Herj-ólfr

(-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).

(gen. hers, older herjar), m.

1) crowd, great number (fylgdi oss h manna); með her manns, with a host of men; úvígar herr, overwhelming host;

2) army, troops (on land and sea). Cf. ‘allsherjar-’.

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m., old gen. herjar, pl. herjar, herja, herjum; later gen. hers, dropping the characteristic j and without pl.; the old form however often occurs in ancient poets, herjar, Hkr. i. 343 (in a verse), Fms. xi. 311 (in a verse), Fas. ii. 38 (in a verse); eins herjar, Hm. 72; as also, allt herjar, Hom. 39; herjum, in herjum-kunnr. famous, Háttat. R.; in prose the old j has been preserved in alls-herjar, Fms. v. 106, see pp. 16, 17; the pl. - jar occurs in Ein-herjar, see p. 121: in compd pr. names with initial vowel, Herj-ólfr (A. S. Herewulf), Herjan; [Goth. harjis, by which Ulf. renders λεγεών, Luke viii. 30, and στρατιά, ii. 13; A. S. here; O. H. G. and Hel. heri; Germ. heer; Dutch heir; Swed. här; Dan. hær]:—prop. a host, multitude:

1. a host, people in general, like στρατός in Homer; herr er hundrað, a hundred makes a herr, Edda 108; allr herr, all people, Fms. i. 194, vi. 428 (in a verse); allr herr unni Ólafi konungi hugástum, vi. 441; whence in prose, alls-herjar, totius populi, general, universal, passim; dómr alls-herjar, universal consent, v. 106; Drottinn alls-herjar, Lord of Sabaoth ( hosts), Stj. 428, 456; allt herjar, adv. everywhere; lýsti of allt herjar af ljósinu, Hom. 39; Sænskr herr, the Swedish people; Danskr herr, the Danish people; Íslenzkr herr, the Icelandic people, Lex. Poët.; land-herr (q. v.), the people of the land; en nú sé ek hér útalligan her af landsfólki, a countless assembly of men, Fms. xi. 17; þing-herr, an assembly, Sighvat; Einherjar, the chosen people (rather than chosen warriors); þegi herr meðan, Eb. (in a verse); herjum-kunnr, known to all people, Lex. Poët.; and in compds, her-bergi (q. v.), etc.

2. a host; með her manns, with a host of men, Eg. 71, 277; úvígr herr, an overwhelming host, Fms. viii. 51; himin og jörð og allr þeirra her, Gen. ii. 1, passim; cp. her-margr, many as a host, innumerable.

β. an army, troops, on land and sea, Fms. i. 22, 90, Nj. 245, and in endless instances; cp. herja, to harry, and other compds: of a fleet, þrjú skip þau sem hann keyri ór herinum, Fms. x. 84; cp. hers-höfðingi: so in the phrase, hers-hendr, leysa e-n ór hers-höndum, to release one out of the hands of war, N. G. L. i. 71; vera í hers höndum, komast í hers hendr, to come into a foe’s hands.

3. in a bad sense, the evil host, the fiends, in swearing, Gþl. 119; herr hafi e-n, fiends take him! Fms. vi. 278; herr hafi hölds ok svarra hagvirki! Ísl. ii. (in a verse); hauga herr, vide haugr; and in compds, her-kerling, her-líki.

II. in pr. names:

1. prefixed, of men, Her-brandr, Her-finnr, Her-gils, Her-grímr, Herj-ólfr, Her-laugr, Her-leifr, Her-mundr, Her-rauðr, Her-steinn, Hervarðr; of women, Her-borg, Her-dís, Her-gunnr, Her-ríðr, Her-vör, Her-þrúðr, Landn.: in Har-aldr ( Harold) the j is dropped without causing umlaut. Herjan and Herja-föðr, m. the Father of hosts = Odin, Edda, Hdl.

2. suffixed, -arr, in Ein-arr, Agn-arr, Ótt-arr, Böðv-arr, Úlf-arr, etc., see Gramm. p. xxxii, col. 1, signif. B. 1.

B. COMPDS: herbaldr, herbergi, herblástr, Herblindi, herboð, herborg, herbrestr, herbúðir, herbúinn, herbúnaðr, herdrengr, herdrótt, herfall, herfang, herfenginn, herferð, herfjöturr, herflokkr, herfloti, herforingi, herfólk, herfórur, herfærr, Herföðr, herför, hergammr, herganga, Hergautr, hergjarn, herglötuðr, hergopa, hergrimmr, herhlaup, herhorn, herkastali, herkerling, herklukka, herklæða, herklæði, herkonungr, herkumbl, herland, herleiða, herleiðing, herleiðsla, herlið, herliki, herlúðr, hermaðr, hermannliga, hermannligr, hermargr, hermegir, Hermóðr, hernaðr, hernam, hernumi, hernæma, heróp, hersaga, hersöguör, herskapr, herskari, herskár, herskip, herskjöldr, herskrúð, herspori, herstjóri, herstjórn, hersveitir, hertaka, hertaka, hertekning, hertogi, hertogadómr, hertogadæmi, hertogaefni, hertogainna, hertoganafn, herturn, hertygð, hertýgi, hertýgja, herváðir, hervápn, hervegir, herverk, hervígi, hervíkingr, hervæða, herþing, herþurft, herör.