a stone to whicb a horse is tied

(-s, -ar), m.

1) stallion (hestar þrír ok merhross eitt);

2) horse.

* * *

m. a horse, [this word is a contr. form of hengist, qs. hengstr; A. S. hengest; O. H. G. hengist; Germ. hengst, whence Swed.-Dan. hingst; again, contr. Swed. häst, Dan. hest: in old writers hestr mostly means a stallion, whereas hross (Engl. horse) denotes a gelding or any horse]:—a stallion, opp. to merr, a mare, Grág. i. 503, Gþl. 190, Hrafn. 5, Ám. 98 (hestar þrír ok mer-hross eitt); h. grár með fjórum merum, Ísl. ii. 213; sá hestr var sonr Hvítings, var alhvítr at lit en merarnar allar rauðar, en annarr sonr Hvítings var í Þórarínsdal, ok var sá ok hvítr en merarnar svartar, Bjarn. 55: a steed, Fms. ii. 224: a horse gener., Nj. 4, 74; lið á hestum, horsemen, Fms. x. 31, passim. The ancients valued high breeding and variety of colour in their horses, which were favourite gifts, see Gunnl. ch. 5, Bjarn. l. c., Finnb. ch. 23, Fms. vi. 383, 384; for steeds and horsemanship see Þkv. 6, Yngl. S. ch. 23, 33, Landn. 3. ch. 8, Gullþ. S. ch. 9, Harð. S. ch. 3, 4, Rm. 32, 34, cp. also Lv. ch. 6, 7, Grett. ch. 16, Dropl. 13, Finnb. ch. 23, Fms. vi. 323: mythol. the horse was sacred to Frey (the god of light and the sun), Hrafn. 5, Vd. ch. 34, Fb. i. 401 (Ó. T. ch. 322), cp. Freyfaxi: for the steeds of the Sun, Day, and Night, see Gm. 37, Vþm. 12, 14: for the steeds of the gods, Gm. 30: for poetical and mythical names, Edda (Gl.) and the fragment of the poem Þorgrímsþula, Edda, Bugge 332–334: for Sleipnir, the eight-legged steed of Odin, Edda, Gm. 44: for horse-fights see the references s. v. etja, to which add Grett. ch. 31, Sd. ch. 23:—vatna-hestr, a water-horse, = nykr in popular tales, Landn. 2, ch. 10, and Ísl. Þjóðs.; but also a good swimmer, góðr vatna-hestr; skeið-h., reið-h., a riding horse; klár-h., púls-h., áburðar-h., a hack, cart-horse, pack-horse; stóð-h., a stud-horse: sækja, beizla, gyrða, söðla, járna hest, to fetch, bridle, gird, saddle, shoe a horse; also, leggja á, to saddle; spretta af, to take the saddle off; teyma hest or hafa hest í togi, to lead a horse; flytja h., to put a pony out to grass; hepla h., to tether a pony: a pony is gúðgengr (q. v.), vakr, þýðr; and the reverse, íllgengr, hastr, klárgengr, harðgengr.

II. metaph. phrases, há-hestr, a high horse; ríða háhest (a child’s play), also called ríða hákúk, to ride on one another’s shoulders, ride ‘pick-a-back;’ kinn-hestr, a ‘cheek-horse,’ a box on the ear; lýstr hana kinnhest, hón kvaðsk þann hest muna skyldu ok launa ef hón mætti, Nj. 75; þá skal ek nú, segir hón, muna þér kinnhestinn, þann er þú laust mik, 116, cp. Gísl. 27: the gallows is called the horse of Odin, whence gefa e-m hest, to give one a horse, hang one, Fb. i. 238, cp. the verse in Yngl. S. ch. 26.

β. the local name of a horse-shaped crag, see Landn.; cp. Hest-fell in Cumberland.

COMPDS: either hesta- or hests-: hesta-at, n. a horse-fight, see etja. hesta-bein, n. horse bones (cp. Engl. horse-flesh), Grett. 96. hesta-fóðr, n. horse foddering, a law term, Gþl. 77. hesta-fætr, m. pl. horses’ feet, Edda 77, Fas. i. 226, Fms. iii. 111. hesta-garðr, m. a horse-pen close to a churchyard, wherein the horses of the worshippers are kept during service, D. N. hesta-geldir, m. horse gelder, a nickname, Landn. hesta-geymsla, u, f. horse keeping, Fas. i. 80. hesta-gnegg, n. a horse’s neigh, Stj. 621. hesta-gnýr, m, noise of horsemen, Fms. iii. 74. hesta-hlið, n. a horse gate, Stj. hesta-járn, n. pl. horse-shoes, Sturl. iii. 152. hesta-keyrsla, u, f. driving the steed in, in a horse-fight, Rd. 261. hesta-korn, n. [Swed. hestakorn = oats], a nickname, Fb. iii. hesta-lið, n. horsemen, Fms. vii. 188. hesta-maðr, m. a horse boy, groom. hesta-rétt, f. in Icel., = Norse hestagarðr. hesta-skál, f. a stirrup-cup. hesta-skipti, n. a change of horses; hafa h., Ld. 202, Fs. 51. hesta-stafr, m. a horse staff, to be used in a horse-fight, Nj. 91, Þorst. S. St. 49, cp. Rd. ch. 12, Arons S. ch. 18. hesta-stallr, m. = hesthús, Flóv. hesta-steinn, m. a stone to whicb a horse is tied whilst the horseman takes refreshment. hesta-sveinn, m. a horse boy, groom, Sturl. ii. 218, Fas. i. 149, Þiðr. 205, Þorst. S. St. 50. hesta-víg, n. a horse-fight, Nj. 90, Sturl. ii. 100, Glúm. 366, Rd. 261. hesta-þing, n. a meeting for a public horse-fight, Glúm. 366, 367, Nj. 92, Lv. 37, Sd. 176, Fs. 43, 140.