described

s, m., pl. ir: [the etymology of this word has been much contested; some—upon the authority of Snorri, hans menn fóru ‘brynjulausir,’ Hkr. i. 11—derive it from ‘berr’ ( bare) and ‘serkr’ [cp. sark, Scot. for shirt]; but this etymology is inadmissible, because ‘serkr’ is a subst. not an adj.: others derive it from ‘berr’ (Germ. bär = ursus), which is greatly to be preferred, for in olden ages athletes and champions used to wear hides of bears, wolves, and reindeer (as skins of lions in the south), hence the names Bjálfi, Bjarnhéðinn, Úlfhéðinn, (héðinn, pellis,)—‘pellibus aut parvis rhenonum tegimentis utuntur,’ Caes. Bell. Gall. vi. 22: even the old poets understood the name so, as may be seen in the poem of Hornklofi (beginning of 10th century), a dialogue between a Valkyrja and a raven, where the Valkyrja says, at berserkja reiðu vil ek þik spyrja, to which the raven replies, Úlfhéðnar heita, they are called Wolfcoats, cp. the Vd. ch. 9; þeir berserkir er Úlfhéðnar vóru kallaðir, þeir höfðu vargstakka ( coats of wild beasts) fyrir brynjur, Fs. 17]:—a ‘bear-sark,’ ‘bear-coat,’ i. e. a wild warrior or champion of the heathen age; twelve berserkers are mentioned as the chief followers of several kings of antiquity, e. g. of the Dan. king Rolf Krake, Edda 82; a Swed. king, Gautr. S. Fas. iii. 36; king Adils, Hrólf. Kr. S. ch. 16 sqq.; Harald Hárfagri, Eg. ch. 9, Grett. ch. 2, Vd. l. c. (Hornklofi, v. above); the twelve sons of Arngrim, Hervar. S. ch. 3–5, Hdl. 22, 23; the two berserkers sent as a present by king Eric at Upsala to earl Hakon of Norway, and by him presented to an Icel. nobleman, Eb. ch. 25. In battle the berserkers were subject to fits of frenzy, called berserks-gangr (furor bersercicus, cp. the phrase, ganga berserksgang), when they howled like wild beasts, foamed at the mouth and gnawed the iron rim of their shields; during these fits they were, according to popular belief, proof against steel and fire, and made great havoc in the ranks of the enemy; but when the fever abated they were weak and tame. A graphical description of the ‘furor bersercicus’ is found in the Sagas, Yngl. S. ch. 6, Hervar. S. l. c., Eg. ch. 27, 67, Grett. ch. 42, Eb. ch. 25, Nj. ch. 104, Kristni S. ch. 2, 8 (Vd. ch. 46); cp. also a passage in the poem of Hornklofi | grenjuðu berserkir, | guðr var þeim á sinnum, | emjaðu Úlfhéðnar | ok ísarn gniiðu—which lines recall to the mind Roman descriptions of the Cimbric war-cry. In the Icel. Jus Eccles. the berserksgangr, as connected with the heathen age, is liable to the lesser outlawry, K. Þ. K. 78; it is mentioned as a sort of possession in Vd. ch. 37, and as healed by a vow to God. In the Dropl. S. Major (in MS.) it is medically described as a disease (v. the whole extract in the essay ‘De furore Bersercico,’ Kristni S. old Ed. in cake); but this Saga is modern, probably of the first part of the 17th century. The description of these champions has a rather mythical character. A somewhat different sort of berserker is also recorded in Norway as existing in gangs of professional bullies, roaming about from house to house, challenging husbandmen to ‘holmgang’ ( duel), extorting ransom (leysa sik af hólmi), and, in case of victory, carrying off wives, sisters, or daughters; but in most cases the damsel is happily rescued by some travelling Icelander, who fights and kills the berserker. The most curious passages are Glúm, ch. 4, 6, Gísl. ch. 1 (cp. Sir Edm. Head’s and Mr. Dasent’s remarks in the prefaces), Grett. ch. 21, 42, Eg. ch. 67, Flóam. S. ch. 15, 17; according to Grett. ch. 21, these banditti were made outlaws by earl Eric, A. D. 1012. It is worth noticing that no berserker is described as a native of Icel.; the historians are anxious to state that those who appeared in Icel. (Nj., Eb., Kr. S. l. c.) were born Norse (or Swedes), and they were looked upon with fear and execration. That men of the heathen age were taken with fits of the ‘furor athleticus’ is recorded in the case of Thorir in the Vd., the old Kveldulf in Eg., and proved by the fact that the law set a penalty upon it. Berserkr now and then occurs as a nickname, Glúm. 378. The author of the Yngl. S. attributes the berserksgangr to Odin and his followers, but this is a sheer misinterpretation, or perhaps the whole passage is a rude paraphrase of Hm. 149 sqq. In the old Hbl. 37 berserkr and giant are used synonymously. The berserkers are the representatives of mere brute force, and it therefore sounds almost blasphemous, when the Norse Barl. S. speaks of Guðs berserkr (a ‘bear-coat’ or champion of God), (Jesus Kristr gleymdi eigi hólmgöngu sins berserks), 54, 197. With the introduction of Christianity this championship disappeared altogether.

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.

(-s, -ir), m.

1) skin, slough; hleypa hömum, to cast the slough (of snakes);

2) shape, form; skipta hömum, to change one’s shape.

* * *

m., pl. hamir, dat. hami, Vsp. 36, but ham, Höfuðl. (where ham, gram, and fram form a rhyme), as also Haustl. 2, Hkr. i. 228, all of them poems of the 10th century; [A. S. hama, homa; Hel. hamo; O. H. G. hemedi, whence mod. Germ. hemd; Dan. ham; akin to hamr is Ital. camisa, Fr. chemise, with a final s answering to hams below]:—a skin, esp. the skin of birds flayed off with feathers and wings; álptar-hamr, a swan’s skin; fugls-hamr, a bird’s skin; arnar-hamr, an eagle’s skin; gásar-hamr, a goose’s skin, etc.; hams, q. v., of snakes: ham bera svanir hvítfjaðraðan (of a swan’s skin), Fas. i. 471 (in a verse); hleypa hömum (of snakes), to cast the slough, Konr. 34; hlátra hamr, poët. laughter’s cover, the breast, Höfuðl. 19.

II. shape, esp. in a mythol. sense, connected with the phrase, skipta hömum, to change the shape, described in Yngl. S. ch. 7, Völs. S. ch. 7, 8, and passim; cp. also the deriv. ein-hamr, ham-farir, ham-ramr, ham-stola, hamingja, hamask, etc.,—an old and widespread superstition found in the popular lore and fairy tales of almost every country;—Óðinn skipti hömum, lá þá búkrinn sem sofinn eðr dauðr, en hann var þá fugl eða dýr, fiskr eða ormr, ok fór á einni svipstund á fjarlæg lönd, Yngl. S. l. c., Fas. i. 128 (Völs. S. l. c.); it is described in Völs. S. ch. 8,—þeir hafa orðit fyrir úsköpum, því at úlfa-hamir ( wolf-coats) héngu yfir þeim; it tíunda hvert dægr máttu þeir komask ór hömunum, etc.; þeir fundu konur þrjár ok spunnu lín, þar vóru hjá þeim álptar-hamir þeirra, Sæm. 88 (prose to Vkv.); fjölkyngis-kona var þar komin í álptar-ham, Fas. i. 373, cp. Helr. 6; víxla hömum, to change skins, assume one another’s shape, Skv. 1. 42; Úlf-hamr, Wolf-skin, the nickname of a mythol. king, Hervar. S., prob. from being hamramr; manns-hamr, the human skin, Str. 31; hugða ek at væri hamr Atla, methought it was the form or ghost of Atli, Am. 19; jötunn í arnar-ham, a giant in an eagle’s skin, Vþm. 37, Edda; í gemlis-ham, id., Haustl.; fjaðr-hamr, Þkv.; í faxa-ham, in a horse’s skin, Hkr. i. (in a verse); í trölls-hami, in an ogre’s skin, Vsp. 36; vals-hamr, a falcon’s skin, Edda (of the goddess Freyja): it remains in mod. usage in metaph. phrases, að vera í góðum, íllum, vondum, ham, to be in a good, bad, dismal frame of mind or mood; vera í sínum rétta ham, to be in one’s own good frame of mind; færast í annan ham, to enter into another frame of mind: in western Icel. an angry, ill-tempered woman is called hamr, hún er mesti hamr (= vargr): hams-lauss, adj. distempered, furious, esp. used in Icel. of a person out of his mind from restlessness or passion, the metaphor from one who cannot recover his own skin, and roves restlessly in search of it, vide Ísl. Þjóðs. passim.

COMPDS: hamdökkr, hamfagr, hamljótr, hamvátr, Hamðir.

(-ar, -ir), m.

1) lot;

bera (leggja) hluti í skaut, to throw the lots into a cloth (lap of a garment);

skera (marka) hluti, to mark the lots;

2) amukt, talisman (hlutr er horfinn or pússi þínum);

3) share, allotment, portion (hann fœrði Ølvi skip sin ok kallar þat vera hans hlut);

4) part (of a whole);

höggva í tvá hluti, to cut in two parts;

mestr hlutr liðs, the most part of the company;

meiri hlutr dómanda, the majority of the judges;

tveim hlutum dýrra, twice as dear;

5) participation;

eiga hlut í e-u or at e-u, to have part in, be concerned in (mér uggir, at hér muni eigi gæfumenn hlut í eiga);

þar er þú ættir hlut at, wherein thou wast concerned;

6) condition, position, lot;

eiga hlut e-s, to be in one’s place (position);

ef þú ættir minn hlut, if thou wert in my place;

láta hlut sinn, to be worsted;

sitja yfir hlut e-s, to oppress, weigh a person down;

leggja hlut sinn við e-t, to cast in one’s lot with, to espouse a cause;

hafa (fá) hærra, meira (lægra) hlut, to get the best (worst) of it;

7) thing;

allir hlutir, all things;

kynligr hlutr, a strange thing;

um alla hluti, in all things, in all respects.

* * *

m., the original form was diphthongal, hlautr, like the Gothic, as is borne out by the kindred and derivative words hlaut, hleyti, q. v.; the acc. was weakened into o, hlotr, Fms. xi. 128; and lastly into u, hlutr; old nom. pl. hlotar, Jómsv. S. l. c., but commonly hlutir; gen. sing. hlutar: [Goth. hlauts = κληρος, Mark xv. 24, Col. i. 12, Ephes. i. 11, Luke i. 9; A. S. and Hel. hlot; Engl. lot; Germ. loos; Dan. lod; Swed. lott; the Goth., Germ., and earliest Scandin. have a long vowel, and prob. also A. S. and O. H. G. (hlôt, not hlot); the Ormul. spells lott with a short vowel, as is the case also in Icel., Dan., Swed., and Engl.]

A. A lot; the ceremony of drawing lots was like that described in Homer; each party marked his lot (skera or marka hluti), which was then thrown into a sheet (lap of a garment, bera or leggja hluti í skaut), and a third person came and drew a lot out; (it was not thrown out by shaking.) This drawing of lots was originally a sacred ceremony; it was used in sacrifices (by way of augury, see below), in sharing booty or an inheritance; in law the order in which suits came on was decided by lot, in banquets the seats of honour were so assigned (e. g. who was to sit next to the daughter of the house), etc. Many words in the language refer to this old rite, and the ceremony is thus described: en hluti skyldi skera ok í skaut bera, Fms. vii. 140; kom þat ásamt með þeim at hluti skyldi bera í skaut, … skyldi því hvárir-tveggju una sem hlutr segði, vóru þá hlutir markaðir; þá mælti Norðbrikt til Gyrgis: ‘lát mik sjá hversu þú markar þinn hlut at vit markim eigi báðir einn veg;’ hann gerði svá; síðan markaði Norðbrikt sinn hlut, ok kastaði í skaut ok svá báðir þeir; síðan gékk sá maðr at er til (upp, v. l.) skyldi taka, ok tók upp annan hlutinn milli fingra sér …; síðan var at hugat þeim hlutinum ok kenndu þar allir mark Gyrgis, vi. 136, 137: hverr maðr er sök hefir með at fara í dóm, þá skal hlut bera í skaut, einn, þótt hann hafi fleiri sakar í dóm þann, hverr maðr skal merkja hlut sinn ok bera alla saman í skaut, ok skal maðr taka fjóra hluti senn upp, Grág. i. 37; bjóða til hlutfalla ok bera þar hluti í skaut, 74; menn báru þá hluti sína í skaut ok tók jarlinn upp; … svá sagði hlutr til, at Egill skyldi sitja hjá jarls-dóttur um kveldit, Eg. 247; en þá er tólfmenningr var skipaðr til at sitja ok settir hlutir til hverr næst skyldi sitja Ástríði, dóttur Vigfúss hersis, ok hlaut Eyjólfr ávalt at sitja hjá henni, Glúm. 331: nú ræða þeir um goðorðit ok verða eigi ásáttir, vildi hverr sinn hlut ( case) fram draga; þá leggja þeir hluti í skaut, ok kom jafnan upp hlutr Silfra, Fs. 68; þeir lögðu hluti á, ok hlaut Þrándr, Fær.

2. of sacrifice; vóru þá görvir hlutir af vísinda-mönnum ( soothsayers), ok feldr blótspánn til, en svá gékk fréttin, at …, Fas. i. 452; cp. hristu teina ok á hlaut sá, Hym. 1; and, þá kná Hænir hlautvið kjósa (= taka upp hluti), Vsp. l. c.; see also hlaut, hlauttein, p. 270.

II. the hlutir were talismans or little images, which people used to wear on their persons; síðan tekr jarl skálar ( scales) góðar … ok fylgðu tvau met ( weights), annat af gulli en annat af silfri; þar var á líkneskja manns, ok hétu þat hlutar (hlotar sem fornmönnum var títt at hafa, add. in v. l.), ok fylgði sú náttúra, at þá er jarl lagði þá í skálarnar, ok kvað á hvat hvárr skyldi merkja, ok ef sá kom upp ( turned up) er hann vildi, þá breylti sá í skálinni svá at varð glamm af. Jarl gaf Einari skálarnar ok varð hann glaðr við ok síðan kallaðr Einarr Skálarglam, Jómsv. S. (1824) 37, 38; hlutr er horfinn ór pússi þínum sá er Haraldr konungr gaf þér í Hafrsfirði, ok er hann nú kominn í holt þat er þú munt byggja, ok er á hlutnum markaðr Freyr af silfri, Fs. 19; ok vili Freyr þar láta sinn hlut niðr koma er hann vill sitt sæmdar-sæti setja, 22; cp. Landn., hann sendi Finna tvá í hamförum til Íslands eptir hlut sínum, 174; hann hefir líkneski Þórs í pungi sínum af tönn gört …; nú fannsk engi sá ‘hlutr’ í hans valdi, Fs. 97: the ‘gumna heillir’ or talismans, mentioned in Sdm., were prob. hlutir.

B. Metaph., without the actual drawing of lots:

I. a share, allotment, portion; skal þat þeirra er biskup lofar skilnað, hafa slíkan hlut fjár ( portion) við annat, Grág. i. 329: of booty, hann færði Ölvi skip sín ok kallar þat vera hlut hans, Nj. 46: of a finder’s share, heimtir hlut af sauðunum, Háv. 40; halda til hlutar, id.

β. esp. of a fisherman’s share of the catch, Band. 4, cp. Höfuðl. 1; a fishing boat has one or two hundred … í hlut, each of the crew (hásetar) taking his ‘hlutr,’ and besides this there was a færis-hlutr ( line share) or netja-hlutr ( net share), skips-hlutr (ship’s share), and lastly for-manns-hlutr (foreman’s share, he getting double); see the remarks on aflausn.

γ. a share, lot, portion, of inheritance, often in early Dan. law, where the daughter received a half, the brother a whole portion, sun til ful lot, oc dotær til half lot, Wald. Sjæll. Lov., p. 1;—whence in Dan. broder-lod, söster-lod, = a brother’s, sister’s portion; en komi jafnmikit fé á hlut hvers þeirra, Grág. (Kb.) i. 220: of duty, kom þat á hlut Andreas postula, 625. 64.

2. metaph. phrases; láta hlut sinn, to let go one’s share, be worsted, Fms. i. 74, Fb. ii. 62; þeirra h. brann við, got singed, Hkr. ii. 178; þinn hlutr má ekki verða betri en góðr, thy case cannot be better than good, is as good as it can be, Nj. 256; ella muntú finna á þínum hlut, thou shalt find it to thy cost, Ld. 98; þeirra h. varð æ minni ok minni, their lot grew ever worse and worse, Fms. x. 250; eigi skyldi hennar h. batna við þat, her case should not mend with that, Nj. 52; sitja yfir hlut e-s, to oppress, weigh a person down, Eg. 512, Nj. 89, Fb. iii. 450; mínka sinn hlut, to yield one’s lot ( right), 451; láta sinn (hlut) undir liggja, to let one’s lot be the nethermost, Bárð.; leggja hlut sinn við e-t, to throw in one’s lot with a thing, to espouse a cause, run a risk, Lv. 45 (twice), Fb. iii. 166, Sturl. i. 162 C; eigi mundi svá Sverrir gera, ef hann ætti várn hlut, S. would not do so if he had our lot, our cards in his hand, Fms. viii. 392; eigi mundir þú svá renna frá þínum manni, ef þú ættir minn hlut, xi. 72; hafa (fá) hærra (meira, lægra) hlut, to get the better ( less) share, to get the best ( worst) of it, to win or lose, Eb. 194, Fs. 32, 113, Nj. 90, 224, Fas. i. 252, Fms. vi. 412, viii. 284, Hkv. 2. 19; hafa allan hlut mála, Bs. i. 82; eiga hlut at e-u, to own a share in, take part ( interest) in, interfere ( meddle) in a thing, be concerned about, Eb. 124, Nj. 27, 101, 119, Fms. xi. 83; þar er þú ættir hlut at, wherein thou wast concerned, Nj. 54; nú mun eigi mega sitjanda hlut í eiga, to take a sitter’s part in it, i. e. not stir in the matter, 110; hér munu eigi gæfu-menn í hlut eiga, 179; hafa inn vesta hlut af, to behave meanly, Eg. 271.

II. a part, Lat. pars; enn efra hlut Hrunamanna-hrepps, Landn. 312: mestr h. liðs, the most part of the body, Eg. 275; meiri hlutr, búa, dómanda …, the majority of the neighbours, judges …, Nj. 237, Grág. i. 79; tíundi h. eyrir, a tenth part of an ounce, 357: byggja jörð til hlutar, to lease an estate in shares, N. G. L. i. 137: sjau hlutum ljósari, seven times brighter, Eluc. 44; tveim hlutum dýrra, twice as dear, Landn. 243; eins hlutar ( on the one hand) … annars hlutar ( on the other hand), 625. 172.

III. a case, thing, Lat. res; hvern hlut, everything, Nj. 53; á engum hlut, in nothing, Fms. ii. 27; í öllum hlutum, in everything, passim; allir hlutir, all things, Edda 147 (pref.); aðra hluti, other things, Fms. i. 213; alla hluti þá er …, all things whatsoever, Ld. 18; allir þeirra hlutir, all their things, Fms. x. 250; fjórir eru þeir hlutir ( cases) er menn ber í átt, Grág. i. 361; hverngi hlut ( reason) er maðr vill til þess færa, 179; fyrir tengda sakir ok annarra stórra hluta er hér hvarfla í milli, Nj. 147; undarlegr, kynlegr h., a strange thing, Ld. 200, Fms. x. 169; iðna slíka hluti, Grág. i. 149; eru þér stórir hlutir á höndum, Fms. vii. 30: a deed, fact, orðinn h., a bygone thing, Fr. fait accompli, Nj. 20; einn lítill h., a little thing, small matter, Fms. ix. 448.

β. with neg. adv. = Engl. naught; görðit hlut þiggja, Am. 94; ekki lyt (lyf MS.), Skv. 1. 9; engi hluta(r), noways, 656 C. 25.

1) beard (rare);

2) brim, of a hat or helmet;

3) the beak or armed prow of ships (of war), stem; róa fyrir barð e-m (= róa fyrir stafn e-m), to thwart one.

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n. [identical in etymology but not in sense to Lat. barba, Engl. beard, Germ. bart; the Scandin. dialects all call the beard skegg; Swed. skägg; Dan. skjæg; barð in the sense of barba is quite alien from the Scandin. idioms; the passages, Edda 109 (skegg heitir barð) and höggva börðum í gras, Íd. 12, a poem of the end of the 13th century, are isolated instances: bart in Dan. is a mod. word]:—Lat. ora, margo:

α. a brim of a helmet or hat (hjálmbarð, hattbarð), Fas. iii. 341.

β. the verge, edge of a hill (holtbarð, túnbarð, brekkubarð, hólbarð, etc.), freq. in local names of farms in Icel.

γ. the wing or side fin of some fishes, e. g. whales, cp. barðhvalr; of flat fishes, raja pastinaca (skötubarð).

δ. the beak or armed prow of ships, esp. ships’ of war, [cp. A. S. barda, a beaked ship]; so barded, of a horse in armour; hence Barði or Járnbarði is the name of a sort of ram in olden times, e. g. the famous Járnbarði ( Iron Ram) of carl Eric, described, Fms. ii. 310; cp. also Fb. i. 280: the stem, Gr. στείρη, Jb. 398; róa fyrir barð e-rn, to thwart one, Gþl. 519, Eg. 386, Fms. vii. 195; skulu vér binda akkeri fyrir barð hverju skipi, xi. 66, ii. 273, Lex. Poët.

ε. several compds are used in Icel. referring to parts of the head, e. g. hökubarð, kinnbarð, kjálkabarð, ora genae, maxillae, but without any notion of ‘beard,’ cp. Isid. granos et cinnabar Gothorurn, 19. 23; the cinnabar and the present Icel. kinnabarð seem to be etymologically identical.

m. ‘blood eagle,’ in the phrase ‘rísta b.,’ to cut a blood eagle, a cruel method of putting to death in the heathen times, practised, as it seems, only on the slayer of one’s father if taken alive in a battle: the ribs were cut in the shape of an eagle and the lungs pulled through the opening, a sort of vivisection described in Orkn. ch. 8, Fas. i. 293, 354 (Ragn. S.): so king Ella was put to death by the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok, Fms. iii. 225: it is called a sacrifice to Odin of the victim, cp. the phrase, ok gaf hann Óðni til sigrs sér, Orkn. l. c.; the old rite ‘marka geirsoddi,’ q. v., is analogous, not identical; cp. also upon the subject Grimm D. R. A., and Hm. 139.

(gen., dat., and acc. bróður, pl. brœðr), m.

1) brother;

2) friar.

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gen. dat. acc. bróður; pl. nom. acc. bræðr, gen. bræðra, dat. bræðrum: in mod. common usage irregular forms occur, as gen. sing. bróðurs; nom. sing., and gen. dat. acc. are also sometimes confounded, esp. in keeping the nom. form bróðir through all cases, or even the reverse (but rarely) in taking bróður as a nom.; another irregularity is acc. pl. with the article, bræður-nar instead of bræður-na, which latter form only survives in writing, the former in speaking. There is besides an obsolete poetical monosyllabic form brœðr, in nom. dat. acc. sing. and nom. acc. pl.; gen. sing. bræðrs; cp. such rhymes as brœðr—œðri, in a verse of Einar Skúlason (died about 1170); bræðr (dat.) Sinfjötla, Hkv. 2. 8, as nom. sing., Fagrsk. 54, v. l. (in a verse), etc., cp. Lex. Poët. This form is very rare in prose, vide however Nj., Lat. Vers. Johnsonius, 204, 333, v. 1., and a few times in Stj., e. g. síns bræðr, sinn bræðr, 160; it seems to be a Norse form, but occurs now and then in Icel. poetry even of the 15th century, e. g. bræðr nom. sing. rhymes with ræðr, Skáld H. 3. 11, G. H. M. ii. 482, but is quite strange to the spoken language: [Gr. φράτηρ; Lat. frāter; Goth. brôþar; A. S. brôðar; Engl. brother; Germ. bruder; Swed.-Dan. broder, pl. brödre]:—a brother: proverbs referring to this word—saman er bræðra eign bezt at sjá, Gísl. 17; einginn or annars bróðir í leik; móður-bræðrum verða menn líkastir, Bs. i. 134: a distinction is made between b. samfeðri or sammæðri, a brother having the same father or mother, Grág. i. 170 sqq.: in mod. usage more usual al-bróðir, brother on both sides; hálf-bróðir, a half-brother; b. skilgetinn, frater germanus móður-bróðir, a mother’s brother; föður-bróðir, a father’s brother, uncle; afa-bróðir, a grand-uncle on the father’s side; ömmu bróðir, a grand-uncle on the mother’s side; tengda-bróðir, a brother-in-law: in familiar talk an uncle is called ‘brother,’ and an aunt ‘sister.’ The ties of brotherhood were most sacred with the old Scandinavians; a brotherless man was a sort of orphan, cp. the proverb, berr er hverr á baki nema sér bróður eigi; to revenge a brother’s slaughter was a sacred duty; nú tóku þeir þetta fastmælum, at hvárr þeirra skal hefna annars eðr eptir mæla, svá sem þeir sé sambornir bræðr, Bjarn. 58: the word bróðurbani signifies a deadly foe, with whom there can be no truce, Hm. 88, Sdm. 35, Skm. 16, Hdl. 28; instances from the Sagas, Dropl. S. (in fine), Heiðarv. S. ch. 22 sqq., Grett. S. ch. 50. 92 sqq., E ch. 23, Ld. ch. 53 sqq., etc. The same feeling extended to foster-brotherhood, after the rite of blending blood has been performed; see the graphical descriptions in Fbr. S. (the latter part of the Saga), Gísl. ch. 14 sqq., etc. The universal peace of Fróði in the mythical age is thus described, that ‘no one will draw the sword even if he finds his brother’s slayer bound,’ Gs. verse 6; of the slaughter preceding and foreboding the Ragnarök ( the end of the world) it is said, that brothers will fight and put one another to death, Vsp. 46.

II. metaph.:

1. in a heathen sense; fóst-bróðir, foster-brother, q. v.; eið-bróðir, svara-bróðir, ‘oath-brother;’ leik-bróðir, play-brother, play-fellow: concerning foster-brothership, v. esp. Gísl. ii, Fbr., Fas. iii. 375 sqq., Hervar. S., Nj. 39, Ls. 9, the phrase, blanda blóði saman.

2. in a Christian sense, brother, brethren, N. T., H. E., Bs.

β. a brother, friar; Svörtu-bræðr, Blackfriars; Berfættu-bræðr, q. v.; Kórs-bræðr, Fratres Canonici, Bs., etc.

COMPDS:

I. sing., bróður-arfr, m. a brother’s inheritance, Orkn. 96, Fms. ix. 444. bróður-bani, a, m. a brother’s bane, fratricide, Ld. 236, Fms. iii. 21, vide above. bróðiir-baugr, m. weregild due to the brother, N. G. L. i. 74. bróður-blóð, n. a brother’s blood, Stj. 42. Gen. iv. 10. bróður-bætr, f. pl. weregild for a brother, Lv. 89. bróður-dauði, a, m. a brother’s death, Gísl. 24. bróður-deild, f. = bróðurhluti, Fr. bróður-dóttir, f. a brother’s daughter, niece, Grág. i. 170, Nj. 177; bróðurdóttur son, a brother’s son, N. G. L. i. 76. bróður-dráp, n. the slaying of a brother, Stj. 43, Fms. v. 290. bróður-gildr, adj. equal in right (inheritance) to a brother, Fr. bróður-gjöld, n. pl. = bróður-bætr, Eg. 312. bróður-hefnd, f. revenge for the slaying of a brother, Sturl. ii. 68. bróður-hluti, a, m. the share (as to weregild or inheritance) of a brother, Grág. ii. 175. bróður-kona, u, f. a brother’s wife, K. Á. 142. bróöur-kván, f. id., N. G. L. i. 170. bróður-lóð, n. a brother’s share of inheritance. bróður-son, m. a brother’s son, nephew, Nj. 122, Grág. i. 171, Gþl. 239, 240; bróðursona-baugr, Grág. ii. 179.

II. pl., bræðra-bani, v. bróðurbani, Fbr. 165. bræðra-búr, n. a friar’s bower in a monastery, Dipl. v. 18. bræðra-börn, n. pl. cousins (agnate), Gþl. 245. bræðra-dætr, f. pl. nieces(of brothers), Gþl. 246. bræðra-eign, f. property of brothers, Gísl. 17. bræðra-garðr, m. a ‘brothers-yard,’ monastery, D. N. bræðra-lag, n. fellowship of brethren, in heathen sense = fóstbræðralag, Hkr. iii. 300; of friars, H. E., D. I.; brotherhood, Pass. 9. 6. bræðra-mark, n. astron., the Gemini, Pr. 477. bræðra-skáli, a, m. an apartment for friars, Vm. 109. bræðra-skipti, n. division of inheritance among brothers, Hkr. iii. 52, Fas. i. 512. bræðra-synir, m. pl. cousins (of brothers), Gþl. 53.

m. spot, mark.

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a, m. a spot, mark; alloðin nema d. undir vinstri hendi, Fms. iii. 125.

β. esp. medic., b. díla, to burn with caustic; this operation was in olden times performed (caustic being unknown) with a pointed hot iron, and is described in an interesting passage in Bs. i. 379, cp. also Rafns S. ch. 4, Bs. i. 644, Nj. 209.

γ. a brand (on thieves), esp. on the back (v. brenna); fyrr skulu grónir grautar-dílarnir á hálsi þér, þeir er þú brant… en ek myna gipta þér systur mína, Eb. 210, Hkr. iii. 148, Fbr. 190; vide brenna.

u, f. the nomination of judges in the Icel. court, described in Íb. ch. 5; in parliament the goðar ( priests) had the right to appoint the judges, Grág. i. 25; þeir (viz. the priests) skyldu dómnefnur eiga á þingum, Fms. iii. 106.

a. having eves of a certain kind; vel e., with fine eyes; mjök e., large-eyed.

* * *

later form eygðr, which, however, is freq. in MSS. of the 14th century, adj. [auga]:— having eyes of a certain kind; vel e., with fine eyes, Stj. 460. I Sam. xvi. 12, Nj. 39: e. manna bezt, Ísl. ii. 190, Fms. vi. 438, xi. 79; mjök eygðr, large-eyed, Þorf. Karl. 422; eigi vel eyg, not good looking, Fms, iii. 216; e. mjök ok vel, with large and fine eyes, Eb. 30, Fb. i.545; e. forkunnar vel, with eyes exceeding fine, Fms. iv. 38; esp. freq. in compds: in the Sagas a man is seldom described without marking the colour, shape, or expression ol his eyes, fagr-e., bjart-e., dökk-e., svart-e., blá-e., grá-e., mó-e.; the shape also, opin-e., út-e., inn-e., smá-e., stór-e., etc.; the lustre of the eye, snar-e., fast-e., hvass-e., frán-e., dapr-e., etc.; expressing disease, vát-e., rauð-e., ein-e.; expressing something wrong in the eye, hjá-e., til-e., rang-e., etc., Fél. ix.192.

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f. sheep.

* * *

f. a sheep; in Swed.-Dan. faar and fär are the usual words for sheep; but in Icel. it is almost unknown; it occurs in Skálda 162; also now and then in the compd fær-sauðr, m., spelt fjar-sauðr, Tistr. 4 (prop. a ‘sheep-sheep,’ sauðr being the common Icel. word for sheep), Stj. 45, 177, 235, N. G. L. i. 75, K. Þ. K. 130; from fær is also derived the name Fær-eyjar, f. pl. the Faroe Islands ( Sheep-islands); Fær-eyskr, adj., and Fær-eyingar, m. pl. the Faroe Islanders; described by Dicuil as plenae innumerabilibus ovibus, p. 30 (Ed. 1807): fær is a South-Scandin. word, and seems to be formed from the gen. of fé (fjár).

(-s, -ar), m.

1) goad, spike; fig., var mjök í gadda slegit, at, it was all but settled that;

2) hard snow.

* * *

m. [Ulf. gads = κέντρον, 1 Cor. xv. 55, 56; A. S. gadu; Engl. gad, goad; Swed. gadd]:—a goad, spike, Str. 77, Gísl. 159 (on a sword’s hilt); gadda-kylfa, u, f. a ‘gad-club,’ club with spikes, Fms. iii. 329; gadd-hjalt, n. a ‘gad-hilt,’ hilt studded with nails, Eb. 36 new Ed., Gísl. 159, Fas. iii. 288, cp. Worsaae 494, 495, as compared with 330: metaph. phrase, var mjök í gadda slegit, ‘twas all but fixed with nails, i. e. settled, Nj. 280.

II. a sting, Al. 168; (cp. Engl. gad-fly.)

III. perhaps a different root, hard snow, also spelt galdr (Fms. viii. 413, v. l., cp. gald, Ivar Aasen); the phrase, troða gadd, to tread the snow down hard, Fms. vii. 324, viii. 413, ix. 364, 490; en er Birkibeinar vóru komnir upp á galdinn hjá þeim, Fb. ii. 688: even used as neut., gaddit, Fms. viii. l. c. (in a vellum MS.); gaddit. id. (also vellum MS.); hence gadd-frosinn, part. hard-frozen; gadd-hestr, m. a jade turned out in the snow.

IV. a ‘gad-tooth,’ a disease in cattle, one or more grinders growing out so as to prevent the animal from feeding, described in Fél. xiv. note 250; gadd-jaxl, m. a ‘gad-grinder.’

m. a Norse law term; if freed slaves married against their master’s will, and became paupers, the master might put them into an open grave till one died, when the survivor was taken out. The tale of Svaði digging a grave for the poor, Fms. ii. 222, refers no doubt to this cruel law, which is described in N. G. L. i. 33, but not recorded elsewhere.

II. generally a proletarian, N. G. L. i. 97.

1) giantess;

2) bug-bear (ekki hirði ek um grýlur yðrar).

* * *

u, f. an ogre, answering to the Gr. μορμώ, Lat. lamia, used to frighten children with, represented as an old hag with a bag kidnapping and devouring naughty children—over the good she has no power: the songs Grýlu-kvæði, n. (vide Snót 286–298, 2nd Ed.), are great favourites in popular lore: in olden times grýla was sometimes described as a fox with many tails; the fox is in Edda (Gl.) called grýla; a giantess also in Edda (Gl.) is so called; cp. the rhymes in Sturl. ii. 59,—hér fer Grýla í garð ofan | ok hefir á sér hala fimtán; and the mod.,—Grýla reið fyrir ofan garð, hafði hala fimtán | en í hverjum hala hundrað belgi, en í hverjum belgi börn tuttugu, etc.

II. a bugbear; ekki hirði ek um grýlur yðrar, Þórð. 26 new Ed.; þótti þeir hafa gört sér grýlur um sumarit, Sturl. iii. 244; hví mun ek eigi fara hina skemri leiðina ok hræðask ekki grýlur Bruna, Fas. ii. 118; kölluðu menn því enn fyrra hlut (of a book) grýlu, at margir töluðu at þá efnaðisk nokkurr ótti eðr hræðsla, … en mundi skjótt niðr falla ok at alls engu verða, Fb. ii. 534. For the mod. popular tales of Grýla see esp. Ísl. Þjóðs. i. 218–221.

f. pl. ‘sea-fens,’ portentous waves mentioned by old sailors in the main between Iceland and America, described in Sks. 171, Bs. i. 483; hann fór til Grænalands ok hom í hafgerðingar, Landn. 319 (10th century), whence

(pl. höslur), f. pole of hazel wood.

(að), v. to mark out by hazel-poles; hasla e-m völl, to challenge one to a pitched battle or duel.

* * *

in pl. höslur, f. pegs or poles of hasel-wood, a technical term for the four square poles that marked out the ground for a pitched battle or a duel, described in Korm. 86, Eg. 277; undir jarðar höslu, poët. within the pale, on the face of the earth, Edda (in a verse by a poet of king Canute).

að, in the old phrase, hasla (e-m) völl, to ‘enhasel’ a battlefield, to challenge one’s enemy to a pitched battle (or duel) on a field marked out by hasel-poles, Korm. 46, Hkr. i. 150, Eg. 273, 275, 276 (of the battle of Brunanburgh).

f. ‘neck-loosing,’ i. e. giving a bondman freedom, (cp. frjáls, frihals,) the rite is described in N. G. L. i. 212.

I) f. blood of sacrifice.

II) from hljóta.

* * *

f. (not n.); the gender is borne out by the genitive tein hlautar, Vellekla; as also by the dat. hlautinni, Landn. (App.) 336, in an old transcript of the lost vellum Vatnshyrna (see Kjaln. S. Ísl. ii. 403, where hlautinn):—the blood of sacrifice, used for soothsaying; this word is prob. to be derived from hlutr (hlautr), as an abbreviated form, for hlaut-blóð = sanguis sortidicus, and refers to the rite, practised in the heathen age, of enquiring into the future by dipping bunches of chips or twigs into the blood, and shaking them; those twigs were called teinar, hlaut-teinar, hlaut-viðr, blót-spánn, q. v.; the act of shaking was called hrista teina, to shake twigs, Hým. 1; kjósa hlautvið, to choose lot chips, Vsp. In Vellekla the true reading is prob. hann (earl Hakon) valdi (from velja, MS. vildi) tein hlautar, meaning the same as kjósa hlautvið in Vsp., an emendation borne out by the words ‘felldi blótspán’ (Fagrsk. l. c.) in the prose text, which is a paraphrase of the verse; the explanation of the passage in Lex. Poët. is no doubt erroneous. It was also called fella blótspán, see that word, p. 71. The walls of the temple inside and out, the altars, and the worshippers were sprinkled with the blood, the flesh of the slain cattle was to be eaten (whereas the blood was a sacrifice, as well as the means of augury, and was not to be eaten); this rite is described in Hkr. Hák. S. Góða ch. 16: en blóð þat allt er þar kom af (i. e. from the slain cattle) þá var þat kallat hlaut ok hlaut-bollar þat er blóð þat stóð í, ok hlaut-teinar, þat var svá gört sem stöklar ( bunches); með því skyldi rjóða stallana öllu saman, ok svá veggi hofsins útan ok innan, ok svá stökkva á mennina; en slátr ( the meat) skyldi hafa til mann-fagnaðar: the passages in Eb. ch. 4, p. 6 new Ed., in Kjaln. S. ch. 2, and in Landn. (App.), are derived from the same source as the passage in Hkr., but present a less correct and somewhat impaired text; even the text in Hkr. is not quite clear, esp. the phrase, þat var gört sem stökkull, which prob. means that the hlaut-teinar were bound up in a bunch and used for the sprinkling. The blood-sprinkling mentioned in Exod. xii. 22 illustrates the passage above cited; cp. hleyti, hljóta, and hlutr.

* * *

1) closed hand, fist;

2) the king in hnefa-tafl.

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a, m. the king in a kind of chess played by the ancients, Fas. ii. 68: the game was called hnefa-tafl, n., which is variously spelt—nettafl, Gullþ. 20, and hnettafl, Grett. 144 A (which are contracted or assimilated forms); hneftafl, Mork. 186, Fms. vi. 29, Fas. i. 284; hnottafl (a bad form), Fas. i. 476 in a spurious verse, and in Krók. ch. 10; hnefa-tafl (the true form), Fas. i. 67. The game is best described in Friðþ. S. ch. 3, and in one of the riddles in Hervar. S. (where however the rhymed replies are not genuine): ‘Who are the maids that fight about their unarmed lord, the dark all day defending, but the fair slaying?’ The players were two, as in chess; there was only one king (hnefi), here called the ‘unarmed lord;’ the pieces (töflur) were white and red, the white attacking, the red defending the hnefi; þat er hneftafl, enar dökkri verja hnefann, en hinar hvítari sækja, Fas. i. 474; þat er húninn í hneftafli, 476: pieces made of silver are recorded in Gullþ. S., of walrus-bone in Krók. l. c. For the general use of this game, cp. the dialogue between the two brother kings, Mork. l. c.,—teflig hneftafl betr, era þat minna vert en afl þitt; Sigurðr Ormr í auga ok Hvítserkr hvati sitja at hneftafli, Fas. i. 284: whenever tafl is mentioned, this particular game seems to be understood, e. g. the gullnar töflur and tefldu í túni of the Vsp.; cp. earl Rögnvald’s verse in Orkn. ch. 61; and the fatal game of chess between king Canute and earl Ulf in Roeskilde A. D. 1027 was probably a hneftafl. We see from Mork. l. c. that it was still played at the beginning of the 12th century, but in after times it was superseded by the true chess (skák); both games were probably of the same origin.

COMPDS: hnefatafla, hneftöfl, hnettöfl, hnettafla.

(-s, -ar, and -ir), m. whale; skera hval, to flense a whale.

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m., pl. hvalar, Sks. 180 B; hvala, acc. pl., K. Þ. K. 138; hvalana, Grág. ii. 387; hvala alla, 359; mod. hvalir: [A. S. hwœl; Germ. wall-fisch; Dan. hval]:— a whale, Hým. 21, Rb. 1812. 17, Grág. i. 159, ii. 337: as to the right to claim whales as jetsum, see the law in Grág. and Jb., the Reka-bálkr and the Sagas passim, e. g. Grett. ch. 14,Eb. ch. 57, Háv. ch. 3, Fbr. ch. 9:—there was always a great stir when a whale was driven ashore, flýgr fiskisaga ferr hvalsaga; í hvals líki, Fms. xi. 182, Fas. ii. 131; hvals auki, amber, old Dan. hvals-öky, Sks.; hvals hauss, a whale’s head; hvals ván, expectation of a whale being drifted ashore, Vm. 174; hvals verð, a whale’s value, Grág. ii. 373; hvala blástr, the blowing of a whale; hvala-kváma, arrival of shoals of whales, Eg. 135; hvala-kyn, a species of whale, Sks. 121; in Edda (Gl.) and in Sks. l. c. no less than twenty-five kinds of whales are enumerated and described; hvala-skúfr, whale guts, a nickname, Landn.; hvala-vetr, a winter when many whales were caught, Ann. 1375: in local names, Hvals-á, Hvals-nes, Hval-fjörðr, Hvals-eyrr, Landn. etc.

COMPDS: hvalambr, hvalfiskr, hvalfjara, hvalfjós, hvalflutningr, hvalflystri, hvalfundr, hvalföng, hvalgrafir, hvalgæði, hvalgögn, hvaljárn, hvalkaup, hvalkálfr, hvalklippa, hvalkváma, hvallátr, hvalmagi, hvalmál, hvalreið, hvalreki, hvalrekstr, hvalrétti, hvalréttr, hvalrif, hvalró, hvalsaga, hvalskipti, hvalskíð, hvalskurðr, hvalskyti, hvaltaka, hvaltíund, hvalvágr, hvalván, hvalfrón.