counting

(gen. -ar; pl. -ir, acc. -u), m. a ten, decade, = tegr, tøgr, togr, tugr; tíu tigir manna, one hundred men; hálfan fjórða tøg skipa, thirty-five ships; sex ins fimta tigar, forty-six; vetri fátt í fjóra tigu, thirty-nine years.

* * *

tegr, also tögr, togr, tugr, m., gen. tigar, pl. tigir, acc. tigu (tögo, tugu), later tigi, Band. 36, Fb. iii. 578; [a Goth. tigus is suggested by the adj. -tigjus; A. S. tig, teg; O. H. G. zic, zuc; Germ. zebn; Dan. ty; Engl. ten.]

A. A ten, decade. The ancient Scandinavians and Teutons had no indeclinable numeral adjectives from twenty to a hundred; the word tigr (like hundrað and þúsund) being a regular substantive. The ancient way of counting is therefore complex and curious; e. g. forty-one was called ‘four tens and one’ or ‘one of the fifth decade;’ forty-eight was called ‘four tens and eight,’ or by counting back, ‘five tens short of two,’ cp. the Lat. un-de-viginti, duo-de-triginta: forty-five was called ‘half the fifth ten,’ and so on, as will best be seen from the references below; and so it goes on to ‘one hundred and twenty,’ for in Icel. a hundred means the duodecimal hundred. In the 14th century (in deeds) ‘tigr’ began to lose its character of a substantive, eg. þrjátigir, fimtigir …, or þrjátigi, fimtigi (used inclecl.), whence at last came the mod. þrjátíu, fjörutíu, fimtíu …, the tíu being a contracted form from the acc. pl. tigu. At the same time hundrað and þúsund became indecl. adjectives, e. g. þrjátiu, brjúhundruð, þrjuþúsund skipum, for the old þrem tiguin hundruðum, þúsundum skipa.

B. REFERENCES: þessi vetr fylidi annan tög aldrs Magnúss konungs, this winter completed the second ten, i. e. the twentieth year, of king Magnus’ life, Fms. vi. 90; þat skipti tögum, it amounted to tens, several tens, ii. 32; þrjá tigu manna, three tens of men, Eg. 41; á þrem tigum daga, on three tens of days, 656 A. ii. 14; þrír tigir hundraða, Dipl. v. 2; níu tigu manna, Eg. 62; þrettán tigi aura, Band. 36; nær fjórum tigum faðma töðu, well-nigh four tens of fathoms, i. e. forty, Dipl. v. 18; fjóra togo dægra, 655 iii. 3; sex togo hundraða, D.I. i. 350; sex tigir manna, Grág. ii. 194; sex tigir þúsunda manna, Post.; sex tigu hundraða, six tens of hundreds, i. e. sixty hundred, i. e. six thousand, Orkn. 416 old Ed.; tíu tigir manna, ten tens of men, i. e. one hundred, Nj. 191; tíu tigo fjár, K. Þ. K. 140; tíu tigum ásauðar, a hundred sheep, Dipl. v. 19; tíu tegu bæja, Fms. viii. 203: ellifu tigir vætta skreiðar, eleven tens, i. e. one hundred and ten, 655 iii. 4; even, þrettán tigi aura, thirteen tens, i. e. one hundred and thirty, Band. 36; fimtán tigum sinna, fifteen tens, i. e. one hundred and fifty, Dipl. ii. 14: repeating, fjóra tigi vetra ok fjóra vetr, four tens of winters and four winters, i. e. forty-four years, ÓH. (pref.); með tveim skipum ok átta togum skipa, Fms. x. 394; sex tigi vetra ok fjóra vetr, Ó. H. (pref.); þrjá tigi ára ok sex ár, three tens of years and six years, Bs. i. 30; eitt skip ok sjau tigu skipa, i. e. seventy-one, Fms. x. 344; hálfan fjórða tög vetra, half the fourth decade, i. e. thirty-five, vi. 430; hálfan fjórða tög skipa, i. 76; hálfr fimti tugr kúgilda, half the fifth decade, i. e. forty-five, Dipl. v. 18; hálfr þriði tögr manna, Ísl. ii. 387, Ld. 292; hálfr átti tögr kirkna, seventy-five, Clem.; á einu ári ins fimmta tigar konungdóms Hákonar, on the first year of the fifth ten, i. e. forty-first, Sturl. iii. 308; hann hafði vetr ens sétta tigar, one winter of the sixth ten, i. e. fifty-one, Fms. ix. 534; á öðru ári ens fjórða tigar, i. 67; annann vetr ens fjórða tigar konungdóms hans, Fms. x. 33, Bs. i. 74; fjóra vetr ens tíunda tegar, Ó. H. (pref.); sex ens fjórða tigar, i. e. thirty-six, Thorodd; vikur tvær ens sétta tegar, i. e. fifty-two, Íb. 7; hann hafði sjau vetr ens sjaunda tigar, i. e. sixty-seven, Ld. 330; á enum sjaunda vetri ens sjaunda tugar aldrs síns, Eb. 125 new Ed.; á enum sétta vetri ens átta tugar aldrs síns, Sturl. ii. 187; Þorkell hafði átta vetr ens fimta tigar þá er hann druknaði, i. e. forty-eight, Ld. 326; átta dagar ens níunda tegar, i. e. eighty-two, 1812. 49; átta aurar ens fimta tigar, Grág. ii. 144; á níunda ári ens sjaunda tigar ens tíunda hundraðs, in the ninth year of the seventh ten of the tenth hundred (i. e. 969 A. D.), Fms. i. 67; þá var Egill á níunda tigi, then was Egil in the ninth ten ( between eighty and ninety years of age), Eg. 764; vetri fátt í fjóra tigu, one year short of four tens, i. e. thirty-nine, Fms. x. 2, v. l.; lítið fátt í fimm tigi vetra, iii. 60; einu ári fátt í fimm tigi, i. e. forty-nine, … vetri einum fátt í níu tigi ára gamall, i. e. aged eighty-nine, Fb. iii. 578: curious is the phrase, af-tig gamall, = Lat. unde-viginti, aged ‘lacking twenty,’ i. e. nineteen years old, Fms. vii. 84 (in a verse); the context and chronology shew that this is the sense, and not as explained in Lex. Poët. s. v. afstigr: níu tigir ok tvau ár (elliptically dropping gen. ára), Dipl. v. 3; whence lastly as adj., þrítigir álnir (sic) lérepts, id.; fjöre-tiger manns, Bs. i. 867. As this method was somewhat unwieldy, the counting by twenty was also resorted to, cp. Gramm. xxi, sex merkr ok tuttugu; spænir þrír ok tuttugu, … sjautján merkr ok tuttugu, Bs. i. 874 (Laur. S.), or the word tigr was altogether discarded, and replaced by skor or sneis (Engl. score, Dan. snees). ☞ As in vellums the numbers are mostly represented by Roman figures, and abbreviations used, the editions cannot in these cases be implicitly relied on; the same is the case with old texts preserved in mod. paper transcripts.

f. pl. an ‘after-counting,’ grudging.

1) half; hálfr mánaðr, half a month, fortnight; til hálfs by a half; hálfr annar, þriði, fjórði, &c., one, two, three and a half; hálft annat hundrað, one hundred and a half; hálfr þriði tøgr manna, twenty-five men;

2) neut. ‘hálfu’, by half, with a comparative in an intensive sense, much, far; hálfu verri, far worse; hálfu meira, far more; hálfu siðr, far less.

* * *

adj., hálf (hlf), hálft, freq. spelt halbr, halb er öld hvar, Hm. 52; [Goth. halbs; A. S. healf; Engl. half; Hel. halba; Germ. halb; Dan. halv; Swed. half]:—half; hálfr mánuðr, half a month, a fortnight, Nj. 4; þar átti hann kyn hálft, Eg. 288; hálf stika, half a yard, Grág. i. 498; hálf Jól, the half of Yule, Fs. 151, passim: adverb. phrases, til hálfs, by a half, Eg. 258, 304; aukinn hálfu, increased by half, doubled, Grág. i. 157, Gþl. 24.

2. with the notion of brief, scant, little; sjá hálf hýnótt, that little night, Skm. 42; hálf stund, a little while; eg skal ekki vera hálfa stund að því, i. e. I shall have done presently, in a moment; cp. hálb er öld hvar, only half, Hm. 52; með hálfum hleif, with half a loaf, a little loaf of bread, 51: an Icel. says to his guest, má eg bjóða þér í hálfum bolla, í hálfu staupi, hálfan munnbita, and the like.

II. in counting Icel. say, hálfr annarr, half another, i. e. one and a half; h. þriði, half a third, i. e. two and a half; h. fjórði, three and a half; h. fimti, four and a half, etc.; thus, hálfan annan dag, one day and a half; hálft annað ár, hálfan annan mánuð, h. aðra nótt; hálf önnur stika, a yard and a half, Grág. i. 498; hálfa fimtu mörk, four marks and a half, 391; hálft annat hundrað, one hundred and a half, Sturl. i. 186; hálfr þriði tögr manna, two decades and a half, i. e. twenty-five, men, Ísl. ii. 387; hálfan fimta tög skipa, Hkr. iii. 374: similar are the compd adjectives hálf-þrítugr, aged twenty-five; hálf-fertugr, aged thirty-five; hálf-fimtugr, hálf-sextugr, -sjötugr, -áttræðr, -níræðr, -tíræðr, i. e. aged forty-five, fifty-five, sixty-five, seventy-five, eighty-five, ninety-five, and lastly, hálf-tólfræðr, one hundred and fifteen, Eg. 84, Fms. i. 148, Greg. 60, Stj. 639, Bs. i. 54, 101, Hkr. (pref.), Mar. 32, Íb. 18, Grett. 162, Fs. 160: also of measure, hálf-fertugr föðmum, Landn. (App.) 324, Fms. vii. 217; hálf-þrítugt tungl, a moon twenty-five days’ old, Rb. 26: contracted, hálf-fjórðu mörk, three marks and a half, Am. 63; hálf-fimtu mörk, four marks and a half, Jm. 36: as to this use, cp. the Germ. andert-halb, dritt-halb, viert-halb, etc., Gr. τρίτον ἡμιτάλαντον ( two talents and a half), Lat. sestertius.

III. neut. hálfu with a comparative, in an intensive sense, far; hálfu verri, worse by half, far worse; hálfu meira, far more, Fms. vi. 201; hálfu heilli! Fb. i. 180; hálfu síðr, far less, Þórð. 41 new Ed., Fb. ii. 357; fremr hálfu, much farther ago, Hðm. 2; h. lengra, Bs. ii. 48; h. betri, better by half; h. hógligra, far snugger, Am. 66; hálfu sæmri, Fb. ii. 334.

β. with neg. suff.; hálft-ki, not half; at hálft-ki má óstyrkð ór bera, Greg. 54.

IV. a pr. name, rare, whence Hálfs-rekkr, m. pl. the champions of king Half, Fas.: Hálf-dan, m. Half-Dane, a pr. name, cp. Healf-Danes in Beowulf, Fms.

B. The COMPDS are very numerous in adjectives, nouns, and participles, but fewer in verbs; we can record only a few, e. g. hálf-afglapi, a, m. half an idiot, Band. 4 new Ed. hálf-aukinn, part. increased by half, H. E. ii. 222. hálf-áttræðr, see above. hálf-bergrisi, a, m. half a giant, Eg. 23. hálf-berserkr, m. half a berserker, Sd. 129. hálf-björt, n. adj. half bright, dawning. hálf-blandinn, part. half blended, Stj. 85. hálf-blindr, adj. half blind. hálf-bolli, a, m. half a bowl (a measure), N. G. L. ii. 166. hálf-breiðr, adj. of half breadth, Jm. 2. hálf-brosandi, part. half smiling. hálf-bróðir, m. a half brother (on one side). hálf-brunninn, part. half burnt. hálf-bræðrungr, m. a half cousin, K. Á. 140. hálf-búinn, part. half done. hálf-dauðr, adj. half dead, Sturl. ii. 54, Magn. 530, Hkr. iii. 366. hálf-daufr, adj. half deaf. hálf-deigr, adj. damp. hálf-dimt, n. adj. half dark, in twilight. hálf-drættingr, m. a fisher-boy, who gets half the fish he catches, but not a full ‘hlutr.’ hálf-ermaðr, part. half sleeved, Sturl. iii. 306. hálf-etinn, part. half eaten, Al. 95. hálf-eyrir, m. half an ounce, Fms. x. 211. hálf-fallinn, part. half fallen, K. Á. 96; h. út sjór, of the tide. hálf-farinn, part. half gone. hálf-fertrugr, hálf-fimti, hálf-fimtugr, hálf-fjórði, see above (II). hálf-fífl, n. and hálf-fífla, u, f. half an idiot, Fms. vi. 218, Bs. i. 286. hálf-fjórðungr, m. half a fourth part, Bs. ii. 170. hálf-frosinn, part. half frozen. hálf-fúinn, part. half rotten. hálf-genginn, part. halving. hálf-gildi, n. half the value, Gþl. 392. hálf-gildr, adj. of half the value, N. G. L. hálf-gjalda, galt, to pay half, N. G. L. i. 174. hálf-grátandi, part. half weeping. hálf-gróinn, part. half healed. hálf-görr, part. half done, only half done, left half undone, Fms. ii. 62; litlu betr en hálfgört, Greg. 24. hálfgörðar-bóndi, a, m. a man who has to furnish half a levy, D. N. hálf-hélufall, n. a slight fall of rime, Gísl. 154. hálf-hlaðinn, part. half laden, Jb. 411. hálf-hneppt, n. adj. a kind of metre, Edda 139. hálf-hræddr, adj. half afraid. hálf-kirkja, u, f. a ‘half-kirk,’ = mod. annexía, an annex-church, district church, or chapel of ease, Vm. 126, H. E. i. 430, ii. 138, Am. 28, Pm. 41, Dipl. v. 19; distinction is made between al-kirkja, hálf-kirkja, and bæn-hús, a chapel. hálf-kjökrandi, part. half choked with tears. hálf-klæddr, part. half dressed. hálf-konungr, m. a half king, inferior king, Fms. i. 83. hálf-kveðinn, part. half uttered; skilja hálfkveðit orð, or hálfkveðna vísu = Lat. verbum sat, MS. 4. 7. hálf-launat, n. part. rewarded by half, Fms. ii. 62, Grág. i. 304. hálf-leypa, u, f. a half laupr (a measure), B. K. passim, hálf-leystr, part. half loosened, Greg. 55. hálf-lifandi, part. half alive, half dead, Mar. hálf-litr, adj. of a cloak, of two colours, one colour on each side, Fms. ii. 70, Fas. iii. 561, Sturl. ii. 32, iii. 112, Fær. 227, Bs. i. 434. hálf-ljóst, n. adj.; pá er hálfljóst var, in twilight, Sturl. iii. 193. hálf-lokaðr, part. half locked. hálf-mætti, n. ‘half might,’ opp. to omnipotence, Skálda 161. hálf-mörk, f. half a mark, Vm. 80, 126. hálf-nauðigr, adj. half reluctant, Fms. xi. 392. hálf-neitt, n. adj. ‘half-naught,’ trifling, Fas. i. 60. hálf-níð, n. half a lampoon, Fms. iii. 21. hálf-níræðr, see above (II). hálf-nýtr, adj. of half use, Rb. 86. hálf-opinn, adj. half open. hálf-prestr, m. a ‘half-priest,’ a chaplain to a hálfkirkja, Sturl. ii. 178. hálf-pund, n. half a pound, Gþl. 343. hálf-raddarstafr, m. a semivowel, Skálda 176, 178. hálf-reingr, a, m. a half scamp, Bs. i. 517. hálf-rétti, n. a law term (cp. fullrétti, p. 177), a slight, a personal affront or injury of the second degree, liable only to a half fine; e. g. hálfréttis-orð is a calumny in words that may be taken in both senses, good and bad; whereas fullréttis-orð is downright, unmistakable abuse, Grág. ii. 144; hence the phrases, mæla, göra hálfrétti við e-n, i. 156, 157, ii. 153. hálfréttis-eiðr, m. an oath of compurgation to be taken in a case of h., N. G. L. i. 352. hálfréttis-maðr, m. a man that has suffered hálfrétti, Gþl. 105, 200. hálfréttis-mál, n. a suit of a case of h., N. G. L. i. 314. hálf-róinn, part. having rowed half the way, half-way, Fms. viii. 312. hálf-róteldi, n., prob. corrupt, Fms. xi. 129. hálf-rými, n. a naut. term, half a cabin, one side of a ship’s cabin, Fms. viii. 138, ix. 33, x. 157, Hkr. i. 302. hálfrýmis-félagar, m. pl. messmates in the same h., Edda 108. hálfrýmis-kista, u, f. a chest or bench belonging to a h., Fms. viii. 85. hálf-rökit (-rökvit, -rökvat), n. adj. half twilight, in the evening, Grett. 137, 140 A; hálf-rökvat is the mod. form, which occurs in Grett. 79 new Ed., Jb. 176, Al. 54; vide rökvit. hálf-sagðr, part. half told; in the saying, jafnan er hálfsögð saga ef einn segir = audiatur et altera pars, Grett. 121. hálf-sextugr, see hálfr II. hálf-sjauræðr, adj. = hálfsjötugr, Stj. 48. hálf-sjötugr, see hálfr II. hálf-skiptr, part. = hálflitr, Fms. ii. 170, Sturl. iii. 112. hálf-sleginn, part. half mown, of a field. hálf-slitinn, part. half worn. hálf-sofandi, part. half asleep. hálf-sótt, n. part. half passed; hálfsótt haf, a half-crossed sea. hálf-systkin, n. pl. half brother and sister, cp. hálfbróðir. hálf-systur, f. pl. half sisters. hálf-tíræðr, see hálfr II. hálf-troll, n. half a giant, Eg. 1, Nj. 164 (a nickname). hálf-tunna, u, f. half a tun, Vm. 44. hálf-unninn, part. half done, Fas. ii. 339. hálf-vaxinn, part. half grown. hálf-vegis, adv. by halves. hálf-virði, n. half worth, Jb. 403, Glúm. 347, Sturl. ii. 132. hálf-visinn, part. and hálf-vista, adj. half withered, and medic. palsied on one side. hálf-viti, a, m. a half-witted man. hálf-votr, adj. half wet. hálf-vætt, f. half weight (a measure), Dipl. iv. 8, Fas. iii. 383. hálf-þrítugr, see hálfr II; spelt half-ðritogr, Js. 79. hálf-þurr, adj. half dry. hálf-þverrandi, part. half waning, Js. 732 (of the moon). hálf-þynna, u, f. a kind of small axe, Gþl. 103, 104, Lv. 35. hálf-ærinn, part. half sufficient, Fms. viii. 440. hálf-ærr, adj. half mad, Sks. 778.

II. in mod. usage hálf is freq. used = rather, e. g. hálf-kalt, adj. rather cold: hálf-feginn, adj., eg er hálffeginn, I am rather glad: e-m er hálf-íllt, hálf-bumult, hálf-óglatt, n. adj. one feels rather ill: hálf-hungraðr, hálf-svangr, hálf-soltinn, hálf-þyrstr, adj. rather hungry, rather thirsty, etc., and in endless compds.

(pl. hundruð), n. hundred; tírœtt h. = 100; tólfrœtt h. = 120; hundruðum, by (in) hundreds; as value, one hundred and twenty ells of the stuff wadmal; h. frítt, a hundred paid in cattle; tólf hundruð mórend, twelve hundred in dark-striped wadmal; hundrað silfrs, ? the silver value of 120 ells (= 20 ounces).

* * *

n. pl. hundruð; the form hund- (q. v.) only occurs in a few old compd words: [Goth. hunda, pl.; A. S. hund; O. H. G. hunt; the extended form in Hel. and old Frank, hundered; Germ. hundert; Dan. hundrede; Swed. hundra; the inflexive syllable is prob. akin to - ræðr in átt-ræðr]:—a hundred; the Scandinavians of the heathen time (and perhaps also all Teutonic people) seem to have known only a duo-decimal hundred (= 12 × 10 or 120); at that time 100 was expressed by tíu-tíu, cp. Ulf. taihun-taihund = ten-teen; Pal Vídalín says,—hundrað tólfrætt er sannlega frá heiðni til vor komið, en hið tíræða er líkast að Norðrlönd hafi ekki vitað af fyrr en Kristni kom hér og með henni lærdómr þeirrar aldar, Skýr. s. v. Hundrað (fine): but with the introduction of Christianity came in the decimal hundred, the two being distinguished by adjectives,—tólfrætt hundrað = 120, and tírætt hundrað = 100. But still the old popular duodecimal system continued in almost all matters concerned with economical or civil life, in all law phrases, in trade, exchange, property, value, or the like, and the decimal only in ecclesiastical or scholastic matters (chronology, e. g. Íb. ch. 1, 10). At the same time the word in speech and writing was commonly used without any specification of tírætt or tólfrætt, for, as Pal Vídalín remarks, every one acquainted with the language knew which was meant in each case; even at the present time an Icel. farmer counts his flocks and a fisherman his share (hlutr) by the duodecimal system; and everybody knows that a herd or share of one hundred and a half means 120 + 60 = 180. In old writers the popular way of counting is now and then used even in chronology and in computation, e. g. when Ari Frode (Íb. ch. 4) states that the year consists of three hundred and four days (meaning 364); the census of franklins given by the same writer (where the phrase is hundruð heil = whole or full hundreds) is doubtless reckoned by duodecimal, not decimal hundreds, Íb. ch. 10; and in the census of priests and churches taken by bishop Paul (about A. D. 1200) ‘tíræð’ is expressively added, lest duodecimal hundreds should be understood, Bs. i. 136. The Landn. (at end) contains a statement (from Ari?) that Iceland continued pagan for about a hundred years, i. e. from about 874–997 A. D. In the preface to Ólafs S., Snorri states that two duodecimal hundreds (tvau hundruð tólfræð) elapsed from the first colonisation of Iceland before historical writing began (i. e. from about A. D. 874–1115): levies of ships and troops are in the laws and Sagas counted by duodecimal hundreds, e. g. the body-guard of king Olave consisted of a hundred hirð-men, sixty house-carles and sixty guests, in all ‘two hundred’ men, i. e. 240, Mork. 126; the sons of earl Strút-Harald had a hundred men, of whom eighty were billetted out and forty returned, Fms. xi. 88, 89; hálft hundrað, a half hundred = sixty, Mork. l. c.

2. a division of troops = 120; hundraðs-flokkr, Fms. vi. (in a verse).

II. in indef. sense, hundreds, a host, countless number, see hund-, as also in the adverb, phrase, hundruðum, by hundreds (indefinitely), Fms. vi. 407, Þiðr. 275, 524: in mod. usage as adjective and indecl., except the pl. in -uð, thus hundruð ásauðum, Dipl. iv. 10.

B. As value, a hundred, i. e. a hundred and twenty ells of the stuff wadmal, and then simply value to that amount (as a pound sterling in English). All property, real as well as personal, is even at present in Icel. taxed by hundreds; thus an estate is a ‘twenty, sixty, hundred’ estate; a franklin gives his tithable property as amounting to so and so many hundreds. As for the absolute value of a hundred, a few statements are sufficient, thus e. g. a milch cow, or six ewes with lambs, counts for a hundred, and a hundrað and a kúgildi (cow’s value) are equal: the charge for the alimentation of a pauper for twelve months was in the law (Jb. 165) fixed to four hundred and a half for a male person, but three hundred and a half for a female; cp. also the phrase, það er ekki hundrað í hættunni, there is no hundred at stake, no great risk! In olden times a double standard was used,—the wool or wadmal standard, called hundrað talið = a hundred by tale, i. e. a hundred and twenty ells as stated above, and a silver standard, called hundrað vegit, a hundred by weight, or hundrað silfrs, a hundred in silver, amounting to two marks and a half = twenty ounces = sixty örtugar; but how the name hundred came to be applied to it is not certain, unless half an örtug was taken as the unit. It is probable that originally both standards were identical, which is denoted by the phrase, sex álna eyrir, six ells to an ounce, or a hundred and twenty ells equal to twenty ounces (i. e. wadmal and silver at par); but according as the silver coinage was debased, the phrases varied between nine, ten, eleven, twelve ells to an ounce (N. G. L. i. 80, 81, 387, 390, passim), which denote bad silver; whereas the phrase ‘three ells to an ounce’ (þriggja álna eyrir, Sturl. i. 163, passim, or a hundred in wadmal equal to half a hundred in silver) must refer either to a double ell or to silver twice as pure: the passage in Grág. i. 500 is somewhat obscure, as also Rd. 233: the words vegin, silfrs, or talin are often added, but in most cases no specification is given, and the context must shew which of the two standards is there meant; the wool standard is the usual one, but in cases of weregild the silver standard seems always to be understood; thus a single weregild (the fine for a man’s life) was one hundred, Njála passim.

2. the phrases, hundrað frítt, a hundred paid in cattle, Finnb. 236; tólf hundruð mórend, twelve hundred in dark striped wadmal, Nj. 225; hundrað í búsgögnum ok í húsbúningi, Vm. 65; hundraðs-gripr, hestr, hross, kapall, hvíla, sæng, rekkja, psaltari, etc., a beast, a horse, a bed, etc., of a hundred’s value, Am. 2, 10, Vm. 25, 39, 60, 153, Jm. 3, 30; hundraðs-úmagi, a person whose maintenance costs a hundred, Vm. 156; hundraðs virði, a hundred’s value, 68. For references see the Sagas and laws passim, and for more information see Mr. Dasent’s Essay in Burnt Njal.

C. A hundred, a political division which in olden times was common to all Teut. nations, but is most freq. in old Swedish laws, where several hundreds made a hérað or shire; cp. the A. S. and Engl. hundred, Du Cange hundredum; old Germ. hunderti, see Grimm’s Rechts Alterthümer; the centum pagi of Caesar, Bell. Gall. iv. ch. 1, is probably the Roman writer’s misconception of the Teut. division of land into hundreds; this is also the case with Tacit. Germ. ch. 12: cp. the Swed. local names Fjaðrunda-land, Áttundaland, and Tíunda-land, qs. Fjaðr-hunda land, Átthunda land, Tíhunda land, i. e. a combination of four, eight, ten hundreds. The original meaning was probably a community of a hundred and twenty franklins or captains. This division is not found in Icel.

(-ar, -ir), m.

1) mind; e-m leikr í mun, one has a mind to, feels inclined to (= leikr e-m í skapi); munar stríð, heart’s grief;

2) mind, longing, delight; at mínum munum, to my mind; gráta at mun, to weep heartily; at mannskis munum, to please anybody; leita e-m munar, to comfort one;

3) love; sá inn máttki m., all-powerful love; vættak míns munar, I waited for my love; komast á muni við e-n, to insinuate oneself, become intimate, with one.

(-ar, -ir), m.

1) difference (hví gørir þú svá mikinn mun barnanna); er þess, mikill m., hvárt, it makes a great difference, whether;

2) moment, importance; e-m er m. undir e-u, it is of importance to one (at hann skyldi segja honum þá hluti, er honum væri m. undir at vita); e-m er m. at e-u, it is of some moment (ok mætti þér verða munr at, at þeir væri þér heldr sinnaðir en í móti); meta muninn, to hesitate (Hrólfr mat eigi munin eptir þeim at fara); Grímr gørði ok þann mun allan, er hann mátti, G. strained every nerve;

3) the dat. ‘muni’ or ‘mun’ before a compar., somewhat (= nökkuru), considerably, a good deal; ljóstu mun kyrrara, strike somewhat more gently; með muni minna liði, with consideralby less force; adding a pronoun, þeim mun (before a compar.) = því; þeim mun betr, so much the better; engum mun = engu; engum mun verr, no worse;

4) what is wanted, required; er mikilla muna vant or á vant, much is wanting (þótti honum mikilla muna á vant, at vel væri); E. hafði eigi skaplyndi til at biðja konung hér neinna muna um, E. was too proud to beg anything in this case;

5) adverbial phrases, fyrir hvern mun, by all means; fyrir engan mun, by no means;

6) means, things; at eigi munið ér alla yðra muni til leggja, that you will not contribute all your means, strain every nerve; biskup las fyrst smám ok smám munina fyrir þeim, expounded all the details for them.

* * *

m., older form monr, Hom. (St.) 21, gen. munar, dat. mun, pl. munir; [Dan. mon]:—prop. the moment or turn of the balance; this sense, however, only occurs in phrases more or less derived or metaphorical, as in the phrase, vera mikilla (lítilla) muna (gen. pl.) vant, to be in want of much ( little); man yðr eigi svá mikilla muna ávant, at þér munið eigi vilja upp hefjask ok rekask af hendi frænda-skömm þessa, ye are not in want of so much, that …, you are not so deficient, that …, the metaphor from under-weight, Ó. H. 32, cp. Fms. iv. 79; hann spurði eptir vendiliga hvernig Kristinn dómr væri haldinn á Íslandi, ok þótti honum mikilla muna ávant at vel væri 44; lítilla muna vant, lacking but little; hygg ek at mér verði meiri muna vant en Þórolfi, Eg. 113; ok er mér mikilla muna vant at ek halda réttu máli, ef ek skal heldr láta lausar eignir mínir aflaga fyrir þér en berjask við þik, 504; en ef við annan þeirra verðr muna vant, Grág. i. 120:—sjá fyrir mun (munum) um e-t, to foresee how a thing will turn, what turn it will take; eigi þykkjumk ek þar sjá fyrir munum, hvárt …, Fb. i. 529; Erlingr fékk sér eigi skaplyndi til at biðja hér neinna muna um, E. was too proud to beg anything in this case, Ó. H. 47.

2. temp. the nick of time; hann bað Hallverð ganga út til sin um litla muni, for a little while, Fms. ii. 71.

II. the difference; hví görir þú svá mikinn mun barnanna? Sd. 141; er þess mikill munr, hvárt …, it makes a great difference, whether …, Fms. vii. 132; ef fé er verra, ok skulu þeir virða þann mun, ok skal hann gjalda honum þann, make good the balance, Grág. i. 428; ok vænta þess at mála-efna munr muni skipta, Sturl. iii. 241, Fb. i. 20, passim in old and mod. usage.

2. moment, importance; vil ek bjóða honum mitt lið, því at eigi er þat við hváriga muni, for it will tell something in the balance, Fs. 16; at hann skyldi segja honum þá hluti er honum væri munr undir at vita, Sturl. ii. 151; mun hverjum vitrum manni þykkja mikill munr undir því vera, at …, every wise man will think it of great moment, that …, Sks. 269; e-m er munr at e-u, it is of some moment; ok mætti þér konungr verða munr at, at þeir væri þér heldr sinnaðir en í mót, Fms. i. 297; munr er at manns liði, a man’s help is always something, Bs. i; Grimr görði ok þann mun allan er hann mátti, G. strained every nerve, Eg. 188.

III. the dat. muni or mun before a comparative, by a little, as also considerably, a good deal; ljóstú mun kyrrara, strike somewhat more gently, Hkr. iii. 365; ef þú vilt lögum at fylgja, þá er þat mun réttligast at Sigurðr njóti vitna sinna, 257; með muni minna liði, with considerably less forces, Fagrsk. 172; muni síðar, a little later, Geisli 23; hón sagði mun fleira, a good deal more. Am. 45; stundum með mjúklyndi, en stundum muni harðari, Barl. 176; muni hægri, a good deal easier, Orkn. (in a verse): gen. muns, með muns minni rás, muns tómlegari ok seinna … muns mjúkari, Barl. 72.

2. adding a pronoun; þeim mun skírlegri, Fs. 121; ek sá at þeim mun er betr, it fares so much the better. Fms. xi. 228; þeim mun fleiri gildrur, all the more traps, Barl. 24; þeim mun lengr, 101; en svá miklum mun sem sól er ljósari en náttmyrkr, svá myklu er ok meiri …, by so much as the sun is brighter than night-mirk, so much greater …, 116; engum mun verr en áðr, nothing less than before, Ó. H. 69; engum mun betr, not a bit better, 222; öngum mun betri, 113; ok var sá öngum mun fegri, 75.

IV. the adverb. phrase, fyrir alla muni, by all means; fyrir hvern mun, id., Gullþ. 7, Grett. 193 new Ed., Fms. i. 157; fyrir öngan mun, by no means, Edda 57, Nj. 200, 201, Fms. i. 9, Gþl. 531.

V. plur. means, things, objects, property; en hann á þat er et fyrra várit var í þeim munum, Grág. ii. 338; at eigi monið or alla yðra muni til leggja, to contribute all one’s means, strain every nerve, Ó. H. 32; hefir þú, faðir, þar marga þína muni til gefna, Ld. 102; ok vildi, at allir landsmenn legði sína muni til at biskups-stóll væri efldr, Fb. iii. 446.

2. biskup talaði hér um mjúkliga, las fyrst smám ok smám munina fyrir þeim. expounded all the details for them, Fms. ix. 52; slíkt sem hann fékk munum á komit, such that he could manage all that he could get (metaphor from counting or balancing), Játv. 40; fé-munir, means; vits-munir, ‘wit-means,’ reason; geðs-munir, skaps-munir, temper; gagns-munir, useful things.

m., gen. munar and muns, pl. munir, [Ulf. muns = νόημα; A. S. myn = love, mind; Engl. mind; mid. H. G. minni; Germ. minne-sang]:—the mind, Edda (Gl.); af munar grunni, Höfuðl. 19; ór munar öngum, the mind’s straits, Kormak; munar myrkr, Líkn. 4; munar stríð, the mind’s distress, Skv. 3. 38; missa munar ok landa, to lose life and land, Hkv. 2. 44.

II. a mind, longing, delight; at mínum, þínum munum, to my, thy mind, i. e. as I like, as thou likest, Skm. 35; þvíat álfröðull lýsir of alla daga ok þeygi at mínum munum, for the sun shines all day long, and yet not to my mind, Íb. 5, in the words of the love-sick god Frey, which call to mind Hamlet’s words (this most excellent canopy, the air, etc.); at mannskis munum, to please anybody, Skm. 20, 24; þíns eða míns munar, 43; leita e-m munar, to comfort one, Gkv. 1. 8; at mun banda, according to the will of the gods, Hkr. i. (in a verse); at mun sínum, to one’s heart’s content, Fms. i. 27 (in a verse); hverr lifði at sínum mun, Bjarn. (in a verse), Og. 34; í mun e-m, to one’s mind or liking. Korm. (in a verse): at þú görir eptir mínum mun, Fb. i. 21: the phrase, e-m leikr munr á e-u, to have a mind for; tak sjálfr við þeim ef þú þykkisk of gefit hafa eðr þér leikr munr at, Ld. 318, v. l.; lék mér meirr í mun, I longed more for, Skv. 3. 39; as also, leika at muni, Gsp.; gráta at muni, to weep heartily, Vtkv. (in a verse); land-munir, q. v.: and in mod. usage, mér er það í mun, I have a mind for that.

2. love; sá inn máttki munr, Hm. 93; vættak mins munar, I waited far my heart’s delight, 95: the phrase, komask á muni við e-n, to insinuate oneself, vita ef ek get komisk á muni við Ólöfu konu hans, Vígl. 58 new Ed.

COMPDS: munafullr, munarheimr, munarlauss, munligr, munráð, munströnd, munstærandi, muntún, munvegar.

n. a colloquy, interview, Stj. 129, Fms. vi. 226, Bs. i. 736 Barl. 93: a counting together, 99: gen. sam-tals, adv. altogether, in sum.

* * *

(pl. -ar), f.

1) score, notch, incision;

2) a rift in a rock or precipice (hleypr hann ofan fyrir skorina).

* * *

f., pl. skorar, a score, notch, incision; setja þrjár skorar á dyra-stoð, N. G. L. i. 55; bera, þola skor, to ‘thole a score,’ stand a cut, of a good silver coin (bad coins were merely silvered over), Grág. i. 392, 500; hvítr í skor, white in the cut, of silver, Hkr. i. 185.

2. [North. E. scar, scaur], a rift in a rock or precipice; hleypr hann ofan fyrir skorina, Gísl. 158; er þú vatt þá sjau í skorinni, Nj. 146; svelta sem refr í skor, Fas. iii. 180, 636; fóta-festi í einni lítilli skor, Barl. 56; Skorar-geirr, a nickname, Nj.: the name of a cloven mountain north of Broadfirth in Icel., milli Skorar og Jökuls: berg-skor, hellis-skor, kletta-skor.

II. a tally or stick for counting, a score or notch being made for every twenty; ef skip skal skipa … þá skal skorar ( they scored the roll) selja ármanni í hönd, ok augljós nef þau öll göra at bryggju-sporði, er skorat er fyrir, N. G. L. i. 202; hence,

2. a score, a tale of twenty; ellefu skorar af karlmönnum, sjau skorar af börnum, 415. 16.

1) talk, parley, conversation;

vera (sitja) á tali við e-n, to be (sit) talking with (ek hefi verit á tali við Hrafn ok Sturlu);

eiga tal við e-n, to have a talk with;

taka tal sitt, taka tal með sér, to begin to talk together;

skilja talit, to cease talking;

hélt biskup mikit tal af honum, held much talk with him;

taka annat tal, to change the conversation to another subject;

2) speech, language (þú munt vera útlendr, því at tal þitt ok yfirbragð er ekki líkt hérlenzku fólki);

3) tale, number;

tólf einir talsins, only twelve in number;

vera í bónda tali, to be reckoned among peasants;

4) tale, list, series (konungatal, skalda-tal).

* * *

n. [tala, the verb], talk, parley, conversation; töluðu þeir lengi, fór tal þeirra vel, Nj. 11; en í þessu tali þeirra bræðra, whilst they were talking, 23; stundum var hann á tali við menn, Eg. 2; þeir bræðr vóru optliga á tali við konung, 60; hélt biskup mikit tal af honum, held much talk with him, Bs. i. 716; sátu þau öll samt á tali, kom þat upp ór tali þeirra, Fms. iv. 196; skilja talið, 142; eiga tal við e-n, hafa tal af e-m, taka annat tal, to change the conversation to another subject.

2. speech, language; þú munt vera útlendr, þvíat tal þitt ok yfirbragð er ekki líkt hérlenzku fólki, Fb. i. 79, Stj. 94, 204.

II. [telja], a tale, number; í bónda-tali, Bs. i. 716; í tali með öðrum himin-tunglum, Barl. 133; engi veit töl á, Bret. 86; daga-tal, tale of days: gen. tals, in number; tólf einir talsins, Barl. 169; krossa fimm at tali, Pm. 85.

2. a tale, list, series; ættar-tal, a pedigree; konunga-tal, Fb. ii. 520; presta-tal, skálda-tal, Lögmanna-tal, a list of priests, poets, ‘lawmen;’ fara á þing ok bjóða sik í tal með öðrum mönnum, and enter the lists, N. G. L. i. 99; ó-tal, countless. tals-verðr, adj. worth counting or worth speaking of, considerable.

n. a mark in counting, Rb. 564.

adj. worth counting, considerable, Sturl. iii. 145.

* * *

(er; var, várum or vórum; verit), v.

1) to be, exist; þeir menn vóru, er, there were men who;

2) to be, happen; þat var, at hón fór brott, so it was that she went away; en er váraði, var þar búskortr, there was scarcity in the household; hvat er henni, what is the matter with her! þat var einn dag, at, it happened one day that; kann (má) v., at, it is possible, it may be that;

3) to last; meðan þingit væri, while the Thing lasted;

4) láta e-n v., to leave one alone (lát mik v. ok ger mér ekki illt); bað hann láta v., begged him to leave it undone, not to do it;

5) to dwell, stay; hann bað hana vera í búð sinni, he asked her to stay in his booth; hann var á Höskuldsstöðum um nótt, he passed a night at H.;

6) with infin., hlymr var at heyra, a clattering was to be heard; þar var at sjá, there was to be seen; v. at gera e-t, to be doing a thing; kvað hann v. at telja silfr, said he was counting the money; denoting necessity, a thing about to happen, or to be done; nú er þeim út at ganga öllum, er leyft er, now all those must go out to whom leave is given; er nú eigi Kára at varast, now there is no need to beware of K.; nú er þar til máls at taka, at, now it is to be told that; nú er at segja frá Skamkatli, now we must tell of S.;

7) with a predicate (noun, a., or adv.); v. konungr, Jarl, biskup, to be king, earl, bishop; v. glaðr, sæll, hryggr, ungr, gamall, to be glad, happy, sad, young, old; v. vel, illa til e-s, to be well, ill-disposed towards one; þat er illa, it is sad; vera spakliga í heraði, to behave gently; orð kvað þá Vingi þats án veri, words which he had better not have said;

8) impers., e-m er varmt, heitt, kalt, one is warm, cold;

9) with past participles in passive sense; v. kallaðr, sagðr, tekinn, to be called, said, taken;

10) with preps., v. af e-u, to be off, out of (v. af klæðum); v. at e-u, to be busy at; verkmenn váru at arningu, they were ploughing; to be present (þar varstu at); ek var at ok vafk, I was about weaving; þeir höfðu verit at þrjú sumur, they had been busy at it for three summers; v. eptir, to be left, remain (A. kvazt vilja v. eptir ok hvílast); v. fyrir, to lead ( see fyrir); v. til, to exist; v. um, undir, see um, undir.

1) stay, sojourn; ef hann á sér í vá veru, if he has a corner to stay in;

2) comfort (slíkt er válaðs v.).

* * *

u, f.

1. = væra, a shelter; at þeir hefði né eina veru ( comfort) af eldinum, Eb. 100 new Ed. (v. l. 9): a mansion, í míns föðurs húsi eru margar verur, John xiv. 2: in the allit. phrases, eigi vist né veru, Fb. iii. 457; hvárki vist né veru, Grett. 142 new Ed.; vist né væri, Fb. iii. 52; ef hann á sér í vá veru, Hm. 25.

2. [vera = to be], a dwelling; seg mér í hverjum staðum þín vera er, Barl. 79; skaut í hug honum vesöld sinnar veru, 196.

* * *

(er; var, várum or vórum; verit), v.

1) to be, exist; þeir menn vóru, er, there were men who;

2) to be, happen; þat var, at hón fór brott, so it was that she went away; en er váraði, var þar búskortr, there was scarcity in the household; hvat er henni, what is the matter with her! þat var einn dag, at, it happened one day that; kann (má) v., at, it is possible, it may be that;

3) to last; meðan þingit væri, while the Thing lasted;

4) láta e-n v., to leave one alone (lát mik v. ok ger mér ekki illt); bað hann láta v., begged him to leave it undone, not to do it;

5) to dwell, stay; hann bað hana vera í búð sinni, he asked her to stay in his booth; hann var á Höskuldsstöðum um nótt, he passed a night at H.;

6) with infin., hlymr var at heyra, a clattering was to be heard; þar var at sjá, there was to be seen; v. at gera e-t, to be doing a thing; kvað hann v. at telja silfr, said he was counting the money; denoting necessity, a thing about to happen, or to be done; nú er þeim út at ganga öllum, er leyft er, now all those must go out to whom leave is given; er nú eigi Kára at varast, now there is no need to beware of K.; nú er þar til máls at taka, at, now it is to be told that; nú er at segja frá Skamkatli, now we must tell of S.;

7) with a predicate (noun, a., or adv.); v. konungr, Jarl, biskup, to be king, earl, bishop; v. glaðr, sæll, hryggr, ungr, gamall, to be glad, happy, sad, young, old; v. vel, illa til e-s, to be well, ill-disposed towards one; þat er illa, it is sad; vera spakliga í heraði, to behave gently; orð kvað þá Vingi þats án veri, words which he had better not have said;

8) impers., e-m er varmt, heitt, kalt, one is warm, cold;

9) with past participles in passive sense; v. kallaðr, sagðr, tekinn, to be called, said, taken;

10) with preps., v. af e-u, to be off, out of (v. af klæðum); v. at e-u, to be busy at; verkmenn váru at arningu, they were ploughing; to be present (þar varstu at); ek var at ok vafk, I was about weaving; þeir höfðu verit at þrjú sumur, they had been busy at it for three summers; v. eptir, to be left, remain (A. kvazt vilja v. eptir ok hvílast); v. fyrir, to lead ( see fyrir); v. til, to exist; v. um, undir, see um, undir.

1) stay, sojourn; ef hann á sér í vá veru, if he has a corner to stay in;

2) comfort (slíkt er válaðs v.).

* * *

older form vesa, the verb substantive; pres. em, ert, er, pl. erum, eruð, eru: pret. var, vart (mod. varst), var, pl. váru or vóru; a obsolete óru occurs, Sæm. (once), Orkn. 426. l. 11, Nj. 81, Thom. 28, 90, 102, 116, 150, 196, Ísl. ii. 482: pres. subj. sé, sér (Vþm. 4, 7), sé; the older form is sjá, en ek sjá, Clem. 138. l. 14; at ek sjá, … ok sé mér eigi reiðr, 145, Fms. viii. 299, x. 384, xi. 124, Eg. 127; for the forms sják, sjákk, see below: the mod. forms are sé, sért, sér (eg sé, þú sért; s ert and ert make a rhyme in Pass. 34. 5): imperat. ver, vertú; see Gramm. p. xxiii: there also occurs a subj. pres. verir, veri, Sdm. 22, Ls. 54; þatz án veri, Am. 36; skósmiðr þú verir, Hm. 126, but rarely.

A. CHANGES AND FORMS.—Vera is an anomalous verb, which has undergone several changes:

I. by changing s to r; of the older form there occur, the infin. vesa, pres. es, pret. vas, vast (vastu), vas; pres. subj. vesi; imperat. ves, MS. 623. 25. l. 14, 645. 6l. l. 33, 677. 40. l. 38; vestu, 623. 25, Post. (Unger) 129. l. 27, 229. l. 12; vesum, Hom. (Arna-Magn. 237) p. 214. l. 8; pres. indic. 2nd pers. est, Glúm. 372; 3rd pers. es: but no traces remain of the older form in pret. plur. indic. and subj. (váru væri, never vásu væsi). Rhymes in poets and the spelling of the oldest extant poems shew that the s form alone existed in Icel. down to about the end of the 12th century, the time of Snorri Sturluson, when the modern forms crept in probably from Norway, for there the change seems to have taken place a century or so earlier; the old Norse vellums (written in Norway or by Norsemen) are distinguished from the Icel. by their constant use of the r: the phrase ‘at upp vesandi sólu’, in N. G. L. i. 4, being the only instance of the s form in all the Norse vellums. The earliest instances extant of a rhyme to the r form are, the Ht. of Rögnvald, earl of the Orkneys; he was a native of Norway, born about A. D. 1100, and the poem was composed about A. D. 1145; another instance is ‘vara, fara’ in Fms. vii. 185, in a poem about A. D. 1140, written by an Icelander who had lived in Norway the greater part of his life, the rhyme is therefore a Norwegianism. The first instance in an Icel. poem is in the Ht. of Snorri, A. D. 1222. Instances from poets, Hallfred, Sighvat, Arnórr, and coeval poets; vesa, vísi; sás með Sygna ræsi; þági vas sem þessum; vask til Róms í háska; vastu, kosta; vas fyrir Mikkjals- messu; nú es um verk þau er vísi; bráskat þat dægr háski: from A. D. 1100–1150, Geisli, Pd., etc., svás, ræsir; esat, risnu; vasa, tysvar; vestu. freistni; vestu, traustla: on the other hand, in the poem of earl Rögvald, vera, skera; gera, vera; var, skar (twice): from later Icel. poems it is sufficient to note, erðu, fyrðum; ertú, h jarta; verðú, f orðast, Leiðarv. etc. This may sometimes serve as a test, e. g. var ek nær viðr-eign þ eirra, Grett., and skap-kers saman vera, Gísl., are impossible in the mouth of poets of the early Saga time; the verses of both these Sagas are a later composition.

2. as to the spelling of the MSS.,—the oldest (the Arna-Magn. 677, the Eluc. 674, the Íb. etc.) use the s throughout: vellums of the next period, about A. D. 1200 (e. g. Arna-Magn. 623 and 645), use the later form sparingly, even the second hand in the Reykholts máldagi gives ‘es,’ not ‘er.’ Again, in the vellums of the middle of the 13th century, such as the Cod. Reg. of the Sæm., the Grág., and the Mork., the mod. spelling has entirely got the better of the old, and an ‘es’ only creeps in, as if unawares, from an older copy. Of the poetical literature, the Pd. alone has been preserved in a copy old enough to retain the s; all the rest have the modernised spelling, even in the rhymed syllables quoted above; such too is the case with the Cod. Reg. of the Sæm. Edda; but had that vellum been but fifty or sixty years older, the forms vesa, es, vas, etc. would now be the established spelling in Editions of these poems.

3. on Danish and Swedish Runic stones, the 3rd pers. pret. sing. is a word of frequent occurrence; the best Danish monuments have vas, e. g. ias vas farinn vestr, Thorsen 93 and 101 (on a stone of the reign of Sweyn, died A. D. 1014). In Sweden the great majority present the later form: the so-called Ingvar stones are chronologically certain, being of the middle of the 11th century (Ingvar died A. D. 1039); there we read, ‘vas’ (twice), ‘varinn’ (once), ‘var’ (thrice, being twice spelt with ᛦ, once with ᚱ): this shews that about this time in Sweden the later or more modern form had begun to be used, but that the old was still remembered.

II. suffixed personal pronoun or suffixed negation; em’k (tautologically ek em’k = I-am-I), emk, Ad. 1, Vþm. 8, Fms. xi. 91; ek emk, Mork. 89. l. 13, 104. l. 23, Clem. 136. l. 20, 138. l. 13; vask, I was, 133. l. 25, Mork. 89. l. 16; vark, Post. 225, v. l. 15; ek vark, Ls. 35; vestu, be thou, Clem. 129. l. 27; es þú, art thou, l. 30, 130. l. 11; sjá’k ( may I be), ek sják, Mork. 134; at sják, 189. l. 29; ek sják, Hbl. 9, Hkv. 1. 20; at ek gjarn sják, Stor.; with double kk, þó at ek sjákk, Mork. 89.

2. a medial form, erumk, erumz, or apocopated erum, Stor. 1, Ad. 16, Hkv. 1. 25, Korm. ch. 5. 2, Ls. 35, Bragi (see senna); leið erum-k fjöll, Edda (in a verse); várumk, were to me, Am. 78.

3. suff. neg. eru-mk-a, it is not to me, Stor. 17, Eg. (in a verse); emkat-ek, am I not I, i. e. I am not, Hbl. 34, Skm. 18, Ó. H. 192 (in a verse): er-at, es-at, or er-a, es-a, is not, passim; eru-ð, are not, Skv. 1. 42; ert-attu, thou art not, Vtkv.; vart-attu, thou wast not, Gs., Eg. (in a verse); veri-a, be not, Mork. 37. l. 8.

4. sá’s = sá es, that is, Hallfred (Fs. 95); svá’s = svá es, so is, Fms. vii. (in a verse).

III. the plur. eru when suffixed to words ending in r drops the initial e, and is suffixed; this spelling, which agrees with mod. Icel. pronunciation, was afterwards disused; þeir-ro, they are, Gm. 34; margir-ro, many are, Hkv. 2. 11; Æsir-ro, the Ases are, Vsp. 49; skildir-ro, shields are, 44; torogætir-ro, rare are, Korm. (in a verse); hverjar-ro, which are, Vþm. 48; langir-ro, long are, Gg.; tveir-ro, þrír-ro, fjórir-ro, two, three, four are, Edda 108; báðir-ro, both are, Mork. 169; hér-ro, here are, 234; þér-ro, ye are, MS. 686 B. 1; hryggvir-ro, id.; hver-ro, who are, Mork. 96; úvar-ro, wroth are, Gm. 53; værrom, vérrom, we are, Edda i. 526, Fms. x. 421; hverrtu [cp. North. E. wh’art’ou, lad] (hverrtú karl, who art thou, carle?), Frissb. 256. l. 8; ir-rot, ye are, Ó. H. 151.

IV. the pres. 1st pers. em [Engl. am] has changed into er (eg er, þú ert, hann er), making the 1st and 3rd pers. uniform; this new form appears in vellums about the end of the 13th century, but the word being usually abbreviated (ē = em, eͬ = er), it is often hard to distinguish. In the Icel. N. T. and in hymns the old ‘em’ still remains in solemn language, em eg, Matth. xxvii. 24; eigi em eg, John xviii. 17; eg em hann, 5, 8, xi. 25, xv. 1, 5, Matth. xiv. 27; em eg eigi postuli, em eg eigi frjáls, 1 Cor. ix. 1; em eg orðinn, 20, 22, and passim.

B. USAGE.—To be:

I. to be, exist; þær sakir skal fyrst dæma, ef þær eru, if such there are, Grág. (Kb.) i. 73; eigi vóru hans jafningjar, Eg. 1; Rachel grét sonu sína, … þvi at þeir eru eigi, Hom. 49; þeir menn vóru, er þess gátu, there were men who, Nj. 90.

2. to be, happen; þat var, at hón for brott, Nj. 51; él eitt mun vera, 198; þess sem vera vill, that which is to be, 186; ok er (is) Vagn þá fimtán vetra gamall, er þetta er, when this came to pass, Fms. xi. 97; at þessi orrosta hafi verit á öðrum degi viku, iii. 11; í þann tið var úfriðr Kristnum mönnum, Ver. 43; hvat er henni, what is the matter with her? Fms. ii. 290; hvat er þér, Atli? er þér hryggt í hug, Gkv. 3.

3. to last; meðan þingit væri, Nj. 12; hirðit eigi at óttask píslir þeirra—þvíat stund eina eru, 623. 32; meðan líf hans var, Bret. 100; þykkir eigi vera mega svá búit, Fms. xi. 62: to remain, leave alone, láttu það vera, let that be, Flóv.

4. to be, dwell, stay, sojourn; vask til Róms, I was at Rome, Sighvat; hann bað hana vera í búð sinni, Nj. 12; Gunnarr var á Höskuld-stöðum um nótt, passed a night there, 34, N. G. L. i. 347: so the phrase, biðja að lofa sér að vera, to ask for night-quarters, of a stranger or traveller; lofa honum að vera, to take a stranger in; honum var boðit at vera, Vápn. 23; hefi ek hér verit síðan, Nj. 45; Hallkell var þar með Otkatli, 73; þeir vildu eigi vesa hér við heiðna menn, Íb. 4; vera samvistum við e-n, Grág. ii. 80; vera við e-t, to be present at, Hom. 129: vera at, to be present; vark at þar, Glúm.: vera brottu, to be away, absent, Nj. 113; meðan ek em í brautu, 52: sagðisk eigi vita hvar þau væri, were to be found, Dipl. ii. 20; hvar ertu? slá ein var um þvert skipit, Nj. 44; hygg ek at þar hafi verit Bolli, Ld. 274; er þér hér nú minja-griprinn, Nj. 203: as with the notion of ‘towards’ a place, an irregular construction, vartú á land upp, Fas. ii. 174; meðan þeir vóru til Danmerkr, Fms. x. 104; Ribbungar höfðu ekki verit út í landit, ix. 359; verit eigi til orrostu, vii. 263, v. l.; vera á fund hans, Eg. 26.

5. with prepp.; vera at, to be busy at (see ‘at’ A. II, p. 26, col. 2): vera fyrir, to lead (see fyrir): vera til, to exist (see til IV); eiga fjölskyldi, vandræði, um at vera, to be in straits (see um C. VII); e-m er mikit, lítið, ekki um e-t (see um C. I. 3); vera við (see við B. VIII).

II. with a predicate:

1. with a noun, to be so and so; vera bróðir, systir, faðir, sonr, dóttir … e-s, vera konungr, jarl, biskup …, passim; hvers son ertú?—Ek emk Kattarson, Mork. 104; ek skal þer Mörðr vera, Nj. 15: followed by a gen. ellípt., er þat ekki karla, that is not men’s (affair), 75; er þat ekki margra, ‘that is not for many,’ few are equal to that (cp. Lat. ‘non cuivis homini,’ etc.), 48.

2. with adjectives, to be so and so, of a state or condition; vera kunnigr, Fms. x. 370; vera glaðr, sæll, hryggr, dauðr, lifandi, … ungr, gamall, to be glad …, young, old, passim; þó at ek sjákk ótignari, Mork. 89; nema ek dauðr sják, Hbl. 9; þótt ek sják einn, Mork. 134; vera kominn, to be come: so too with adverbs, vera vel, ílla … til e-s, er við e-n, to be, behave well, ill … to one, passim; or also, þat er ílla, it is sad, Nj. 70, 71; ílla er þá, fyrr væri ílla, 75, 260; drengr góðr, þar sem vel skyldi vera, when it was to be, i. e. when she wished, 147; vera spakliga í heraði, to behave gently, Sturl. iii. 143; at þú frændr þína vammalaust verir, to behave blamelessly, Sdm. 22; orð kvað hann þats án veri, words which he had better not have said, Am. 36.

3. impers., e-t er skylt, it is incumbent, Grág.; e-m er varmt, heitt, kalt, one is warm, cold, Nj. 95; er auðit, q. v.

4. with participles, in a passive sense; vera kallaðr, vera sagðr, tekinn, elskaðr, etc., to be called, said, taken, loved.

5. with infin.; hlymr var at heyra, was to hear, i. e. to be heard, Am.; þar var at sjá, there was to be seen, passim.

6. ellipt., dropping a noun or the like, denoting futurity, necessity, a thing at hand, about to happen, or to be done; ok er hér at þiggja, Hrafn, þann greiða sem þú vill, and it is now for thee, Rafn, to partake of what food thou wilt, Ísl. ii. 262; nú er þeim út at ganga öllum, er leyft er, now it is for them to go out, Nj. 200; nú er at verja sik, 83; er nú eigi Kára at varask, now there is no need to beware of K., 259; nú er at segja frá, now is to be told, 75, 259; er nú ekki fyrr frá at segja en þeir koma …, 21; er ekki um hans ferðir at tala fyrr en …, 215.

III. irregular usages:

1. ellipse of the infin. vera; ek skal þér Hrútr, I will [be] Hrútr to thee, Nj. 15; Gunnarr segir sér þat alvöru, G. says it [ is to be] his earnestness, 49; vil ek þá lauss máls þessa, 76; bað hann alla metta at miðri nótt, he begged all eating [ to be over] at midnight, Fms. ix. 353; þá þótti hverjum gott þar sem sat, Nj. 50; at skamt skyli okkar í meðal, 114; mun þín skömm lengi uppi, mun hans vörn uppi meðan landit er bygt, 116, 117: or also ‘var,’ ‘er’ may be understood, hann hafði hjálm á höfði, og gyrðr sverði, 70; sá ek glöggt hvat títt var,—barn at aldri, en vegit slíka hetju, a bairn in age, and to have slain such a champion! Glúm. 382: the dropping of the infin. vera is esp. freq. after the reflex. forms kveðsk, segjask, látask, þykkjask, virðask, sýnask when followed by a part. pret. or by an adjective, as also after the verbs munu, skulu,—thus, hann sagðisk kominn, he said he was come; hann lezt búinn, he made as if he was ready; hann þóttisk staddr, he thought that he was …; skal þat á þínu umdæmi, Fms. xi. 89; þess eins er mér þykkir betr, … til hvers þykkjast þessir menn færir, Hrafn. 17; mun þat harðla lítið, 21; at fátt muni manna á fótum, 20; þú virðisk okkr vaskr maðr, 23; þessi hestr sýnisk mér eigi betri en aðrir, id.

2. an irregularity, occurring now and then, is the use of the sing. ‘er’ for plur. eru; mannföll þessi er sögð, Gullþ. 71; nú er fram komin sóknar-gögn, Nj. 242.

IV. recipr., erusk, vórusk; viðr-gefendr ok endr-gefendr erosk lengst vinir, Hm. 40; þeir er í nánd erusk, those who are neighbours, 655 xxi. 3; þótt þau sésk eigi hjóna, though they be not man and wife, K. Þ. K. 158; ok városk góðir vinir, were good friends, Fms. xi. 39, 89; ok várusk þeir fóstbræðr, 55.

V. as to the poët. medial form, erumk, várumk (see ek C), the following instances are from the poems of Egil: grimmt várumk hlið, the breach was cruel to me, Stor.; erumk-a leitt, it is not to me, Eg. (in a verse); erumka þokkt þjóða sinni, see sinni II; mærðar-efni erumk auð-skæf, Ad.; mjök erum(k) tregt tungu at hræra, it is hard for me to move the tongue, Stor. 1; (hence one might correct the end verse of that poem into nú ‘erumk’ torvelt, for the modernised nú ‘er mér’ torvelt); blautr erumk bergi-fótar borr, Eg. (at the end); to which add, þat erumk sennt, it is told us, Bragi; lyst várumk þess, I had a longing to, Am. 74; ván erumk, ‘a hope is to me,’ I hope, Fagrsk. 122; the phrase, títt erumk, ‘tis ready to me, Eb. (in a verse).

VI. part., allir menn verandi ok eptir komandi, Dipl. i. 3; æ-verandi, everlasting, Hom. 107; hjá-verandi, being present, Vm. 47; nær-verandis, present; engi nær-verandis maðr, öllum lýð nær-verandis, Th. 77; klerkar ok nær-verandi leikmenn, Mar.; at upp-vesandi sólu, at sunrise, N. G. L. i. 4; verandi eigi úminnigr, being not unmindful, Fms. v. 230.

(pl. -ir), f. thousand.

* * *

f.; sérhverja þúsund, Stj. 298; á þúsund (dat.), Sks. 705; tvær, þrjár … þúsundir, 623. 53: in mod. usage it is mostly neut. (influenced by Latin?), but also fem. It is spelt þús-hund, Barl. 53; þús-hundum, Fms. vi. 409 (v. l.), Geisli 49; another form þús-hundrað (q. v.) is freq., esp. in Stj., Barl.; this double form -hund and -hundrað answers to the equally double form of ‘hundred,’ see p. 292, and is a proof that þúsund is a compound word, the latter part of which is ‘hund’ or ‘hundred;’ the etymology of the former part ‘þús’ is less certain; it is, we believe, akin to þysja, þyss, þaus-nir (a lost strong verb þúsa, þaus, þusu); þúsund would thus literally mean a swarm of hundreds: [in Goth. the gender varies, þûsundi, pl. þusundjos = χίλιοι, or þusundja, neut.; A. S. þûsend; Engl. thousand; O. H. G. dusunta; Germ. tausend, qs. dausend; Swed. tusende and tusen; Dan. tusinde; Dutch tuysend: this word is also common to the Slavon. languages: again, the Lapp, duhat and Finn. tuhat are no doubt borrowed from the Slavon. or Scandin.; the Gr., Lat., and Sansk. use other words]—a thousand.

B. There is little doubt that with the ancient heathen Scandinavians (and perhaps all Teutons), before their contact with the civilised southern people, the notion of numbers was limited, and that their thousand was not a definite number, but a vague term, denoting a swarm, crowd, host (cp. the Gr. μυρίοι): in ancient lays it occurs thrice (Hkv., Em., Fas. i. 502), but indefinitely; hvat þrym er þar sem þúsund bifisk eðr mengi til mikit, what a din is there as if a thousand were shaking, or an over-mickle multitude, Em. 2; sjau þúsundir, Hkv. 1. 49, literally = seven thousands, but in fact meaning seven hosts of men.

2. the dat. pl. þúsundum is, like huudruðum, used adverbially = by thousands, in countless numbers, Fms. vi. 409 (in a verse), Geisli 49.

3. in the ancient popular literature, uninfluenced by southern writers, ‘þúsund,’ as a definite number, occurs, we think, not half-a-dozen times. As the multiple of ten duodecimal hundreds, ere the decimal hundred was adopted, ‘þnsund’ would mean twelve decimal hundreds; and such is its use in the Sverris Saga, Fms. viii. 40, where one vellum says ‘tvær þúsundir,’ whilst the others, by a more idiomatic phrase, call it ‘twenty hundreds.’

II. in ecclesiastical writers, and in annals influenced by the Latin and the like, it is frequent enough; tíu þúsundir, fjórtán þúsundir, Fms. i. 107, 108 (annalistic records); fimm þúsundir, xi. 386, Al. 111; tíu þúsundum, Sks. 705; tíu þúsundum sinna hundrað þúsunda, Hom.; þúsund þúsunda, a thousand of thousands, i. e. a million, (mod.); hundrað þúsundir rasta ok átta tigir þúsunda, … hundrað þúsund mílna, Fb. i. 31 (in the legend of Eric the Far-traveller and Paradise, taken from some church-legend); fjórar þúsundir, Þiðr. 234: or of the years of the world, sex þúsundir vetra, Fs. 197; sjau þúsundir vetra, Landn. 34.

C. REMARKS.—The popular way of counting high numbers was not by thousands, but by tens (decades) and duodecimal hundreds as factors; thus ten … twenty hundreds, and then going on three, four, five, six … tens of hundreds (a ‘ten of hundreds’ being = 1200). The following references may illustrate this—tíu hundruð, ellefu hundruð, tólf hundruð, þrettán hundruð, fimtán hundruð …, Íb. 17, Ó. H. 119, 201, Fms. vii. 295, xi. 383, 385. From twenty and upwards—tuttugu hundrað manna, twenty hundreds of men, Fms. vii. 324, viii. 40; hálfr þriðitugr hundraða skipa, two tens and a half hundreds of ships, i. e. twenty-five hundreds, Fas. i. 378; þrjá tigu hundraða manna, three tens of hundreds of men, Fms. viii. 311; var skorat manntal, hafði hann meirr enn þrjá tigu hundraða manna, vii. 204; þrír tigir hundraða, D. N. v. 18; user fjorir tigir hundraða manna, nearly four tens of hundreds of men, Fms. vii. 275; á fimta tigi hundraða, on the fifth ten of hundreds, i. e. from four to five tens of hundreds, viii. 321; sex tigir hundraða, six tens of hundreds, 311, xi. 390; sex tigu hundraða manna, Fb. ii. 518, D. I. i. 350,—all odd amounts being neglected. The highest number recorded as actually reckoned in this way is ‘six tens of hundreds’ (fimtán tigir hundraða, fifteen tens of hundreds, Fms. viii. 321, v. l., is a scribe’s error): it is probable that no reckoning exceeded twelve tens of hundreds. All high multiples were unintelligible to the ancients; the number of the Einherjar in Walhalla is in the old lay Gm. thus expressed,—there are ‘five hundred doors in Walhalla, and five tens beside (the ‘five tens’ are, by the way, merely added for alliteration’s sake), and eight hundred Einherjar will walk out of each door when they go out to fight the Wolf’ (on the Day of final Doom). There seems to have been some dim exaggerated notion of a definite thousand in an ancient lay, only preserved in a half alliterative prose paraphrase, Fas. i. 502, where a mythical host is given thus,—there were thirty-three phalanxes, each of five ‘thousand,’ each thousand of thirteen hundreds, each hundred four times counted. The armies in the battle of Brawalla, the greatest of the mythical age, are given, not in numbers, but by the space the ranks occupied, Skjöld. S. ch. 8. This resembles the story in Ó. H. ch. 59, of the two young brothers, king’s sons: when asked what they would like to have most of, the one said: ‘Cows.’ ‘And how many?’ ‘As many,’ said he, ‘as could stand packed in a row round the lake (Mjösen in Norway) and drink.’ ‘But you?’ they asked the other boy: ‘House-carles’ (soldiers), said he. ‘And how many?’ ‘As many,’ said he, ‘as would in one meal eat up all my brother’s cows.’ Add also the tale of the King and the Giant, and the number of the giant’s house-carles, Maurer’s Volksagen 306. No less elementary was the rule for division and fractions, of which a remarkable instance is preserved in an ancient Icelandic deed, called Spákonu-arfr, published in D. I. i. 305. See also the words tigr, hundrað, skor, skora, and the remarks in Gramm. p. xix. The Homeric numeration, as set forth in Mr. Gladstone’s Homeric Studies, vol. iii, p. 425 sqq., is highly interesting, and bears a striking resemblance to that of the ancient Scandinavians. We may notice that in Iceland land and property are still divided into hundreds (hundreds of ells = 120), see hundrað B; in this case a thousand is never used, but units and hundreds of hundreds as factors, thus, sex tögu hundraða, in Reykh. Máld, (a deed of the 12th century), and so still in mod. usage; a wealthy man of the 15th century is said to have bequeathed to his daughters in land, ‘tólf hundruð hundraða ok ellefu-tíu og tvau hundruð betr, en í lausafé fimm hundruð hundraða,’ i. e. twelve hundreds of hundreds and ‘eleventy’ and two hundreds, and in movables five hundreds of hundreds, Feðga-æfi 16 (by the learned Bogi Benidiktsson of Staðarfell in Iceland, A. D. 1771–1849); sjau hundruð hundraða og þrjátigi hundruð betr, 21; hann eptir-lét börnum sínum fjármuni upp á níu hundruð hundraða, 22,—a proof that in very remote times, when this valuation of land first took place, ‘thousand’ was still unknown as a definite number.

a. worth counting, considerable.