i. e. shut one eye; depla augum, to blink; at drepa titlinga (Germ. äugeln, blinzen), to wink, to kill tits with the suppressed glances of the eye; glóðarauga, a suffusion on the eye, hyposphagma; kýrauga. proptosis; vagl á auga, a beam in the eye; skjálgr, Lat. limus; ský, albugo; tekinn til augnanna, with sunken eyes, etc., Fél. ix. 192; a. bresta, in death: hafa stýrur í augum, to have prickles in the eyes, when the eyes ache for want of sleep: vatna músum, ‘to water mice,’ used esp. of children weeping silently and trying to hide their tears. As to the look or expression of the eyes there are sundry metaph. phrases, e. g. hafa fékróka í augum, to have wrinkles at the corners of the eyes, of a shrewd money getting fellow, Fms. ii. 84, cp. Orkn. 330, 188, where krókauga is a cognom.; kvenna-króka, one insinuating with the fair sex; hafa ægishjalm í augum is a metaphor of one with a piercing, commanding eye, an old mythical term for the magical power of the eye, v. Grimm’s D. Mythol. under Ægishjalmr: vera mjótt á milli augnanna, the distance between the eyes being short, is a popular saying, denoting a close, stingy man, hence mjóeygr means close: e-m vex e-t í augu (now augum), to shrink back from, of a thing waxing and growing before one’s eyes so that one dares not face it. As to the shape, colour, etc. of the eye, vide the adj. ‘eygr’ or ‘eygðr’ in its many compds. Lastly we may mention the belief, that when the water in baptism touches the eyes, the child is thereby in future life prevented from seeing ghosts or goblins, vide the words úfreskr and skygn. No spell can touch the human eye; en er harm sá augu hans (that of Loki in the shape of a bird), þá grunaði hann (the giant) at maðr mundi vera, Edda 60; í bessum birni þykist hón kenna augu Bjarnar konungs sonar, Fas. i. 51, vide Ísl. Þjóðs.

II. meton. and metaph. auga is used in a great many connections:

α. astron.; þjaza augu, the eyes of the giant Thiazi, is a constellation, probably the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux; the story is told in the Edda 47, cp. Harbarðsljóð 19; (Snorri attributes it to Odin, the poem to Thor.)

β. botan., auga = Lat. gemma, Hjalt. 38; kattarauga, cat’s eye, is the flower forget-me-not.

γ. the spots that form the numbers on dice, Magn. 530.

δ. the hole in a millstone; kvarnarauga, Edda 79, 221, Hkr. i. 121: the opening into which an axe handle is fastened, Sturl. ii. 91: a pit full of water, Fs. 45: nálarauga, a needle’s eye: vindauga, wind’s eye or window (which orig. had no glass in it), A. S. eag-dura (eye-door); also gluggi, q. v.: gleraugu, spectacles.

ε. anatom., the pan of the hip joint, v. augnakarl, Fms. iii. 392: gagnaugu, temples.

ζ. hafsauga, the bottom of the ocean, in the popular phrase, fara út í hafsauga, descendere ad tartara.

η. poët. the sun is called heimsauga, dagsauga, Jónas 119.

COMPDS either with sing. auga or pl. augna; in the latter case mod. usage sometimes drops the connecting vowel a, e. g. augn-dapr, augn-depra, augn-fagr, etc. auga-bragð (augna-), n. the twinkling of an eye, Hm. 77; á einu a., in the twinkling of an eye, Ver. 32, Edda (pref.) 146, Sks. 559, Rb. 568: a glance, look, snart a., Fms. ii. 174; mikit a., v. 335; úfagrligt a., Fs. 43; hafa a. af e-u, to cast a look at, Fbr. 49, Fms. xi. 424: in the phrase, at hafa e-n (or verða) at augabragði, metaph. to make sport of, to mock, deride, gaze at, Stj. 627, 567, Hm. 5, 29. auga-brun, f. the eye-brow. auga-staðr, m. an eye-mark; hafa a. á e-u, to mark with the eye. auga-steinn (augna-), m. the eye-ball, Hkr. iii. 365, Fms. v. 152. augna-bending, f. a warning glance, Pr. 452. augna-blik, n. mod. = augnabragð, s. augna-bólga, u, f. ophthalmia. augna-brá, f. the eye-lid, D. N. i. 216. augna-fagr and aug-fagr, adj. fair-eyed, Fas. ii. 365, Fms. v. 200. augna-fró, f. a plant, eye-bright, euphrasia, also augna-gras, Hjalt. 231. augna-fræ, n. lychnis alpina. augna-gaman, n. a sport, delight for the eyes to gaze at, Ld. 202, Bær. 17, Fsm. 5 (love, sweetheart). augna-gróm, n. (medic.) a spot in the eye; metaph., ekki a., no mere speck, of whatever can easily be seen. augna-hár, n. an eye-lash. augna-hvannr, m. the eye-lid. augna-hvita, u, f. albugo. augna-karl, n. the pan of the hip joint; slíta or slitna or augnaköllunum, Fas. iii. 392. augna-kast, n. a wild glance, Barl. 167. augna-kláði, a, m. psorophthalmi. augna-krókr, n. the corner of the eye. augna-lag, n. a look, Ld. 154. augna-lok, n. ‘eye-covers,’ eye-lids. augna-mein, n. a disease of the eye. augna-mjörkvi, a, m. dimness of the eye, Pr. 471. augna-ráð, n. expression of the eye. augna-skot, n. a look askance, Gþl. 286, Fs. 44 (of cats). augna-slím, n. glaucoma. augna-staðr, m. the socket of the eye, Magn. 532. augna-sveinn, m. a lad leading a blind man, Str. 46. augn-tepra, u, f. hippus. augna-topt, f. the socket of the eye. augna-verkr, m. pain in the eye, Hkr. ii. 257, Bs. i. 451, Pr. 471, Bjarn. 58. augna-vik, n. pl. = augnakrókr. augna-þungi, a, m. heaviness of the eye, Hkr. ii. 257.

n. the eastern empire, esp. the east of Europe (Russia, Austria, sometimes also including Turkey of the present time); the term is often vague, and synonymous to Austrvegr, Austrlönd, or referring to the Germany of the year 843; (the mod. sense is = Austria); Ívarr víðfaðmi eignaðist allt Danaveldi, ok mikinn hluta Saxlands ok allt A., Hkr. Yngl. S. ch. 45, Fms. vi. 8; Constantinopolis er æðst borga í A., Ver. 49; Þeodosius inn mikli var sex vetr konungr í A., 50; Licinius hét konungr í A., Blas. 37, in these last passages = the eastern empire (of Rome); þá er ek (viz. king David) lifða ok vask konungr kallaðr í A. ( in the east), Niðrst. 4, cp. Baut. nos. 780, 979.

(-s, -ar), m. elf, fairy (hóll er skamt heðan er álfar búa í).

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s, m. [A. S. ælf, munt-ælfen, sæ-ælfen, wudu-ælfen, etc.; Engl. elf, elves, in Shakespeare ouphes are ‘fairies;’ Germ. alb and elfen, Erl- in Erlkönig (Göthe) is, according to Grimm, a corrupt form from the Danish Ellekonge qs. Elver-konge]; in the west of Icel. also pronounced álbr:

I. mythically, an elf, fairy; the Edda distinguishes between Ljósálfar, the elves of light, and Dökkálfar, of darkness (the last not elsewhere mentioned either in mod. fairy tales or in old writers), 12; the Elves and Ases are fellow gods, and form a favourite alliteration in the old mythical poems, e. g. Vsp. 53, Hm. 144, 161, Gm. 4, Ls. 2, 13, Þkv. 7, Skm. 7, 17, Sdm. 18. In the Alvismál Elves and Dwarfs are clearly distinguished as different. The abode of the elves in the Edda is Álfheimar, fairy land, and their king the god Frey (the god of light), Edda 12; see the poem Gm. 12, Álfheim Frey gáfu í árdaga tívar at tannfé. In the fairy tales the Elves haunt the hills, hence their name Huldufólk, hidden people: respecting their origin, life, and customs, v. Ísl. Þjóðs. i. I sqq. In old writers the Elves are rarely mentioned; but that the same tales were told as at present is clear;—Hallr mælti, hvi brosir þú nú? þórhallr svarar, af því brosir ek, at margr hóll opnast ok hvert kvikindi býr sinn bagga bæði smá ok stór, ok gera fardaga (a foreboding of the introduction of Christianity), Fms. ii. 197, cp. landvættir; álfamenn, elves, Bs. i. 417, Fas. i. 313, 96; hóll einn er hér skamt í brott er álfar búa í, Km. 216: álfrek, in the phrase, ganga álfreka, cacare, means dirt, excrements, driving the elves away through contamination, Eb. 12, cp. Landn. 97, Fms. iv. 308, Bárð. ch. 4: álfröðull, elfin beam or light, a poët. name of the sun; álfavakir, elf-holes, the small rotten holes in the ice in spring-time in which the elves go a fishing; the white stripes in the sea in calm weather are the wakes of elfin fishing boats, etc.: medic. álfabruni is an eruption in the face, Fél. ix. 186: Ivar Aasen mentions ‘alvgust, alveblaastr, alveld,’ the breath, fire of elves (cp. St. Vitus’ dance or St. Anthony’s fire); ‘alvskot,’ a sort of cancer in the bone:—græti álfa, elfin tears, Hðm. I, is dubious; it may mean some flower with dew-drops glittering in the morning sun, vide s. v. glýstamr ( glee-steaming). Jamieson speaks of an elf’s cup, but elf tears are not noticed elsewhere; cp. Edda 39. In Sweden, where the worship of Frey prevailed, sacrifices, álfa-blót, were made to the elves, stóð húsfreyja í dyrum ok bað hann ( the guest) eigi þar innkoma, segir at þau ætti álfa blót, Hkr. ii. 124 (referring to the year 1018), cp. Korm. ch. 22.

2. metaph., as the elves had the power to bewitch men, a silly, vacant person is in Icel. called álfr; hence álfalegr, silly; álfaskapr and álfaháttr, silly behaviour.

II. in historical sense, the Norse district situated between the two great rivers Raumelfr and Gautelfr (Alhis Raumarum, et Gotharum) was in the mythical times called Álfheimar, and its inhabitants Álfar, Fas. i. 413, 384, 387, Fb. i. 23, vide also P. A. Munch, Beskrivelse over Norge, p. 7. For the compds v. above.

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(-s, -ar), m.

1) eel;

2) a deep narrow channel in sea or river (eru nú þeir einir álar til lands, er ek get vaðit);

3) germ, sprout of a plant.

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I. an eel, Lat. anguilla, Km. 236, Edda (Gl.), 655 xxx. 2, Stj. 69.

II. a deep narrow channel in sea or river; eru nú þeir einir alar til lands er ek get vaðit, Fms. iii. 60; þeir lögðu út á álinn (in a harbour) ok lágu þar um strengi, Sturl. i. 224; djúpir eru Islands alar, of the channel of the Atlantic between Norway and Iceland, a proverb touching the giantess who tried to wade from Norway to Iceland, Ísl. Þjóðs.

III. in names of horses, or adjectives denoting the colour of a horse, ‘ál’ means a coloured stripe along the back, e. g. in mó-ál-óttr, brown striped, bleik-ál-óttr, yellow striped; Kingála and Bleikálingr are names of horses, referring to their colour.

IV. a sort of seed, Edda (Gl.); cp. Ivar Aasen, aal, a sprout, and aala, aal-renne, to sprout, of potatoes.

V. the pith of a tree; ok haft þar til álinn úr eikitrjám = το μέλαν δρυος ἀμφικεάσσας, Od. xiv. 12 (Dr. Egilsson).

COMPDS: álafiski, álagarðr, álaveiðr, álavirki.

I) n. bath, esp. steam- or vapour-bath (fara or ganga til baðs, koma ór baði, ganga frá baði; taka bað).

II) from biðja.

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n. [in Goth. probably baþ, but the word is not preserved; A. S. bäð, pl. baðo; Engl. bath; Germ. bad; cp. also Lat. balneum, qs. badneum (?); Grimm even suggests a kinship to the Gr. βάπτω]:—bath, bathing. In Icel. the word is not very freq., and sounds even now somewhat foreign; laug, lauga, q. v., being the familiar Icel. words; thus in the N. T. Titus iii. 5. is rendered by endrgetningar laug; local names referring to public bathing at hot springs always bear the name of laug, never bað, e. g. Laugar, Laugarnes, Laugardalr, Laugarvatn, etc. The time of bathing, as borne out by many passages in the Sturl. and Bs., was after supper, just before going to bed; a special room, baðstofa ( bathroom), is freq. mentioned as belonging to Icel. farms of that time. Bathing in the morning seems not to have been usual; even the passages Sturl. ii. 121, 125 may refer to late hours. This custom seems peculiar and repugnant to the simple sanitary rules commonly observed by people of antiquity. It is, however, to be borne in mind that the chief substantial meal of the ancient Scandinavians was in the forenoon, dagverðr; náttverðr ( supper) was light, and is rarely mentioned. Besides the word bað for the late bath in the Sturl. and Bs., baðstofa is the bathroom; síð um kveldit, í þann tíma er þeir Þórðr ok Einarr ætluðu at ganga til baðs, Sturl. iii. 42; um kveldit er hann var genginn til svefns, ok þeir til baðs er þat líkaði, ii. 117, 246, iii. 111; þat var síð um kveldit ok vóru menn mettir ( after supper) en Ormr bóndi var til baðs farinn, ok var út at ganga til baðstofunnar, Bs. i. 536; eptir máltíðina ( supper) um kveldit reikaði biskupinn um baðferðir ( during bathing time) um gólf, ok síðan for hann í sæng sína, 849; hence the phrase, skaltú hafa mjúkt bað fyrir mjúka rekkju, a good bathing before going to bed, of one to be burnt alive, Eg. 239. In Norway bathing in the forenoon is mentioned; laugardags morguninn vildu liðsmenn ráða í bæinn, en konungr vildi enn at þeir biði þar til er flestir væri í baðstofum, Fms. viii. 176; snemma annan dag vikunnar …, and a little below, eptir þat tóku þeir bað, vii. 34, iii. 171; þá gengr Þéttleifr til baðstofu, kembir sér ok þvær, eptir þat skœðir hanu sik, ok vápnar, Þiðr. 129, v. l.; Icel. hann kom þar fyrir dag ( before daybreak), var Þórðr þá í baðstofu, Sturl. ii. 121, 125; vide Eb. 134, Stj. 272.

COMPDS: baðferð, baðhús, baðkápa, baðkona, baðstofa, baðstofugluggr.