burdens of the

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.

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.

* * *

(pl. -ir), v.

1) body of men, small detachment (liði var skipt í sveitir, tólf mönnum saman);

2) company, train (ek var með hánum ok í hans s.); þeir héldu s. um jólin, they held revels at Yule;

3) community, district, county (gekk pat hallæri um allar sveitir).

* * *

f., svít, Eg. 19, [A. S. sweot], a body, esp. as a milit. term, a squad, small detachment, company, each with its own officer (sveitar-höfðingi), sveit ef sex eru, Edda 108; vil ek at menn skipizk í sveitir, ok heimtisk saman frændmenn ok kunnmenn, Ó. H. 204; liði var skipt í sveitir, tólf mönnum saman, Eg. 229; þeir fengu til margar sveitir, at veita Varbelgjum bakslag, Fms. ix. 491; Þórir hundr með sína sveit, Ó. H. 214; gékk hann í sveit með þeim, 215; en eptir fall hans þá féll flest sú sveit er fram hafði gengit með honum, 219; Arnljótr gellini ok þeirra sveit öll, 217.

2. a company, train; þeir höfðu samburðar-öl ok héldu sveit um Jólin, held revels at Yule, Fms. vii. 303; Grjótgarðr hélt þó sveit, i. 53; ek var með hánum ok í hans sveit, Eg. 65; þykki mér allfýsiligt at koma í þeirra sv(e)it, 19; þóttú komir í sveit með hirðmönnum Haralds, 21; þessi sveit ( troop) kom til Virfils bónda, Fms. iii. 212; ef lögsögu-maðr er í inni minni sveit, in the minority, Grág. i. 9; drógu Gyðingar sveit saman mikla, Hom. (St.); sum sveitin … sum sveitin, one part …, another …, Róm. 261; eigi skal þá draga sveitir saman þá er aðrir menn eru sofa farnir … þá skolu þeir vita er í sveit þeirri vóru hverr bani er, N. G. L. i. 163: poët., lýða sveit, seggja sveit, a company of men, Lex. Poët.; fljóða s., a bevy of women, Merl. 1. 49: of the crew of a ship, skírskota á önnur skip, at þeir hafa eigi meira mat en mánaðar-mat hvars í tvennum sveitum, N. G. L. i. 99.

3. a party; þá görðusk þrætur miklar, ok gékk liðit sveitum mjök, Clem. 43; mannkyn var í tvenningu, í annarri sveit Gyðingar er á sannan Guð trúðu, en í annarri heiðnar þjóðir, 625. 170; öll góðra manna sveit, Hom. 142.

II. geograph. a community, district, county; Rauðamels-lönd vóru betri en önnur suðr þar í sveit, Landn. 80; mikil kynslóð í þeirri sveit, Eg. 100; gékk þat hallæri um allar sveitir, Nj. 73; allar kirkjur þær er í þessum sveitum vóru, 623. 14; norðr um sveitir, Lv. 20; fara um sveitir ok boða Guðs eyrendi, Bs. i. 45.

2. in mod. usage a district for relief of the poor, like hreppr; in such phrases as, fara á sveitina, to become a pauper; vera á sveit, liggja á sveit, þiggja af sveit, to receive parish relief; honum lá við sveit, he was on the verge of becoming a pauper; sveitar-kerling, an old female pauper; sveitar-ómagi, a pauper; sveitar-þyngsli, burdens of the sveit; sveitar-tillag, a poor-rate; sveit-lægr, q. v.

3. the country, as opp. to town; búa í sveit, to live in the country; sveita-bóndi, a country farmer, husbandman; sveita-fólk, sveita-menn, country folk; sveita-bragr, country costumes, habits; sveita-búskapr, husbandry.

B. COMPDS: sveitarbót, sveitardráttr, sveitardrykkja, sveitargengi, sveitarhöfðingi, sveitarmenn, sveitarrækr, sveitaskipan, sveitarskítr, sveitarvist.

n. and álaga, u, f. [leggja á]; in some cases, esp. dat. pl., it is often difficult to decide to which of these two forms a case may belong; they are therefore best taken together. In the neut. pl. the notion of spell, in the fem. pl. that of tax, burden, hardship prevails. In sing. both of them are very much alike in sense.

I. fem. pl. a tax, burden, burdensome impost; sagði at bændr vildi eigi hafa frekari álög (álögur?) af konungi en forn lög stæði til, Fms. xi. 224; undan þessum hans álögum … liggja undir slíkum álögum, tyranny, yoke, Bárð. ch. 2; gangit til ok hyggit at landsmenn, at ganga undir skattgjafar Ólafs konungs ok allar álögur, burdens, taxes, Fms. iv. 282, in the famous speech of Einar þveræing, (Ó. H. ch. 134; bað jarl vægja möunum um álögur, Fms. iv. 216; jarl hélt með freku öllum álögum, Orkn. 40; hvárt mun konungr sá ekki kunna hóf um álögur ok harðleiki við menn, Fms. vi. 37; þórstcinn kvað ekki um at leita, at Þórðr kæmist undan neinum álögum, burdens, oppressive conditions, Bjarn. 72.

2. a law term, an additional fine; með álögum ok leigum, duties and rents, Grág. i. 260; binda álogum, to charge, 384; hálfa fimtu mörk álaga, a fine of three marks, 391.

3. metaph. in plur. and in the phrase, í álögum, in straits, at a pinch, if needful, Vm. 18; vitr maðr ok ágætr í öllum álögum, a wise and good man in all difficulties, Fs. 120.

4. a metric. term, addition, supplement; þat er annat leyfi háttanna at hafa í dróttkvæðum hætti eitt orð eða tvau með álögum, cp. álagsháttr below, Edda 124.

5. theol. a visitation, scourge, Stj. 106, 647. 2 Kings xxi. 13 (answering to plummet in the Engl. transl.); sing. in both instances.

II. neut. pl. álög, spells, imprecations. In the fairy tales of Icel. ‘vera í álögum’ is a standing phrase for being spell-bound, esp. for being transformed into the shape of animals, or even of lifeless objects; leggja a., to bind by spells, cp. Ísl. Þjóðs. by Jón Árnason; var því líkast sem í fornum sögum er sagt, þá er konunga börn urðu fyrir stjúpmæðra álögum (v. l. sköpum), Fms. viii. 18 (Fb. ii. 539): hóri lýstr til hans með úlfs hanzka ok segir at hann skyldi verða at einuni híðbirni, ok aldri skáltn or þessuni álögum fara, Fas. (Völs. S.) i. 50, 404: sing. (very rare), þat er álag mitt, at þat skip skal aldri heilt af hafi koma er hér liggr út, Landn. 250. At present always in pl., cp. forlög, örlög, ólög.

COMPDS: álagsbœtr, álagsháttr, álögulaust.

adj., without compar. and superl., prop. ‘slim,’ but only used,

II. metaph. vile, bad, very freq. in mod. usage, but not found in old writers; it is a gentler expression than ‘vándr’ or ‘íllr;’ used both of men and things, þú ert slæmr, það er slæmt, ‘tis a pity.

m. [akin to sleyma], the ‘slim end,’ only used as a technical term for the third and last subdivision of an old poem: these poems consisted of three parts, viz. the ‘Introduction,’ the ‘Middle with the burdens’ (Stefja-mál), and the ‘Slæmr;’ hef ek slæm, enn lýk stefjum, I begin the Slæm and finish the Burdens, Rekst. 24, Gd. 41, Harms. 46, Leiðarv. 24; see as specimens the Edit. of the poems in Bs. ii. 196, 215.

(compar. verri, superl. verstr), a.

1) ill, evil, bad; illr maðr, a bad man; ill ráð, evil counsel; illum huga, with evil intent; illu feginn ver þú aldregi, never rejoice at evil; illar álögur, evil, oppressive burden;

2) hard, difficult, with gen.; illr viðr-eignar, ill to deal with;

3) close, mean, stingy (illr af mat).

* * *

adj., compar. verri (q. v.), superl. verstr; íllr is still often pronounced with a long vowel, esp. in the forms íllt, ílls, as also íllr and illr, although it is usually in mod. books spelt with i; the long vowel is a remains of the contraction which in the Scandin. languages has taken place in this word: [Ulf. ubils; A. S. yfel; Engl. ill, evil; Hel. ubil; O. H. G. ubil; Germ. übel; Dan. ild; Swed. ill-; in mod. Engl. ill is of Scandin., evil of Saxon origin]:—ill, evil, bad, in a bodily and moral sense: in sayings, íllt er at eiga þræl at einga-vin, Grett. 154; íllt er at eggja óbilgjarnan, or íllt er at eggja íllt skap = πυρ μαχαίρα μη σκαλευειν; erat maðr svá íllr at einugi dugi, Hm. 134; fátt er svo fyrir öllu íllt, að ekki boði nokkuð gott, = ‘tis an ill wind that blows nobody any good; ílla gefask íll ráð, Nj. 20; opt stendr íllt af kvenna tali, Gísl. 15; opt hlýtr íllt af íllum (or íllt má af íllum hljóta), Ísl. ii. 151; frest eru ílls bezt, Fms. v. 294.

2. ill, bad, of quality, capacity; íllr búþegn, a bad farmer, Fms. i. 69; íllr hestr, a bad horse, Þiðr. 191; íllt skáld, a poetaster.

3. evil, wicked; góða frá íllum, Eluc. 37; íllr maðr, Hm. (íll-menni); íll ráð, evil counsel, 9; til góðs ok ílls, for good or evil, Grág. ii. 144; sjá við íllu, beware of evil, Sdm. 39; íllt eitt, all wickedness, as a nickname, Fms. ix. 419 (423 sqq.)

4. bad; íllum huga, an evil mind, spite, Hbl. 21; ílls hugar, Hým. 9; íllt skap, ill humour; vera í íllu skapi, to be in an ill mood; það er íllt í mér, to be angry; mæla íllt, to use foul language, Bjarn. 32; íll orð, evil words, Skm. 2; varð honum íllt til liðs, Fms. i. 22; íll öld, evil times, vi. 96; íllt veðr, ill weather, v. 295; íllar álögur, evil, oppressive burdens, vii. 75, v. l.; íll heilsa, ill health; íllt, unwholesome; er þat íllt manni, Eg. 604; medic., e-m er íllt (mér er íllt), to be ill; íllt er (‘tis a pity) at eiga dáðlausa sonu, Ld. 236; honum þótti íllt ( he was sorry) at heyra læti þeirra, Fms. iv. 368: denoting harm, hurt, grunaði at mikit íllt mundi af þér hljótask, Ísl. ii. 151; verðr hann þeim stórhöggr, ok fá þeir íllt af honum, Fms. xi. 135.

5. with gen. ill, difficult; íllr viðr-eignar, ill to deal with, Nj. 18, Eg. 147; íllir heimsóknar, Fms. vii. 299; flestir verða íllir aptrhvarfs, 315: with dat. ill to one, íllr e-m, (cp. Scot. ‘ill to his friend, waur to his foe’), 655 A. 4.

6. close, stingy, cp. góðr (II. β); íllr af aurum, Jd. 35; íllir af mat, Hkr. i. 140; hinn matar-ílli, a nickname, Hkr.

COMPDS: íllbrigði, íllbýli, ílldeildir, ílldýri, íllfelli, íllfengr, íllferli, íllfúss, íllfygli, íllfýstr, íllgengr, íllgeta, íllgirnd, íllgjarn, íllgjarnligr, íllgresi, íllgrunaðr, íllgæfa, íllgæti, íllgörð, íllgörðaflokkr, íllgörðamaðr, íllgörðasamr, íllhreysingr, íllhveli, íllkvikendi, íllkvittinn, íllkvittni, íllkyndugr, íllkyngi, íllleikni, ílllifnaðr, ílllifnaðarmaðr, ílllífl, ílllífr, ílllyndi, ílllyndr, ílllæti, íllmannliga, íllmannligr, íllmáligr, íllmenni, íllmennska, íllmæla, íllmælgi, íllmæli, íllorðr, íllráðigr, íllráðr, íllræða, íllræði, íllræðismaðr, íllræmdr, íllsakar, íllskái, íllskárri, íllskárst, íllskeptr, íllskælda, íllspár, íllsvipligr, ílltíðindi, ílltyngdir, Íllugi, íllúð, íllúðigr, íllúðligr, íllverk, íllviðri, íllviðrisklakkar, íllviðriskráka, íllvili, íllvilja, íllviljafullr, íllviljamaðr, íllviljaðr, íllvirki, íllvirki, íllviti, íllvært, íllyrða, íllyrði, íllyrmi, íllyrmislegr, íllýðgi, íllþolandi, íllþræli, íllþýði, íllþýðisfólk, illþýðismaðr.