Surts-hellir

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(gen. hellis, dat. and acc. helli; pl. hellar), m. cave, cavern.

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m., gen. hellis, pl. hellar, (mod. pl. hellrar, hellrum, etc., vide Gramm.): [akin to hallr]:— a cave (in rocks), Orkn. 4, 28, Fs. 66, 73, Grág. ii. 131, 134, Fms. vii. 81, Grett.; hann fór upp til hellisins Surts (mod. Surts-hellir) ok færði þar drápu þá, er hann hafði ort um jötuninn í hellinum, Landn. 199, (nauta-hellir, Bs. i. 320,) passim.

COMPDS: hellis-berg (-bjarg, Grett. 164), n. a cavernous rock, Fms. x. 174, Fas. iii. 401. hellis-búi, a, m. a ‘cave-dweller,’ a giant. hellis-dyrr, f. pl. the doors of a cave, Fms. i. 211, vii. 82, 83, Orkn. 428. hellis-gluggi, a, m. the window of a cave, Fas. iii. 413. hellis-gólf, n. the floor of a cave, Fas. iii. 414. hellis-menn, m. pl. cave-men, outlaws, Landn. 61, 67, 182. Hellismanna-saga, u, f. the story of the cave-men, Ísl. Þjóðs. ii. 300 sqq., cp. also 104 sqq. hellis-munni, a, m. the mouth of a cave, Orkn. 428, Fb. i. 245. hellis-skúti, a, m. a jutting cave, Glúm. 363, Eb. 206, Bret. 104, Fas. ii. 354, Grett. 101, Stj. 124.

II. in local names, Hellis-dalr, m., Hellis-fitjar, f. pl., Hellis-hraun, n., Hellis-ey, f., Hellis-fjörðr, m., Orkn., Landn.: Hellis-firðingar, m. pl.

m., gen. surts and surtar, [svartr], the Black, the name of a fire-giant, the world-destroyer, Vsp. 52, 54, Vþm. 17, 18; Surta(r)-logi, the flame of Surt, the last destruction of the world by fire, Vþm. 50: curious is the phrase, gott er þá á Gimli með Surti, Edda (Cod. Ups. ii. 292). surtar-brandr, m. ‘surts-brand,’ is the common Icel. word for jet, see Eggert Itin. The word is found on vellum MS. of Bret. (1849) 116, and is therefore old, and interesting because the name of the mythical fire-giant and destroyer is applied to the prehistoric fire as a kind of heathen geological term.

2. in local names; Hellinn Surts (mod. Surts-hellir) is the name of the famous cave in Icel.; hellinn Surts, Sturl. ii. 181; hann fór upp til hellisins Surts ok færði þar drápu þá er hann hafði ort um jötuninn í hellinum, Landn. 199.

II. a nickname and pr. name, Landn.

2. the name of a black dog. surtar-epli, n., botan. ‘Surt’s apple,’ the pod or capsule of an equisetum, Eggert Itin. 434.