either...+or

= hvárts = hvárt es (= er).

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= hvárts, = hvárt es, = hvárt er, pron. neut. from hvarr, q. v., either, used adverbially; hvárz … eðr, either … or; hvártz hann hefir farit til þessa eðr eigi, Grág. i. 48; h. er til sóknar eða varnar, 56; hvárz þeir eru bændr eðr griðmenn, 57; hvárz hverfa til lofs eðr löstnnar, Greg. 10; hvárz verit hafa góð eðr íll; hvárz hann er lærðr eðr úlærðr, h. hann svimr á sjó eðr vatni, Hom. (St.) passim: adding a superfluous sem, hvártz sem maðr verðr sekr at sátt eðr á várþingi, Grág. i. 121.

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(pl. -ar), f.

1) teaching, doctrine, lesson, esp. of preaching; kenna kenningar, to preach;

2) mark of recognition;

3) a poetical penphrasis or descriptive name.

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f. doctrine, teaching, lesson, esp. of preaching, Fms. i. 148; kenna kenningar, to teach, preach, 625. 24, K. Á. 22, Bs. i. 140, N. T., Vídal.; tíðagörð ok k., passim; á-kenning, q. v.; viðr-k., acknowledgment.

2. a mark of recognition, Grett. 132 A; kenningar-orð, words of admonition, Hkr. iii. 23, Fb. iii. 279; kenningar-maðr = kennimaðr, Rb. 366; kenningar-sveinn, an apprentice, N. G. L. ii. 204.

II. a poetical periphrasis or descriptive name (see kenna A. V. 2), Edda passim, opp. to ókennd heiti ( simple appellatives); a kenning is either simple (kennt), double (tví-kennt), or triple (rekit). The ancient circumlocutions were either drawn from mythology, as to call Thor the son of Earth (Jarðar sunr), and the heaven the skull of Ymir; or from the thing itself (sann-kenning), as to call the breast the mind’s abode: similar phraseology is found in all ancient poetry, but in the old northern poets it was carried farther and was more artificial than in other languages.

COMPDS: kenningarfaðir, kenningarnafn, kenningarson.

1) mid-forenoon, 9 a. m. (um morgininn at undorni);

2) midafternoon, 3 p. m..

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m. (not n. as stated in Lex. Poët.), also spelt undurn and undarn, see the references below: [this word occurs in all ancient Teut. languages; Ulf. undaurni-mats or undurn-meat = ἄριστον, Luke xiv. 12; A. S. undern; Hel. undorn: O. H. G. untarn. Afterwards it was disused in writing, but in provincial dialects it still survives in all Teutonic countries, Scandinavia, Germany (Bavaria, the Rhine), England (Cumberland, Yorkshire), everywhere, except in Iceland, where, strange to say, it is unknown in speech as well as in writing; thus, Swed. undan, undarn, unden; in Norway undaaln; Bavaria untern (Schmeller); Fris. ounern; provinc. Engl. orndorns, ownder (Brocket); in all these dialects it means a middle-meal, a kind of lunch, taken either in the afternoon at three o’clock (this seems to be the prevailing sense, at least in Scandinavia), or in the forenoon at nine: even a verb has been formed, thus in Sweden sova und is to take a nap at lunch-time, at midday (Rietz); in the Rhine country ondern is said of cattle lying down at midday (Schmeller).]

B. USAGE.—In old Icel, or Norse writers the word occurs five times, thrice in poets, twice in prose; the original sense was undoubtedly a time of the day, either mid-afternoon, i. e. three o’clock P.M., or mid-forenoon, i. e. nine o’clock A.M., the sense of food being a derived one (like mál, q. v.):

1. mid-afternoon, answering to the nones of eccl. writers; morgin hétu ok miðjan dag, undorn ok aptan, they called morning and midday, ‘undorn’ and evening, Vsp. 6 (undurn, Hb. l. c.), where undorn is placed midway between noon and eve.

2. mid-forenoon; um morguninn at undurni, in the morning at undurn time, O. H. L. 65; þá hringt er til miðs-morguns, ok hafa unninn eiðinn fyrr en hringi at undurn (dat.) at Krists-kirkju, when it rings at mid-morning time, and shall have taken the oath ere the bells at Christ’s kirk ring at undurn, N. G. L. i. 308.

II. a meal; hjuggu vér undurn frekum vargi, we carved a meal for the greedy wolf, i. e. we slew many in the battle, Km. 2; örn drekkr undarn, the eagle drinks undarn, Edda 101 (in a verse of about 1030 A. D.), the various readings (undranar and undjarn) shew that the transcribers did not understand the word. ☞ In the Icel. day-marks only nón (q. v.) is of eccl. Lat. origin; may not undorn be the old heathen term which was displaced by that word? the passage in Vsp. favours this suggestion.

indef. pron., one or other of two persons, either (drepa annan hvárn þeirra sona Skallagríms); at öðru hváru, every now and then, aðrir hvárir, one or other of the two parties; neut. used as adv., annat hvárt … eða, either … or.

indef. pron. one or other of the two = annarr hvárr; er aðrir tveggju eru lengra í burt komnir en ördrag, when either of the two parties has got further away than an arrow’s flight; annat tveggja … eða, either … or.

indef. pron. one or other of the two = annarr hvárr; er aðrir tveggju eru lengra í burt komnir en ördrag, when either of the two parties has got further away than an arrow’s flight; annat tveggja … eða, either … or.

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prep. w. dat.

I. Of place:

1) off, from;

G. hljóp af hesti sínum, G. jumped off his horse;

ganga af mótinu, to go away from the meeting;

Flosi kastaði af sér skikkjunni, threw off his cloak;

Gizzur gekk af útsuðri at gerðinu, from the south-west;

hann hafði leyst af sér skúa sína, he had taken off his shoes;

Steinarr vildi slíta hann af sér, throw him off;

tók Gísli þá af sér vápnin, took off his arms;

bréf af Magnúsi konungi, a letter from king Magnus;

land af landi, from one land to the other;

hverr af öðrum, one after another, in succession;

vil ek þú vinnir af þér skuldina, work off the debt;

muntu enga sætt af mér fá, no peace at my hand;

rísa af dauða, to rise from the dead;

vakna af draumi, to awaken from a dream;

lúka upp af hrossi, to open a gate from off a horse;

vindr stóð af landi, the wind blew from the land;

2) out of;

verða tekinn af heimi, to be taken out of the world;

gruflar hón af læknum, she scrambles out of the brook;

Otradalr var mjök af vegi, far out of the way.

Connected with út; föstudaginn fór út herrinn af borginni, marched out of the town.

II. Of time; past, beyond:

af ómagaaldri, able to support oneself, of age;

ek em nú af léttasta skeiði, no longer in the prime of life;

þá er sjau vikur eru af sumri, when seven weeks of summer are past;

var mikit af nótt, much of the night was past.

III. In various other relations:

1) þiggja lið af e-m, to receive help from one;

hafa umboð af e-m, to be another’s deputy;

vera góðs (ills) maklegr af e-m, to deserve good (bad) of one;

féll þar lið mart af Eyvindi, many of Eyvind’s men fell there;

þá eru þeir útlagir ok af goðorði sínu, have forfeited their goðorð;

þá skalt þú af allri fjárheimtunni, forfeit all the claim;

ek skal stefna þér af konunni, summon thee to give up;

2) off, of;

höggva fót, hönd, af e-m, to cut off one’s foot, hand;

vil ek, at þú takir slíkt sem þér líkar af varningi, whatever you like of the stores;

þar lá forkr einn ok brotit af endanum, with the point broken off;

absol., beit hann höndina af, bit the hand off;

fauk af höfuðit, the head flew off;

3) of, among;

hinn efniligasti maðr af ungum mönnum, the most promising of the young men;

4) with;

hláða, (ferma) skip af e-u, to load (freight) a ship with;

fylla heiminn af sínu kyni, to fill the world with his offspring;

5) of (= ór which is more frequent);

húsit var gert af timbr stokkum, was built of trunks of trees;

6) fig., eigi vita menn hvat af honum er orðit, what has become of him;

hvat hefir þú gert af Gunnari, what hast thou done with Gunnar?;

7) denoting parentage, descent, origin;

ok eru af þeim komnir Gilsbekkingar, are descended from them;

kominn af Trójumönnum, descended from the Trojans;

8) by, of (after passive);

ek em sendr hingat af Starkaði, sent hither by;

ástsæll af landsmónnum, beloved of;

9) on account of, by reason of, by;

úbygðr at frosti ok kulda, because of frost and cold;

ómáli af áverkum, speechless from wounds;

af ástæld hans, by his popularity;

af því, therefore;

af hví, wherefor why;

af því at, because;

10) by means of, by;

framfœra e-n af verkum sínum, by means of his own labour;

af sínu fé, by one’s own means;

absol., hann fekk af hina mestu sœmd, derived great honour from it;

11) with adjectives, in regard to;

mildr af fé, liberal of money;

góðr af griðum, merciful;

fastr af drykk, close (stingy) in regard to drink;

12) used absol. with a verb, off away;

hann bað hann þá róa af fjörðinn, to row the firth off;

ok er þeir höfðu af fjörðung, when they had covered one forth of the way;

sofa af nóttina, to sleep the night away.

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prep. often used elliptically by dropping the case, or even merely adverbially, [Ulf. af; A. S. and Engl. of, off; Hel. ab; Germ. ab; Gr. άπό; Lat. a, ab.] With dat. denoting a motion a loco; one of the three prepp. af, ór, frá, corresponding to those in loco—á, í, við, and ad locum—á, í, at. It in general corresponds to the prepp. in loco—á, or in locum— til, whilst ór answers more to í; but it also frequently corresponds to yfir, um or í. It ranges between ór and frá, generally denoting the idea from the surface of, while ór means from the inner part, and frá from the outer part or border. The motion from a hill, plain, open place is thus denoted by af; by ór that from an enclosed space, depth, cavity, thus af fjalli, but ór of a valley, dale; af Englandi, but ór Danmörk, as mörk implies the notion of a deep wood, forest. The wind blows af landi, but a ship sets sail frá landi; frá landi also means a distance from: af hendi, of a glove, ring; ór hendi, of whatever has been kept in the hand (correl. to á hendi and í hendi). On the other hand af is more general, whilst frá and ór are of a more special character; frá denoting a departure, ór an impulse or force; a member goes home af þingi, whereas ór may denote an inmate of a district, or convey the notion of secession or exclusion from, Eb. 105 new Ed.; the traveller goes af landi, the exile ór landi: taka e-t af e-m is to take a thing out of one’s hand, that of taka frá e-m to remove out of one’s sight, etc. In general af answers to Engl. of, off, ór to out of, and frá to from: the Lat. prepp. ab, de, and ex do not exactly correspond to the Icelandic, yet as a rule ór may answer to ex, af sometimes to ab, sometimes to de. Of, off, from among; with, by; on account of by means of, because of concerning, in respect of.

A. Loc.

I. With motion, off, from:

1. prop. corresp. to á,

α. konungr dró gullhring af hendi sér (but á hendi), Ld. 32; Höskuldr lætr bera farm af skipi, unload the ship (but bera farm á skip), id.; var tekit af hestum þeirra, they were unsaddled, Nj. 4; Gunnarr hafði farit heiman af bæ sínum, he was away from home, 82; Gunnarr hljóp af hesti sínum, jumped off his horse (but hl. á hest), 83; hlaupa, stökkva af baki, id., 112, 264 ; Gunnarr skýtr til hans af boganum, from the bow, where af has a slight notion of instrumentality, 96; flýja af fundinum, to fly from off the battle-field, 102; ríða af Þríhyrningshálsum, 206; út af Langaholti, Eg. 744 ; sunnan ór Danmörk ok af Saxlandi, 560; ganga af mótinu, to go from the meeting, Fms. vii. 130; af þeirra fundi reis María upp ok fór, 625. 85 ; Flosi kastaði af ser skikkjunni, threw his cloak off him (but kasta á sik),Nj. 176; taka Hrungnis fót af honum, of a load, burden, Edda 58; land þat er hann fiskði af, from which he set off to fish, Grág. i. 151, is irregular, frá would suit better; slíta af baki e-s, from off one’s back, ii. 9 ; bera af borði, to clear the table, Nj. 75.

β. where it more nearly answers to í; þeir koma af hafi, of sailors coming in (but leggja í haf), Nj. 128 ; fara til Noregs af Orkneyjum (but í or til O.), 131; þeim Agli fórst vel ok komu af hafi i Borgarfjörð, Eg. 392 ; hann var útlagi ( outlawed) af Noregi, where ór would be more regular, 344; af Islandi, of a traveller, Fms. x. 3; búa her af báðum ríkjunum, to take a levy from, 51; hinir beztu bændr ór Norðlendingafjórðungi ok af Sunnlendingafjórðungi, the most eminent Southerners and Northerners, 113; Gizzurr gékk af útsuðri at gerðinu, from south-west, Sturl. ii. 219; prestar af hvárutveggja biskupsdæmi, from either diocess, Dipl. ii. 11; verða tekinn af heimi, to be taken out of the world, 623. 21; gruflar hon af læknum, scrambles out of the brook, Ísl. ii. 340; Egill kneyfði af horninu í einum drykk, drained off the horn at one draught, literally squeezed every drop out of it, Eg. 557; brottuaf herbúðunurn, Fms. x. 343.

γ. of things more or less surrounding the subject, corresp. to yfir or um; láta þeir þegar af sér tjöldin, break off, take down the tents in preparing for battle, Eg. 261; kyrtillinn rifnaði af honum, his coat burst, caused by the swollen body, 602; hann hafði leyst af sér skúa sína, he untied his shoes (but binda á sik), 716; Steinarr vildi slíta hann af sér, throw him off, of one clinging to one’s body, 747; tók Gísli þá af sér vápnin, took off his arms, Fms. vii. 39. Of putting off clothes; fara af kápu, Nj. 143; far þú eigi af brynjunni, Bs. i. 541; þá ætlaði Sigurðr at fara af brynjunni, id.; þá var Skarphéðinn flettr af klæðunum, Nj. 209: now more usually fara or klæðum, fötum, exuere, to undress.

δ. connected with út; föstudaginn for út herrinn af borginni, marched out of the town, Nj. 274; ganga út af kirkjunni, to go out of the church, now út úr, Fms. vii. 107: drekki hann af þeirri jörðunni, of something impregnated with the earth, Laekn. 402.

ε. more closely corresponding to frá, being in such cases a Latinism (now frá); bréf af páfa, a pope’s bull, Fms. x. 6; rit af hánum, letter from him, 623. 52; bréf af Magnúsi konungi, a letter from king Magnus, Bs. i. 712; farið þér á brautu af mér í eilífan eld, Hom. 143; brott af drottins augliti, Stj. 43.

ζ. denoting an uninterrupted continuity, in such phrases as land aflandi, from land to land, Eg. 343, Fas. ii. 539; skip af skipl. from ship to ship, Fms. v. 10; brann hvat af öðru, one after another, of an increasing fire, destroying everything, i. 128; brandr af brandi brenn, funi kveykist af funa, one from another, Hm. 56; hverr af öðrum, one after another, in succession, also hverr at öðrum, Eb. 272, 280 (where at in both passages).

2. metaph., at ganga af e-m dauðum, to go from, leave one dead on the spot, of two combatants; en hann segiz bani hins ef hann gekk af dauðum manni, Grág. ii. 88, Hkr. 1. 327; undr þykir mér er bróðir þinn vildi eigi taka af þér starf þetta, would not take this toil from thee, Nj. 77; þegnar hans glöddust af honum, were fain of him, Fms. x. 380; at koma þeim manni af sér er settr var á fé hans, to get rid of, Ld. 52; vil ek þú vinriir af þér skuldina, work off the debt, Njarð. 366; reka af sér, to repel, Sturl. ii. 219; hann á þá sonu er aldri munu af oss ganga, who will never leave us, whom we shall never get rid of, Fas. i. 280; leysa e-n af e-u, to relieve, 64; taka e-n af lífi, to kill, Eg. 48, 416, Nj. 126; af lífdögum, Fms. vii. 204; ek mun ná lögum af því máli, get the benefit of the law in this case, Eg. 468; muntu enga sætt af mér fá, no peace at my hand, 414; rísa af dauða, to rise from death, Fms. ii. 142; guð bætti honum þó af þessi sótt, healed him of this sickness, ix. 390; vakna af sýn, draumi, svefni, to awaken from a vision, dream, sleep, 655 xxxii. I, Gísl. 24, Eb. 192, Fas. i. 41. Rather with the notion out of, in the phrase af sér etc., e. g. sýna e-t af scr, to shew, exhibit a disposition for or against, Ld. 18; gera mikit af sér, to shew great prowess, Ísl. ii. 368; éf þú gerir eigi meira af þér um aðra leika, unless you make more of thyself, Edda 32; Svipdagr hafði mikit af sér gert, fought bravely, Fas. i. 41; góðr (illr) af sér, good ( bad) of oneself, by nature; mikill af sjálfum sér, proud, bold, stout, Nj. 15; ágætastr maðr af sjálfum sér, the greatest hero, Bret.: góðr af ser, excellent, Hrafn. 7; but, on the contrary, af sér kominn, ruinous, in decay; this phrase is used of old houses or buildings, as in Bs. i. 488 = Sturl. l. c.; af sér kominn af mæði can also be said of a man fallen off from what he used to be; kominn af fotum fram, off his legs from age, Sturl. i. 223, Korm. 154 (in a verse).

II. WITHOUT MOTION:

1. denoting direction from, but at the same time continuous connection with an object from which an act or thing proceeds, from; tengja skip hvárt fram af stafni annars, to tie the ships in a line, stem to stern, Fms. i. 157, xi. 111; svá at þeir tóku út af borðum, jutted out of the boards, of rafters or poles, iv. 49; stjarna ok af sem skaft, of a comet, ix. 482; lúka upp af hrossi, to open a gate from off a horse, Grág. ii. 264; hon svarar af sínu sæti sem álpt af baru, Fás. i. 186; þar er sjá mátti utau af firði, af þjóðleið, that might be seen from the fareway on the sea when sailing in the firth, Hkr. ii. 64; þá mun hringt af (better at) Burakirkju, of bells rung at the church, Fms. xi. 160; gengr þar af Meðalfellsströnd, projects from, juts out, of a promontory, Ld. 10.

2. denoting direction alone; upp af víkinni stóð borg mikil, a burg inland from the inlet, Eg. 161; lokrekkja innar af seti, a shut bed inward from the benches in the hall, Ísl. ii. 262; kapella upp af konungs herbergjum, upwards from, Fms. x. 153; vindr stóð af landi, the wind stood off the land, Bárð. 166.

β. metaph., stauda af e-u, vide VI. 4.

γ. ellipt., hallaði af norðr, of the channel, north of a spot, Boll. 348; also, austr af, suðr af, vestr af, etc.

3. denoting absence; þingheyendr skulu eigi vera um nótt af þingi ( away from the meeting), eðr lengr, þá eru þeir af þingi ( away from (be meeting) ef þeir eru or ( out of) þingmarki, Grág. i. 25; vera um nótt af várþingi, 115; meðan hann er af landi héðan, abroad, 150.

β. metaph., gud hvíldi af öllum verkum sínum á sjaunda degi, rested from his labours, Ver. 3.

4. denoting distance; þat er komit af þjóðleið, out of the high road, remote, Eg. 369; af þjóðbraut, Grág. ii. 264, i. 15; Otradalr (a farm) var mjök af vegi, far out of the way, Háv. 53.

B. TEMP, past, from, out of, beyond:

1. of a person’s age, in the sense of having past a period of life; af ómaga aldri, of age, able to support oneself, Grág. i. 243; af aeskualdri, stricken in years, having past the prime of life, Eg. 202; lítið af barnsaldri, still a child, Ld. 74; ek em nú af léttasia skeiði, no longer in the prime of life, Háv. 40.

2. of a part or period of time, past; eigi síðar en nótt er af þingi, a night of the session past, Grág. i. 101; þá er sjau vikur eru af sumri, seven weeks past of the summer, 182; tíu vikur af sumri, Íb. 10; var mikit af nótt, much of the night was past, Háv. 41; mikið af vetri, much of the winter was past, Fas. ii. 186; þriðjungr af nótt, a third of the night past, Fms. x. 160; stund af degi, etc.; tveir mánoðr af sumri, Gþl. 103.

3. in adverbial phrases such as, af stundu, soon; af bragði, at once; af tómi, at leisure, at ease; af nýju, again; af skyndingu, speedily; af bráðungu, in a hurry, etc.

C. In various other relations:

I. denoting the passage or transition of an object, concrete or abstract, of, from.

1. where a thing is received, derived from, conferred by a person or object; þiggja lið af e-m, to derive help from, Edda 26; taka traust af e-m, to receive support, comfort from, Fms. xi. 243; taka mála af e-m, to be in one’s pay, of a soldier, Eg. 266; halda land af e-m, to hold land of any one, 282; verða viss af e-m, to get information from, 57, Nj. 130; taka við sök af manni (a law term), to undertake a case, suit, Grág. i. 142; hafa umboð af e-m, to be another’s deputy, ii. 374; vera góðs (ills) maklegr af e-m, to deserve good (bad) of, Vd. 88 (old Ed., the new reads frá), Fs. 45; afla matar af eyjum, to derive supplies from, Eb. 12.

2. where an object is taken by force:

α. prop. out of a person’s hand; þú skalt hnykkja smíðit af honum, wrest it out of his hand, Nj. 32; cp. taka, þrífa, svipta e-u (e-t) af e-m, to wrest from.

β. metaph. of a person’s deprival of anything in general; hann tók af þér konuna, carried thy wife off, Nj. 33; tók Gunnarr af þér sáðland þitt, robbed thee of seedland, 103; taka af honum tignina, to depose, degrade him, Eg. 271; vinna e-t af e-m, to carry off by force of arms, conquer, Fms. iii. 29; drepa menn af e-m, for one, slay one’s man, Eg. 417; fell þar lið mart af Eyvindi, many of Eyvind’s people fell there, 261.

γ. in such phrases as, hyggja af e-u (v. afhuga), hugsa af e-u, to forget; hyggja af harmi; sjá af e-u, to lose, miss; var svá ástúðigt með þeim, at livargi þóttist mega af öðrum sjá, neither of them could take his eyes off the other, Sturl. i. 194; svá er mörg við ver sinn vær, at varla um sér hon af hoiuun nær, Skálda 163.

3. denoting forfeiture; þá eru þeir útlagir, ok af goðorði sínu, have forfeited their priesthood, Grág. i. 24; telja hann af ráðunum fjár síns alls, to oust one, on account of idiocy or madness, 176; verða af kaupi, to be off the bargain, Edda 26; þá skalt þú af allri fjárheimtunni, forfeit all the claim, Nj. 15; ek skal stefna þér af konunni, summon thee to forfeit, a case of divorce, id.; ella er hann af rettarfari um hana, has forfeited the suit, Grág. i. 381.

β. ellipt., af ferr eindagi ef, is forfeited, Grág. i. 140.

II. denoting relation of a part to a whole, off, of, Lat. de; höggva hönd, höfuð, fót af e-um, to cut one’s hand, head, foot off, Nj. 97, 92, Bs. i. 674; höggva spjót af skapti, to sever the blade from the shaft, 264; hann lét þá ekki hafa af föðurarfi sínum, nothing of their patrimony, Eg. 25; vil ek at þú takir slíkt sem þér líkar af varningi, take what you like of the stores, Nj. 4; at þú eignist slíkt af fé okkru sem þú vili, 94.

β. ellipt., en nú höfum vér kjörit, en þat er af krossinum, a slice of, Fms. vii. 89; Þórðr gaf Skólm frænda sínum af landnámi sínu, a part of, Landn. 211; hafði hann þat af hans eigu er hann vildi, Sturl. ii. 169; þar lá forkr einn ok brotið af endanum, the point broken off, Háv. 24, Sturl. i. 169.

γ. absol. off; beit hann höndina af, þar sem nú heitir úlfliðr, bit the hand off, Edda 17; fauk af höfuðit, the head flew off, Nj. 97; jafnt er sem þér synist, af er fótrinn, the foot is off, id.; af bæði eyru, both ears off, Vm. 29.

2. with the notion of—among; mestr skörungr af konum á Norðrlöndum, the greatest heroine in the North, Fms. i. 116; hinn efniligasti maðr af ungum mönnum í Austfjörðum, the most hopeful of youths in the Eastfirths, Njarð. 364; af ( among) öllurn hirðmönnuni virði konungr mest skáld sín, Eg. 27; ef hann vildi nokkura kaupa af þessum konum, Ld. 30; ör liggr þar útiá vegginum, ok er sú af þeirra örum, one of their own arrows, Nj. 115.

β. from, among, belonging to; guð kaus hana af ollum konum sér til móður, of the Virgin Mary, Mar. A. i. 27.

γ. metaph., kunna mikit (lítið) af e-u, to know much, little of, Bragi kann mest af skáldskap, is more cunning of poetry than any one else, Edda 17.

δ. absol. out of, before, in preference to all others; Gunnarr bauð þér góð boð, en þú vildir eingi af taka, you would choose none of them, Nj. 77; ráða e-t af, to decide; þó mun faðir minn mestu af ráða, all depends upon him, Ld. 22; konungr kveðst því mundu heldr af trúa, preferred believing that of the two, Eg. 55; var honum ekki vildara af ván, he could expect nothing better, 364.

3. with the additional sense of instrumentality, with; ferma skip af e-u, to freight a ship with, Eg. 364; hlaða mörg skip af korni, load many ships with corn, Fms. xi. 8; klyfja tvá hesta af mat, Nj. 74; var vágrinn skipaðr af herskipum, the bay was covered with war ships, 124; fylla ker af glóðum, fill it with embers, Stj. 319; fylla heiminn af sínu kyni, to fill the world with his offspring, Ver. 3.

III. denoting the substance of which a thing is made, of; used indifferently with ór, though ór be more frequent; þeir gerðu af honum jörðina, af blóði hans sæinn ok vötnin, of the creation of the world from the corpse of the giant Ymir; the poem Gm. 40, 41, constantly uses ór in this sense, just as in modern Icelandic, Edda 5; svá skildu þeir, at allir hlutir væri smíðaðir af nokkru efni, 147 (pref.); húsit var gert af timbrstokkum, built of trunks of timber, Eg. 233; hjöhin vóru af gulli, of gold, golden, Fms. i. 17; af osti, of cheese, but in the verse 1. c. ór osti, Fms. vi. 253; línklæði af lérepti, linen, Sks. 287.

2. metaph. in the phrases, göra e-t af e-n ( to dispose of), verða af ( become of), hvat hefir þú gört af Gunnari, what hast thou done with Gunnar? Njarð. 376; hvat af motrinuni er orðit, what has become of it? of a lost thing, Ld. 208; hverfr Óspakr á burt, svá eigi vita menn hvat af honum er orðit, what has become of him? Band. 5.

IV. denoting parentage, descent, origin, domicile, abode:

1. parentage, of, from, used indifferently with frá; ok eru af þeim komnir Gilsbekkingar, descend from them, but a little below—frá honum eru konmir Sturlungar, Eb. 338, cp. afkvæmi; af ætt Hörðakára, Fms. i. 287; kominn af Trojumönnum, xi. 416; af Ása-ætt (Kb. wrongly at), Edda I.

β. metaph., vera af Guði (theol.), of God, = righteous, 686 B. 9; illr ávöxtr af íllri rót, Fms. ii. 48; Asia er kölluð af nafni nokkurar konu, derives her name from, Stj. 67; af honum er bragr kallaðr skáldskapr, called after his name, Edda 17.

2. of domicile; af danskri tungu, of Danish or Scandinavian origin, speaking the Danish tongue, Grág. ii. 73; hvaðan af löndum, whence, native of what country? Ísl.

β. especially denoting a man’s abode, and answering to á and í, the name of the farm (or country) being added to proper names, (as in Scotland,) to distinguish persons of the same name; Hallr af Síðu, Nj. 189; Erlingr af Straumey, 273; Ástríðr af Djúpárbakka, 39; Gunnarr af Hlíðarenda (more usual frá); þorir haklangr konungr af Ögðum, king of Agdir, Eg. 35, etc.; cp. ór and frá.

V. denoting a person with whom an act, feeling, etc. originates, for the most part with a periphrastic passive:

1. by, the Old Engl. of; as, ek em sendr hingað af Starkaði ok sonum hans, sent hither by, Nj. 94; inna e-t af hendi, to perform, 257; þó at alþýða væri skírð af kennimönnum, baptized of, Fms. ii. 158; meira virðr af mönnum, higher esteemed, Ld. 158; ástsæll af landsmönnum, beloved, íb. 16; vinsæll af mönnum, Nj. 102; í allgóðu yfirlæti af þeim feðgum, hospitably treated by them, Eg. 170; var þá nokkut drukkið af alþjóð, there was somewhat hard drinking of the people, Sturl. iii. 229; mun þat ekki upp tekið af þeim sükudólgum mínum, they will not clutch at that, Nj. 257; ef svá væri í hendr þér búit af mér, if í had so made everything ready to thy hands, Ld. 130; þá varð fárætt um af föður hans, his father said little about it, Fms. ii. 154.

2. it is now also sometimes used as a periphrase of a nom., e. g. ritað, þýtt af e-m, written, translated, edited by, but such phrases scarcely occur in old writers.

VI. denoting cause, ground, reason:

1. originating from, on account of, by reason of; af frændsemis sökum, for kinship’s sake, Grág. ii. 72; ómáli af áverkum, speechless from wounds, 27; af manna völdum, by violence, not by natural accident, of a crime, Nj. 76; af fortölum Halls, through his pleading, 255; af ástsæld hans ok af tölum þeirra Sæmundar, by his popularity and the eloquence of S., Íb. 16; af ráðum Haralds konungs, by his contriving, Landn. 157; úbygðr af frosti ok kulda, because of frost and cold, Hkr. i. 5.

β. adverbially, af því, therefore, Nj. 78; af hví, why? 686 B. 9; þá verðr bóndi heiðinn af barni sínu, viz. if he does not cause his child to be christened, K. Þ. K. 20.

2. denoting instrumentality, by means of; af sinu fé, by one’s own means, Grág. i. 293; framfæra e-n af verkum sinum, by means of one’s own labour, K. Þ. K. 142; draga saman auð af sökum, ok vælum ok kaupum, make money by, 623. I; af sínum kostnaði, at hi s own expense, Hkr. i. 217.

β. absol., hún fellir á mik dropa svá heita at ek brenn af öll, Ld. 328; hann fékk af hina mestu sæmd, derived great honotur from it, Nj. 88; elli sótti á hendr honum svá at hann lagðist í rekkju af, he grew bedridden from age, Ld. 54; komast undan af hlaupi, escape by running, Fms. viii. 58; spinna garn af rokki, spin off a wheel (now, spinna á rokk), from a notion of instrumentality, or because of the thread being spun out (?), Eb. 92.

3. denoting proceeding, originating from; lýsti af höndum hennar, her hands spread beams of light, Edda 22; allir heimar lýstust ( were illuminated) af henni, id.; en er lýsti af degi, when the day broke forth, Fms. ii. 16; lítt var lýst af degi, the day was just beginning to break, Ld. 46; þá tók at myrkja af nótt, the ‘mirk-time’ of night began to set in, Eg. 230; tók þá brátt at myrkva af nótt, the night grew dark, Hkr. ii. 230.

4. metaph., standa, leiða, hljótast af, to be caused by, result from; opt hlýtst íllt af kvenna hjali, great mischief is wrought by women’s gossip (a proverb), Gísl. 15, 98; at af þeim mundi mikit mein ok úhapp standa, be caused by, Edda 18; kenna kulda af ráðum e-s, to feel sore from, Eb. 42; þó mun her hljótast af margs manns bani, Nj, 90.

5. in adverbial phrases, denoting state of mind; af mikilli æði, in fury, Nj. 116; af móð, in great emotion, Fms. xi. 221; af áhyggju, with concern, i. 186; af létta, frankly, iii. 91; af viti, collectedly, Grág. ii. 27; af heilu, sincerely, Eg. 46; áf fári, in rage; af æðru, timidly, Nj. (in a verse); af setning, composedly, in tune, Fms. iii. 187; af mikilli frægð, gallantly, Fas. i. 261; af öllu afli, with all might, Grág. ii. 41; af riki, violently, Fbr. (in a verse); af trúnaði, confidently, Grág. i. 400.

VII. denoting regard to, of, concerning, in respect of, as regards:

1. with verbs, denoting to tell of, be informed, inquire about, Lat. de; Dioscorides segir af grasi því, speaks of, 655 xxx. 5; er menn spurðu af landinu, inquired about it, Landn. 30; halda njósn af e-u, Nj. 104; er þat skjótast þar af at segja, Eg. 546, Band. 8.

β. absol., hann mun spyrja, hvárt þér sé nokkut af kunnigt hversu for með okkr, whether you know anything about, how, Nj. 33; halda skóla af, to hold a school in a science, 656 A. i. 19 (sounds like a Latinism); en ek gerða þik sera mestan mann af öllu, in respect of all, that you should get all the honour of it, Nj. 78.

2. with adjectives such as mildr, illr, góðrafe-u, denoting disposition or character in respect to; alira manna mildastr af fo, very liberal, often-banded, Fms. vii. 197; mildr af gulli, i. 33; góðr af griðum, merciful, Al. 33; íllr af mat en mildr af gulli, Fms. i. 53; fastr af drykk, close, stingy in regard to, Sturl. ii. 125; gat þess Hildigunnr at þú mundir góðr af hestinum, that you would be good about the horse, Nj. 90, cp. auðigr at, v. at, which corresponds to the above phrases; cp. also the phrase af sér above, p. 4, col. I, ll. 50 sqq.

VIII. periphrasis of a genitive (rare); provincialis af öllum Predikaraklaustrum, Fms. x. 76; vera af hinum mesta fjandskap, to breathe deep hatred to, be on bad terms with, ix. 220; af hendi, af hálfu e-s, on one’s behalf, v. those words.

IX. in adverbial phrases; as, af launungu, secretly; af hljóði, silently; v. those words.

β. also used absolutely with a verb, almost adverbially, nearly in the signification off, away; hann bað þá róa af fjörðinn, pass the firth swiftly by rowing, row the firth off, Fms. ix. 502; var pá af farit þat seni skerjóttast var, was past, sailed past, Ld. 142; ok er þeir höfðu af fjórðung, past one fourth of the way, Dropl. 10: skína af, to clear up, of the skv, Eb. 152; hence in common language, skína af sér, when the sun breaks forth: sofa af nóttina, to sleep it away, Fms. ii. 98; leið af nóttin, the night past away, Nj. 53; dvelja af stundir, to kill the time, Band. 8; drepa af, to kill; láta af, to slaughter, kill off;

γ. in exclamations; af tjöldin, off with the awnings, Bs. i. 420, Fins, ix. 49.

δ. in the phrases, þar af, thence; hér af, hence, Fms. ii. 102; af fram, straight on, Nj. 144; now, á fram, on, advance.

X. it often refers to a whole sentence or to an adverb, not only like other prepp. to hér, hvar, þar, but also redundantly to hvaðan, héðan, þaðan, whence, hence, thence.

2. the preposition may sometimes be repeated, once elliptically or adverbially, and once properly, e. g. en er af var borit at borðinu, the cloth was taken off from the table, Nj. 176; Guð þerrir af (off, away) hvert tár af ( from) augum heilagra manna, God wipes off every tear from the eyes of his saints, 655 xx. vii. 17; skal þó fyrst bætr af lúka af fé vegaiula, pay off, from, Gþl. 160, the last af may be omitted—var þá af borið borðinu—and the prep. thus be separated from its case, or it may refer to some of the indecl. relatives er or sem, the prep. hvar, hér, þar being placed behind them without a case, and referring to the preceding relative, e. g. oss er þar mikit af sagt auð þeim, we have been told much about these riches, Band. 24; er þat skjótast þar af at segja, in short, shortly. Eg. 546; þaðan af veit ek, thence í infer, know, Fms. i. 97.

XI. it is moreover connected with a great many verbs besides those mentioned above, e. g. bera af, to excel, whence afbragð, afbrigði; draga af, to detract, deduct, hence afdráttr; veita ekki af, to be hard with; ganga at, to be left, hence afgangr; standast af um e-t, to stand, how matters stand; sem af tekr, at a furious rate; vita af, to be conscious, know about (vide VII).

D. As a prefix to compounds distinction is to be made between:

I. af privativum, denoting diminution, want, deduction, loss, separation, negation of, etc., answering indifferently to Lat. ab-, de-, ex-, dis-, and rarely to re- and se-, v. the following COMPDS, such as segja, dicere, but afsegja, negare; rækja, colere, but afrækja, negligere; aflaga, contra legem; skapligr, normalis, afskapligr, deformis; afvik, recessus; afhús, afhellir, afdalr, etc.

II. af intensivum, etymologically different, and akin to of, afr-, e. g. afdrykkja = ofdrykkja, inebrietas; afbrýði, jealously; afbendi, tenesmus; afglapi, vir fatuus, etc. etc. Both the privative and the intensive af may be contracted into á, esp. before a labial f, m, v, e. g. á fram = af fram; ábrýði = afbrýði; ávöxtr = afvöxtr; áburðr = afburðr; ávíta = afvíta (?). In some cases dubious. With extenuated and changed vowel; auvirðiligr or övirðiligr, depreciated, = afv- etc., v. those words.

bjó, to fit out, furnish or equip completely, at albúa kirkju, N. G. L. i. 387; but spec. in part. albúinn, completely equipped, esp. of ships bound for sea [where bound is a corruption of boun, the old English and Scottish equivalent of buinn. Thus a ship is bound for sea or outward bound or homeward bound, when she is completely fitted and furnished for either voyage; windbound is a different word, where bound is the past part. of bind. Again, a bride is boun when she has her wedding dress on; v. below, búa and búask, which last answers to busk]: nú byst hann út til Íslands, ok er þeir vóru albúnir, Nj. 10; ok er Björn var a. ok byrr rann á, Eg. 158, 194: a. sem til bardaga, all-armed for the battle, Fms. xi. 22.

β. in the phrase, a. e-s, quite ready, willing to do a thing; hann kvaðst þess a., Nj. 100, Eg. 74: also with infin., a. at ganga héðan, ready to part, Fms. vii. 243.

adv. else, otherwise; hvárt er hann vill… eðr a. vill hann, either he should prefer …, K. Á. 58.

f. thanks, gratitude, satisfaction, pleasure;

kunna e-m aufúsu fyrir e-t, to be thankful, obliged to one, for a thing;

gefa e-m aufúsu, to thank;

e-m er aufusa á e-u, one is pleased, gratified, with;

ef yðr er þar nökkur aufusa á, if it be any pleasure to you;

var mönnum mikil aufusa á því, were much pleased by it.

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u, f., in Norse MSS. spelt afusa, Dipl. i. 3; avusa, Str. 27, 54, Sks. 775 B; afuusa, N. G. L. i. 446. In Icel. always spelt with au, av, or ö, by changing the vowel, öfusa, aufusa, Ó. H. 155, where, however, some MSS. have aufussa, avfusa, Fms. viii. 39, 250; öfusa, Fs. 123; ofusa, 677. 3, Band. 6; öfussa, Bs. i. 481: the change of vowel is caused by the following f (v). The word is now quite obsolete, and its etymology is somewhat uncertain; it may be qs. á-fúss, or af-fúss, an ‘af-’ intens. and ‘fúss,’ willing, this last suggestion would best suit the Norse form. Its sense is thanks, gratitude, satisfaction, pleasure, and is almost exclusively used either as a supplement to ‘þökk’ or in such phrases as, kunna e-m au., or e-m er au. á e-u, to be pleased, gratified with; þakka með mikilli a., to thank heartily, Str. 27; ef yðr er þar nokkur a. á, if it be any pleasure to you, Fms. ix. 495; kunna e-m au. e-s, or with ‘at,’ to be thankful, Fb. ii. 257, Eg. 111, Ó. H. 56, Fms. viii. 1. c., Bs. i. 481, H. E. i. 432, Eg. 522, Sturl. iii. 125, Fær. 209, 677. 3; leggja at móti þökk ok au., Ó. H. 155; viljum vér au. gefa þeim góðum mönnum, we will thank them, Fms. viii. 250; var mönnum mikil ö. á því, much pleased by it, Fs. 123; hafa í móti þökk ok ö., Band. 19 new Ed.

COMPDS: aufusugestr, aufusuorð, aufvisusvipr.

* * *

(gen. pl. augna), n.

1) eye;

lúka (bregða) upp augum, bregða augum í sundr, to open (lift up) the eyes;

lúka aptr augum, to shift the eyes;

renna (bregða, leiða) augum til e-s, to turn the eyes to;

leiða e-n augum, to measure one with the eyes;

berja augum í e-t, to take into consideration;

koma augum á e-t, to set eyes on, become aware of;

hafa auga á e-u, t have, keep, an eye upon;

segja e-t í augu upp, to one’s face, right in the face;

unna e-m sem augum í höfði sér, as one’s own eye-balls;

e-m vex e-t í augu, one has scruples about;

náit er nef augum, the nose is neighbor to the eyes;

gløggt er gests augat, a guest’s eye is sharp;

mörg eru dags augu, the day has many eyes;

eigi leyna augu, ef ann kona manni, the eyes cannot hide it if a woman loves a man;

2) hole, aperture in a needle (nálarauga), in a millstone (kvarnarauga) or an axe-head;

3) pit full of water.

* * *

n., gen. pl. augna, [Lat. oculus, a dimin. of an obsolete ocus; Gr. οφθαλμός (Boeot. οκταλμός); Sanskr. aksha: the word is common to Sanskrit with the Slavonic, Greek, Roman, and Teutonic idioms: Goth. augo; Germ, auge; A. S. eâge; Engl. eye; Scot. ee; Swed. öga; Dan. öje, etc. Grimm s. v. suggests a relationship to Lat. acies, acutus, etc. The letter n appears in the plur. of the mod. northern languages; the Swedes say ‘ögon,’ oculi, the Danes ‘öjne;’ with the article ‘ögonen’ and ‘öjnene;’ Old Engl. ‘eyne;’ Scot. ‘een’]

I. an eye. It is used in Icel. in a great many proverbs, e. g. betr sjá augu en auga, ‘two eyes see better than one,’ i. e. it is good to yield to advice: referring to love, unir auga meðan á sér, the eye is pleased whilst it can behold (viz. the object of its affection), Fas. i. 125, cp. Völs. rím. 4. 189; eigi leyna augu, ef ann kona manni, the eyes cannot bide it, if a woman love a man, i. e. they tell their own tale, Ísl. ii. 251. This pretty proverb is an απ. λεγ. l. c. and is now out of use; it is no doubt taken from a poem in a dróttkvætt metre, (old proverbs have alliteration, but neither rhymes nor assonance, rhyming proverbs are of a comparatively late date): medic., eigi er sá heill er í augun verkir, Fbr. 75; sá drepr opt fæti ( slips) er augnanna missir, Bs. i. 742; hætt er einu auganu nema vel fari, he who has only one eye to lose will take care of it (comm.); húsbóndans auga sér bezt, the master’s eye sees best; glögt er gests augat, a guest’s eye is sharp; mörg eru dags augu, the day has many eyes, i. e. what is to be hidden must not be done in broad daylight, Hm. 81; náið er nef augum, the nose is near akin to the eyes (tua res agitur paries quum proximus ardet), Nj. 21; opt verðr slíkt á sæ, kvað selr, var skotinn í auga, this often happens at sea, quoth the seal, when he was shot in the eye, of one who is in a scrape, Fms. viii. 402. In many phrases, at unna ( to love) e-m sem augum í höfði sér, as one’s own eye-balls, Nj. 217; þótti mér slökt it sætasta ljós augna minna, by his death the sweetest light of my eyes was quenched, 187: hvert grætr þú nú Skarphéðinn? eigi er þat segir Skarphéðinn, en hitt er satt at súrnar í augum, the eyes smart from smoke, 200: renna, líta augum, to seek with the eyes, to look upon: it is used in various connections, renna, líta ástaraugum, vánaraugum, vinaraugum, trúaraugum, öfundaraugum, girndarauga, with eyes of love, hope, friendship, faith, envy, desire: mæna a. denotes an upward or praying look; stara, fixed; horfa, attentive; lygna, blundskaka, stupid or slow; blína, glápa, góna, vacant or silly; skima, wandering; hvessa augu, a threatening look; leiða e-n a., to measure one with the eyes; gjóta, or skjóta hornauga, or skjóta a. í skjálg, to throw a side glance of dislike or ill-will; gjóta augum is always in a bad sense; renna, líta mostly in a good sense: gefa e-u auga, oculum adjicere alicui; hafa auga á e-u, to keep an eye on it; segja e-m e-t í augu upp, to one’s face, Orkn. 454; at augum, adverb. with open eyes, Hervar. S. (in a verse), etc. As regards various movements of the eyes; ljúka upp augum, to open the eyes; láta aptr augun, to shut the eyes; draga auga í pung, to draw the eye into a purse, i. e. shut one eye; depla augum, to blink; at drepa titlinga (Germ. äugeln, blinzen), to wink, to kill tits with the suppressed glances of the eye; glóðarauga, a suffusion on the eye, hyposphagma; kýrauga. proptosis; vagl á auga, a beam in the eye; skjálgr, Lat. limus; ský, albugo; tekinn til augnanna, with sunken eyes, etc., Fél. ix. 192; a. bresta, in death: hafa stýrur í augum, to have prickles in the eyes, when the eyes ache for want of sleep: vatna músum, ‘to water mice,’ used esp. of children weeping silently and trying to hide their tears. As to the look or expression of the eyes there are sundry metaph. phrases, e. g. hafa fékróka í augum, to have wrinkles at the corners of the eyes, of a shrewd money getting fellow, Fms. ii. 84, cp. Orkn. 330, 188, where krókauga is a cognom.; kvenna-króka, one insinuating with the fair sex; hafa ægishjalm í augum is a metaphor of one with a piercing, commanding eye, an old mythical term for the magical power of the eye, v. Grimm’s D. Mythol. under Ægishjalmr: vera mjótt á milli augnanna, the distance between the eyes being short, is a popular saying, denoting a close, stingy man, hence mjóeygr means close: e-m vex e-t í augu (now augum), to shrink back from, of a thing waxing and growing before one’s eyes so that one dares not face it. As to the shape, colour, etc. of the eye, vide the adj. ‘eygr’ or ‘eygðr’ in its many compds. Lastly we may mention the belief, that when the water in baptism touches the eyes, the child is thereby in future life prevented from seeing ghosts or goblins, vide the words úfreskr and skygn. No spell can touch the human eye; en er harm sá augu hans (that of Loki in the shape of a bird), þá grunaði hann (the giant) at maðr mundi vera, Edda 60; í bessum birni þykist hón kenna augu Bjarnar konungs sonar, Fas. i. 51, vide Ísl. Þjóðs.

II. meton. and metaph. auga is used in a great many connections:

α. astron.; þjaza augu, the eyes of the giant Thiazi, is a constellation, probably the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux; the story is told in the Edda 47, cp. Harbarðsljóð 19; (Snorri attributes it to Odin, the poem to Thor.)

β. botan., auga = Lat. gemma, Hjalt. 38; kattarauga, cat’s eye, is the flower forget-me-not.

γ. the spots that form the numbers on dice, Magn. 530.

δ. the hole in a millstone; kvarnarauga, Edda 79, 221, Hkr. i. 121: the opening into which an axe handle is fastened, Sturl. ii. 91: a pit full of water, Fs. 45: nálarauga, a needle’s eye: vindauga, wind’s eye or window (which orig. had no glass in it), A. S. eag-dura (eye-door); also gluggi, q. v.: gleraugu, spectacles.

ε. anatom., the pan of the hip joint, v. augnakarl, Fms. iii. 392: gagnaugu, temples.

ζ. hafsauga, the bottom of the ocean, in the popular phrase, fara út í hafsauga, descendere ad tartara.

η. poët. the sun is called heimsauga, dagsauga, Jónas 119.

COMPDS either with sing. auga or pl. augna; in the latter case mod. usage sometimes drops the connecting vowel a, e. g. augn-dapr, augn-depra, augn-fagr, etc. auga-bragð (augna-), n. the twinkling of an eye, Hm. 77; á einu a., in the twinkling of an eye, Ver. 32, Edda (pref.) 146, Sks. 559, Rb. 568: a glance, look, snart a., Fms. ii. 174; mikit a., v. 335; úfagrligt a., Fs. 43; hafa a. af e-u, to cast a look at, Fbr. 49, Fms. xi. 424: in the phrase, at hafa e-n (or verða) at augabragði, metaph. to make sport of, to mock, deride, gaze at, Stj. 627, 567, Hm. 5, 29. auga-brun, f. the eye-brow. auga-staðr, m. an eye-mark; hafa a. á e-u, to mark with the eye. auga-steinn (augna-), m. the eye-ball, Hkr. iii. 365, Fms. v. 152. augna-bending, f. a warning glance, Pr. 452. augna-blik, n. mod. = augnabragð, s. augna-bólga, u, f. ophthalmia. augna-brá, f. the eye-lid, D. N. i. 216. augna-fagr and aug-fagr, adj. fair-eyed, Fas. ii. 365, Fms. v. 200. augna-fró, f. a plant, eye-bright, euphrasia, also augna-gras, Hjalt. 231. augna-fræ, n. lychnis alpina. augna-gaman, n. a sport, delight for the eyes to gaze at, Ld. 202, Bær. 17, Fsm. 5 (love, sweetheart). augna-gróm, n. (medic.) a spot in the eye; metaph., ekki a., no mere speck, of whatever can easily be seen. augna-hár, n. an eye-lash. augna-hvannr, m. the eye-lid. augna-hvita, u, f. albugo. augna-karl, n. the pan of the hip joint; slíta or slitna or augnaköllunum, Fas. iii. 392. augna-kast, n. a wild glance, Barl. 167. augna-kláði, a, m. psorophthalmi. augna-krókr, n. the corner of the eye. augna-lag, n. a look, Ld. 154. augna-lok, n. ‘eye-covers,’ eye-lids. augna-mein, n. a disease of the eye. augna-mjörkvi, a, m. dimness of the eye, Pr. 471. augna-ráð, n. expression of the eye. augna-skot, n. a look askance, Gþl. 286, Fs. 44 (of cats). augna-slím, n. glaucoma. augna-staðr, m. the socket of the eye, Magn. 532. augna-sveinn, m. a lad leading a blind man, Str. 46. augn-tepra, u, f. hippus. augna-topt, f. the socket of the eye. augna-verkr, m. pain in the eye, Hkr. ii. 257, Bs. i. 451, Pr. 471, Bjarn. 58. augna-vik, n. pl. = augnakrókr. augna-þungi, a, m. heaviness of the eye, Hkr. ii. 257.

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(eyk, jók, jókum, aukinn), v.

1) to augment, increase (auka virðing e-s; auka ætt sína; auka vandræði);

to prolong (auka þing);

aukanda ferr am e-t, something goes on increasing;

eigi er þat aukit (it is no exaggeration) þó at hann sé sagðr ríkastr maðr á Íslandi;

orðum aukit, exaggerated;

aukin ( more than) þrjú hundruð manna;

2) to add, with dat. (jók ek því es mér varð síðar kunnara);

auka synd á synd ofan, to heap sin upon sin;

auka e-u við, to add;

aukast orðum við, to come to words, to converse;

with acc., auka ný vandræði (= nýjum vandræðum) á hin fornu, to add new difficulties to old ones;

impers., jók stórum hans harm, his grief increased greatly;

3) to surpass, exceed;

þat er eykr sex aura, þá á konungr hálft þat er eykr, if it exceeds six ounces, the king takes half the excess.

(að), v. (a Norse form) = the preceding.

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jók, jóku (mod. juku), aukit [Lat. augere; Gr. αυξειν; Ulf. aukan; A. S. eacan or ecan; Engl. to eche or eke; O. H. G. auhon]; pres. ind. eyk; subj. eyki or yki, mod. jyki. A weak form (aukar, aukaði, aukat) also occurs, esp. in Norse, and (as a Norwegianism) in Icel. writers, esp. after the year 1260, e. g. aukaðu, augebant, Barl. 138; aukaðist, augebatur, aukaði, augebat. Barl. 180, Fms. i. 140, 184, x. 21 (MSS. aukuðu or aukaði, and some even jóku), Róm. 234; subj. aukaðist, augeretur, Fms. vii. 158 in three Icel. vellum MSS.; only one has ykist, the strong genuine form. Pres. aukar, auget, and aukast, augetur, instead of eykr, eykst, Stj. 32: part. aukat (= aukit), O. H. L. 46; aukuð, aucta, Fms. x. 236. Even Snorri in the Edda has aukaðist, p. 3, both in the vellum MSS. Ob. and Kb.,—a form which is thoroughly unclassical; the poets use the strong form, and so Ari, who has jókk = jók ek, in the preface to Íb.;—so also the great bulk of the classical literature. Since the Reformation the strong form is the only one used either in speaking or writing.

I. Lat. augere, to augment, increase, with acc., eykr hann þar ætt sína, Fms. iii. 82; jók Njáll ekki hjón sín, Nj. 59; hét hann þeim at auka virðing þeirra, Eg. 33; þessi orð jóku mjök sök Adams, Sks. 542; jók nafn hans, Hom. 51, Nj. 33; var þá síðan aukuð (= aukin) veizlan, Fms. x. 236: absol., þat hálft er eykr, that half which is over and above, Js. 75: in the phrase, aukanda ferr um e-t, a thing is increasing, Nj. 139.

II. Lat. addere, to add to the whole of a thing; with the thing added in the dat., ok jókk (= jók ek) því es mér varð síðan kunnara, Íb. (pref.): impers., jók miklu við, increased greatly, Ld. 54; þá eykst enn ellefu nóttum við, eleven nights are still added, Rb. 28: followed by ‘við,’ auka e-u við e-t, to add to it, Nj. 41; ‘til’ is rare and unclassical, and seems almost a Danism, as ‘föie til,’ þetta til aukist, Vm. 7: auka synd (dat.) á synd (acc.) ofan, to heap sin upon sin, Stj. 274: aukast orðum við, to come to words, speak, Eg. ch. 58, v. l. (rare); ef þú eykr orði, if tbou say’st a word more, Lex. Poët.

β. with acc. (a rare and unclassical Latinism), auka ny vandræði (= nyjum vandræðum) á hin fornu, Bs. i. 751.

γ. impers. in the phrase, aukar á, it increases, Róm. 234.

III. to surpass, exceed; þat er eykr sex aura, þá á konungr hálft þat er eykr, if it exceeds six ounces, the king takes half the excess, N. G. L. i. 281, Js. § 71; en ármaðr taki þat er aukit er, what is over and above, N. G. L. i. 165. Esp. used adverbially in the part. pass, aukit, aukin, more than, above, of numbers; aukin þrjú hundruð manna, three hundred men well told, Eg. 530, Fms. ix. 524, v. l.; með aukit hundrað manna, x. 184, Ld. 196; aukin hálf vætt, Grett. 141 new Ed.

β. in the phrases, þat er (eigi) aukat (aukit), it is no exaggeration, Jd. verse 22, the Ed. in Fms. xi. 169 has ‘árla’ (a false reading); pat er aukat, O. H. L. 1. c.; orðum aukið, exaggerated, Thom. 73.

* * *

a negative suffix to verbs, not;

era útmakligt, at it is not unmeet that.

* * *

á, prep., often used elliptically, or even adverbially, [Goth. ana; Engl. on; Germ. an. In the Scandinavian idioms the liquid n is absorbed. In English the same has been supposed to happen in adverbial phrases, e. g. ‘along, away, abroad, afoot, again, agate, ahead, aloft, alone, askew, aside, astray, awry,’ etc. It is indeed true that the Ormulum in its northern dialect freq. uses o, even in common phrases, such as ‘o boke, o land, o life, o slæpe, o strande, o write, o naht, o loft,’ etc., v. the glossary; and we may compare on foot and afoot, on sleep (Engl. Vers. of Bible) and asleep; A. S. a-butan and on-butan (about); agen and ongean (again, against); on bæc, aback; on life, alive; on middan, amid. But it is more than likely that in the expressions quoted above, as well as in numberless others, as well in old as in modern English, the English a- as well as the o- of the Ormulum and the modern Scottish and north of England o- are in reality remains of this very á pronounced au or ow, which was brought by the Scandinavian settlers into the north of England. In the struggle for supremacy between the English dialects after the Conquest, the Scandinavian form á or a won the day in many cases to the exclusion of the Anglo-Saxon on. Some of these adverbs have representatives only in the Scandinavian tongues, not in Anglo-Saxon; see below, with dat. B. II, C. VII; with acc. C. I. and VI. The prep. á denotes the surface or outside; í and ór the inside; at, til, and frá, nearness measured to or from an object: á thus answers to the Gr. επί; the Lat. in includes á and i together.]

With dat. and acc.: in the first case with the notion of remaining on a place, answering to Lat. in with abl.; in the last with the notion of motion to the place, = Lat. in with acc.

WITH DAT.

A. Loc.

I. generally on, upon; á gólfi, on the floor, Nj. 2; á hendi, on the hand (of a ring), 48, 225; á palli, 50; á steini, 108; á vegg, 115; á sjá ok á landi, on sea and land. In some instances the distinction between d and i is loose and wavering, but in most cases common sense and usage decide; thus ‘á bók’ merely denotes the letters, the penmanship, ‘í’ the contents of a book; mod. usage, however, prefers ‘í,’ lesa í bók, but stafr á bók. Old writers on the other hand; á bókum Enskum, in English books, Landn. 24, but í Aldafars bók, 23 (in the book De Mensurâ Temporum, by Bede), cp. Grág. i. 76, where á is a false reading instead of at; á bréfi, the contents of a letter: of clothing or arms, mítr á höfði, sverð á hlið, mitre on head, sword on side, Fms. i. 266, viii. 404; hafa lykil á sér, on one’s person, 655 xxvii. 22; möttull á tyglum, a mantle hanging on (i. e. fastened by) laces, Fms. vii. 201: á þingi means to be present at a meeting; í þingi, to abide within a jurisdiction; á himni, á jörðu, on (Engl. in) heaven and earth, e. g. in the Lord’s Prayer, but í helviti, in hell; á Gimli, Edda (of a heavenly abode); á báti, á skipi denote crew and cargo, ‘í’ the timber or materials of which a ship is built, Eg. 385; vera í stafni á skipi, 177: á skógi, to be abroad in a wood (of a hunter, robber, deer); but to be situated (a house), at work (to fell timber), í skógi, 573, Fs. 5, Fms. iii. 122, viii. 31, xi. 1, Glúm. 330, Landn. 173; á mörkinni, Fms. i. 8, but í mörk, of a farm; á firðinum means lying in a firth, of ships or islands (on the surface of the water), þær eyjar liggja á Breiðafirði, Ld. 36; but í firði, living in a district named Firth; á landi, Nj. 98, Fms. xi. 386.

II. á is commonly used in connection with the pr. names or countries terminating in ‘land,’ Engl. in, á Englandi, Írlandi, Skotlandi, Bretlandi, Saxlandi, Vindlandi, Vínlandi, Grænalandi, Íslandi, Hálogalandi, Rogalandi, Jótlandi, Frakklandi, Hjaltlandi, Jamtalandi, Hvítramannalandi, Norðrlöndum, etc., vide Landn. and the index to Fms. xii. In old writers í is here very rare, in modern authors more frequent; taste and the context in many instances decide. An Icelander would now say, speaking of the queen or king, ‘á Englandi,’ ruling over, but to live ‘í Englandi,’ or ‘á Englandi;’ the rule in the last case not being quite fixed.

2. in connection with other names of countries: á Mæri, Vörs, Ögðum, Fjölum, all districts of Norway, v. Landn.; á Mýrum (in Icel.), á Finnmörk, Landn., á Fjóni (a Danish island); but í Danmörk, Svíþjóð (á Svíþjóðu is poët., Gs. 13).

3. before Icel. farms denoting open and elevated slopes and spaces (not too high, because then ‘at’ must be used), such as ‘staðr, völlr, ból, hjalli, bakki, heimr, eyri,’ etc.; á Veggjum, Landn. 69; á Hólmlátri, id.: those ending in ‘-staðr,’ á Geirmundarstöðum, Þórisstöðum, Jarðlangsstöðum…, Landn.: ‘-völlr,’ á Möðruvöllum: á Fitjum (the farm) í Storð (the island), í Fenhring (the island) á Aski (the farm), Landn., Eg.: ‘-nes’ sometimes takes á, sometimes í (in mod. usage always ‘í’), á Nesi, Eb. 14, or í Krossnesi, 30; in the last case the notion of island, νησος, prevails: so also, ‘fjörðr,’ as, þeir börðust á Vigrafirði (of a fight o n the ice), Landn. 101, but orusta í Hafrsfirði, 122: with ‘-bær,’ á is used in the sense of a farm or estate, hón sa á e-m bæ mikit hús ok fagrt, Edda 22; ‘í bæ’ means within doors, of the buildings: with ‘Bær’ as pr. name Landn. uses ‘í,’ 71, 160, 257, 309, 332.

4. denoting on or just above; of the sun, when the time is fixed by regarding the sun in connection with points in the horizon, a standing phrase in Icel.; sól á gjáhamri, when the sun is on the crag of the Rift, Grág. i. 26, cp. Glúm. 387; so, brú á á, a bridge on a river, Fms. viii. 179, Hrafn. 20; taka hús á e-m, to surprise one, to take the house over his head, Fms. i. 11.

III. á is sometimes used in old writers where we should now expect an acc., esp. in the phrase, leggja sverði (or the like) á e-m, or á e-m miðjum, to stab, Eg. 216, Gísl. 106, Band. 14; þá stakk Starkaðr sprotanum á konungi, then Starkad stabbed the king with the wand, Fas. iii. 34; bíta á kampi (vör), to bite the lips, as a token of pain or emotion, Nj. 209, 68; taka á e-u, to touch a thing, lay hold of it, v. taka; fá á e-u, id. (poët.); leggja hendr á (better at) síðum, in wrestling, Fms. x. 331; koma á úvart á e-m, to come on one unawares, ix. 407 (rare).

B. TEMP. of a particular point or period of time, at, on, in:

I. gener. denoting during, in the course of; á nótt, degi, nætrþeli …, Bs. i. 139; or spec. adding a pron. or an adject., á næsta sumri, the next summer; á því ári, þingi, misseri, hausti, vári, sumri …, during, in that year …, Bs. i. 679, etc.; á þrem sumrum, in the course of three summers, Grág. i. 218; á þrem várum, Fms. ii. 114; á hálfs mánaðar fresti, within half a month’s delay, Nj. 99; á tvítugs, sextugs … aldri, á barns, gamals aldri, etc., at the age of …, v. aldr: á dögum e-s, in the days of, in his reign or time, Landn. 24, Hrafn. 3, Fms. ix. 229.

II. used of a fixed recurrent period or season; á várum, sumrum, haustum, vetrum, á kveldum, every spring, summer …, in the evenings, Eg. 711, Fms. i. 23, 25, vi. 394, Landn. 292: with the numeral adverbs, cp. Lat. ter in anno, um sinn á mánuði, ári, once a month, once a year, where the Engl. a is not the article but the preposition, Grág. i. 89.

III. of duration; á degi, during a whole day, Fms. v. 48; á sjau nóttum, Bárð. 166; á því meli, during that time, in the meantime, Grág. i. 259.

IV. connected with the seasons (á vetri, sumri, vári, hausti), ‘á’ denotes the next preceding season, the last winter, summer, autumn, Eb. 40, 238, Ld. 206: in such instances ‘á’ denotes the past, ‘at’ the future, ‘í’ the present; thus í vetri in old writers means this winter; á vetri, last winter; at vetri, next winter, Eb. 68 (in a verse), etc.

C. In various other relations, more or less metaphorically, on, upon, in, to, with, towards, against:

I. denoting object, in respect of, against, almost periphrastically; dvelja á náðum e-s, under one’s protection, Fms. i. 74; hafa metnað á e-u, to be proud of, to take pride in a thing, 127.

2. denoting a personal relation, in; bæta e-t á e-m, to make amends, i. e. to one personally; misgöra e-t á e-m, to inflict wrong on one; hafa elsku (hatr) á e-m, to bear love ( hatred) to one, Fms. ix. 242; hefna sín á e-m, to take revenge on one’s person, on anyone; rjúfa sætt á e-m, to break truce on the person of any one, to offend against his person, Nj. 103; hafa sár á sér, 101; sjá á e-m, to read on or in one’s face; sér hann á hverjum manni hvárt til þín er vel eðr illa, 106; var þat brátt auðséð á hennar högum, at …, it could soon be seen in all her doings, that …, Ld. 22.

3. also generally to shew signs of a thing; sýna fáleika á sér, to shew marks of displeasure, Nj. 14, Fs. 14; taka vel, illa, lítt, á e-u, to take a thing well, ill, or indifferently, id.; finna á sér, to feel in oneself; fann lítt á honum, hvárt …, it could hardly be seen in his face, whether …, Eb. 42; líkindi eru á, it is likely, Ld. 172; göra kost á e-u, to give a choice, chance of it, 178; eiga vald á e-u, to have power over …, Nj. 10.

II. denoting encumbrance, duty, liability; er fimtardómsmál á þeim, to be subject to …, Nj. 231; the phrase, hafa e-t á hendi, or vera á hendi e-m, on one’s hands, of work or duty to be done; eindagi á fé, term, pay day, Grág. i. 140; ómagi (skylda, afvinna) á fé, of a burden or encumbrance, D. I. and Grág. in several passages.

III. with a personal pronoun, sér, mér, honum …, denoting personal appearance, temper, character, look, or the like; vera þungr, léttr … á sér, to be heavy or light, either bodily or mentally; þungr á sér, corpulent, Sturl. i. 112; kátr ok léttr á sér, of a gay and light temper, Fms. x. 152; þat bragð hafði hann á sér, he looked as if, … the expression of his face was as though …, Ld., cp. the mod. phrase, hafa á sér svip, bragð, æði, sið, of one’s manner or personal appearance, to bear oneself as, or the like; skjótr (seinn) á fæti, speedy ( slow) of foot, Nj. 258.

IV. as a periphrasis of the possessive pronoun connected with the limbs or parts of the body. In common Icel. such phrases as my hands, eyes, head … are hardly ever used, but höfuð, eyru, hár, nef, munnr, hendr, fætr … á mér; so ‘í’ is used of the internal parts, e. g. hjarta, bein … í mér; the eyes are regarded as inside the body, augun í honum: also without the possessive pronoun, or as a periphrasis for a genitive, brjóstið á e-m, one’s breast, Nj. 95, Edda 15; súrnar í augum, it smarts in my eyes, my eyes smart, Nj. 202; kviðinn á sér, its belly, 655 xxx. 5, Fms. vi. 350; hendr á henni, her hands, Gísl. (in a verse); í vörunum á honum, on his lips, Band. 14; ristin á honum, his step, Fms. viii. 141; harðr í tungu, sharp of tongue, Hallfred (Fs. 114); kalt (heitt) á fingrum, höndum, fótum …, cold ( warm) in the fingers, hands, feet …, i. e. with cold fingers, etc.; cp. also the phrase, verða vísa (orð) á munni, of extemporising verses or speeches, freq. in the Sagas; fastr á fótum, fast by the leg, of a bondsman, Nj. 27: of the whole body, díla fundu þeir á honum, 209. The pers. pron. is used only in solemn style (poetry, hymns, the Bible), and perhaps only when influenced by foreign languages, e. g. mitt hjarta hví svo hryggist þú, as a translation of ‘warumb betrübst du dich mein Herz?’ the famous hymn by Hans Sachs; instead of the popular hjartað í mér, Sl. 43, 44: hjartað mitt is only used as a term of endearment, as by a husband to his wife, parents to their child, or the like, in a metaphorical sense; the heart proper is ‘í mér,’ not ‘mitt.’

2. of other things, and as a periphrasis of a genitive, of a part belonging to the whole, e. g. dyrr á husi = húsdyrr, at the house-doors; turn á kirkju = kirkju turn; stafn, skutr, segl, árar … á skipi, the stem, stern, sail … of a ship, Fms. ix. 135; blöð á lauk, á tré …, leaves of a leek, of a tree …, Fas. i. 469; egg á sverði = sverðs egg; stafr á bók; kjölr á bók, and in endless other instances.

V. denoting instrumentality, by, on, or a-, by means of; afla fjár á hólmgöngum, to make money a-duelling, by means of duels, Eg. 498; á verkum sínum, to subsist on one’s own work, Njarð. 366: as a law term, sekjast á e-ju, to be convicted upon …, Grág. i. 123; sekst maðr þar á sínu eigini ( a man is guilty in re sua), ef hann tekr af þeim manni er heimild ( possessio) hefir til, ii. 191; falla á verkum sínum, to be killed flagranti delicto, v. above; fella e-n á bragði, by a sleight in wrestling; komast undan á flótta, to escape by flight, Eg. 11; á hlaupi, by one’s feet, by speed, Hkr. ii. 168; lifa á e-u, to feed on; bergja á e-u, to taste of a thing; svala sér á e-u, to quench the thirst on.

VI. with subst. numerals; á þriðja tigi manna, up to thirty, i. e. from about twenty to thirty, Ld. 194; á öðru hundraði skipa, from one to two hundred sail strong, Fms. x. 126; á níunda tigi, between eighty and ninety years of age, Eg. 764, v. above: used as prep., á hendi, on one’s hand, i. e. bound to do it, v. hönd.

VII. in more or less adverbial phrases it may often be translated in Engl. by a participle and a- prefixed; á lopti, aloft; á floti, afloat; á lífi, alive; á verðgangi, a-begging; á brautu, away; á baki, a-back, behind, past; á milli, a-tween; á laun, alone, secretly; á launungu, id.; á móti, against; á enda, at an end, gone; á huldu, hidden; fara á hæli, to go a-heel, i. e. backwards, Fms. vii. 70;—but in many cases these phrases are transl. by the Engl. partic. with a, which is then perh. a mere prefix, not a prep., á flugi, a-flying in the air, Nj. 79; vera á gangi, a-going; á ferli, to be about; á leiki, a-playing, Fms. i. 78; á sundi, a-swimming, ii. 27; á verði, a-watching, x. 201; á hrakningi, a-wandering; á reiki, a-wavering; á skjálfi, a-shivering; á-hleri, a-listening; á tali, a-talking, Ísl. ii. 200; á hlaupi, a-running, Hkr. ii. 268; á verki, a-working; á veiðum, a-hunting; á fiski, a-fishing; á beit, grazing: and as a law term it even means in flagranti, N. G. L. i. 348.

VIII. used absolutely without a case in reference to the air or the weather, where ‘á’ is almost redundant; þoka var á mikil, a thick fog came on, Nj. 267; niðamyrkr var á, pitch darkness came on, Eg. 210; allhvast á norðan, a very strong breeze from the north, Fms. ix. 20; þá var á norðrænt, a north wind came on, 42, Ld. 56; hvaðan sem á er, from whatever point the wind is; var á hríð veðrs, a snow storm came on, Nj. 282; görði á regn, rain came on, Fms. vi. 394, xi. 35, Ld. 156.

WITH ACC.

A. Loc.

I. denoting simple direction towards, esp. connected with verbs of motion, going, or the like; hann gékk á bergsnös, Eg. 389; á hamar, Fas. ii. 517.

2. in phrases denoting direction; liggja á útborða, lying on the outside of the ship, Eg. 354; á annat borð skipinu, Fms. vii. 260; á bæði borð, on both sides of the ship, Nj. 124, Ld. 56; á tvær hliðar, on both sides, Fms. v. 73. Ísl. ii. 159; á hlið, sidewards; út á hlið, Nj. 262, Edda 44; á aðra hönd henni, Nj. 50, Ld. 46; höggva á tvær hendr, to hew or strike right and left, Ísl. ii. 368, Fas. i. 384, Fms. viii. 363, x. 383.

3. upp á, upon; hann tók augu Þjaza ok kastaði upp á himin, Edda 47: with verbs denoting to look, see, horfa, sjá, líta, etc.; hann rak skygnur á land, he cast glances towards the land, Ld. 154.

II. denoting direction with or without the idea of arriving:

1. with verbs denoting to aim at; of a blow or thrust, stefna á fótinn, Nj. 84; spjótið stefnir á hann miðjan, 205: of the wind, gékk veðrit á vestr, the wind veered to west, Fms. ix. 28; sigla á haf, to stand out to sea, Hkr. i. 146, Fms. i. 39: with ‘út’ added, Eg. 390, Fms. x. 349.

2. conveying the notion of arriving, or the intervening space being traversed; spjótið kom á miðjan skjöldinn, Eg. 379, Nj. 96, 97; langt upp á land, far up inland, Hkr. i. 146: to reach, taka ofan á belti, of the long locks of a woman, to reach down to the belt, Nj. 2; ofan á bringu, 48; á þa ofan, 91.

III. without reference to the space traversed, connected with verbs denoting to go, turn, come, ride, sail, throw, or the like, motion of every kind; hann kastar honum á völlinn, he flings him down, Nj. 91; hlaupa á skip sitt, to leap on board his ship, 43; á hest, to mount quickly, Edda 75; á lend hestinum, Nj. 91; hann gengr á sáðland sitt, he walks on to his fields, 82: on, upon, komast á fætr, to get upon one’s legs, 92; ganga á land, to go a-shore, Fms. i. 40; ganga á þing, vii. 242, Grág. (often); á skóg, á merkr ok skóga, into a wood, Fb. i. 134, 257, Fms. xi. 118, Eg. 577, Nj. 130; fara á Finnmörk, to go travelling in Finmark, Fms. i. 8; koma, fara á bæ, to arrive at the farm-house; koma á veginn, Eg. 578; stíga á bát, skip, to go on board, 158; hann gékk upp á borg, he went up to the burg (castle), 717; en er þeir komu á loptriðið, 236; hrinda skipum á vatn, to float the ships down into the water, Fms. i. 58; reka austr á haf, to drift eastwards on the sea, x. 145; ríða ofan á, to ride down or over, Nj. 82.

IV. in some cases the acc. is used where the dat. would be used, esp. with verbs denoting to see or hear, in such phrases as, þeir sá boða mikinn inn á fjörðinn, they saw great breakers away up in the bight of the firth, the acc. being due perhaps to a motion or direction of the eye or ear towards the object, Nj. 124; sá þeir fólkit á land, they saw the people in the direction of land, Fas. ii. 517: in phrases denoting to be placed, to sit, to be seated, the seat or bench is freq. in the acc. where the dat. would now be used; konungr var þar á land upp, the king was then up the country, the spectator or narrator is conceived as looking from the shore or sea-side, Nj. 46; sitja á miðjan bekk, to be seated on the middle bench, 50; skyldi konungs sæti vera á þann bekk … annat öndvegi var á hinn úæðra pall; hann setti konungs hásæti á miðjan þverpall, Fms. vi. 439, 440, cp. Fagrsk. l. c., Sturl. iii. 182; eru víða fjallbygðir upp á mörkina, in the mark or forest, Eg. 58; var þar mörk mikil á land upp, 229; mannsafnaðr er á land upp (viewed from the sea), Ld. 76; stóll var settr á mótið, Fas. i. 58; beiða fars á skip, to beg a passage, Grág. i. 90.

V. denoting parts of the body; bíta e-n á barka, to bite one in the throat, Ísl. ii. 447; skera á háls, to cut the throat of any one, Nj. 156; brjóta e-n á háls, to break any one’s neck; brjóta e-n á bak, to break any one’s back, Fms. vii. 119; kalinn á kné, frozen to the knees with cold, Hm. 3.

VI. denoting round; láta reipi á háls hesti, round his horse’s neck, 623. 33; leggja söðul á hest, Nj. 83; and ellipt., leggja á, to saddle; breiða feld á hofuð sér, to wrap a cloak over his head, 164; reyta á sik mosa, to gather moss to cover oneself with, 267; spenna hring á hönd, á fingr, Eg. 300.

VII. denoting a burden; stela mat á tvá hesta, hey á fimtán hesta, i. e. a two, a fifteen horse load, Nj. 74: metaph., kjósa feigð á menn, to choose death upon them, i. e. doom them to death, Edda 22.

B. TEMP.

I. of a period of time, at, to; á morgun, to-morrow (í morgun now means the past morning, the morning of to-day), Ísl. ii. 333.

II. if connected with the word day, ‘á’ is now used before a fixed or marked day, a day of the week, a feast day, or the like; á Laugardag, á Sunnudag …, on Saturday, Sunday, the Old Engl. a-Sunday, a-Monday, etc.; á Jóladaginn, Páskadaginn, on Yule and Easter-day; but in old writers more often used ellipt. Sunnudaginn, Jóladaginn …, by dropping the prep. ‘á,’ Fms. viii. 397, Grág. i. 18.

III. connected with ‘dagr’ with the definite article suffixed, ‘á’ denotes a fixed, recurring period or season, in; á daginn, during the day-time, every day in turn, Grett. 91 A.

IV. connected with ‘evening, morning, the seasons,’ with the article; á kveldit, every evening, Ld. 14; á sumarit, every summer, Vd. 128, where the new Ed. Fs. 51 reads sumrum; á haust, every autumn, Eg. 741 (perh. a misprint instead of á haustin or á haustum); á vetrinn, in the winter time, 710; á várit, every spring, Gþl. 347; the sing., however, is very rare in such cases, the old as well as mod. usage prefers the plur.; á nætrnar, by night, Nj. 210; á várin, Eg. 710; á sumrin, haustin, á morgnana, in the morning (á morgin, sing., means to-morrow); á kveldin, in the evening, only ‘dagr’ is used in sing., v. above (á daginn, not á dagana); but elliptically and by dropping the article, Icelanders say, kveld og morgna, nótt og dag, vetr sumar vor og haust, in the same sense as those above mentioned.

V. denoting duration, the article is dropped in the negative phrase, aldri á sinn dag, never during one’s life; aldri á mína daga, never in my life, Bjarn. 8, where a possess. pron. is put between noun and prep., but this phrase is very rare. Such phrases as, á þann dag, that day, and á þenna dag, Stj. 12, 655 xxx. 2. 20, are unclassical.

VI. á dag without article can only be used in a distributive sense, e. g. tvisvar á dag, twice a-day; this use is at present freq. in Icel., yet instances from old writers are not on record.

VII. denoting a movement onward in time, such as, liðið á nótt, dag, kveld, morgun, sumar, vetr, vár, haust (or nóttina, daginn …), jól, páska, föstu, or the like, far on in the night, day …, Edda 33; er á leið vetrinn, when the winter was well on, as the winter wore on, Nj. 126; cp. áliðinn: also in the phrase, hniginn á inn efra aldr, well stricken in years, Ld. 68.

C. Metaph. and in various relations:

I. somewhat metaphorically, denoting an act only (not the place); fara á fund, á vit e-s, to call for one, Eg. 140; koma á ræðu við e-n, to come to a parley with, to speak, 173; ganga á tal, Nj. 103; skora á hólm, to challenge to a duel on an island; koma á grið, to enter into a service, to be domiciled, Grág. i. 151; fara á veiðar, to go a-hunting, Fms. i. 8.

β. generally denoting on, upon, in, to; bjóða vöxtu á féit, to offer interest on the money, Grág. i. 198; ganga á berhögg, to come to blows, v. berhögg; fá á e-n, to make an impression upon one, Nj. 79; ganga á vápn e-s, to throw oneself on an enemy’s weapon, meet him face to face, Rd. 310; ganga á lagið, to press on up the spear-shaft after it has passed through one so as to get near one’s foe, i. e. to avail oneself of the last chance; bera fé á e-n, to bribe, Nj. 62; bera öl á e-n, to make drunk, Fas. i. 13; snúinn á e-t, inclined to, Fms. x. 142; sammælast á e-t, to agree upon, Nj. 86; sættast, verða sáttr á e-t, in the same sense, to come to an agreement, settlement, or atonement, 78, Edda 15, Eb. 288, Ld. 50, Fms. i. 279; ganga á mála, to serve for pay as a soldier, Nj. 121; ganga á vald e-s, to put oneself in his power, 267; ganga á sætt, to break an agreement; vega á veittar trygðir, to break truce, Grág. ii. 169.

II. denoting in regard to, in respect to:

1. of colour, complexion, the hue of the hair, or the like; hvítr, jarpr, dökkr … á hár, having white, brown, or dark … hair, Ísl. ii. 190, Nj. 39; svartr á brún ok brá, dark of brow and eyebrow; dökkr á hörund, id., etc.

2. denoting skill, dexterity; hagr á tré, a good carpenter; hagr á járn, málm, smíðar …, an expert worker in iron, metals …, Eg. 4; fimr á boga, good at the bow: also used of mastership in science or arts, meistari á hörpuslátt, a master in striking the harp, Fas. iii. 220; fræðimaðr á kvæði, knowing many poems by heart, Fms. vi. 391; fræðimaðr á landnámssögur ok forna fræði, a learned scholar in histories and antiquities (of Are Frode), Ísl. ii. 189; mikill á íþrótt, skilful in an art, Edda (pref.) 148; but dat. in the phrase, kunna (vel) á skíðum, to be a cunning skater, Fms. i. 9, vii. 120.

3. denoting dimensions; á hæð, lengd, breidd, dýpt …, in the heighth, length, breadth, depth …, Eg. 277; á hvern veg, on each side, Edda 41 (square miles); á annan veg, on the one side, Grág. i. 89.

β. the phrase, á sik, in regard to oneself, vel (illa) á sik kominn, of a fine ( ugly) appearance, Ld. 100, Fas. iii. 74.

III. denoting instrumentality; bjargast á sínar hendr, to live on the work of one’s own hands, (á sínar spýtur is a mod. phrase in the same sense); (vega) á skálir, pundara, to weigh in scales, Grág. ii. 370; at hann hefði tvá pundara, ok hefði á hinn meira keypt en á hinn minna selt, of a man using two scales, a big one for buying and a little one for selling, Sturl. i. 91; á sinn kostnað, at one’s own expense; nefna e-n á nafn, by name, Grág. i. 17, etc. The Icel. also say, spinna á rokk, snældu, to spin on or with a rock or distaff; mala á kvern, to grind in a ‘querne,’ where Edda 73 uses dat.; esp. of musical instruments, syngja, leika á hljóðfæri, hörpu, gígju …; in the old usage, leika hörpu …, Stj. 458.

IV. denoting the manner or way of doing:

1. á þessa lund, in this wise, Grág. ii. 22; á marga vega, á alla, ymsa vega, in many, all, respects, Fms. i. 114; á sitt hóf, in its turn, respectively, Ld. 136, where the context shews that the expression answers to the Lat. mutatis mutandis; á Þýðersku, after German fashion, Sks. 288.

2. esp. of language; mæla, rita á e-a tungu, to speak, write in a tongue; á Írsku, in Irish, Ld. 76; Norrænu, in Norse, Eb. 330, Vm. 35; a Danska tungu, in Danish, i. e. Scandinavian, Norse, or Icelandic, Grág. i. 18; á Vára tungu, i. e. in Icelandic, 181; rita á Norræna tungu, to write in Norse, Hkr. (pref.), Bs. i. 59:—at present, dat. is sometimes used.

3. in some phrases the acc. is used instead of the dat.; hann sýndi á sik mikit gaman, Fms. x. 329; hann lét ekki á sik finna, he shewed no sign of motion, Nj. 111; skaltú önga fáleika á þik gera (Cod. Kalf.), 14.

V. used in a distributive sense; skal mörk kaupa gæzlu á kú, eðr oxa fim vetra gamlan, a mark for every cow, Grág. i. 147; alin á hvert hross, 442; á mann, per man (now freq.): cp. also á dag above, lit. B.

VI. connected with nouns,

1. prepositional; á hendr (with dat.), against; á hæla, at heel, close behind; á bak, at back, i. e. past, after; á vit (with gen.), towards.

2. adverbially; á braut, away, abroad; á víxl, in turns; á mis, amiss; á víð ok dreif, a-wide and a-drift, i. e. dispersedly.

3. used almost redundantly before the following prep.; á eptir, after, behind; á undan, in front of; á meðal, á milli, among; á mót, against; á við, about, alike; á frá (cp. Swed. ifrån), from (rare); á fyrir = fyrir, Haustl. 1; á hjá, beside (rare); á fram, a-head, forwards; á samt, together; ávalt = of allt, always: following a prep., upp á, upon; niðr á, down upon; ofan á, eptir á, post eventum, (temp.) á eptir is loc., id., etc.

VII. connected with many transitive verbs, answering to the Lat. ad- or in-, in composition, in many cases periphrastically for an objective case. The prep. generally follows after the verb, instead of being prefixed to it as in Lat., and answers to the Engl. on, to; heita kalla, hrópa á, to call on; heyra, hlusta, hlyða á, to hearken to, listen to; hyggja, hugsa á, to think on; minna á, to remind; sjá, líta, horfa, stara, mæna, glápa, koma auga … á, to look on; girnast á, to wish for; trúa á, to believe on; skora á, to call on any one to come out, challenge; kæra á, to accuse; heilsa á, to greet; herja, ganga, ríða, hlaupa, ráða … á, to fall on, attack, cp. ágangr, áreið, áhlaup; ljúga á, to tell lies of, to slander; telja á, to carp at; ausa, tala, hella, kasta, verpa … á, to pour, throw on; ríða, bera, dreifa á, to sprinkle on; vanta, skorta á, to fall short of; ala á, to plead, beg; leggja á, to throw a spell on, lay a saddle on; hætta á, to venture on; gizka á, to guess at; kveða á, to fix on, etc.: in a reciprocal sense, haldast á, of mutual strife; sendast á, to exchange presents; skrifast á, to correspond (mod.); kallast á, to shout mutually; standast á, to coincide, so as to be just opposite one another, etc.

f. [Lat. aqua; Goth. ahva; Hel. aha; A. S. eâ; O. H. G. aha, owa; cp. Germ. ach and aue; Fr. eau, eaux; Engl. Ax-, Ex-, etc., in names of places; Swed.-Dan. å; the Scandinavians absorb the hu, so that only a single vowel or diphthong remains of the whole word]:—a river. The old form in nom. dat. acc. sing. is , v. the introduction to A, page 1, Bs. i. 333 sq., where ́n, ́ (acc.), and ́na; so also Greg. 677; the old fragm. of Grág. ii. 222, 223, new Ed. In the Kb. of the Edda the old form occurs twice, viz. page 75, ́na (acc.), (but two lines below, ána), í ́nni (dat.) The old form also repeatedly occurs in the Kb. and Sb. of the Grág., e. g. ii. 266, 267: gen. sing. ár; nom. pl. ár, gen. á contracted, dat. ám, obsolete form ́m; Edda 43, Eg. 80, 99, 133, 185: proverbs, at ósi skal á stemma, answering to the Lat. principiis obsta, Edda 60; hér kemr á til sæfar, here the river runs into the sea, metaph. = this is the very end, seems to have been a favourite ending of old poems; it is recorded in the Húsdrápa and the Norðsetadrápa, v. Edda 96, Skálda 198; cp. the common saying, oil vötn renna til sævar, ‘all waters run into the sea.’ Rivers with glacier water are in Icel. called Hvítá, White river, or Jökulsá: Hitá, Hot river, from a hot spring, opp. to Kaldá, v. Landn.: others take a name from the fish in them, as Laxá, Lax or Salmon river (freq.); Örriða á, etc.: a tributary river is þverá, etc.: ár in the Njála often means the great rivers Ölfusá and Þjórsá in the south of Iceland. Áin helga, a river in Sweden, Hkr. ii: á is also suffixed to the names of foreign rivers, Tempsá = Thames; Dóná, Danube (Germ. Don-au), (mod.), etc. Vide Edda (Gl.) 116, 117, containing the names of over a hundred North-English and Scottish rivers.

COMPDS: áráll, árbakki, árbrot, ardjúp, árfarvegr, árfors, árgljúfr, árhlutr, ármegin, árminni, ármót, áróss, árreki, árstraumr, árströnd, árvað, árvegr, árvöxtr.

(-s, -ar), m. elf, fairy (hóll er skamt heðan er álfar búa í).

* * *

s, m. [A. S. ælf, munt-ælfen, sæ-ælfen, wudu-ælfen, etc.; Engl. elf, elves, in Shakespeare ouphes are ‘fairies;’ Germ. alb and elfen, Erl- in Erlkönig (Göthe) is, according to Grimm, a corrupt form from the Danish Ellekonge qs. Elver-konge]; in the west of Icel. also pronounced álbr:

I. mythically, an elf, fairy; the Edda distinguishes between Ljósálfar, the elves of light, and Dökkálfar, of darkness (the last not elsewhere mentioned either in mod. fairy tales or in old writers), 12; the Elves and Ases are fellow gods, and form a favourite alliteration in the old mythical poems, e. g. Vsp. 53, Hm. 144, 161, Gm. 4, Ls. 2, 13, Þkv. 7, Skm. 7, 17, Sdm. 18. In the Alvismál Elves and Dwarfs are clearly distinguished as different. The abode of the elves in the Edda is Álfheimar, fairy land, and their king the god Frey (the god of light), Edda 12; see the poem Gm. 12, Álfheim Frey gáfu í árdaga tívar at tannfé. In the fairy tales the Elves haunt the hills, hence their name Huldufólk, hidden people: respecting their origin, life, and customs, v. Ísl. Þjóðs. i. I sqq. In old writers the Elves are rarely mentioned; but that the same tales were told as at present is clear;—Hallr mælti, hvi brosir þú nú? þórhallr svarar, af því brosir ek, at margr hóll opnast ok hvert kvikindi býr sinn bagga bæði smá ok stór, ok gera fardaga (a foreboding of the introduction of Christianity), Fms. ii. 197, cp. landvættir; álfamenn, elves, Bs. i. 417, Fas. i. 313, 96; hóll einn er hér skamt í brott er álfar búa í, Km. 216: álfrek, in the phrase, ganga álfreka, cacare, means dirt, excrements, driving the elves away through contamination, Eb. 12, cp. Landn. 97, Fms. iv. 308, Bárð. ch. 4: álfröðull, elfin beam or light, a poët. name of the sun; álfavakir, elf-holes, the small rotten holes in the ice in spring-time in which the elves go a fishing; the white stripes in the sea in calm weather are the wakes of elfin fishing boats, etc.: medic. álfabruni is an eruption in the face, Fél. ix. 186: Ivar Aasen mentions ‘alvgust, alveblaastr, alveld,’ the breath, fire of elves (cp. St. Vitus’ dance or St. Anthony’s fire); ‘alvskot,’ a sort of cancer in the bone:—græti álfa, elfin tears, Hðm. I, is dubious; it may mean some flower with dew-drops glittering in the morning sun, vide s. v. glýstamr ( glee-steaming). Jamieson speaks of an elf’s cup, but elf tears are not noticed elsewhere; cp. Edda 39. In Sweden, where the worship of Frey prevailed, sacrifices, álfa-blót, were made to the elves, stóð húsfreyja í dyrum ok bað hann ( the guest) eigi þar innkoma, segir at þau ætti álfa blót, Hkr. ii. 124 (referring to the year 1018), cp. Korm. ch. 22.

2. metaph., as the elves had the power to bewitch men, a silly, vacant person is in Icel. called álfr; hence álfalegr, silly; álfaskapr and álfaháttr, silly behaviour.

II. in historical sense, the Norse district situated between the two great rivers Raumelfr and Gautelfr (Alhis Raumarum, et Gotharum) was in the mythical times called Álfheimar, and its inhabitants Álfar, Fas. i. 413, 384, 387, Fb. i. 23, vide also P. A. Munch, Beskrivelse over Norge, p. 7. For the compds v. above.

(gen. áss and ásar; pl. æsir, acc. æsi and ásu), m. one of the old heathen gods in general, or esp. one of the older branch, in opp. to the younger ones (the Vanir).

(gen. áss, pl. ásar), m.

1) a thick pole, main beam (in a house);

2) in a ship, yard of a sail (beitiáss);

3) rocky ridge.

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m. [Ulf. ans = δοκός; cp. Lat. asser, a pole], gen. áss, dat. ási, later ás, pl. ásar, acc. ása:

1. a pole, a main rafter, yard;

α. of a house; selit var gört um einn as, ok stóðu út af ásendarnir, Ld. 280; Nj. 115, 202; drengja við ása langa (acc. pl.), Fms. vii. 54, Sks. 425, Pm. 11, Dipl. iii. 8, Hom. 95; sofa undir sótkum ási, Hkr. i. 43; cp. Caes. Bell. Gall. 5. ch. 36, Fs. 62: in buildings áss gener. means the main beam, running along the house, opp. to bitar, þvertré, a cross-beam, v. mæniráss, brúnáss, etc.: the beams of a bridge, Fms. ix. 512; in a ship, beitiáss, a yard of a sail: also simply called áss, Ýt. 23, Fs. 113; vindáss, a windlass (i. e. windle-ass, winding-pole).

2. metaph. a rocky ridge, Lat. jugum, Eg. 576, Fms. viii. 176. Ás and Ásar are freq. local names in Iceland and Norway.

COMPD: ássstubbi.

m. [that the word existed in Goth. may be inferred from the words of Jornandes—Gothi proceres suos quasi qui fortunâ vincebant non pares homines sed semideos, id est Anses, vocavere. The word appears in the Engl. names Osborn, Oswald, etc. In old German pr. names with n, e. g. Ansgâr, A. S. Oscar: Grimm suggests a kinship between áss, pole, and áss, deus; but this is uncertain. In Icel. at least no such notion exists, and the inflexions of the two words differ. The old gen. asar is always used in the poems of the 10th century, Korm. 22 (in a verse), etc.; dat. æsi, in the oath of Glum (388), later ás; nom. pl. æsir; acc. pl. ásu (in old poetry), æsi (in prose). The old declension is analogous to árr; perhaps the Goth. form was sounded ansus; it certainly was sounded different from ans, δοκός]:—the Ases, gods, either the old heathen gods in general, or esp. the older branch, opp. to the new one, the dî ascripti, the Vanir, q. v., Edda 13 sqq.

β. the sing. is used particularly of the different gods, e. g. of Odin; ölverk Ásar, the brewing of the As (viz. Odin), i. e. poetry, Korm. 208 (in a verse); of Loki, Bragi, etc.; but κατ εξοχην it is used of Thor, e. g. in the heathen oaths, segi ek þat Æsi (where it does not mean Odin), Glúm. 388; Freyr ok Njörðr ok hinn almátki Áss, Landn. (Hb.) 258: in Swed. åska means lightning, thunder, qs. ás-ekja, the driving of the As, viz. Thor: áss as a prefix to pr. names also seems to refer to Thor, not Odin, e. g. Ásbjörn = Þorbjörn, Ásmóðr = Þormóðr (Landn. 307 in a verse). In Scandinavian pr. names áss before the liquid r assumes a t, and becomes ást (Ástríðr, not Ásríðr; Ástráðr = Ásráðr); and sometimes even before an l, Ástlákr—Áslákr, Fb. i. 190; Ástleifr—Ásleifr, Fms. xi. (Knytl. S.)

COMPDS: ásagisling, ásaheiti, ÁsaÞórr, ásaætt.

1) the eighth part (áttungr manna);

2) division of the country (in some parts of Norway).

m. kinsman, = ættingi.

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I. [atta], the eighth part of a whole, either as to measure or number; cp. fjórðungr, þriðjungr, etc., Rb. 488; á. manna, N. G. L. i. 5: as a Norse law term, a division of the country with regard to the levy in ships, Gþl. 91, N. G. L. i. 135.

II. [átt or ætt, familia], poét. kindred, kinsman; Freys á., the poem Hlt., Edda 13, Ýt. 13, 14, Al. 98 (esp. in pl.), v. Lex. Poët.: áttungs-kirkja, u, f. a church belonging to an áttungr (in Norway), N. G. L. i. 8.

(-s, -ar), m.

1) ring, armlet (of gold or silver) worn on the wrist, esp. the sacred ring (stallahringr) on the altar in heathen temples, cf. baugeiðr;

2) in olden times, before minted gold or silver came into use, such rings were commonly used as a medium of payment; hence ‘baugr’ simply means money;

3) fine of varying amount for manslaughter, weregild;

4) gaff-hook?

5) in the phrase, eiga (kost) á baugi, to have a (single) chance left; ef sá væri á. baugi, if there were no other chance; þú munt eiga slíkan á baugi brátt, thou wilt soon have the very same chance or lot (viz. death);

6) the painted circle on a round shield.

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m. [the root bjúg—baug—bog; A. S. beág; O. H. G. pouc = armilla; lost in N. H. G. and in Engl.]

I. a ring, armlet, esp. in olden times to be worn on the wrist plain, without stones:

α. the sacred temple ring (stallahringr) on the altar in heathen temples; all oaths were’ to be made by laying the hand upon the temple ring; at sacrificial banquets it was to be dipped in the blood, and was to be worn by the priest at all meetings. The ring was either of gold or silver, open (mótlaus), its weight varying between two, three, and twenty ounces (the last is the reading of Eb. new Ed. p. 6, v. 1., the classical passages in the Sagas are—Eb. l. c. (and cp. 44), Glúm. 388, Landn. (Hb.) 258, Þórð. S. 94 (Ed. 1860); cp. also the note at the end of the new Ed. of Eb., referring to an interesting essay of the Norse Prof. Holmboe upon the matter, Christiania, A. D. 1864.

β. baugr is at present in Icel. used of a spiral ring without a stone (e. g. a wedding ring); the third finger is called baugfingr, transl. from Lat. digitus annuli, for the wearing of wedding rings is not in use in Icel. (unless as a Dan. imitation). Icel. also say einbaugr, tvibaugr, a single or double spiral ring.

II. metaph. in olden times, before minted gold or silver came into use, the metals were rolled up in spiral-formed rings, and pieces cut off and weighed were used as a medium of payment; hence, in old times, baugr simply means money, used in the poets in numberless compounds; hringum hreytti, hjó sundr baug, Rm. 35; cp. baugbroti, baugskyndir, baugskati, baughati, one who breaks, throws, hates gold, epithets of princes, etc., v. Lex. Poët. A. S. poetry abounds in epithets such as, beaggeafa, dator auri; the Heliand speaks of ‘vunden gold.’ In the law the payment of weregild is particularly called baugr, v. the compounds: baugatal is the Icel. section of law treating of the weregild, Grág. ii. 171–188; höfuôbaugr, lögbaugr ( a legal baug, lawful payment). In the Norse law vide esp. N. G. L. i. 74 sqq., 184 sqq.

2. the painted circle on the round shield (clypeus); á fornum skjöldum var títt at skrifa rönd þá er b. var kallaðr, ok er við þann baug skildir kendir, Edda 87, Eg. 699; often embellished with scenes from the mythical age. Some poems arc preserved or on record, describing such shields, two Berudrápur by Egil (bera, a shield), Haustlöng by Thjodolf, Ragnarsdrápa by Bragi Gamli (of the 9th and 10th centuries). Some of these poems were among the chief sources used by Snorri in composing the Edda. The shield is metaph. called baugr, Edda (Gl.)

3. a fish-hook; man eigi þú draga Leviathan á öngli eðr bora kiðr hans með baugi (very rare, if not an απ. λεγ.), Post. 686 C. 2.

4. the phrase, eiga (kost) á baugi, to have (a single) chance left; þótti þat vera et mesta hætturáð at berjast, en sá mun á baugi, ef eigi er sæzt, there will be no other chance unless we come to terms, Sturl. iii. 244; þú munt eiga slíkan á baugi brátt, thou wilt soon have the very same chance (viz. death), the turn will come to thee, Nj. 58; nú mun ek eiga þann á baugi, at …, there will be no other chance for me, than …, Orkn. 46; cp. einbeygðr kostr, dira necessitas, 58; kvaðst þá heldr vilja liggja hjá henni, ef sá væri á baugi, if there were no other chance, Fas. ii. 150. The explanation of this metaphor is doubtful, cp. Vkv. verses 5 and 7 (?), or is the metaphor taken from the weregild?

5. baugr also occurs in mod. usage in many compds, astron. and mathem., spor-baugr, the ecliptic; hádegisbaugr, a meridian.

COMPDS: baugabrot, baugamaðr, baugatal, baugshelgi.

Eg. 94.; Snorri (Hkr.) constantly uses the pl. form, but bautaðarsteinn, Fagrsk. 19, and bautarsteinn, Hm. 72; m. the stone monuments of the olden age, esp. in Sweden and Denmark; the Hávamál l. c. (sjaldan bautarsteinar standa brautu nær, nema reisi niðr at nið) tells us that these stones used to be placed along the high roads, like the sepulchral monuments of old Rome; cp. the standing phrase on the Swedish-Runic stones—hér skal standa steinn ‘nær brautu;’ or, má eigi ‘brautar-kuml’ ( a road monument) betra verða; the high roads of old Sweden seem to have been lined with these monumental stones; even at the present time, after the destruction of many centuries, the Swedish-Runic stones (of the nth and 12th centuries) are counted by thousands. A great collection was made and drawings executed during the 17th century (Buræus, etc.), but only published A. D. 1750, under the name of Bautil. The etymology of this word is much contested; some render it by ‘stones of the slain’ (bauta, to slay), but this is contradicted by the passage in Hm. l. c. and by the inscriptions themselves. The bauta stones were simply monuments erected by the piety of kindred and friends without any respect to sex or manner of death, either in war, on sea, or through sickness; some were even erected to the memory of living persons. They were usually tombstones; but many of them are memorial stones for men that died in foreign lands, Greece, Russia, the British Islands, etc. Neither is Snorri right in saying (Hkr. pref.) that the bautasteinar belonged to the old burning age (brunaöld), and were replaced by the cairns (haugar) in the subsequent cairn age (haugaöld)—þá skyldi brenna alla dauða menn ok reisa eptir bautasteina, en síðan er Freyr hafði heygðr verit at Uppsölum þá görðu margir höfðingjar eigi síðr hauga en bautasteina. Svíar tóku lík hans ok var hann brendr við á þá er Skúta heitir, þar vóru settir bautasteinar hans, Hkr. Yngl. ch. 17—the passage in Hávamál and the monuments refute this statement. The great bulk of the Scandinavian bauta stones seem to be of the nth and even 12th century. In Icel. no stones of that time are on record: var hann þá her heygðr skamt frá bsenum, ok settir upp bautasteinar, þeir er enn standa her, Hkr. i. 269; hávir bautasteinar standa hjá haugi Egils ullserks, 153,—where Fagrsk. reads, í þau skip var lagðr í valrinn, ok orpnir þar haugar utan at; þar stendr ok bautaðarsteinn (= bautarsteinn in Hm.?) hár sem Egill féll, p. 19;—en eptir alla þá menn er nokkut mannsmót var at, skyldi reisa bautasteina, ok hélzt sa siðr lengi síðan, Hkr. Yngl. ch. 8. It is worth remarking that the word ‘bautasteinn’ never occurs out of Icel. literature, and there only in the above passages, viz. once in the old Hm., once in the Fagrsk., four times in the Hkr., whence it has passed over to modern writers. The word is most probably only a corruption from brautarsteinar, lapides viae, (by dropping the r); cp. the analogous Swedish word, brautarkuml, monumentum viae, which occurs in the inscriptions themselves.

(-s, -ar), m. boat; sjá fyrir báti sínum, to go one’s own course, to mind one’s own business.

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m. [a Scandin. and Low Germ. word used in A. S., Engl., Dutch, but alien to O. H. G. and middle H. G.; even Luther (v. Grimm s. v.) never uses the word; it was later introduced into mod. High Germ., but has a foreign sound there, (Engl. t answers to High Germ. z); the word is in Germ. borrowed from Dutch or English]:—a boat, either a small open fishing vessel or a ship-boat. In Icel. only small boats are called so, those of two or four oars; an eight-oared boat is a ‘ship,’ Eg. 121, 373, Eb. 142, Nj. 122, Jb. 398, Bs. 1. 422, 423: in phrases, ausa bát sinn, Fms. vii. 331; sjá fyrir báti sínum, to go one’s own course, to mind one’s own business, Sturl. iii. 247: alliteration, eiga bygð í báti, metaph., Bs. i. 422.

COMPDS: bátsborð, bátsfarmr.

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(ber; barða, börðum; barðr, bariðr), v.

1) to beat, strike, smite (berja e-n);

hár svá fagrt sem barit gull, as beaten gold;

berja korn af hálmi, to thresh;

berja húð af e-m, to scourge severely;

berja e-n grjóti, to stone (= grýta);

berja e-n illyrðum, ávítum, to abuse, reproach one;

berja á e-m, to attack one with blows, give one a thrashing;

berja á hurð, dyrr, at hurðu, at dyrum, to knock, rap at a door;

berja sér á brjóst, to smite one’s breast (in repentance);

berja til e-s = berja á e-m;

berja e-n til e-s, to drive one with blows to do a thing (verða barðr til bœkr);

2) with dat., berja grjóti í andlit e-m, to throw stones in one’s face;

berja saman vápnum, skjöldum, to dash weapons, shields against each other;

berja (to neglect, slight) guðs boðum;

berja e-u niðr (opp. to ljósta e-u upp), to hush up;

3) intrans., hjarta hans barði (beat, throbbed) undir síðunni;

4) impers., skýjagrjóti barði í augu þeim, hailstones dashed in their eyes;

þeim barði saman, they dashed against each other;

5) refl., berjast.

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barði, pres. berr; sup. bart, barzt, O. H. L. 24, Bret. 48, 64, Fms. viii. 214, 215, xi. 16, and later barit, barizt; part. fem. barið, Am. 84; barðr, fem. börð, Sturl. iii. 154; mod. barinn; either form may now be used: [Lat. ferio. The word is not found in Ulf., and seems to be unknown in Germ. and Engl.; it is lost in mod. Dan.]

I. act. to strike, beat, smite, with acc., Fms. vii. 227, Eg. 582: as a punishment, b. húð af e-m, to scourge one, N. G. L. i. 85: to thrash to death, 341; b. grjóti, to stone, of witches, Am. 84, Ld. 152, Eb. 98, Gísl. 34: to castigate, b. til batnaðar, Hkr. ii. 178; cp. the sayings, einginn verðr óbarinn biskup, and, vera barðr til bækr, Bs. i. 410; b. steinum í andlit e-m, to throw stones in one’s face, 623. 31; b. e-u saman vápnum, sverðum, skjöldum, knefum, to dash weapons … against each other, Fms. vii. 204; b. gull, to beat gold, x. 206; sem barit gull, like beaten gold, Ísl. ii. 206; b. korn, to thresh corn, Magn. 520: metaph. to chide, scold, b. e-n illyrðum, ávítum, Nj. 64, Hom. 35:—with ‘á’, ‘at’, to knock, rap, strike, b. á hurð, á dyrr (or at dyrum), to rap, knock at a door, Th. 6; b. sér á brjóst, to smite on one’s breast, in repentance, Fms. v. 122; b. at hurðu, Sturl. iii. 153; b. til e-s, á e-m, to give one a thrashing, Dropl. 23; er þú á konum barðir, Hbl. 38; hjartað barði undir síðunni, to beat, of the heart, Str. 6 (but hjartsláttr, throbbing of the heart), in mod. use reflex., hjartað berst, hjartað barðist í brjósti heitt, Pass. 2. 12: in the phrase, b. í brestina, to cry off a bargain, the metaphor is taken from hammering the fissure of a ring or the like, in order to hide the fault, Nj. 32.

II. reflex., berjask, [cp. Fr. se battre; Germ. sich schlagen], to fight, Lat. pugnare, Boll. 360, Rd. 296, Fms. x. 86, Ísl. ii. 267, Fas. i. 255, Íb. 11: of a duel, ok þat með, at vit berimk her á þinginu, Eg. 351; b. við e-n, to fight with, Fms. xi. 86; b. á e-t, Lat. oppugnare, á borgina, i. 103, vii. 93, Stj. (freq.), seems to be a Latinism; b. til e-s, to fight for a thing; at b. til Englands, to invade England, Ísl. ii. 241, v. l.; b. orrostu, Lat. pugnam pugnare, Fms. vii. 79: of the fighting of eagles, Ísl. ii. 195.

III. impers., with dat., it dashes against; skýja grjóti barði í augu þeim, the hailstones dashed in their eyes, Jd. 31; honum barði við ráfit kirkjunnar, he dashed against the roof, Bs. i. 804; þeim barði saman, they dashed against each other, id.