One is tempted to suggest that

m., thus Landn. 76, 77; mar-mandill, Fas. ii. 31 (thrice); in popular mod. usage in Icel., mar-bendill; the Hauksbok (Landn. l. c.) spells it margmelli; whence the mod. Norse marmæle, Ivar Aasen:—prop. a ‘sea-mannikin,’ a kind ot sea goblin or sea dwarf, in the Norse fairy tales. The marmennil is now and then hooked by fishermen; being a soothsayer, he tells them what is to happen. The classical passages in oid Icel. writers are the Hálf’s S. ch. 7 and the Landn. 2, ch. 5; for mod. times see Maurer’s Volks. 31, 32, as also Ísl. Þjóðs. i. 131–134. Inseparable from these tales is the merman’s ‘laughter;’ he generally laughs thrice, e. g. the king kisses the queen, beats his dog, and stumbles over and curses the mound, at each of which the merman laughs; and being asked why, he says that he laughs at the king’s foolishness, for the queen is false, but the dog is true and will save his life, and in the mound there is a hidden treasure; hence, þá hló marbendill, then the merman laughed, has in Icel. become proverbial of a sudden, unreasonable, and spiteful fit of laughter. The coincidence with the English legend of Merlin the ‘wild man’ in the romance of Merlin, (edited by the Early Engl. Text Soc. 1869, p. 434,) is very striking; and one is tempted to suggest that the name Merlin may have been borrowed from the Norse sea goblin (who in Norwegian tales is said to be the bastard of the sea monster hafstramb and a mermaid), and tacked on to the Welsh legend: even the word has a Norse or Teutonic sound: Merlin may well be shortened from the dimin. mer-mann-lin, mer-m’lin, merlin: according to the Pref. to this Engl. romance the name is not found attached to the Welsh legend till the 12th century.

COMPDS: marmendilssmíði, marmendilsþari.

(gen. -rs, pl. nykrar), m.

1) a fabulous water-being (mostly appearing in the shape of a grey horse);

2) the hippopotamus.

* * *

m., gen. nykrs, [a word common to all Teut. languages; A. S. nicor; Engl. nick; Germ. nix; Dan. nök and nisse; mod. Norse nyk; Swed. näcken = a sea goblin; one is tempted to suggest that the Lat. Neptunus (p = g) may be related to this Teutonic word; cp. also Germ. neckisch, neckerei = whims, Dan. nykker]:—the ‘nick,’ a fabulous water-goblin, mostly appearing in the shape of a gray water-horse, emerging from lakes, to be recognised by its inverted hoofs, cp. the tale told in Landn. 2. ch. 10, as also Maurer’s Volksagen: poët., nykra borg = ‘nick-burrow,’ a lake, Lex. Poët. The nykr is the Proteus of the Northern tales, and takes many shapes, whence the gramm. term nykrat, part. a kind of kakemphaton, a change in a figure of speech, e. g. to call a sword first a ‘serpent’ and then a ‘wand,’ or to choose a verb which does not suit the trope in the noun; sá löstr er vér köllum nykrat eðr finngálknat … ok er þar svá skipt líkneskjum á hinum sama hlut, sem nykrinn skiptisk á margar leiðir, Skálda 187; en ef sverð er ormr kallaðr en síðan fiskr eða vöndr eðr annan veg breytt, þat kalla menn nykrat ok þykir þat spilla, Edda 123. In mod. Norse tales a water-goblin is called nykk or nök (nökken), see Ivar Aasen and Mr. Dasent’s Transl. of Asbjörnsen and Moe’s Norse Tales. The legend exists also in the Highlands of Scotland. In mod. Icel. tales the nykr is also called nennir or kumbr, q. v.; nykr-hestr, vatna-hestr.

II. the hippopotamus; nykrar svá stórir sem fílar, Al. 167, 171.

ὄρος, ους, τό (Hom.+) pl. τὰ ὄρη; gen., uncontracted ὀρέων (as early as X., An. 1, 2, 21 [Kühner-Bl. I 432]; SIG 646, 18 [170 B.C.]; LXX [Thackeray 151; Helbing 41f]; EpArist 119. Joseph. prefers ὀρῶν.—Schweizer 153; B-D-F §48; Mlt-H. 139) Rv 6:15; 1 Cl; Hermas (Reinhold 52); a relatively high elevation of land that projects higher than a βοῦνος (‘a minor elevation, hill’), mountain, mount, hill (in Eng. diction what is considered a ‘mountain’ in one locality may be called a ‘hill’ by someone from an area with extremely high mountain ranges; similar flexibility prevails in the use of ὄρος, and the Eng. glosses merely suggest a comparative perspective; in comparison w. Mt. Everest [8848 meters] or Mount McKinley [6194 meters] any mountain in Palestine is a mere hill) w. βουνός Lk 3:5 (Is 40:4); 23:30 (Hos 10:8). W. πέτρα Rv 6:16; cp. vs. 15. W. πεδίον (SIG 888, 120f) Hs 8, 1, 1; 8, 3, 2. W. νῆσος Rv 6:14; 16:20. As the scene of outstanding events and as places of solitude (PTebt 383, 61 [46 A.D.] ὄρος denotes ‘desert’; Dio Chrys. 19 [36], 40 Zoroaster withdraws fr. among men and lives ἐν ὄρει; Herm. Wr. 13 ins. Hermes teaches his son Tat ἐν ὄρει) mountains play a large part in the gospels and in the apocalypses: Jesus preaches and heals on ‘the’ mountain Mt 5:1 (HCarré, JBL 42, 1923, 39–48; Appian, Mithrid. 77 §334 understands τὸ ὄρος in ref. to the Bithynian Olympus, but without naming it.—On the Sermon on the Mount s. GHeinrici, Beiträge II 1899; III 1905; JMüller, D. Bergpredigt 1906; KProost, De Bergrede 1914; HWeinel, D. Bergpr. 1920; KBornhäuser, D. Bergpr. 1923, ²1927; PFiebig, Jesu Bergpr. 1924; GKittel D. Bergpr. u. d. Ethik d. Judentums: ZST 2, 1925, 555–94; ASteinmann, D. Bergpr. 1926; AAhlberg, Bergpredikans etik 1930; MMeinertz, Z. Ethik d. Bergpr.: JMausbach Festschr. ’31, 21–32; HHuber, D. Bergpredigt ’32; RSeeberg, Z. Ethik der Bergpr. ’34; JSchneider, D. Sinn d. Bergpr. ’36; ALindsay, The Moral Teaching of Jesus ’37; MDibelius, The Sermon on the Mount ’40; TSoiron, D. Bergpr. Jesu ’41; DAndrews, The Sermon on the Mount ’42; HPreisker, D. Ethos des Urchristentums² ’49; HWindisch, The Mng. of the Sermon on the Mount [tr. Gilmour] ’51; WManson, Jesus the Messiah ’52, 77–93; TManson, The Sayings of Jesus ’54; GBornkamm, Jesus v. Naz. ’56, 92–100, 201–4 [Eng. tr. by JRobinson et al. ’60, 100–109, 221–25]; JJeremias, Die Bergpredigt ’59; JDupont, Les Béatitudes, I, rev. ed. ’58; II, ’69; W Davies, The Setting of the Sermon on the Mount, ’64; JManek, NovT 9, ’67, 124–31; HDBetz, The Sermon on the Mt [Hermeneia] ’95.—On the site of the Sermon, CKopp, The Holy Places of the Gosp., ’63, 204–13); 8:1; 15:29; calls the twelve Mk 3:13; performs oustanding miracles J 6:3; prays Mt 14:23; Mk 6:46; Lk 6:12; 9:28; ApcPt 2:4. On an ὄρος ὑψηλόν (Lucian, Charon 2) he is transfigured Mt 17:1; Mk 9:2 and tempted Mt 4:8; the risen Christ shows himself on a mountain (cp. Herm. Wr. 13, 1) Mt 28:16. Jesus is taken away by the Holy Spirit εἰς τὸ ὄρος τὸ μέγα τὸ Θαβώρ GHb 20, 61 (cp. Iren. 1, 14, 6 [Harv. I 139, 8: gnostic speculation]); likew. the author of Rv ἐπὶ ὄρος μέγα κ. ὑψηλόν Rv 21:10. From the top of one mountain the angel of repentance shows Hermas twelve other mountains Hs 9, 1, 4; 7ff. On the use of mt. in apocalyptic lang. s. also Rv 8:8; 17:9 (ἑπτὰ ὄρ. as En 24:2. Cp. JohJeremias, D. Gottesberg 1919; RFrieling, D. hl. Berg im A u. NT 1930). GJs 22:3 ὄρ. θεοῦ, where follows ἐδιχάσθη τὸ ὄρ. and ἦν τὸ ὄρ. ἐκεῖνο διαφαῖνον αὐτῇ φῶς the mt. split and that mt. was a bright light for her. On theophanies and mountain motif s. JReeves, Heralds of That Good Realm ’96, 148f.—Of the mt. to which Abraham brought his son, to sacrifice him there 1 Cl 10:7 (cp. Gen 22:2; Demetr.: 722 Fgm. 7 Jac.). Esp. of Sinai (over a dozen sites have been proposed for it) τὸ ὄρος Σινά (LXX.—τὸ Σιναῖον ὄρ. Jos., Ant. 2, 283f) Ac 7:30, 38; Gal 4:24f; 11:3 (cp. Is 16:1); 14:2 (cp. Ex 31:18); 15:1; also without mention of the name: Hb 8:5 (Ex 25:40); 12:20 (cp. Ex 19:13); 1 Cl 53:2; 4:7. Of the hill of Zion (Σιών) Hb 12:22; Rv 14:1. τὸ ὄρ. τῶν ἐλαιῶν the Hill or Mount of Olives (s. ἐλαία 1; about 17 meters higher than Jerusalem) Mt 21:1; 26:30; Mk 14:26; Lk 19:37; 22:39; J 8:1 al. τὸ ὄρ. τὸ καλούμενον Ἐλαιῶν Lk 19:29; 21:37; Ac 1:12 (s. ἐλαιών). Of Mt. Gerizim, about 868 meters in height (without mention of the name) J 4:20f (cp. Jos., Ant. 12, 10; 13, 74).—πόλις ἐπάνω ὄρους κειμένη a city located on an eminence or hill Mt 5:14 (cp. Jos., Ant. 13, 203 πόλις ἐπʼ ὄρους κειμένη). Also πόλις οἰκοδομημένη ἐπʼ ἄκρον ὄρους ὑψηλοῦ Ox 1 recto, 17 (GTh 32) (Stephan. Byz. s.v. Ἀστέριον says this city was so named ὅτι ἐφʼ ὑψηλοῦ ὄρους κειμένη τοῖς πόρρωθεν ὡς ἀστὴρ φαίνεται).—Pl. τὰ ὄρη hills, mountains, hilly or mountainous country (somet. the sing. also means hill-country [Diod S 20, 58, 2 an ὄρος ὑψηλὸν that extends for 200 stades, roughly 40 km.; Polyaenus 4, 2, 4 al. sing. = hill-country; Tob 5:6 S]) AcPl Ha 5, 18; as a place for pasture Mt 18:12.—Mk 5:11; Lk 8:32. As a remote place (s. above; also Dio Chrys. 4, 4) w. ἐρημίαι Hb 11:38. As a place for graves (cp. POxy 274, 27 [I A.D.]; PRyl 153, 5; PGrenf II, 77, 22: the grave-digger is to bring a corpse εἰς τὸ ὄρος for burial) Mk 5:5. Because of their isolation an ideal refuge for fugitives (Appian, Bell. Civ. 4, 30 §130 ἐς ὄρος ἔφυγεν=to the hill-country; 1 Macc 9:40) φεύγειν εἰς τὰ ὄρ. (Plut., Mor. 869b οἱ ἄνθρωποι καταφυγόντες εἰς τὰ ὄρη διεσώθησαν; Jos., Bell. 1, 36, Ant. 14, 418) Mt 24:16; Mk 13:14; Lk 21:21.—Proverbially ὄρη μεθιστάνειν remove mountains i.e. do something that seems impossible 1 Cor 13:2; cp. Mt 17:20; 21:21; Mk 11:23. Of God: μεθιστάνει τοὺς οὐρανοὺς καὶ τὰ ὄρη καὶ τοὺς βουνοὺς καὶ τὰς θαλάσσας (God) is moving from their places the heavens and mountains and hills and seas Hv 1, 3, 4 (cp. Is 54:10 and a similar combination PGM 13, 874 αἱ πέτραι κ. τὰ ὄρη κ. ἡ θάλασσα κτλ.).—B. 23. DELG. M-M. TW. Spicq. Sv.