giantess

f. giantess, = trollkona.

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f. the name of a giantess, cp. Gr. Καλυψώ. Huldar-Saga, u, f. the story of the giantess Huld, Sturl. iii. 304.

(að), v. to vex, molest;

refl., amast við e-n, e-t, to inconvenience, trouble (ömuðust liðsmenn lítt við hana); to object to, disapprove, show dislike to (ama við bygð e-s).

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u, f. (and ámu-sótt, f.) erysipelas, Sturl. ii. 116; in common talk corrupted into heimakona or heimakoma.

2. poët. a giantess, Edda (Gl.); hence the play of words in the saying, gengin er gygr or fæti en harðsperra aptr komin, gone is the giantess (erysipelas), but a worse (sceloturbe) has come after.

3. a tub, awme, Germ. ahm.

4. in Norse mod. dialects the larva is called aama (v. Ivar Aasen); and ámu-maðkr, spelt ánu-maðkr, a kind of maggot, lumbricus terrestris, is probably rightly referred to this. Fél. ix. states that it has this name from its being used to cure erysipelas.

n. female monster, ogress, giantess; opt eru flögð í fögru skinni, oft lurks a witch under a fair skin.

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n., pl. flögð, an ogre, giantess, Fas. i. 59. Fms. iii. 122, 125, 133, xi. 136, Bs. i. 468: the saying, opt eru flögð í fögru skinni, oft is a witch under a fair skin, Eb. 46: demons = tröll, Hkr. iii. 299 (in a verse), Fas. iii. 35 (in a verse).

COMPDS: flagðaháttr, flagðalag.

1) giantess;

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

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

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

f. skin-bag.

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f. a scrip or bag made of the skin of a beast, Sd. 157, Fb. i. 220, Grett.: as a nickname, Fb. iii: metaph. a vast belly, Ísl. Þjóðs. i. 612: the name of a giantess, Bárð.: the local names Hítar-dalr, Hítar-nes (Landn.) were still at the beginning of this century in that neighbourhood sounded Hitar-dalr, Hitar-nes, with a short i, the original form being Hitár-dalr, Hitár-nes, the dale and ness of the Hot river (a volcanic river), opp. to Kaldá, the Cold river, in the same county. The derivation from a giantess Hít is a mere fiction, and not older than the Bárðar S. Hítnesingr, m. one from Hitarnes, Sturl.

f. she-cat; giantess.

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u, f. a she-cat: of a giantess, Fb. i. 526, Grett. 151 new Ed.: kettu-hryggr, m. a nickname, Bs. i.

u, f. a noose, in kapp-mella: a trigger (?) in a cross-bow, þat var lásör ok mella í, Sturl. i. 180 (but malla the vellum C).

II. a giantess, Edda (Gl.); mellu-dólgr, ‘giantess-foe’ = Thor.

2. in mod. usage the mother, of dogs, cats, or the like.

n. ogress, giantess.

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sounded skass (? gender), [cp. skyrsi and skersa], a monster, ogress, giantess, Hdl. 39, Hkv. Hjörv. 23, Hkv. 1. 38: hjálm-skars, the ‘helm-ogre’ = an axe, Lex. Poët.: in mod. usage of a romping lass, þú ert mesta skass!

u, f. the name of a giantess, Hdl.

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(-s, -ar), m.

1) eel;

2) a deep narrow channel in sea or river (eru nú þeir einir álar til lands, er ek get vaðit);

3) germ, sprout of a plant.

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I. an eel, Lat. anguilla, Km. 236, Edda (Gl.), 655 xxx. 2, Stj. 69.

II. a deep narrow channel in sea or river; eru nú þeir einir alar til lands er ek get vaðit, Fms. iii. 60; þeir lögðu út á álinn (in a harbour) ok lágu þar um strengi, Sturl. i. 224; djúpir eru Islands alar, of the channel of the Atlantic between Norway and Iceland, a proverb touching the giantess who tried to wade from Norway to Iceland, Ísl. Þjóðs.

III. in names of horses, or adjectives denoting the colour of a horse, ‘ál’ means a coloured stripe along the back, e. g. in mó-ál-óttr, brown striped, bleik-ál-óttr, yellow striped; Kingála and Bleikálingr are names of horses, referring to their colour.

IV. a sort of seed, Edda (Gl.); cp. Ivar Aasen, aal, a sprout, and aala, aal-renne, to sprout, of potatoes.

V. the pith of a tree; ok haft þar til álinn úr eikitrjám = το μέλαν δρυος ἀμφικεάσσας, Od. xiv. 12 (Dr. Egilsson).

COMPDS: álafiski, álagarðr, álaveiðr, álavirki.

1) help, benifit;

2) esp. hospitable entertainment, hospitality (vinna, veita e-m beina); ganga um beina, to wait upon the guests.

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m. help, but exclusively used of hospitable entertainment, kind treatment, hospitality; vinna, veita, e-m beina, Eb. 268; þykir yðr eigi sá b. beztr, at yðr sé borð sett ok gefinu náttverðr ok síðan fari þér at sofa, Eg. 548; ofgörr er beininn, too much trouble taken, too much attendance, Lv. 38 (Ed. badly ‘beinan’); höfðu þar blíðan beina, Fms. ii. 248, iv. 336; mikit er nú um beina þinn, what hospitable treatment! Ísl. ii. 155, Bjarn. 53–55, Fas. i. 79: ganga um beina, to wait upon the guests, in old times (as at present in Icel.) an honourable task; in great banquets the lady or daughter of the house, assisted by servants, did this office; Þórhildr (the daughter) gékk um beina, ok báru þær Bergþóra (the mother) mat á borð, Nj. 50, cp. Lv. l. c., Fms. xi. 52; Hít (the hospitable giantess) gékk um b., Bárð. 174; Þiðrandi (the son of the house) gékk um beina, Fms. ii. 194;—but it is added, ‘because he was humble and meek,’ for it was not regarded as fit work for a man; cp. þá er konur gengu um b. um dagverð, Sturl. i. 132.

COMPDS: beinabót, beinamaðr, beinaspell, beinaþurfi.

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(að), v. impers. to dawn; eptir um morguninn er trautt var dagat, at early dawn; en dagar uppi, the day dawns upon one (of dwarfs and giants).

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að, to dawn; eptir um morguninn er trautt var dagað, Eg. 360; þegar er hann sá at dagaði, Fms. v. 21; hvern daganda dag, Mar. (Fr.): impers., e-n dagar uppi, day dawns upon one, in the tales, said of hobgoblins, dwarfs, and giants, uppi ertu nú dvergr um dagaðr, nú skínn sól í sali, Alm. 36, cp. Hkv. Hjörv. 29, 30; en Bárðdælingar segja hana (acc. the giantess) hafi dagat uppi þá þau glímdu, Grett. 141: single stone pillars are freq. said in Icel. to be giants or witches turned into stone on being caught by daylight, and are called Karl, Kerling, vide Ísl. Þjóðs. i. 207 sqq.

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f. old age (fyrir e. sakir).

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f. indecl. [Dan. ælde], ‘eld,’ old age; the saying, öllum hefir elli á kné komit, old age has brought all on their knees, cp. the tale in Edda 33, 34, where the old giantess Elli wrestles with Thor, whence in poetry she is called ‘ the antagonist of Thor,’ Eg. (in a verse); engi hefir sá orðit …, at eigi komi ellin öllum til falls, Edda 34; fyrir elli sakar, Eg. 107; eigi er þat síðr en elli …, Nj. 171.

COMPDS: ellibelgr, ellibjúgr, ellidagar, ellidauðr, ellidómr, elligamall, elliglöp, ellihamr, ellihrumr, ellihærur, ellikarl, ellilyf, ellimóðr, ellisjúkr, ellistoð, ellitíð, ellivafur, ellivam, elliþokki.

(að), v. to demand for purchase (f. e-t af c-m or at e-m; f. til e-s).

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u, f. a giantess, Edda (Gl.): a romping lass, Fas. iii. 521; cp. flagð, flenna, skass, skersa, all of them names of giantesses, but also used of hoydenish women.

u, f. ‘fell-queen,’ a giantess, Bs. ii. 26, (rare.)

u, f. a giantess, Fas. ii. 518, iii. 560, Gullþ. 20.

u, f. = flagð, a giantess.

f. [A. S. gealp; Hel. gelp; Engl. yelp], Yelper, name of a giantess, Edda; from gjálpa, að, to yelp.

(-da, -t), v. to wrestle.

f. wrestling.

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u, f. [this word occurs neither in Germ. nor in Saxon, nor yet in the mod. Scandin. tongues (of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark), and the origin is not known]:—wrestling, a favourite national sport with the Icel. people, in old as well as in modern times, answering to the Gr. πάλη: glímu-brögð, n. pl. wrestling-tricks, vide bragð II. 2: to the technical terms there mentioned, add, hnykkr, hælkrókr, sveifla, etc.: glímu-félagi, a, m. a wrestling-match, Háv. 41: glímu-færr, adj. able-bodied as a wrestler, Finnb. 328: glímu-galdr, m. a ‘wrestler-spell,’ to charm one’s legs and make them steady, Ísl. Þjóðs. i: glímu-maðr, m. a wrestler: glímumann-liga, adv. like a good wrestler, nimbly, Fas. iii. 502: glímu-völlr, m. the wrestling-ring. The earliest match recorded is that of Thor and the giantess Elli (Age),—for the tale vide Edda 33; freq. in the Sagas, Sturl. iii. 20, 268; glenz ok glímur, Fms. i. 149 sqq., 182, iii. 187, 188, Grett. and Finnb., Kjaln. passim, Eg. ch. 40; leikr ( sport) and glíma are often used synonymously, as Ld. ch. 45. The glíma was a popular game at any meeting or festival, where many young and active men met together: thus at the banquet in Reykhólar (1119) the guests amused themselves by dancing, glímur, and story-telling, Sturl. i. 23; at the parliament (alþing) there was a palaestra, Fanga-brekka (‘wrestling-brink’); in Glúm. ch. 13 a fight is recorded between the Northerners and Westerners assembled there; as also in Grett. ch. 75 (in the parliament at Hegranes); in Gunnl. ch. 11 the crew of the ships in harbour made up a glíma. The mod. Icel. bænda-glíma is just the same, as it was practiced in the college at Hólar, and later in the school at Bessastaðir, as also at fishing-stations and wherever young men came together; the young men are divided by lot into two parties, which are then drawn up in a row, each having their leader or ‘bóndi’ (whence the name); the bændr pair off their men against one another to wrestle in the arena or defile between the two ranks, one after another; if the one side was weaker in number, or the one bóndi had lost all his men, he might challenge his antagonist, and their match decided the game, Eggert Itin. ch. 518. The bænda-glíma at college and school was by far the best-played, and much stress was laid on nimble and graceful movements. ☞ In Hom. 24 scurrilitas is rendered by glíma.

n. (heathen) god.

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n. pl. [all the Teutonic languages have this word in common; Ulf. guþa, n. pl., Gal. iv. 8; guda, id., John x. 34, 35; and Guþ, m.; A. S. godu, n. pl., and God, m.; O. H. G. Cot: in mod. languages masc.; Engl. God; Germ. Gott; Dan.-Swed. Gud].

A. HISTORICAL REMARKS.—In heathen times this word was neuter, and was used almost exclusively in plur., as were also other words denoting Godhead, e. g. regin or rögn = numina, q. v.; and bönd, höpt, prop. = bonds, and metaph. gods:—this plur. usage seems not to refer to a plurality of gods, but rather, as the Hebrew אלהים, to the majesty and mystery of the Godhead; it points to an earlier and purer faith than that which was current in the later ages of the Scandinavian heathendom; thus the old religious poem Völuspá distinguishes a twofold order of gods,—the heavenly powers (regin or ginn-heilög goð) who had no special names or attributes, and who ruled the world, like the Μοιρα or Αισα of Gr. mythology;—and the common gods who were divided into two tribes, Æsir ( Ases) and Vanir, whose conflict and league are recorded in Vsp. 27, 28, and Edda 47.

II. after the introduction of Christianity, the masculine gender (as in Greek and Latin) superseded the neuter in all Teutonic languages, first in Gothic, then in Old High German and Anglo-Saxon, and lastly in the Scandinavian languages; but neither in Gothic nor in Icel. did the word ever take the masc. inflexive r or s, so that it remains almost unique in form.

2. in Scandinavian the root vowel was altered from o to u (goð to guð), [Swed.-Dan. gud], yet in old poems of the Christian age it is still made to rhyme with o, Goðs, boðnum; Goð, roðnar, Sighvat; as also in the oldest MSS. of the 12th century; sometimes however it is written ḡþ, in which case the root vowel cannot be discerned.

3. in Icel. the pronunciation also underwent a change, and the g in Guð ( God) is now pronounced gw (Gwuð), both in the single word and in those proper names which have become Christian, e. g. Guðmundr pronounced Gwuðmundr, whence the abbreviated form Gvendr or Gvöndr. The old form with o is still retained in obsolete words, as goði, goðorð, vide below, and in local names from the heathen age, as Goð-dalir; so also Gormr (q. v.), which is contracted from Goð-ormr not Guð-ormr. On the other hand, the Saxon and German have kept the root vowel o.

III. in old poems of heathen times it was almost always used without the article; gremdu eigi goð at þér, Ls.; áðr vér heilög goð blótim, Fas. i. (in a verse); ginnheilög Goð, Vsp. passim; goðum ek þat þakka, Am. 53; með goðum, Alm.; in prose, en goð hefna eigi alls þegar, Nj. 132.

2. with the article goð-in, Vsp. 27: freq. in prose, um hvat reiddusk goðin þá er hér brann hraunit er nú stöndu vér á, Bs. i. (Kr. S.) 22; eigi eru undr at goðin reiðisk tölum slíkum, id.; Hallfreðr lastaði eigi goðin, þó aðrir menn hallmælti þeim, Fms. ii. 52; allmikin hug leggr þú á goðin, Fs. 94; eigi munu goðin þessu valda, Nj. 132, passim.

3. very seldom in sing., and only if applied to a single goddess or the like, as Öndor-goðs (gen.), Haustl. 7; Vana-goð, of Freyja, Edda; enu skírleita goði, of the Sun, Gm. 39.

IV. after the introduction of Christianity, the neut. was only used of false gods in sing. as well as in pl., Sólar-goð = Apollo, Orrostu-goð = Mars, Drauma-goð = Morpheus, Bret. (Verel.); and was held up for execration by the missionaries; gör þik eigi svá djarfa, at þú kallir goð hinn hæsta konung er ek trúi á, Fb. i. 371. Yet so strongly did the neut. gender cleave to the popular mind that it remains (Grág. Kb. i. 192) in the oath formula, goð gramt = Goð gramr; and Icel. still say, í Guðanna (pl.) bænum.

2. guðír, masc. pl., as in A. S. gudas, is freq. in eccl. writers, but borrowed from the eccl. Lat.

B. IN COMPDS:

I. with nouns, goða-blót, n. sacrifice to the gods, Fb. i. 35. goða-gremi, f. a term in the heathen oath, wrath of the gods, Eg. 352. goða-heill, f. favour of the gods, Þorst. Síðu H. 9. goða-hús, n. a house of gods, temple, Dropl. 11, Nj. 131, Fb. i. 337. goða-stallar, m. pl. the altar in temples, Fas. i. 454. goða-stúka, u, f. the sanctuary in heathen temples, answering to the choir or sanctuary in churches, Landn. 335 (App.) goða-tala, u, f. in the phrase, í goðatölu, in the tale ( list) of gods, 625. 41. goð-borinn, part. διογενής, god-born, Hkv. 1. 29. goð-brúðr, f. bride of the gods (the goddess Skaði), Edda (in a verse). Goð-dalir, m. pl. a local name, hence Goð-dælir, m. pl. a family, Landn. goð-gá, f. blasphemy against the gods, Nj. 163, Ld. 180. goð-heimr, m. the home of the gods, Stor. 20, cp. Ýt. goð-konungr, m. (cp. Gr. διογενής βασιλεύς), a king,—kings being deemed the offspring of gods, Ýt. goð-kunnigr and goð-kyndr, adj. of the kith of gods, Edda 6, 11, 13. goð-lauss, adj. godless, a nickname, Landn. goð-lax, m. a kind of salmon, Edda (Gl.) goð-leiðr, adj. loathed by the gods, Korm. goð-máligr, adj. skilled in the lore of the gods, Hým. 38. goð-mögn, n. pl. divine powers, deities, Edda 1; biðja til þinna goðmagna, Bret. (Verel.) goð-reið, f. ‘a ride of gods’ through the air, a meteor, thought to forebode great events, Glúm. (in a verse), cp. the Swed. åska. goð-rifi, n. scorn of the gods, Sks. 435. goð-rækr, adj. ‘god-forsaken,’ wicked, 623. 30. goðum-leiðr, adj. = goðleiðr, Landn. (in a verse). goð-vargr, m. a ‘god-worrier,’ sacrilegus, ‘lupus in sanctis,’ Bs. i. 13 (in a verse). goð-vefr, vide guðvefr. goð-vegr, m. the way of the gods, the heaven, the sky, Hdl. 5. Goð-þjóð, f. the abode of the gods, Vsp.:—but Goth. Gut-þjuda = the land of the Goths, by assimilation Goð-þjóð, passim in old poems and the Sagas.

II. with pr. names, originally Goð-, later and mod. Guð-; of men, Guð-brandr, Guð-laugr, Guð-leifr, Guð-mundr, Guð-röðr, Guð-ormr or Gutt-ormr, etc.; of women, Guð-björg, Guð-finna, Guð-laug, Guð-leif, Guð-ný, Guð-ríðr, Guð-rún, etc.; cp. the interesting statement in Eb. (App.) 126 new Ed. (from the Hauks-bók), that men of the olden time used to call their sons and daughters after the gods (Goð-, Þór-, Frey-, Ás-); and it was thought that a double (i. e. a compound) name gave luck and long life, esp. those compounded with the names of gods; menn höfðu mjök þá tvau nöfn, þótti þat likast til langlífis ok heilla, þótt nokkurir fyrirmælti þeim við goðin, þá mundi þat ekki saka, ef þeir ætti eitt nafn, though any one cursed them by the gods it would not hurt if they had ‘one’ name, i. e. if they were the namesakes of the gods, Eb. l. c.;—we read ‘eitt nafn’ for ‘eitt annat nafn’ of the Ed. and MS. In Fb. i. 23, the mythical king Raum is said to have had three sons, Alf, Björn, and Brand; the first was reared by the Finns, and called Finn-Alf; Björn by his mother (a giantess), and called Jötun-Björn; and Brand was given to the gods, and called Goð-Brand (Guð-brandr, whence Guðbrands-dalir, a county in Norway); cp. also Eb. ch. 7.

☞ For the Christian sense of God and its compds vide s. v. Guð.