gallows-tree

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m. gallows (reisa gálga).

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a, m. [Ulf. renders σταυρός by galga; A. S. gealga; Engl. gallows; Hel. galgo; Germ. galgen; Dan.-Swed. galge]:—the gallows; in olden times they were worked by a lever, and the culprit was hauled up (spyrna gálga), Fms. vii. 13; hence also the phrase, hengja á hæsta gálga, festa upp, and the like, vide Gautr. S. ch. 7; an old Swed. allit. law phrase, á gálga ok gren, on gallows and green tree (Fr.), as trees were used for gallows (cp. the Engl. ‘gallows-tree’); reisa, höggva gálga, Orkn. 436, Ó. H. 46, Am. 37, 55, Grett. 128: in poetry (vide Lex. Poët.) the gallows are called the horse of Sigar, from the love tale of the Danish hero of that name: the cross is now and then called gálgi, e. g. Mar. S., and even in mod. eccl. writers (Vidal.), but very rarely, and only in rhetorical phrases.

COMPDS: gálgafarmr, gálgagramr, gálgatré.

(gen. -s or -ar), m.

1) longitudinal beam; sledge-runner (þá reif hann meiðinn undan sleðanum); fig., standa á önderverðan meið með e-m, to stand in the forefront as a champion, to support one; mjök þótti mönnum á einn meið hallast með heim, it went all on one side with them;

2) pole, log; telgja meið til rifjar, to cut a log into a loom-beam;

3) tree (hrafn sat á hám meiði);

4) gallows-tree (veit ek, at ek hekk vindga meiði á).

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m., gen. meiðar, Gm. 34 (Bugge), but else meiðs, dat. meiði; [ meid or mei, Ivar Aasen; Swed. mede; perh. derived from meiða, of a lopped and barked tree]:— a pole or longitudinal beam, esp. the two long beams in a sledge, also called sleð-meiðr; þá reif hann meiðinn undan sleðanum, … en Arnkell laust af sér með meiðnum, … hann laust sleðmeiðnum í mót honum, … en meiðrinn kom á garðinn, … en sleðmeiðrinn brotnaði í fjötrar-raufinni, Eb. 190: the phrases, standa á öndverðan meið með e-m, to stand foremost on the meið, to stand at the upcurving of the sledge-bearers, i. e. to stand in the forefront as a champion, Bs. i. 141; cp. ‘staa paa meiom,’ and ‘meia-hals’ = the rising of the meid, Ivar Aasen; mjök þótti mönnum á einn meið hallask með þeim, it went all on one side (metaphor from a sledge capsizing), Bjarn. 59; váð-meiðr, a pole to hang clothes on for drying; nú skulu þér hér reisa við ána váðmeið, ok er konum hægt til þváttar at hreinsa stórföt … þat hygg ek at við þann meið festi hann ykkr upp, Glúm. 390, 391, Rd. 296; cp. váð-áss, Hrafn. 20.

2. poët. a pole; telgja meið til rifjar, to shape a pole for a loom, to make a weaver’s loom, Rm. 15: of the mistletoe, af þeim meiði er mer (i. e. mær = mjór) sýndisk, Vsp.: of the gallows’ tree, Hðm. 18, Ht. (Yngl. S. ch. 26); and of the tree Yggdrasil, Gm. 34, Hm. 139, prob. from the notion of its being the gallows of Odin: so also the raven ‘á meiði’ in Bkv. 11 seems to mean the gallows, cp. Germ. galgen-vogel; in Hkv. 1. 5. it is perh. = váðmeiðr. The word can never be used of a living tree. In poetical circumlocutions of a man, vápna meiðr, passim, see Lex. Poët.

n. a gallows-tree, Fms. vii. 13, viii. 261, Fas. i. 215. A hook is poët. called agn-gálgi, ‘bait-gallows,’ Lex. Poët.

n. gallows-tree.

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(pl. tré, gen. trjá, dat. trjám), n.

1) tree (höggva t. í skógi); eigi felir t. við it fyrsta högg, the tree falls not at the first stroke;

2) the mast of a ship, = siglutré( á skipi Munans brotnaði tréit);

3) tree, rafter, beam, cf. þvertré;

4) the seat of a privy.

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n., gen. trés, dat. acc. tré; pl. tré, gen. trjá; spelt treo, Stj. 14, 74, Barl. 138; dat. trjám; with the article tré-it, mod. tréð; [Ulf. triu = ξύλον; A. S. treow; Engl. tree; Dan. træ; Swed. trä, träd, the d representing the article; in Germ. this word is lost, or only remains in compds, see apaldr]:—a tree, Lat. arbor; askrinn er allra trjá mestr, Edda 10; hamra, hörga, skóga, vötn, tré ok öll önnur blót, Fms. v. 239; höggva upp tré, Gullþ. 50; rætr eins trés, Fms. x. 219; höggva tré í skógi, Grág. ii. 296, Glúm. 329; milli trjá tveggja, 656 B. 4; lauf af tré, Fs. 135; barr af limum trés þess, er …, Edda; tvau tré, Ask ok Emblu, id.; ymr it aldna tré, Vsp.: of trees used as gallows, ef ek sé á tré uppi, váfa virgil-ná, Hm. 158; skolla við tré, Fms. vii. (in a verse); cp. the Swed. allit. galge ok gren: hence of the cross, 655 xvi. A. 2, Fms. vi. 227, Vídal. passim; and so in mod. eccl. writers. Sayings, eigi fellr tré við it fyrsta högg, the tree falls not at the first stroke, Nj. 224; falls er ván at fornu tré, of a person old and on the verge of the grave, Ísl. ii. 415; tré tekr at hníga ef höggr tág undan, Am. 69.

II. wood (= Lat. lignum); hann sat á tré einu, Fms. i. 182; tré svá mikit at hann kemr því eigi ór flæðar-máli, Grág. ii. 351; at þar ræki tró sextugt … súlur er hann let ór trénu göra, Gísl. 140.

2. the mast of a ship; ok skyldi standa tréit, Fms. ix. 301; æsti storminn svá at sumir hjoggu tréin, x. 136; lét hann eigi setja hæra enn í mitt tré, Orkn. 260; viti hafði brenndr verit, ok var brunnit mjök tréit, Finnb. 232; á skipi Munans brotnaði tréit, Fms. viii. 209, (siglu-tré = mast.)

3. a tree, rafter, beam; sax eðr saxbönd, hvert tré þeirra er missir, N. G. L. i. 100; ok ef hús fellr niðr, þá skal ekki tré af elda, 240; þver-tré, a cross-tree, Nj. 201, 202.

4. the seat of a privy; gengr til kamars eðr setzk á tré, Grág. ii. 119.

B. IN COMPDS, made of wood. tré-bolli, a, m. a wooden bowl, Vm. 110. tré-borg, f. a ‘tree-burgh,’ wood-fort, Eg. 244, Fms. viii. 113. tré-bót, f. as a nickname, Sturl. tré-brú, f. a wooden bridge, Þjal. 53. tré-drumbr, m. a drum of wood, log, Fms. vi. 179, v. l. tré-fótr, m. a wooden leg, Eb. 66, Bs. i. 312; the phrase, ganga á tréfótum, to go on wooden legs, of a thing in a tottering, bad state, Fb. ii. 300; það gengr allt á tréfótum. tré-guð, n. wooden idols, MS. 4. 68. tré-hafr, m. a wood-goat, Fb. i. 320. tré-hús, n. a wooden house, Fms. vii. 100, D. N. ii. 152. tré-hválf, n. a wooden ceiling, Bs. i. 251. tré-höll, f. a wooden hall, Fms. ix. 326. tre-kastali, a, m. = treborg, Sks. 423. tré-kefli, n. a wooden stick, Orkn. 150, Sturl. i. 15. tré-ker, n. a wooden vessel, Stj. 268, Karl. 546. tré-kirkja, u, f. a wooden church, Fms. xi. 271, Hkr, ii. 180. tré-kross, m. a wooden cross, Vm. 38. tré-kumbr ( tré-kubbr), m. a log, Barl. 165. tré-kylfa, u, f. a wooden club, Sturl. i. 15. tré-kyllir, m. a ‘wood-bag,’ name of a ship, Grett., whence Trékyllis-vík, f. a local name. tré-köttr, m. a ‘wooden cat,’ a mouse-trap, mod. fjala-köttr; svá veiddr sem mús undir tréketti, Niðtst. 106. tré-lampr, m. a wooden lamp, Ám. 51, Pm. 108, tré-laust, n. adj. treeless, Karl. 461. tre-lektari, a, m. a wooden reading-desk, Pm. 6. tré-ligr, adj. of wood, Mar. tré-lurkr, m. a wood-cudgel, Glúm. 342. tré-maðr, m. a ‘wood-man,’ Fms. iii. 100; carved poles in the shape of a man seem to have been erected as harbour-marks, cp. the remarks s. v. hafnar-mark (höfn B); in Hm. 48, of a way-mark; a huge tré-maðr (an idol?) is mentioned in Ragn. S. fine, (Fas. i. 298, 299); the Ask and Embla (Vsp.) are also represented as ‘wood-men’ without living souls. tré-níð, n., see níð, Grág. ii. 147, N. G. L. i. 56. tré-reiði, a, m. wooden equipments, harness, Jb. 412, Sturl. iii. 71 (of a ship, mast, oars, etc.), K. Þ. K. 88 (of horse-harness). tré-ræfr, n. a wooden roof, Þjal. 53. tré-saumr, m. wooden nails, Ann. 1189. tré-serkr, m. a wooden coat; in tréserkja-bani, as a nickname, Fas. ii. 6. tré-skapt, n. a wooden handle, Grett. 141. tré-skál, f. a wooden bowl, Dipl. iii. 4. tré-skjöldr, n. a wooden shield, Gþl. 105. tré-skrín, n. a wooden shrine, Landn. 51 (Hb.), Vm. 54. tré-smiðr, m. a craftsman in wood, carpenter, Bs. i. 858, Karl. 396, Rétt. 2. 10. tré-smíði, n. and tré-smíð, f. craft in wood, wood-carving, Bs. i. 680; hann (the steeple) bar eigi miðr af öllum trésmíðum á Íslandi en kirkjan sjálf, 132; hagr á trésmíði, Stj. 561. tré-spánn, m. wood-chips, Ó. H. tré-spjald, n. a wooden tablet, such as was used in binding books; forn bók í tréspjöldum, Ám. 35, Pm. 131, Vm. 126. tré-stabbi (tré-stobbi, Ó. H. 72; -stubbi, Fb. i. 433), a, m. = trédrumbr, Fms. vi. 179. tre-stokkr, m. the ‘stock of a tree,’ block of wood, Fms. ii. 75. tré-stólpi, a, m. a wooden pillar, Fb. ii. 87. tré-telgja, u, f. a wood-carver, a nickname, Yngl. S. tré-toppr, m. a tree-top, Al. 174. tré-virki, n. a wooden engine, Sks 425, Bs. i. 872. tré-þak, n. a timber roof, Bs. i. 163. tré-ör, f. a wooden arrow, as a signal, N.G,L. i. 102, Gþl. 83.

II. plur., trjá-lauf, n. leaves of trees, Stj. trjá-heiti, n. pl. names of trees, Edda (Gl.) 85.

m. a body hanging on a gallows (hann settist undir hanga).

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a, m. a law term, a body hanging on a gallows, Fms. v. 212: the mythol. phrase, sitja, setjask undir hanga, to sit under a gallows, of Odin, in order to acquire wisdom or knowledge of the future;—for this superstition see Yngl. S. ch. 7;—whence Odin is called hanga-guð, hanga-dróttinn, hanga-týr, the god or lord of the hanged, Edda 14, 49, Lex. Poët.; varðat ek fróðr und forsum | fór ek aldregi at göldrum | … nam ek eigi Yggjar feng und hanga, I became not wise under waterfalls, I never dealt in witchcraft, I did not get the share of Odin (i. e. the poetical gift) under the gallows, i. e. I am no adept in poetry, Jd. 3 (MS., left out in the printed edition). According to another and, as it seems, a truer and older myth, Odin himself was represented as hangi, hanging on the tree Ygg-drasil, and from the depths beneath taking up the hidden mystery of wisdom, Hm. 139; so it is possible that his nicknames refer to that; cp. also the curious tale of the blind tailor in Grimm’s Märchen, No. 107, which recalls to mind the heathen tale of the one-eyed Odin sitting under the gallows.

m. load of the gallows, referring to the myth told in Hm. 139 sqq., of Odin hanging in the tree Vinga-meid or Ygg-drasil.

n. the worrying tree, the gallows, Hðm. 18.