forth

u, f. a ‘saying forth,’ pronouncing; u. dóma, Sks. 646 B; uppsögu-váttr, Grág. i. 124: esp. a law term, the public recital (segja upplög) of law by the Speaker, in the Icel. alþing, which was to take place partly every year, partly every third year, Grág. i. 11; sem at kveðr í uppsögu, as is said in the Speaker’s recital, ii. 37; var þat uppsaga Þorgeirs, at allir menn skyldi vera skírðir á Íslandi, it was Thorgeir’s ‘saw’ (i. e. judgment, sentence) that all men should be Christians, Bs. i. 25.

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(gen. vatris or vatz), n.

1) water, fresh water (spratt þar vatn upp); sól gengr at vatni, the sun sets in the sea;

2) fears (vatnit for niðr eptir kjálkanum á honum); halda vatni, to forbear weeping;

3) lake (Mjörs er svá mikit vatn, at líkara er sjó);

4) pl., vötn, large rivers (hnigu heilög vötn af Himin-fjöllum).

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n., pl. vötn; vant occurs in N. G. L. i. 363: the gen. sing. is, agreeably with the pronunciation, in old vellums invariably spelt vatz or vaz, vazt, Clem. 148, l. 32; the mod. sound is vass; in the Editions, however, the etymological form vatns has mostly been restored; all the South Teut. languages use a form with an r. The form vatr only occurs in two instances, perhaps used only for the rhyme’s sake, in hvatr vátri, a poem of the beginning of the 12th century; and hélt und vatr enn vitri, Sighvat; but vatn vitni in another verse cf the same poet: [A. S. wæter; Engl. and Dutch water; Hel. watar; O. H. G. wazar; Germ. wasser; cp. Gr. υδατ-ος; Lat. udus: on the other hand, Icel. vatn; Swed. vatten; Dan. vand, qs. vadn.]

A. Water, fresh water; jörð, vatn, lopt, eldr, Eluc. 19; spratt þar vatn upp, Edda (pref.); blóð ok vatn, Rb. 334; grafa til vatz, Edda (pref.); taka vatn upp at sínum hluta, Vm. 168; þá er vötnin vóru sköpuð, 655. 1; drepa í vatn eða hella á vatni, K. Þ. K.; ef vatn er svá mikit at þar má barn í hylja, N. G. L. i. 363.

2. phrases; ausa vatni, to besprinkle infants with water, see ausa I. 2. β; to which add, þar stendr þú, Özorr, kvað Helgi, ok mun ek ekki við þér sjá, þvíat þú jóst mik vatni, Dropl. 25; mærin var vatni ausin ok þetta nafn gefit, Nj. 25: ganga til vatns, to go to the water, to go to the ‘trapiza,’ q. v., of washing before meals, Ld. 296: þá er sól gengr at vatni. when the sun goes into the water, sets in the sea, K. Þ. K. 96; sér ekki högg á vatni, a blow in the water is not seen, of a useless effort: á vatni, afloat, Fas. ii. 532; svá skjótt, at ekki tók á vatni, Fms. vii. 344.

3. of tears; halda ekki vatni, could not forbear weeping, Fms. vi. 236 (in a verse), viii. 232.

II. a lake; [cp. North. E. Derwent-water, etc.]; uppí vatnið Væni, Fms. vi. 333; lét flytja sik út í vatn eitt, ok leyndisk þar í hólma nökkurum, i. 66; er í norðanverðum flóanum vatn þat er nes liggr í, Ísl. ii. 345; til vatz þess er Á en Helga fellr ór, Ó. H. 163; sjór eða vatn, a sea or lake, Edda.

III. streams, waters, esp. in plur. of large streams; hnigu heilög vötn af Himin-fjöllum, Hkv. 1. 1; þaðan eigu vötn öll vega, Gm.; þar er djúpt vatn ( deep water) er umhverfis, Grág. ii. 131; geysask vötn at þeim með forsfalli … vötnin flutu um völluna alla, Ó. H. 164; brúar um ár eða vötn, Grág. i. 149; vötn þau er ór jöklum höfðu fallit, Eg. 133; fjörðr sá er flóir allr af vötnum, Fs. 26; en nú falla vötn öll til Dýrafjarðar, Gísl. 20; fóru þar til er vötn hnigu til vestr-ættar af fjöllum, Orkn. 4.

IV. in local names, Vatn, Vatna-hverfi, Vatns-lausa, Vatns-á, Vatns-dalr, Vatns-endi, Vatns-fell, Vatns-fjörðr, Vatns-nes, Vatns-horn, Vatns-skarð, etc., Landn.; Vatns-dælir, Vatns-firðingar, the men from Vatnsfjörðr, Vatnsdalr, id., Sturl.: of lakes, Gríms-vötn, Fiski-vötn, Elliða-vatn, Mý-vatn, Ólvus-vatn, Landn., map of Icel.; more seldom of rivers, as Héraðsvötn in north of Icel.: Vatns-dælskr, adj. from Vatnsdalr, Finnb. 334, Ísl. ii. 335; Vatnsfirðinga-kyn, -búð, Nj. 248, Ld. 120 (see búð).

B. COMPDS, with gen. vatna-, vatns-, in vellums vatz-, vaz-: vatns-agi, a, m. dampness. vatns-bakki, a, m. a bank, shore of a water or lake, Grág. ii. 355, Jb. 315, Fms. viii. 32, Fas. i. 360. vatns-beri, a, m. the water-bearer, Aquarius in the zodiac, Rb. vatns-blandaðr, part. mixed with water. vatns-bolli, a, m. a water-jug, Am. 35. vatns-borinn, part. mixed with water. vatns-botn, m. the foot of a lake, Hrafn, 11, Fms. ix. 367. vatns-ból, n. a watering-place, well, where drinking-water is drawn. vatns-bóla, u, f. a water-bubble, vatns-bragð, n. a taste of water. vatns-burðr, m. carrying water, Bs. i. vatns-dauði, a, m. water-death, death by drowning in fresh water. vatna-djúp, n. a water-deep, abyss, Skálda 209. vatns-dropi, a, m. a drop of water, Stj. 154. vatns-drykkr, m. a drink of water, Stj. 150, 581, Edda 24. vatns-dæld, f. a watery hollow. vatns-endi, a, m. the end of a lake, Fms. ix. 406. vatns-fall, n. a stream, river; lítið vatnsfall, a small river, Eg. 134, v. l.: of rain, vindr ok vatnsfall, Art. 85. vatns-farvegr, m. a ‘water’s fairway,’ the bed of a river, Grág. ii. 291. vatns-fata, u, f. a water-pail, Fb. i. 258, O. H. L. ch. 96. vatna-flaumr, m. [Norse vand-flom], a water-flood, swell of water, D. N. vi. 148. vatns-flóð, n. water-flood. vatna-gangr, m. a flood, Stj. 59, Grág. i. 219, Landn. 251: a fall of rain, = vatnfall, veðrátta ok v., Grett. 24 new Ed. vatns-heldr, adj. water-tight. vatns-hestr, m. = nykr, q. v., Landn. 93, v. l.; but vatna-hestr, m. a good horse to cross rivers. vatna-hlaup, n. floods, a rushing forth of waters, Landn. 250. vatns-horn, n. a water-horn, a vessel for holy water in church, Pm. 6: the end or angle of a lake, and as a local name, Ld., Landn. vatns-hríð, f. a storm, Ann. 1336 C. vatns-íss, m. ice on a lake, Stj. 510, Fms. viii. 398, ix. 367. vatns-kanna, u, f. a water-can, Vm. 86. vatns-karl, m. a water-can shaped like a man; vatnskarl til vígðs vatns, Vm. 21; vatnskarl ok munnlaug, Fb. i. 359, D. N. iv. 457. vatns-ker, n. a water-jug, Stj. vatns-kerald, n. = vatnsker, Fms. i. 127, Vm. 21, Jb. 409, vatns-ketill, m. a water-kettle, Vm. 21, 114, B. K. 83. vatns-kottr, m. a water-insect, in foul pools. vatns-lauss, adj. waterless, without water, Barl. 196. vatns-leysi, n. lack of water. vatns-litr, m. water-colour, Rb. 336. vatns-megin, n. fulness of water. vatns-mikill, adj. swelling with water, of a river. vatns-minni, n. the inlet of a lake, Fms. ix. 394. vatns-munnlaug, f. a water hand-basin, Pm. 60. vatns-ósa, adj. soaked with water. vatns-óss, m. the mouth of a lake connected with the sea, Landn. 207. vatns-rás, f. a trench, water-course, Bs. i. 148, Stj. 593. vatns-sár, m. a font, Vm. 110, N. G. L. i. 327. vatns-skál, f. a water-jug, D. N. vatns-skírn, f. baptism in water, Barl. 116, 144 (vatnz-skírn). vatns-skortr, m. lack of water, Barl. 196. vatns-sótt, f water-sickness, dropsy, medic., Post. vatns-steinn, m. a font of stone, Vm. 110. vatns-strönd, f. the bank of a lake, Fms. viii. 32, MS. 623. 33, Vkv. (prose, vaz-strouds). vatns-stökkull, m. a watering-pot, a vessel or brush for sprinkling water, Bs. i. 464. vatns-tjörn, f. a ‘water-tarn,’ pool, Sks. 682. vatna-tunna, u, f. a water-tub. vatns-uppspretta, u, f. a jet of water, Stj. 646. vatns-veita, u, f. a drain, trench, aqueduct, Grág. ii. 289. vatns-veiting, f. a draining. vatns-vetr, m. a winter of floods, Ann. 1191 C. vatns-vígsla, u, f. consecration of water, Bs. i. 97. vatns-vík, f. a creek in a lake, Fms. viii. 67. vatna-vöxtr, m. ‘water-growth,’ a flood, Bs. i. 138, Grett. 133 A, D. N. ii. 35, passim. vatna-þytr, m. the thud, sound of falling waters, Skálda. vatns-æðr, f. a vein of water, Stj. 29, 205.

C. REAL COMPDS, with the root word vatn- prefixed: vatn-bátr, m. a lake-boat, Jb. 410 B. vatn-beri, a, m. = vatnsberi, Rb. (1812) 65, 66. vatn-dauðr, adj. drowned in fresh water, Grág. i. 223. vatn-dragari, a, m. a drawer of water, Stj. 358. vatn-dragi, a, m. id., Fas. iii. 21 (in a verse). vatn-dýr, n. water-animals, Al. 167. vatn-fall, n. a waterfall, stream; vatnföll deilir: a torrent, stream, í bráða-þeyjum var þar vatnfall mikit, a great torrent, Eg. 766; lítið v., 134; var v. þat fullt af fiskum, Fms. i. 253; svá mikit v. sem áin Níð er, v. 182; deilir norðr vatnföllum til héraða, Ísl. ii. 345; er vatnföll deila til sjóvar, Eg. 131, Grág. i. 440; með öllum vatnföllum, Nj. 265: of rain, fyrir vatnfalli ok regni, Gullþ. 8; vatnfall fylgði hér svá mikit ór lopti, torrents of rain, Gísl. 105, Fms. x. 250. vatn-fátt, n. adj. short of water, Landn. 34, Fms. ix. 45. vatn-fiskr, m. a fresh-water fish, Fs. 165. vatn-gangr, m. a swelling of water, Vápn. 24. vatn-horn, n. a water-horn, as church inventory, Vm. 110. vatn-kakki, a, m. = trapiza, q. v.; gékk hann til vatnkakka ok þó sér, Korm. 24. vatn-karl, m. a jug, Stj. 153, D. I. i. 597, Dipl. v. 18; vatnkarlar fjórir, könnur sextán, iii. 4, Rb. (of the zodiacal Aquarius). vatn-kálfr, m. dropsy; þá sótt er heitir idropicus, þat köllu vér vatnkálf, Hom. 25, 150; hann er góðr við vatnkálfi, Hb. 544. 39. vatn-ker, vatn-kerald, vatn-ketill, n. a water-jug …, Grág. ii. 397, Stj. 311, Nj. 134, Ísl. ii. 410, Fms. xi. 34, Ám. 29, Vm. 35. vatn-lauss, adj. = vatnslauss, Al. 172, Stj. 194. vatn-legill, m. a water-jug, Stj. 128. vatn-leysi, n. lack of water, Al. 173. vatn-ormr, m. a water-serpent, Al. 168; Hercules sigraði v. (the Hydra), MS. 732. 17: a pr. name, Mork. vatn-rás, f. = vatnsrás, Stj. 58, 642. Ísl. ii. 92. vatn-skjóla, u, f. a water-skeel, pail, D. I. i. 225. vatn-staðr, m. a water-place, 655 xxviii. 2. vatn-torf, n. soaked turf, Ísl. ii. 412. vatn-trumba, u, f. a water-pipe, Hom. 131. vatn-veita, u, f. = vatnsveita, a drain, water-trench, Grág. ii. 289, Stj. 498. vatn-viðri, n. = vátviðri, Bs. i. 245. vatn-vígsla, u, f. the consecrating streams and wells, of bishop Gudmund, Bs. i. vatn-ærinn, adj. plentiful as water, abundant; vatnærin hef ek vitni, Sighvat.

(verð; varð, urðum; orðinn, vorðinn), v.

1) to happen, come to pass;

ætluðu allir, at þeir myndi tala um mál sitt, en þat varð ekki, but it came not to pass, it was not so;

þá varð óp mikit at lögbergi, then there arose a great shout at the Lawhill;

2) verða e-m, to happen to, befall one (slikt verðr opt ungum mönnum);

þat varð Skarphéðni, at stökk í sundr skóþvengr hans, it happened to S. that his shoe-string snapped asunder;

sjaldan verðr víti vörum, the wary man will seldom make a slip;

e-m verðr þörf e-s, one comes to be in need of;

3) to happen to be, occur;

í lœk þann, er þar verðr, in the brook that happens to be there;

varð fyrir þeim fjörðr, they came on a fjord;

verða á leið e-s, to be on one’s path, happen to one;

4) verða brottu, to leave, absent oneself (þeir sá þann sinn kost líkastan at verða á brottu);

verða úti, to go away (verð úti ok drag ongan spott at oss);

to perish in a storm from cold (sumir urðu úti);

þeim þótti honum seint heim verða, they thought that he was long in coming home;

5) with acc. to lose;

kváðust okkr hafa orðit bæði, said that they had lost us both;

6) followed by a noun, a., pp., adv., as predicate, to become;

þá verðr þat þinn bani, it will be thy death;

verða glaðr, hryggr, reiðr, to become glad, sad, angry;

verða dauðr to die (áðr Haraldr inn hárfagri yrði dauðr) with participles;

ok varð ekki eptir honum gengit, he was not pursued;

verða þeir ekki fundnir, they could not be found;

blóð hans varð ekki stöðvat, the blood could not be staunched;

þeim varð litit til hafs, they happened to look seaward;

impers., e-m verðr bilt, one is amazed;

Kolbeini varð ekki fyrir, K. lost his head, was paralysed;

with adverbs; hann varð vel við skaða sinn, he bore his loss well, like a man;

jarl varð illa við þetta, the earl was vexed by this;

7) with infin., denoting necessity, one must, needs, is forced, obliged to do;

þat verðr hverr at vinna, er ætlat er, every one must do the work that is set before him;

þar er bera verðr til grjót, where stones have to be carried;

verð ek nú flýja, now I must flee;

8) with preps., verða af e-u, to come to pass (var um rœtt, at hann skyldi leita fara, en eigi varð af);

varð ekki af ferðinni, the journey came to nought was given up;

verðr þetta af, at hann tekr við sveinunum, the end was that at last he took the boys;

starf ok kostnaðr varð af þessu, trouble and expenses arose from this;

livat verðr af e-u, what becomes of;

hvat varð af húnum mínum, what has become of my cubs?;

verða at e-u, to become (verða at undri, undrsjónum);

veiztu, hvat þér mun verða at bana, knowest thou what will be the cause of thy death?;

verða at engu, to come to nothing;

verða á, to come on, happen;

þvat sem á yrði síðan, whatever might happen later on;

e-m verðr á, one makes a blunder, mistake (þótti þér ekki á verða fyrir honum, er hann náði eigi fénu?);

verða eptir, to be left (honum varð þar eptir geit ok hafr);

verða fyrir e-u, to meet with (verða fyrir goða reiði);

to forebode (verða fyrir stórfundum);

verða fyrir e-m, to be in one’s way, as a hindrance (því meira sem oss verðr fyrir, því harðara skulu þér niðr koma);

verða í, to happen (tókust nú upp leikar sem ekki hefði í orðit);

verða til e-s, to come forth to do a thing, be ready to;

en sá er nefndr Hermóðr, er til þeirar farar varð, who undertook this journey;

verða við e-m, to respond to (bið ek þik, at þú verðir við mér, þó at engi sé verðleiki til).

* * *

u, f. the ‘ward,’ the bulwarks of a ship which ward off the waves; hrími stokkin verða hrökk, Arnór, (also called varta.)

* * *

(vind; vatt, undum; undinn), v.

1) to twist, wring, squeeze; v. klæði sín, to wring one’s wet clothes; v. sik = v. kleði sín (vóru allir vátir ok tóku at v. sik); v. e-t sundr, to break, snap asunder (hann vatt ljáinn í sundr milli handa sér);

2) to wind, twist; v. vef, to wind the woof; þær ór sandi síma undu, they wound a rope out of sand;

3) to wind, hoist up by means of a ‘vindáss’; v. segl, to hoist sail (þeir undu segl sín.); v. upp akkeri, to weigh anchor; vindum af ræfrit af skálanum, let us pull the roof off the hall;

4) to turn, swing; höfði vatt þá Gunnarr ok Högna til sagði, G. turned his head and spoke to H.; v. eldskíðu í næfrarnar, to hurl a burning brand on the roof; vindr upp sjóðnum, he suddenly lifted up the money-bag;

5) refl., vindast, to make a sudden movement, turn oneself quickly; pres. ‘vizt’ (í því kemr Þorgerðr inn, ok vizt Helgi við fast ok fellr ofan af þilinu).

f. hank of yarn.

* * *

pres. vind, (vin’g = vind ek, Grett. in a verse, v ing ek háls af kjúkl ingum); pret. vatt (Dan. vandt), vazt, vatt, pl. undu (vundu); subj. yndi; part. undinn: reflex., pres. vizt, and pret. vazt, see below: [Goth., A. S., and Hel. windan; Engl. wind; Germ. winden; Dan. vinde]:—to wring, twist, Fas. ii. 525; vinda klæði, to wring (wet) clothes, Ld. 46; en er hann kom í eyna vatt hann klæði sín, Eg. 219; vóru allir vátir, settusk þeir niðr við eldinn ok tóku at vinda sik, Eb. 274; hann vatt þar ór skál fulla vatns, Stj. 392; hann tók til fjötursins ok vatt hann í sundr, Fms. xi. 289; hann vatt ljáinn í sundr milli handa sér, Fb. i. 522.

2. to wind; ok undu svá tréit allt at rótinni, Fms. v. 286; vinda vef, to wind the woof; vindum vef Darraðar, Darr.; vinda segl, to hoist sail; undu þeir segl sín, Orkn. 356, Fms. ii. 176; vindit þá upp akkeri yður, to wind up the anchor, weigh it, Fb. iii. 384; vindum af ræfrit af skálanum, Nj.

3. to twist; þær ór sandi síma undu, Hbl.; salr undinn orma hryggjum, Vsp.; Ulfarr vatt við skegginu, U. twisted his beard (Germ. ‘sich den bart streichen’), of a person being flattered, Eb. 164; höfði vatt þá Gunnarr ok Högna til sagði, G. turned his head round and spoke to H., Akv. 6.

4. to put, thrust; Eyvindr vatt þá miklu horni í hönd Sveini, E. thrust a big horn (cup) into Sweyn’s hand, Orkn. 248; hón vatt upp skriðljósi, hoisted up a lantern, Nj. 153; vili sá er ymsu vindr fram, that puts forth various things, 677. 8; greip á stafni, vatt með austri upp lög-fáki, he launched the boat with the water in her, Hým. 27.

5. to throw, hurl; svipti hón blæju af Sigurði, ok vatt (á) vengi, fyrir vífs knjám, and flung it on the ground, Gkv. 1; svá segja menn at Friðþjófr hafi undit elda-skíðu í næfrarnar, F. hurled a burning brand on the roof, Fas. ii. 87.

II. reflex. to turn oneself, vindask við; þá undusk hestar af götu ( they strayed from the road) ok vöfðusk í taumum, Mart. 131; vizk eigi þat (vinnz, v. l.), that will not go amiss, will not fail to pass, Ó. H. 208 (in a verse, cp. Fms. v. 6l, v. l. 4); nú mun ok endr undit þessari frásögn, to turn back in the narrative, Orkn. 202.

2. to make a quick movement, turn quickly; en er Helgi sá þat, þá vizt hann undan þeim, Fms. viii. 75, v. l.; Jökull vazk (vazt) við hart ok féll skíða-hlaðinn, Fs. 42; ok nú vizt (i. e. vizk) hann við hart, svá at spjótið gékk af skaptinu, Fas. i. 239; í því kemr Þorgerðr inn, ok vizt Helgi við fast ok fellr ofan af þilinu, Gísl. 47; ok er minnst er vánin vizt Gísli við ok hleypr upp á hamar, 70.

3. part. undinn, wound, twisted; undinna festa, twisted moorings, Edda (in a verse); ljós-undinna landa linns, the bright-twisted serpent-land, i. e. gold (A. S. wunden gold).

(pl. -ir), f. thousand.

* * *

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

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

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

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

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

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

(að), v. refl. to come into leaf, put forth leaves.

n. floods, rushing forth of waters.