guilty of

(acc. sekan or sekjan), a.

1) guilty;

láta þann undan setja, er sekr er, to let him escape who is guilty;

sekr e-s or um e-t, guilty of;

2) convicted, outlawed, condemned to outlawry (gøra e-n sekjan, verða sekr um e-t);

sekr skógarmaðr, fjörbaugsmaðr, convicted outlaw;

3) sentenced to pay, mulcted in (verðr hann sekr um þat þrem mörkum);

4) forfeited;

tel ek sekt fé hans allt, I say that all his goods are forfeited.

* * *

adj.; in this word in old vellums a j appears after the k and before a vowel, whence also came the old change of the root vowel; thus, sekjan, sekjum, sekjar; in later vellums this j is dropped, sekan, sekum, etc.: [from sök]:—prop. sentenced, to pay in money or person: esp. of a fine, mulcted, verðr hann sekr um þat þremr, sex mörkum, Grág. i. 37, 296, 363, 375; þá eru þeir sekir fimtán mörkum, N. G. L. i. 21, 359 (else the Grág. has útlagr, q. v.)

II. in Icel. law, convicted, outlawed, condemned to the lesser or greater outlawry; nú verðr maðr sekr at sátt, en þá verðr maðr sekr at sátt, er hann handsalar sekt sína, Grág. (Kb.) ch. 60; sekr skógar-maðr, sekr fjörbaugs-maðr, Grág.; til ek hann eiga at verða um þá sök sekjan skógarmann, prop. = a convicted woodman, Nj. 110: maðr hafði sekr orðit um þræls morð eðr leysings, Íb. 6; but also used singly, ins sekja manns, the outlaws, Grág. i. 360; Gísli verðr sekr, Gísl. 39; verða sekr um víg, Nj. 88, Grett., Gísl., Harð. S., and other Sagas passim.

2. guilty, wicked; hefna sekjum mönnum íllar atferðir, MS. 677. 4; láta þann undan setja er sekr er Nj. 136; eigi göra verkin ein saman manninn sekjan, 656 A. ii. 16; þar til er þeir fara af heiminmn sekir, 625. 66: sekari né dauðlegri, Sks. 533; samt fyrir Guði sekr ert, Pass., N. T., Vídal. passim.

(gen. sakar, pl. sakar or sakir), f.

1) charge, the offence charged;

sönn sök, a true charge;

gera sakar á hendr sér, to incur charges;

gera sakir við e-n, to do offence or harm to one;

sannr at sök, proved (found) guilty;

gefa e-m (upp) sakir, to remit a charge;

gefa e-m sök (sakar) á e-u, gefa e-m e-t at sök, to make a charge against one;

fœrast undan sökum, to plead not guilty;

vera (bundinn) í sökum við e-n, to have done offence to one (konungr tók stór gjöld af bóndum þeim, er honum þóttu í sökum við sik);

2) suit, action, in court;

eiga sök á e-u, to have a ground for complaint;

ek á sjálfr sök á því, that is my own affair;

sækja e-n sökum, to prosecute one;

svæfa allar sakar, to settle all causes;

fara með sökina, to conduct the suit;

segja fram sök sína, to declare ones suit;

3) effect;

hafa ekki at sök, to effect nothing;

tók Þóroddr þá at vanda um kvámur hans, ok hafði ekki at sök, but to no effect;

4) cause, reason (þótti konungi sakir til, þótt hann hefði eigi komit);

fyrir hverja sök, for the sake of what, why?

fyrir þá (þessa) sök, for that reason, therefore;

af þeim sökum, from that cause (svá lauk þessu, at húsfreyja lézt af þeim sökum);

fyrir e-s sakir or sökum, for the sake of, because of;

fyrir ástar sakir, for love’s sake;

with respect to (skyldi boðit verða sem vegligast, bæði fyrir tilfanga sakir ok fjölmennis);

fyrir mínum sökum, for my sake, for my part;

um sakar þínar, for thy sake;

of time, um nokkurra nátta sakir, for a few nights;

of (um) stundar sakir, for a while;

um sinns sakir, for this once;

um nætr sakir, for one night;

sakir e-s, sökum e-s = fyrir sakir e-s, fyrir sökum e-s.

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f., gen. sakar, dat. sök, and older saku, which occurs on Runic stones; pl. sakar, later sakir; a gen. sing. söku or saku (from saka, u, f.) remains in the compds söku-dólgr, söku-nautr: [Ulf. sakjo = μάχη; A. S. sacu; Engl. sake; Germ. sache; Dan. sag; Swed. sak.]

A. A charge, then the offence charged, guilt, crime, like Lat. crimen; göra sakar á hendr sér, to incur charges, Ld. 44; sannr at sök, guilty, Nj. 87, Grág. i. 75; sök er sönn, a true charge, 294; sakar allar skulu liggja niðri meðal okkar, Grág. i. 362; svæfa sakar, Gm. 15; semr hann dóma ok sakar leggr, Vsp. 64; ef sakar görask þær skal fé bæta, Ísl. ii. 380; bæta sakir þær allar með fé er görzk höfðu í þeim málum, Eg. 98; nú er sagt hvaðan sakar görðusk, Hkv.; veiztú hverjar sakir ek á við konung þenna? … hann hefir drepit föður minn, Fas. ii. 532; þeim megin siglu er menn eigu síðr sakir við menn, Grág. ii. 137; gefa e-m upp sakir, to remit a charge, Ld. 44; or, gefa e-m sakir, id., Fms. x. 326; gefa e-m sök (sakar) á e-u, to make a charge against one, Landn. 145; gefa e-m e-t að sök, id., Fms. i. 37; bera sakar á e-n, to bring a charge against, Hkr. i. 168; eiga sakar við e-n, to have a charge against a person; færask undan sökum, to plead not guilty, Fms. xi. 251; verjask sök, id., Grág. i. 38; lúka sökum með sér, to settle the charges brought by one against the other, 361; líta á sakar úreiðr, Fms. i. 15; vera bundinn í sökum við e-n, to stand committed, Eg. 589, Fms. i. 61.

2. the offence charged; falla í sök, to fall into crime, Sks. 575; fyrir sakir ( for wrongs committed) skyldi niðr falla þriðjungr gjalda, Fms. ix. 227; dauða verðr fyrir sökina, Sks. 575 B; fyrir-gef oss várar sakar ( our trespasses), Hom. 158; fyrir hví var hann píndr, eða hvat sök görði hann? Bs. i. 9.

II. a law phrase, a plaint, suit, action in court; ef hann á sök at sækja, þá er …, Grág. i. 64; sakar-aðili, a plaintiff, Grág. passim; eiga sök í dómi, i. 74; sækjandi ok sakar verjandi, 17; á sá sök er …, he owns the case, i. e. is the right plaintiff, 38; fara með sök, to conduct a suit, 37, Nj. 86; færa fram sök, Grág. i. 83; segja fram sök, 39, 43, Nj. 36, 87, 110, 187; sök fyrnisk, is prescribed, Grág. i. 381; í salti liggr sök ef sækendr duga, see salt; göra tvær sakar ór vígi ok fram hlaupi, ii. 35; hafa sök at sækja, or, hafa sök at verja, i. 37, 76; hafa sök á hendi e-m, 75; hluta sakir, 74, 104; lýsa sakar, 19, Nj. 110; lýsa sök á hönd e-m, 18, 19, 110; selja e-m sök á hendr e-m, at þú mættir hvárki sækja þína sök né annarra, 99; sækja svá sök sína, Grág. i. 75; hafa sök at sækja, etc.; verja sök, 298; eiga sök á e-u, to have a suit against one, of the injured person; hvat hafðir þú til gört áðr?—þat er hann átti enga sök á, what hast thou done?—That for which he had no ground for complaint, i. e. which did not concern him, Nj. 130; eg á sjálfr sök á því, that is my own affair; dómar fara út til saka, the courts are sitting to hear the pleadings, 295; því at eins verðr sökin ( the action) við hann, ef …, 405; bjóða sök á þingi, N. G. L. i. 20; sökin Tyrfings, the case of T., Nj. 100, 101; þriggja þinga sök, a case lasting three sessions, Grág. i. 441, ii. 233; tólf aura, sex aura, merkr, þriggja marka sök, an action for three marks, N. G. L. i. 81, 82, Grág. i. 405, ii. 113; víg-sök, a case of manslaughter; fjörbaugs-sök, skóggangs-sök, a case, action of outlawry, passim; borgit málinu ok svá sökinni, the case and the suit, Nj. 36.

2. spec., persecution; sök eða vörn, Grág. i. 17, (rare, see sókn); at sökum öllum ok svá at vörnum, 104.

3. phrases; hafa ekki at sök, to no effect; hann kvað sér þó þungt, at nokkut mundi at sök hafa, Eb. 53 new Ed.; tók Þóroddr at vanda um kvámur hans, ok hafði ekki (not eigi) at sök, 50 new Ed.; ok hafði ekki vætta at sök, Fms. viii. 18; hann eggjar lið sitt ok hafði gott at sök, Flóv. 44.

III. a ‘sake,’ cause; eru fleiri vinda sakir, are there more causes of the winds? Rb. 440; þótti konungi sakir til þótt hann hefði eigi komit, Fms. xi. 13; hann skal segja hvat at sökum er, what is the reason, cause? Grág. i. 310; sú var sök til þess, at …, Fms. i. 153; brýnar sakar, Al. 7; fyrir hverja sök, for the sake of what? wherefore? Fms. i. 81; af sök nökkurar óvináttu, for the sake of, because of, Hom. 20.

2. adverbial phrases; fyrir sakar (sakir) e-s, for the sake of, because of; fyrir sakir orma, Al. 1; beztr kostr fyrir sakir frænda …, Glúm. 348; er þér þat sjálf-rátt fyrir sakir höfðing-skapar þíns, Nj. 266; fyrir tignar sakir várrar ok lands siðar, 6; fyrir styrks sakar ok megins, Eg. 107; fyrir úrækðar sakar, … fyrir veðrs sakar, K. Þ. K.; fyrir ástar sakir, Nj. 3: leaving out ‘fyrir,’ whereby sakar (acc.) becomes quite a preposition; sakir harma várra, Lv. 67; sakar refsingar ok ástar sakar við hina, Sks. 666 B; sakir þess at hann var ekki skáld, Fb. i. 215; sakir (þess) at hann var gamall, Fas. iii. 260: acc., fyrir þínar sakir, Nj. 140; fyrir várar sakir, Fms. vii. 190; um sakar e-s, id.; um konu sakar, Grág. ii. 62; of óra sök, Skv. 3. 49: temp., um nökkorra nátta sakir, for a few nights, Fms. i. 213; of stundar sakir, for a while, Nj. 139, Al. 99, Fms. xi. 107; um viku sakir, a week’s respite, Eg.; um hríðar sakar, a while, Mar., Al. 83; gefa mat um máls sakir, for one meal, Vm. 16; um sinn sakir, for this once, Ld. 184, 196, 310, Þórð. 36 new Ed.:—dat. plur. sökum, placed after a genitive, in which case even indeclinable fem. nouns for the sake of euphony assume a final s; af hennar sökum, for her sake, Ver. 44; af frændsemis sökum, Grág. ii. 72; af hræsnis sökum, Hom. 23; at sinn sakum, for this once, Sks. 483 B; fyrir þeim sökum, on that account, Grág. i. 48; fyrir veðrs sökum, K. Þ. K.; fyrir aldrs sökum, for old sake, Fms. xi. 50; fyrir veilendi sökum, Grág. i. 41; fyrir fáfræðis sökum ok úgá, Bs. i. 137; fyrir mínum sökum, for my sake, Þorst. St. 54; at hann mundi eigi mega vera einn konungr fyrir Áka sökum, Fms. xi. 46; sökum snjóvar, Lv. 25; fylgir þar enn sökum þess því goðorði alþingis-helgun, Landn. 336 (Append.), and passim.

B. COMPDS: sakaraðili, sakaráberi, sakabætr, sakadólgr, sakareyrir, sakarferli, sakafullr, sakargipt, sakalauss, sakamaðr, sakarspell, sakarstaðr, sakartaka, sakartökuváttr, sakartökuvætti, sakarvandræði, sakarvörn.

* * *

(ber; bar, bárum; borinn), v.

I.

1) to bear, carry, convey (bar B. biskup í börum suðr í Hvamm);

bera (farm) af skipi, to unload a ship;

bera (mat) af borði, to take (the meat) off the table;

bera e-t á hesti, to carry on horseback;

2) to wear (bera klæði, vápn, kórónu);

bera œgishjálm, to inspire fear and awe;

3) to bear, produce, yield (jörðin berr gras; tré bera aldin, epli);

4) to bear, give birth to, esp. of sheep and cows;

kýr hafði borit kálf, had calved;

absol., ván at hón mundi bera, that the cow would calve;

the pp. is used of men; hann hafði verit blindr borinn, born blind;

verða borinn í þenna heim, to be born into this world;

þann sóma, sem ek em til borinn, born to;

borinn e-m, frá e-m (rare), born of;

Nótt var Nörvi borin, was the daughter of N.;

borinn Sigmundi, son of S.;

5) bera e-n afli, ofrafli, ofrliði, ofrmagni, ofríki, to bear one down, overcome, oppress, one by odds or superior force;

bera e-n ráðum, to overrule one;

bera e-n málum, to bear one down (wrongfully) in a lawsuit;

bera e-n sök, to charge one with a fault;

bera e-n bjóri, to make drunk with beer;

verða bráðum borinn, to be taken by surprise;

borinn verkjum, overcome by pains;

þess er borin ván, there is no hope, all hope is gone;

borinn baugum, bribed; cf. bera fé á e-n, to bribe one;

6) to lear, be capable of bearing (of a ship, horse, vehicle);

þeir hlóðu bæði skipin sem borð báru, with as much as they could carry;

fig., to sustain, support (svá mikill mannfjöldi, at landit fekk eigi borit);

of persons, to bear up against, endure, support (grief, sorrow, etc.);

absol., bar hann drengiliga, he bore it manfully;

similarly, bera (harm) af sér, berast vel (illa, lítt) af;

bar hon sköruliga af sér, she bore up bravely;

hversu berst Auðr af um bróðurdauðann, how does she bear it?

hon berst af lítt, she is much cast down;

bera sik vel upp, to bear well up against;

7) bera e-t á, e-n á hendr e-m, to charge or tax one with (eigi erum vér þess valdir, er þú berr á oss);

bera (kvið) á e-n, to give a verdict against, declare guilty (í annat sinn báru þeir á Flosa kviðinn);

bera af e-m (kviðinn), to give a verdict for;

bera e-t af sér, to deny having done a thing;

bera or bera vitni, vætti, to bear witness, testify;

bera or bera um e-t, to give a verdict in a case;

bera e-n sannan at sök, to prove guilty by evidence;

bera e-n undan sök, to acquit;

bera í sundr frændsemi þeirra, to prove (by evidence) that they are not relations;

bera e-m vel (illa) söguna, to give a favourable (unfavourable) account of one;

refl. (pass.), berast, to be proved by evidence (þótt þér berist þat faðerni, er þú segir);

8) to set forth, report, tell;

bera e-m kveðju (orð, orðsending), to bring one a greeting, compliments (word, message);

bera or bera fram erindi sín fyrir e-n, to state (tell) one’s errand or to plead one’s case before one;

bera e-m njósn, to apprise one;

bera e-t upp, to produce, mention, tell;

bera upp gátu, to give (propound) a riddle;

bera upp erindi sín, to state one’s errand;

bera saman ráð sín, to consult together;

eyddist það ráð, er þeir báru saman, which they had designed;

9) to keep, hold, bear, of a title (bera jarlnafn, konnungsnafn);

bera (eigi) giptu, gæfu, hammingju, auðnu til e-s, (not) to have the good fortune to do a thing (bar hann enga gæfu til at þjóna þér);

bera vit, skyn, kunnáttu á e-t, to have knowledge of, uniderstanding about;

vel viti borinn, endowed with a good understanding;

bera hug, áræði, þor, traust til e-s, to have courage, confidence to do a thing;

bera áhyggju fyrir e-u, to be concerned about;

bera ást, elsku, hatr til e-s, to bear affection, love, hatred to;

10) to bear off or away, carry off (some gain);

bera sigr af e-m, af e-u, to carry off the victory from or in;

hann hafði borit sigr af tveim orustum, he had been victorious in two battles;

bera hærra (lægra) hlut to get the best (the worst) of it;

bera efra (hærra) skjöld, to gain the victory;

bera hátt (lágt) höfuðit, to bear the head high (low), to be in high (low) spirits;

bera halann bratt, lágt, to cock up or let fall the tail, to be in high or low spirits;

11) with preps.:

bera af e-m, to surpass;

en þó bar Bolli af, surpassed all the rest;

bera af sér högg, lag to ward off, parry a blow or thrust;

bera eld at, to set fire to;

bera fjötur (bönd) at e-m, to put fetters (bonds) on one;

bera vápn á e-n, to attack one with sharp weapons;

bera á or í, to smear, anoint (bera vatn í augu sér, bera tjöru í höfuð sér);

bera e-t til, to apply to, to try if it fits (bera til hvern lykil af öðrum at portinu);

bera e-t um, to wind round;

þá bar hann þá festi um sik, made it fast round his body;

bera um með e-n, to bear with, have patience with;

bera út barn, to expose a child;

12) refl., berast mikit (lítit) á, to bear oneself proudly (humbly);

láta af berast, to die;

láta fyrir berast e-s staðar, to stay, remain in a place (for shelter);

berast e-t fyrir, to design a thing (barst hann þat fyrir at sjá aldregi konur);

at njósna um, hvat hann bærist fyrir, to inquire into what he was about;

berast vápn á, to attack one another;

berast at or til, to happen;

þat barst at (happened) á einhverju sumri;

ef svá harðliga kann til at berast, if that misfortune does happen;

berast í móti, to happen, occur;

hefir þetta vel í móti borizt, it is a happy coincidence;

berast við, to be prevented;

ok nú lét almáttugr guð við berast kirkjubrunann, prevented, stopped the burning of the church;

II. impers., denoting a sort of passive or involuntary motion;

1) with acc., it bears or carries one to a place;

alla berr at sama brunni, all come to the same well (end);

bar hann (acc.) þá ofan gegnt Ösuri, he happened to come down just opposite to Ö.;

esp. of ships and sailors; berr oss (acc.) til Íslands eða annarra landa, we drift to Iceland or other countries;

þá (acc.) bar suðr í haf, they were carried out southwards;

Skarpheðin (acc.) bar nú at þeim, S. came suddenly upon them;

ef hann (acc.) skyldi bera þar at, if he should happen to come there;

e-n berr yfir, one is borne onwards, of a bird flying, a man riding;

hann (acc.) bar skjótt yfir, it passed quickly (of a flying meteor);

2) followed by preps.:

Gunnar sér, at rauðan kyrtil bar við glugginn, that a red kirtle passed before the window;

hvergi bar skugga (acc.) á, there was nowhere a shadow;

e-t berr fram (hátt), is prominent;

Ólafr konungr stóð í lyptingu ok bar hann (acc.) hátt mjök, stood out conspicuously;

e-t berr á milli, comes between;

leiti (acc.) bar á milli, a hill hid the prospect;

fig. e-m berr e-t á milli, they are at variance about a thing;

mart (acc.) berr nú fyrir augu mér, many things come now before my eyes;

veiði (acc.) berr í hendr e-m, game falls to one’s lot;

e-t berr undan, goes amiss, fails;

bera saman, to coincide;

bar nöfn þeirra saman, they had the same name;

fig., with dat.; bar öllum sögum vel saman, all the stories agreed well together;

fund várn bar saman, we met;

3) bera at, til, við, at hendi, til handa, to befall, happen, with dat. of the person;

svá bar at einn vetr, it happened one winter;

þó at þetta vandræði (acc.) hafi nú borit oss (dat.) at hendi, has befallen us;

bar honum svá til, it so befell him;

þat bar við (it so happened), at Högni kom;

raun (acc.) berr á, it is proved by fact;

4) of time, to fall upon;

ef þing (acc.) berr á hina helgu viku, if the parliament falls in the holy week;

bera í móti, to coincide, happen exactly at the same time;

5) denoting cause;

e-t berr til, causes a thing;

konungr spurði, hvat til bæri úgleði hans, what was the cause of his grief;

ætluðu þat þá allir, at þat mundi til bera, that that was the reason;

berr e-m nauðsyn til e-s, one is obliged to do a thing;

6) e-t berr undir e-n, falls to a person’s lot;

hon á arf at taka, þegar er undir hana berr, in her turn;

e-t berr frá, is surpassing;

er sagt, at þat (acc.) bæri frá, hvé vel þeir mæltu, it was extraordinary how well they spoke;

7) e-t berr bráðum, happens of a sudden;

e-t berr stóru, stórum (stœrrum), it amounts to much (more), it matters a great deal (more), it is of great (greater) importance;

8) absol. or with an adv., vel, illa, with infin.;

e-m berr (vel, illa) at gera e-t, it becomes, beseems one (well, ill) to do a thing (berr yðr vel, herra, at sjá sannindi á þessu máli);

used absol., berr vel, illa, it is beseeming, proper, fit, or unbeseeming, improper, unfit (þat þykkir eigi illa bera, at).

(að), v. to make bare (hon beraði likam sinn).

f. she-bear, = birna.

* * *

u, f.

I. [björn], a she-bear, Lat. ursa; the primitive root ‘ber’ remains only in this word (cp. berserkr and berfjall), björn (q. v.) being the masc. in use, Landn. 176, Fas. i. 367, Vkv. 9: in many Icel. local names, Beru-fjörðr, -vík, from Polar bears; fem. names, Bera, Hallbera, etc., Landn.

II. a shield, poët., the proverb, baugr er á beru sæmstr, to a shield fits best a baugr (q. v.), Lex. Poët., Edda (Gl.); hence names of poems Beru-drápa, Eg.

bar, báru, borit, pres. berr,—poët. forms with the suffixed negative; 3rd pers. sing. pres. Indic. berrat, Hm. 10; 3rd pers. sing. pret. barat, Vellekla; 1st pers. sing. barkak, Eb. 62 (in a verse); barkat ek, Hs. 8; 2nd pers. sing. bartattu; 3rd pers. pl. bárut, etc., v. Lex. Poët. [Gr. φέρειν; Lat. ferre; Ulf. bairan; A. S. beran; Germ. gebären; Engl. bear; Swed. bära; Dan. bære].

A. Lat. ferre, portare:

I. prop. with a sense of motion, to bear, carry, by means of the body, of animals, of vehicles, etc., with acc., Egil tók mjöðdrekku eina mikla, ok bar undir hendi sér, Eg. 237; bar hann heim hrís, Rm. 9; konungr lét bera inn kistur tvær, báru tveir menn hverja, Eg. 310; bera farm af skipi, to unload a ship, Ld. 32; bera (farm) á skip, to load a ship, Nj. 182; tóku alla ösku ok báru á á ( amnem) út, 623, 36; ok bar þat ( carried it) í kerald, 43, K. Þ. K. 92; b. mat á borð, í stofu, to put the meat on table, in the oven; b. mat af borði, to take it off table, Eb. 36, 266, Nj. 75, Fms. ix. 219, etc.

2. Lat. gestare, ferre, denoting to wear clothes, to carry weapons; skikkja dýr er konungr hafði borit, Eg. 318; b. kórónu, to wear the crown, Fms. x. 16; atgeir, Nj. 119; vápn, 209: metaph., b. ægishjálm, to inspire fear and awe; b. merki, to carry the flag in a battle, Nj. 274, Orkn. 28, 30, 38, Fms. v. 64, vi. 413; bera fram merki, to advance, move in a battle, vi. 406.

3. b. e-t á hesti (áburðr), to carry on horseback; Auðunn bar mat á hesti, Grett. 107; ok bar hrís á hesti, 76 new Ed.; þeir báru á sjau hestum, 98 new Ed.

II. without a sense of motion:

1. to give birth to; [the root of barn, bairn; byrja, incipere; burðr, partus; and burr, filius: cp. Lat. parĕre; also Gr. φέρειν, Lat. ferre, of child-bearing.] In Icel. prose, old as well as mod., ‘ala’ and ‘fæða’ are used of women; but ‘bera,’ of cows and sheep; hence sauðburðr, casting of lambs, kýrburðr; a cow is snembær, siðbær, Jólabær, calves early, late, at Yule time, etc.; var ekki ván at hon ( the cow) mundi b. fyr en um várit, Bs. i. 193, 194; kýr hafði borit kálf, Bjarn. 32; bar hvárrtveggi sauðrinn sinn burð, Stj. 178: the participle borinn is used of men in a great many compds in a general sense, aptrborinn, árborinn, endrborinn, frjálsborinn, goðborinn, höldborinn, hersborinn, konungborinn, óðalborinn, samborinn, sundrborinn, velborinn, úborinn, þrælborinn, etc.; also out of compds, mun ek eigi upp gefa þann sóma, sem ek em til borinn, … entitled to by inheritance, Ld. 102; hann hafði blindr verit borinn, born blind, Nj. 152, Hdl. 34, 42, Vsp. 2: esp. borinn e-m, born of one, Rm. 39, Hdl. 12, 23, 27, Hðm. 2, Gs. 9, Vþm. 25, Stor. 16, Vkv. 15; borinn frá e-m, Hdl. 24: the other tenses are in theol. Prose used of Christ, hans blezaða son er virðist at láta berast hingað í heim af sinni blezaðri móður, Fms. i. 281; otherwise only in poetry, eina dóttur (acc.) berr álfröðull (viz. the sun, regarded as the mother), Vþm. 47; hann Gjálp um bar, hann Greip um bar …, Hdl. 36: borit (sup.), Hkv. 1. 1.

β. of trees, flowers; b. ávöxt, blóm …, to bear fruit, flower … (freq.); bar aldinviðrinn tvennan blóma, Fms. ix. 265; cp. the phrase, bera sitt barr, v. barr.

2. denoting to load, with acc. of the person and dat. of the thing:

α. in prop. sense; hann hafði borit sik mjök vápnum, he had loaded himself with arms, i. e. wore heavy armour, Sturl. iii. 250.

β. but mostly in a metaph. sense; b. e-n ofrafli, ofrmagni, ofrliði, ofríki, magni, to bear one down, to overcome, oppress one, by odds or superior force, Grág. i. 101, ii. 195, Nj. 80, Hkr. ii. 371, Gþl. 474, Stj. 512, Fms. iii. 175 (in the last passage a dat. pers. badly); b. e-n ráðum, to overrule one, Nj. 198, Ld. 296; b. e-n málum, to bearhim down (wrongfully) in a lawsuit, Nj. 151; b. e-n bjóri, to make drunk, Vkv. 26: medic., borinn verkjum, sótt, Bjarn. 68, Og. 5; bölvi, Gg. 2: borne down, feeling heavy pains; þess er borin ván, no hope, all hope is gone, Ld. 250; borinn sök, charged with a cause, Fms. v. 324, H. E. i. 561; bráðum borinn, to be taken by surprise, Fms. iv. 111; b. fé, gull á e-n, to bring one a fee, gold, i. e. to bribe one, Nj. 62; borinn baugum, bribed, Alvm. 5; always in a bad sense, cp. the law phrase, b. fé í dóm, to bribe a court, Grág., Nj. 240.

3. to bear, support, sustain, Lat. sustinere, lolerare, ferre:

α. properly, of a ship, horse, vehicle, to bear, be capable of bearing; þeir hlóðu bæði skipin sem borð báru, all that they could carry, Eb. 302;—a ship ‘berr’ ( carries) such and such a weight; but ‘tekr’ ( takes) denotes a measure of fluids.

β. metaph. to sustain, support; dreif þannig svá mikill mannfjöldi at landit fékk eigi borit, Hkr. i. 56; but metaph. to bear up against, endure, support grief, sorrow, etc., sýndist öllum at Guð hefði nær ætlað hvat hann mundi b. mega, Bs. i. 139; biðr hann friðar ok þykist ekki mega b. reiði hans, Fms. iii. 80: the phrase, b. harm sinn í hljóði, to suffer silently; b. svívirðing, x. 333: absol., þótti honum mikit víg Kjartans, en þó bar hann drengilega, he bore it manfully, Ld. 226; er þat úvizka, at b. eigi slíkt, not to bear or put up with, Glúm. 327; b. harm, to grieve, Fms. xi. 425: in the phrases, b. sik, b. af sér, berask, berask vel (illa, lítt), to bear oneself, to bear up against misfortune; Guðrúnu þótti mikit fráfall Þorkels, en þó bar hon sköruliga af sér, she bore her bravely up, Ld. 326–328; lézt hafa spurt at ekkjan bæri vel af sér harmana, Eb. 88; berask af; hversu bersk Auðr af um bróðurdauðann? (how does she bear it?); hón bersk af lítt ( she is much borne down) ok þykir mikit, Gísl. 24; niun oss vandara gört en öðrum at vér berim oss vel (Lat. fortiter ferre), Nj. 197; engi maðr hefði þar jamvel borit sik, none bad borne himself so boldly, Sturl. iii. 132; b. sik vel upp, to bear well up against, bear a stout heart, Hrafn. 17; b. sik beiskliga ( sorely), Stj. 143; b. sik lítt, to be downcast, Fms. ii. 61; b. sik at göra e-t, to do one’s best, try a thing.

III. in law terms or modes of procedure:

1. bera járn, the ordeal of bearing hot iron in the hand, cp. járnburðr, skírsla. This custom was introduced into Scandinavia together with Christianity from Germany and England, and superseded the old heathen ordeals ‘hólmganga,’ and ‘ganga undir jarðarmen,’ v. this word. In Norway, during the civil wars, it was esp. used in proof of paternity of the various pretenders to the crown, Fms. vii. 164, 200, ix. Hák. S. ch. 14, 41–45, viii. (Sverr. S.) ch. 150, xi. (Jómsv. S.) ch. 11, Grett. ch. 41, cp. N. G. L. i. 145, 389. Trial by ordeal was abolished in Norway A. D. 1247. In Icel. It was very rarely mentioned, vide however Lv. ch. 23 (paternity), twice or thrice in the Sturl. i. 56, 65, 147, and Grág. i. 341, 361; it seems to have been very seldom used there, (the passage in Grett. S. l. c. refers to Norway.)

2. bera út (hence útburðr, q. v.), to expose children; on this heathen custom, vide Grimm R. A. In heathen Icel., as in other parts of heathen Scandinavia, it was a lawful act, but seldom exercised; the chief passages on record are, Gunnl. S. ch. 3 (ok þat var þá siðvandi nokkurr, er land var allt alheiðit, at þeir menn er félitlir vórn, en stóð ómegð mjök til handa létu út bera börn sín, ok þótti þó illa gört ávalt), Fs. Vd. ch. 37, Harð. S. ch. 8, Rd. ch. 7, Landn. v. ch. 6, Finnb. ch. 2, Þorst. Uxaf. ch. 4, Hervar. S. ch. 4, Fas. i. 547 (a romance); cp. Jómsv. S. ch. 1. On the introduction of Christianity into Icel. A. D. 1000, it was resolved that, in regard to eating of horse-flesh and exposure of children, the old laws should remain in force, Íb. ch. 9; as Grimm remarks, the exposure must take place immediately after birth, before the child had tasted food of any kind whatever, and before it was besprinkled with water (ausa vatni) or shown to the father, who had to fix its name; exposure, after any of these acts, was murder, cp. the story of Liafburga told by Grimm R. A.); v. Also a Latin essay at the end of the Gunnl. S. (Ed. 1775). The Christian Jus Eccl. put an end to this heathen barbarism by stating at its very beginning, ala skal barn hvert er borit verðr, i. e. all children, if not of monstrous shape, shall be brought up, N. G. L. i. 339, 363.

β. b. út (now more usual, hefja út, Am. 100), to carry out for burial; vera erfðr ok tit borinn, Odd. 20; var hann heygðr, ok út borinn at fornum sið, Fb. i. 123; b. á bál, to place (the body and treasures) upon the pile, the mode of burying in the old heathen time, Fas. i. 487 (in a verse); var hon borin á bálit ok slegit í eldi, Edda 38.

B. Various and metaph. cases.

I. denoting motion:

1. ‘bera’ is in the Grág. the standing law term for delivery of a verdict by a jury (búar), either ‘bera’ absol. or adding kvið ( verdict); bera á e-n, or b. kvið á e-n, to give a verdict against, declare guilty; bera af e-m, or b. af e-m kviðinn, to give a verdict for; or generally, bera, or b. um e-t, to give a verdict in a case; bera, or b. vitni, vætti, also simply means to testify, to witness, Nj. 111, cp. kviðburðr ( delivering of verdict), vitnisburðr ( bearing witness), Grág. ii. 28; eigi eigu búar ( jurors) enn at b. um þat hvat lög eru á landi hér, the jurors have not to give verdict in (to decide) what is law in the country, cp. the Engl. maxim, that jurors have only to decide the question of evidence, not of law, Grág. (Kb.) ch. 85; eigi eru búar skildir at b. um hvatvetna; um engi mál eigu þeir at skilja, þau er erlendis ( abroad) hafa görzt, id.; the form in delivering the verdict—höfum vér ( the jurors), orðit á eitt sáttir, berum á kviðburðinn, berum hann sannan at sökinni, Nj. 238, Grág. i. 49, 22, 138, etc.; í annat sinn báru þeir á Flosa kviðinn, id.; b. annattveggja af eðr á; b. undan, to discharge, Nj. 135; b. kvið í hag ( for), Grág. i. 55; b. lýsingar vætti, Nj. 87; b. vitni ok vætti, 28, 43, 44; b. ljúgvitni, to bear false witness, Grág. i. 28; b. orð, to bear witness to a speech, 43; bera frændsemi sundr, to prove that they are not relations, N. G. L. i. 147: reflex., berask ór vætti, to prove that oneself is wrongly summoned to bear witness or to give a verdict, 44: berask in a pass. sense, to be proved by evidence, ef vanefni b. þess manns er á hönd var lýst, Grág. i. 257; nema jafnmæli berisk, 229; þótt þér berisk þat faðerni er þú segir, Fms. vii. 164; hann kvaðst ætla, at honum mundi berask, that he would be able to get evidence for, Fs. 46.

β. gener. and not as a law term; b. á, b. á hendr, to charge; b. e-n undan, to discharge, Fs. 95; eigi erum vér þessa valdir er þú berr á oss, Nj. 238, Ld. 206, Fms. iv. 380, xi. 251, Th. 78; b. e-m á brýnn, to throw in one’s face, to accuse, Greg. 51; b. af sér, to deny; eigi mun ek af mér b., at… ( non diffitebor), Nj. 271; b. e-m gott vitni, to give one a good…, 11; b. e-m vel (illa) söguna, to bear favourable (unfavourable) witness of one, 271.

2. to bear by word of mouth, report, tell, Lat. referre; either absol. or adding kveðju, orð, orðsending, eyrindi, boð, sögu, njósn, frétt…, or by adding a prep., b. fram, frá, upp, fyrir; b. kveðju, to bring a greeting, compliment, Eg. 127; b. erindi (sín) fyrir e-n, to plead one’s case before one, or to tell one’s errand, 472, 473; b. njósn, to apprise, Nj. 131; b. fram, to deliver (a speech), talaði jungherra Magnús hit fyrsta erindi (M. made his first speech in public), ok fanst mönnum mikit um hversu úbernsliga fram var borit, Fms. x. 53; (in mod. usage, b. fram denotes gramm. to pronounce, hence ‘framburðr,’ pronunciation); mun ek þat nú fram b., I shall now tell, produce it, Ld. 256, Eg. 37; b. frá, to attest, relate with emphasis; má þat frá b., Dropl. 21; b. upp, to produce, mention, tell, þótt slík lygi sé upp borin fyrir hann, though such a lie be told him, Eg. 59; þær (viz. charges) urðu engar upp bornar ( produced) við Rút, Nj. 11; berr Sigtryggr þegar upp erindi sín (cp. Germ. ojfenbaren), 271, Ld. 256; b. upp gátu, to give (propound) a riddle, Stj. 411, Fas. i. 464; b. fyrir, to plead as an excuse; b. saman ráð sín, or the like, to consult, Nj. 91; eyddist þat ráð, er þeir báru saman, which they had designed, Post. 656 A. ii; b. til skripta, to confess (eccl.), of auricular confession, Hom. 124, 655 xx.

II. in a metaphorical or circumlocutory sense, and without any sense of motion, to keep, hold, bear, of a title; b. nafn, to bear a name, esp. as honour or distinction; tignar nafn, haulds nafn, jarls nafn, lends manns nafn, konungs nafn, bónda nafn, Fms. i. 17, vi. 278, xi. 44, Gþl. 106: in a more metaph. sense, denoting endowments, luck, disposition, or the like, b. (ekki) gæfu, hamingju, auðnu til e-s, to enjoy (enjoy not) good or bad luck, etc.; at Þórólfr mundi eigi allsendis gæfu til b. um vináttu við Harald, Eg. 75, 112, 473, Fms. iv. 164, i. 218; úhamingju, 219; b. vit, skyn, kunnáttu á (yfir) e-t, to bring wit, knowledge, etc., to bear upon a thing, xi. 438, Band. 7; hence vel (illa) viti borinn, well (ill) endowed with wit, Eg. 51; vel hyggjandi borinn, well endowed with reason, Grág. ii; b. hug, traust, áræði, þor, til e-s, to have courage, confidence … to do a thing, Gullþ. 47, Fms. ix. 220, Band. 7; b. áhyggju, önn fyrir, to care, be concerned about, Fms. x. 318; b. ást, elsku til e-s, to bear affection, love to one; b. hatr, to hate: b. svört augu, to have dark eyes, poët., Korm. (in a verse); b. snart hjarta, Hom. 5; vant er þat af sjá hvar hvergi berr hjarta sitt, where he keeps his heart, Orkn. 474; b. gott hjarta, to bear a proud heart, Lex. Poët., etc. etc.; b. skyndi at um e-t, to make speed with a thing, Lat. festinare, Fms. viii. 57.

2. with some sense of motion, to bear off or away, carry off, gain, in such phrases as, b. sigr af e-m, af e-u, to carry off the victory from or in …; hann hafði borit sigr af tveim orrustum, er frægstar hafa verit, he had borne off the victory in two battles, Fms. xi. 186; bera banaorð af e-m, to slay one in a fight, to be the victor; Þorr berr banaorð af Miðgarðsormi, Edda 42, Fms. x. 400: it seems properly to mean, to bear off the fame of having killed a man; verðat svá rík sköp, at Regin skyli mitt banorð bera, Fm. 39; b. hærra, lægra hlut, ‘to bear off the higher or the lower lot,’ i. e. to get the best or the worst of it, or the metaphor is taken from a sortilege, Fms. ii. 268, i. 59, vi. 412; b. efra, hærra skjöld, to carry the highest shield, to get the victory, x. 394, Lex. Poët.; b. hátt (lágt) höfuðit, to bear the head high (low), i. e. to be in high or low spirits, Nj. 91; but also, b. halann bratt (lágt), to cock up or let fall the tail (metaph. from cattle), to be in an exultant or low mood: sundry phrases, as, b. bein, to rest the bones, be buried; far þú til Íslands, þar mun þér auðið verða beinin at b., Grett. 91 A; en þó hygg ek at þú munir hér b. beinin í Norðrálfunni, Orkn. 142; b. fyrir borð, to throw overboard, metaph. to oppress; verðr Þórhalli nú fyrir borð borinn, Th. was defied, set at naught, Fær. 234; b. brjóst fyrir e-m, to be the breast-shield, protection of one, Fms. vii. 263: also, b. hönd fyrir höfuð sér, metaph. to put one’s hand before one’s head, i. e. to defend oneself; b. ægishjálm yfir e-m, to keep one in awe and submission, Fm. 16, vide A. I. 2.

III. connected with prepp., b. af, and (rarely) yfir (cp. afburðr, yfirburðr), to excel, surpass; eigi sá hvárttveggja féit er af öðrum berr, who gets the best of it, Nj. 15; en þó bar Bolli af, B. surpassed all the rest, Ld. 330; þat mannval bar eigi minnr af öðrum mönnum um fríðleik, afi ok fræknleik, en Ormrinn Langi af öðrum skipum, Fms. ii. 252; at hinn útlendi skal yfir b. ( outdo) þann sem Enskir kalla meistara, xi. 431: b. til, to apply, try if it fits; en er þeir báru til (viz. shoes to the hoof of a horse), þá var sem hæfði hestinum, ix. 55; bera til hvern lykil at öðrum at portinu, Thom. 141; b. e-t við, to try it on (hence viðburðr, experiment, effort): b. um, to wind round, as a cable round a pole or the like, Nj. 115; þá bar hann þá festi um sik, made it fast round his body, Fms. ix. 219; ‘b. e-t undir e-n’ is to consult one, ellipt., b. undir dóm e-s; ‘b. e-t fyrir’ is to feign, use as excuse: b. á, í, to smear, anoint; b. vatn í augu sér, Rb. 354; b. tjöru í höfuð sér, Nj. 181, Hom. 70, 73, cp. áburðr; b. gull, silfr, á, to ornament with gold or silver, Ld. 114, Finnb. 258: is now also used = to dung, b. á völl; b. vápn á e-n, to attack one with sharp weapons, Eg. 583, Fms. xi. 334: b. eld at, to set fire to, Nj. 122; b. fjötur (bönd) at e-m, to put fetters (bonds) on one, Fms. x. 172, Hm. 150: metaph. reflex., bönd berask at e-m, a law term, the evidence bears against one; b. af sér, to parry off; Gyrðr berr af sér lagit, G. parries the thrust off, Fms. x. 421; cp. A. II. 3. β.

IV. reflex., berask mikit á (cp. áburðr), to bear oneself proudly, or b. lítið á, to bear oneself humbly; hann var hinn kátasti ok barst á mikit, Fms. ii. 68, viii. 219, Eb. 258; b. lítið á, Clem. 35; láta af berask, to die; Óttarr vill skipa til um fjárfar sitt áðr hann láti af b., Fms. ii. 12: berask fyrir, to abide in a place as an asylum, seek shelter; hér munu vit láta fyrir b., Fas. iii. 471; berask e-t fyrir, to design a thing, be busy about, barsk hann þat fyrir at sjá aldregi konur, Greg. 53; at njósna um hvat hann bærist fyrir, to inquire into what he was about, Fms. iv. 184, Vígl. 19.

β. recipr. in the phrase, berask banaspjót eptir, to seek for one another’s life, Glúm. 354: b. vápn á, of a mutual attack with sharp weapons, Fms. viii. 53.

γ. pass., sár berask á e-n, of one in the heat of battle beginning to get wounds and give way, Nj.:—berask við, to be prevented, not to do; ok nú lét Almáttugr Guð við berast kirkjubrunnann, stopped, prevented the burning of the church, Fms. v. 144; en mér þætti gott ef við bærist, svá at hón kæmi eigi til þín, vi. 210, vii. 219; ok var þá búit at hann mundi þegar láta hamarinn skjanna honum, en hann lét þat við berask, he bethought himself and did not, Edda 35; því at mönnum þótti sem þannig mundi helzt úhæfa við berask, that mischief would thus be best prevented, Sturl. ii. 6, iii. 80.

C. IMPERS.:—with a sort of passive sense, both in a loc. and temp. sense, and gener. denotes an involuntary, passive motion, happening suddenly or by chance:

I. with acc. it bears or carries one to a place, i. e. one happens to come; the proverb, alla (acc.) berr at sama brunni, all come to the same well (end), Lat. omnes una manet nox; bar hann þá ofan gegnt Özuri, he happened to come in his course just opposite to Ö., Lat. delatus est, Dropl. 25: esp. of ships or sailors; nú berr svá til ( happens) herra, at vér komum eigi fram ferðinni, berr oss (acc.) til Íslands eðr annara landa, it bore us to I., i. e. if we drive or drift thither, Fms. iv. 176; þá (acc. pl.) bar suðr í haf, they drifted southwards, Nj. 124.

β. as a cricketing term, in the phrase, berr (bar) út knöttinn, the ball rolls out, Gísl. 26, cp. p. 110 where it is transit.; berr Gísli ok út knöttinn, vide Vígl. ch. 11, Grett. ch. 17, Vd. ch. 37, Hallfr. S. ch. 2.

γ. Skarpheðin (acc.) bar nú at þeim, Sk. came suddenly upon them, Nj. 144; bar at Hróaldi þegar allan skjöldinn, the shield was dashed against H.’s body, 198; ok skyldu sæta honum, ef hann (acc.) bæri þar at, if he should per chance come, shew himself there, Orkn. 406; e-n berr yfir, it bears one, i. e. one is borne onwards, as a bird flying, a man riding; þóttist vita, at hann (acc.) mundi fljótara yfir bera ef hann riði en gengi, that he would get on more fleetly riding than walking, Hrafn. 7; hann (acc.) bar skjótt yfir, he passed quickly, of a flying meteor, Nj. 194; e-n berr undan, escapes.

2. also with acc. followed by prepp. við, saman, jafnframt, hjá, of bodies coinciding or covering one another: loc., er jafnframt ber jaðrana tungls ok sólar, if the orb of the moon and sun cover each other, Rb. 34; þat kann vera stundum, at tunglit (acc.) berr jafht á millum vár ok sólar (i. e. in a moon eclipse), 108; ber nokkut jaðar (acc.) þess hjá sólar jaðri, 34; Gunnarr sér at rauðan kyrtil (acc.) bar við glugginn, G. sees that a red kirtle passed before the window, Nj. 114; bar fyrir utan þat skip vápnaburð (acc.) heiðingja (gen. pl.), the missiles of the heathens passed over the ship without hurting them, flew too high, Fms. vii. 232; hvergi bar skugga (acc.) á, nowhere a shadow, all bright, Nj. 118; þangat sem helzt mátti nokkut yfir þá skugga bera af skóginum, where they were shadowed (hidden) by the trees, Fms. x. 239; e-t berr fram (hátt), a body is prominent, Lat. eminet; Ólafr konungr stóð í lyptingunni, bar hann (acc.) hátt mjök, king O. stood out conspicuously, ii. 308; b. yfir, þótti mjök bera hljóð (acc.) þar yfir er Ólafr sat, the sound was heard over there where O. sat, Sturl. i. 21; b. á milli, something comes between; leiti (acc.) bar á milli, a hill hid the prospect, Nj. 263: metaph., e-m berr e-t á milli, they come to dissent, 13, v. 1.; b. fyrir augu (hence fyrirburðr, vision), of a vision or the like; mart (acc.) berr nú fyrir augu mér, ek sé …, many things come now before my eyes, 104; hann mundi allt þat er fyrir hann hafði borit, i. e. all the dream, 195; eina nótt berr fyrir hann í svefni mikla sýn, Fms. i. 137, Rd. 290; veiði (acc.) berr í hendr e-m (a metaphor from hunting), sport falls to one’s lot; hér bæri veiði í hendr nú, here would be a game, Nj. 252; e-t berr undan (a metaphor from fishing, hunting term), when one misses one’s opportunity; vel væri þá … at þá veiði (acc.) bæri eigi undan, that this game should not go amiss, 69; en ef þetta (acc.) berr undan, if this breaks down, 63; hon bað hann þá drepa einhvern manna hans, heldr en allt (acc.) bæri undan, rather than that all should go amiss, Eg. 258: absol., þyki mér illa, ef undan berr, if I miss it, Nj. 155; viljum vér ekki at undan beri at…, we will by no means miss it…, Fms. viii. 309, v. 1. The passage Bs. i. 416 (en fjárhlutr sá er átt hafði Ari, bar undan Guðmundi) is hardly correct, fjárhlut þann would run better, cp. bera undir, as a law term, below.

II. adding prepp.; b. við, at, til, at hendi, at móti, til handa …, to befall, happen, Lat. accidere, occurrere, with dat. of the person, (v. atburðr, viðburðr, tilburðr); engi hlut skyldi þann at b., no such thing should happen as…, Fms. xi. 76; svá bar at einn vetr, it befell, x. 201; þat hefir nú víst at hendi borit, er…, Nj. 174; þó þetta vandræði (acc.) hafi nú borit oss (dat.) at hendi, Eg. 7; b. til handa, id., Sks. 327; bar honum svá til, so it befell him, Fms. xi. 425; at honum bæri engan váðaligan hlut til á veginum, that nothing dangerous should befall him on the way, Stj. 212; bæri þat þá svá við, at hann ryfi, it then perchance might happen, that …, 102; þat bar við at Högni kom, 169, 172, 82; raun (acc.) berr á, it is proved by the fact, event, Fms. ix. 474, x. 185.

2. temp., e-t berr á, it happens to fall on …; ef þing (acc.) ber á hina helgu viku, if the parliament falls on the holy week (Whitsun), Grág. i. 106; ef Crucis messu (acc.) berr á Drottins dag, Rb. 44; berr hana (viz. Petrs messu, June 29) aldrei svá optarr á öldinni, 78; þat er nú berr oss næst, what has occurred of late, Sturl. iii. 182: b. í móti, to happen exactly at a time; þetta (acc.) bar í móti at þenna sama dag andaðist Brandr biskup, Bs. i. 468; b. saman, id.; bar þat saman, at pá var Gunnarr at segja brennusöguna, just when G. was about telling the story, Nj. 269.

3. metaph. of agreement or separation; en þat (acc.) þykir mjök saman b. ok þessi frásögn, Fms. x. 276: with dat., bar öllum sögum vel saman, all the records agreed well together, Nj. 100, v. l.; berr nú enn í sundr með þeim, Bjarna ok Þorkatli at sinni, B. and Th. missed each other, Vápn. 25.

4. denoting cause; e-t (acc.) berr til …, causes a thing; ætluðu þat þá allir, at þat mundi til bera, that that was the reason, Nj. 75; at þat beri til skilnaðar okkars, that this will make us to part (divorce), 261; konungr spurði, hvat til bæri úgleði hans, what was the cause of his grief? Fms. vi. 355; þat berr til tunglhlaups, Rb. 32.

β. meiri ván at brátt beri þat (acc.) til bóta, at herviliga steypi hans ríki, i. e. there will soon come help (revenge), Fms. x. 264; fjórir eru þeir hlutir er menn (acc.) berr í ætt á landi hér, there are four cases under which people may be adopted, Grág. i. 361.

γ. e-t berr undir e-n, falls to a person’s lot; hon á arf at taka þegar er undir hana berr, in her turn, 179; mikla erfð (acc.) bar undir hana, Mar. (Fr.); berr yfir, of surpassing, Bs. ii. 121, 158; b. frá, id. (fráburðr); herðimikill svá at þat (acc.) bar frá því sem aðrir menn, Eg. 305; er sagt, at þat bæri frá hve vel þeir mæltu, it was extraordinary how well they did speak, Jb. 11; bar þat mest frá hversu illa hann var limaðr, but above all, how…, Ó. H. 74.

5. with adverbial nouns in a dat. form; e-t berr bráðum, happens of a sudden; berr þetta (acc.) nú allbráðum, Fms. xi. 139; cp. vera bráðum borinn, to be taken by surprise (above); berr stórum, stærrum, it matters a great deal; ætla ek stærrum b. hin lagabrotin (acc.), they are much more important, matter more, vii. 305; var þat góðr kostr, svá at stórum bar, xi. 50; hefir oss orðit svá mikil vanhyggja, at stóru berr, an enormous blunder, Gísl. 51; svá langa leið, at stóru bar, Fas. i. 116; þat berr stórum, hversu mér þóknast vel þeirra athæfi, it amounts to a great deal, my liking their service, i. e. I do greatly like, Fms. ii. 37; eigi berr þat allsmám hversu vel mér líkar, in no small degree do I like, x. 296.

β. with dat., it is fitting, becoming; svá mikit sem landeiganda (dat.) berr til at hafa eptir lögum, what he is legally entitled to, Dipl. iii. 10; berr til handa, it falls to one’s lot, v. above, Grág. i. 93.

III. answering to Lat. oportet, absolutely or with an adverb, vel, illa, with infinit.; e-m berr, it beseems, becomes one; berr þat ekki né stendr þvílíkum höfuðfeðr, at falsa, Stj. 132; berr yðr (dat.) vel, herra, at sjá sannindi á þessu máli, Fms. ix. 326; sagði, at þat bar eigi Kristnum mönnum, at særa Guð, x. 22; þá siðu at mér beri vel, Sks. 353 B: used absol., berr vel, illa, it is beseeming, proper, fit, unbeseeming, unfit, improper; athæfi þat er vel beri fyrir konungs augliti, 282; þat þykir ok eigi illa bera, at maðr hafi svart skinn til hosna, i. e. it suits pretty well, 301: in case of a pers. pron. in acc. or dat. being added, the sentence becomes personal in order to avoid doubling the impers. sentence, e. g. e-m berr skylda (not skyldu) til, one is bound by duty; veit ek eigi hver skylda (nom.) yðr (acc.) ber til þess at láta jarl einn ráða, Fms. i. 52: also leaving the dat. out, skylda berr til at vera forsjámaðr með honum, vii. 280; eigi berr hér til úviska mín, it is not that I am not knowing, Nj. 135.

IV. when the reflex. inflexion is added to the verb, the noun loses its impers. character and is turned from acc. into nom., e. g. þar (þat?) mun hugrinn minn mest hafa fyrir borizt, this is what I suspected, fancied, Lv. 34; cp. hugarburðr, fancy, and e-t berr fyrir e-n (above, C. I. 2); hefir þetta (nom.) vel í móti borizt, a happy coincidence, Nj. 104; ef svá harðliga kann til at berask, if the misfortunes do happen, Gþl. 55; barsk sú úhamingja (nom.) til á Íslandi, that mischief happened (no doubt the passage is thus to be emended), Bs. i. 78, but bar þá úhamingju …; þat (nom.) barsk at, happened, Fms. x. 253; fundir várir (nom.) hafa at borizt nokkurum sinnum, vii. 256; þat barsk at á einhverju sumri, Eg. 154; bærist at um síðir at allr þingheimrinn berðist, 765, cp. berast við, berask fyrir above (B. V.): berast, absol., means to be shaken, knocked about; var þess ván, at fylkingar mundu berast í hergöngunni, that they would be brought into some confusion, Fms. v. 74; Hrólfr gékk at ramliga, ok barst Atli (was shaken, gave away) fyrir orku sakir, þar til er hann féll. Fas. iii. 253; barst Jökull allr fyrir orku sakir (of two wrestling), Ísl. ii. 467, Fms. iii. 189: vide B. IV.

D. In mod. usage the strong bera—bar is also used in impersonal phrases, denoting to let a thing be seen, shew, but almost always with a negative preceding, e. g. ekki bar (ber) á því, it could ( can) not be seen; að á engu bæri, láta ekki á bera ( to keep tight), etc. All these phrases are no doubt alterations from the weak verb bera, að, nudare, and never occur in old writers; we have not met with any instance previous to the Reformation; the use is certainly of late date, and affords a rare instance of weak verbs turning into strong; the reverse is more freq. the case.

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(finn; fann, fundum; fundinn), v.

1) to find (þá fundu þeir Hjörleif dauðan);

2) to meet one (ok vildi eigi finna Hákon konung);

3) to visit, to interview (gakk þú at finna konung);

4) to find out, invent (rúnar munt þú finna);

5) to discover (ok fundu þar land mikit);

6) fig. to find, perceive, notice, feel (fundu þeir þá brátt, at);

7) finna e-m e-t, to find fault with, blame (þat eitt finn ek Gunnlaugi, at);

8) with preps.:

finna á e-t, to come across, fall in with (= hitta á e-t);

impers., fann þat á, it could be perceived;

fann lítt á honum, hvárt, it was little to be seen whether, etc.;

finna at e-u, to find fault with, censure, blame;

finna e-t til, to bring forward, give as a reason (hvat finnr þú til þess?);

9) refl., finnast til e-s, to be pleased with;

impers., fannst Grími fátt til hans, Grim was little pleased with him;

láta sér lítit um finnast, to pay little heed to, rather dislike;

Ölvi fannst mikit um hann, Ölvir admired him much.

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pret. fann, 2nd pers. fannt, mod. fanst; pl. fundu; pres. finn and finnr; in old MSS. and poetry freq. fiðr, Hm. 23, but finnr 63; pret. subj. fynda; part. fundinn; sup. fundit; the forms funnu and funnit may be found in MSS., but were probably never so pronounced; for even in Haustl. hund and fundu rhyme together; with the neg. suff. fannka, Hm. 38: [Ulf. finþan; A. S. findan; Engl. find; Germ. finden; Swed. finna; Dan. finde]:—to find; Finnar kómu aptr ok höfðu fundit hlutinn, Landn. 174; hann leitar ok fiðr, Ísl. ii. 321; Knútr hinn Fundni, Canute the Foundling, Fms. i. 112; hann herjaði á Ísland ok fann þar jarðhús mikit, Landn. 32; fundu þeir Hjörleif dauðan, 35; þar fundusk undir bein, Ld. 328.

2. to meet one; hversu opt hann fyndi smala-mann Þórðar, Ld. 138; ok vildi eigi finna Hákon konung, Fms. x. 3.

β. to visit; en þó gakk þú at finna konung, Nj. 7; veiztu ef þú vin átt … far þú at finna opt, Hm. 120.

3. to find out, invent, discover: Þorsteinn er fann sumar-auka, Landn. 131, Ld. 12; Nói fann vín at göra, Al. 64, Stj. 191; rúnar munt þú finna, Hm. 143: hann fann margar listir, þær sem áðr höfðu eigi fundnar verit, Edda (pref.)

β. to discover a country; leita lands þess er Hrafna-Flóki hafði fundit, Fms. i. 238: þá er Ísland fannsk ok bygðisk, Landn. 24; þá rak vestr í haf ok fundu þar land mikit, 26; land þat er kallat er Grænaland fannsk ok bygðisk af Íslandi, Íb. 9; í þann tíma fannsk Ísland, Eg. 15.

γ. metaph. finna e-n at e-u, a law phrase, to bring a charge home to one, Fms. xi. 75; hence also, vera fundinn að e-n, to be guilty of a thing; vera ekki at því fundinn, to be not guilty of a thing; cp. the Engl. to ‘find’ guilty.

II. metaph.

1. to find, perceive, notice, feel; þú fannt at ek lauss lifi, Fm. 8; Gunnhildr finnr þat, Nj. 9; fundu þeir þá brátt, at þangat var skotið öllum málum, Eb. 330; hitki hann fiðr þótt þen um hann fár lesi, Hm. 23; þá þat finnr er at þingi kemr, 24, 63; þeir fundu eigi fyrr en fjölmenni dreif at þeim, Fms. i. 136, Nj. 79.

β. impers. fann þat á, it could be perceived, Eg. 51; fann þó mjök á Dofra, er þeir skildu, i. e. D. felt much at their parting, Fms. x. 175; fann litt á honum, hvárt honum þótti vel eðr illa, it was little to be seen, whether …, Eb. 42.

γ. finna til, to feel hurt, feel a sore pang, is a freq. mod. phrase, but rarely occurs in old writers: finnr þú nökkut til hverr fjándskapr, etc., Anal. 175; en Aldrían fann ekkí til þessa sjálfr, áðr einn riddari tók brandinn af honum, Þiðr. 358; hence tilfinning, feeling.

2. to find, bring forward; finna e-t til, in support of a charge; ok finna þat til foráttu, at …, Nj. 15; hvat finnr þú helzt til þess, how dost thou make that out? 49; hann fann þó þat til, at …, Fms. vii. 258; Eyólfr fann þat til, at …, Nj. 244; hvat finnr þú til þess, what givest thou as the reason? Eb. 184; finna e-t við, to make objection to; hvártz hinn fiðr við, at hann sé eigi þar í þingi, Grág, i. 22; þá fundu þeir þat við, um gjaforð þetta, Fms. x. 87, v. l.

3. as a law phrase, to find money, to pay, lay out; hann skal eigi finna meira af fé því, en kaupa leg, Grág. i. 207; allra aura þeirra er úmaginn skal finna með sér, 206; ok slíka aura f. honum, ii. 210; á hann enga heimting til þess er hann fann við, Jb. 421 (MS.); ef maðr selr úmaga til frafærslu ok finnr fé með, Grág. i. 266; þeim þræli er hann hefir fulla verðaura fyrir fundit, 358; hence in the old oath, ek hefka fé boðit í dóm þenna, hefka ek fundit, ok monka finna, hvárki til laga né úlaga (where bjóða and finna are opposed, i. e. bjóða to offer, finna to pay actually), 75: hence is derived the law phrase, at finna sjálfan sik fyrir, to pay with one’s self, according to the law maxim, that ‘he that cannot pay with his purse shall pay with his body,’ used metaph. to pay dear, to feel sorely; kvað makligt at hann fyndi sik fyrir, Sturl. iii. 213, Eb. 154; skaltú sjálfan þik fyrir finna, Fms. iii. 110, xi. 256, Þorst. Síðu H. 9; the pun in Anal. 177 is a mere play of words.

4. finna at e-u, to censure, Fbr. 112, Edda (pref.), very freq. in mod. usage, hence að-finnsla and að-fyndni, censure; nearly akin is the phrase, þat eitt finn ek Gunnlaugi, at mér þykir hann vera úráðinn, that is the only fault I find with Gunlaug, Ísl. ii. 217; ef nokkut væri þat er at mætti finna, if there was anything to blame, Sks. 69 new Ed.

III. reflex.,

1. recipr. to meet with one another, Fms. i. 19, Nj. 8, 48; eigi kemr mér þat á úvart þótt vit finnimk á Íslandi, Fs. 20.

2. for some instances where the sense seems purely passive, see above.

3. freq. in a half passive reflex. sense, to be found, to occur; finnask dæmi til, examples occur, Gþl. 45; þat finnsk ritað, it is found written, occurs in books, Fms. ii. 153; finnsk í kvæðum þeim er …, Eg. 589.

β. metaph. to be perceived, fannsk þat mjök í ræðu Erlings, Fms. vii. 258: adding á, fannsk þat opt á jarli, Nj. 46; fannsk þat á öllu, at, it was easy to see, that …, 17, 90; þat fannsk á Arnkatli goða, at …, Eb. 178.

γ. finnask til e-s, to be pleased with a thing: impers., fannsk Grími fátt til hans, Grim was little pleased with him, Eg. 190; ekki fannsk Eiríki til þessa verks, Eric was not much pleased with it, Fs. 149; fannsk mér fleira til hans en annarra, I liked him better than the rest, Fms. i. 141; e-m finnst til e-s, to value; honum finnsk ekki til, he thinks naught of it, thinks it worthless; Fas. i. 317, freq. in mod. usage: finnask at e-u, to admire, Sighvat (obsol.): so in the phrase, láta sér lítið um finnask, to pay little heed to, rather dislike, Hkr. iii. 244; konungr lét sér ekki um þat finnask, Fms. iv. 195; lét hann sér fátt um finnask, vii. 29; Dagr lét sér ekki um finnask eðr fátt, iv. 382; Ölvi fannsk mikit um hann, O. admired him much, Nj. 41; fannsk mönnum mikit um tal þeirra, 18; honum fannsk um mikit, he was much surprised, Hkr. iii. 355: e-m finnsk, one thinks, it seems to one; mér finnsk sem hann hafi önga verki, methinks he feels no pain, Barl. 101: finnsk mér svá, at engi maðr, methinks that no man, 15: very freq. in conversation, with infin. it seems to me, methinks.

IV. part. finnandi, a finder, 655 xii. 2; finnanda-spik, n. blubber which is the perquisite of the finder of a whale, Grág. ii. 383: part. pass. fundit, beseeming, nú mun ok vel fundit, at …, Anal. 173.

1) back (binda bagga á bak sér);

fig. bera sök á baki, to be guilty;

leggja bleyðiorð á bak e-m, to charge one with being a coward;

hafa marga vetr á baki, to be advanced in years;

snúa baki við, to turn the back, flee;

ganga á bak heitum, orðum, to go back on one’s word;

2) = hestbak;

fara á bak, to mount;

fara, stíga, spretta af baki, to dismount;

3) the backside of a thing (cf. handarbak, hurðarbak, húsbak);

á baki húsunum, at the back of the houses;

gøra e-t á baki e-m, in one’s absence, behind one’s back;

ríða at baki e-m, behind him on the same horse;

berr er hverr at baki nema sér bróður eigi, bare is one’s back without a brother behind it;

á bak,

a) behind;

koma á bak e-m, to attack in the rear;

b) after;

á bak jólum, after Christmas;

hvat sem á bak kemr, whatever may come after or follow;

c) absol., falla á bak aptr, to fall backwards;

brjóta á bak orð e-s, to refute, make them null and void;

brjóta á bak Rómverja, to defeat them.

* * *

n. [A. S. bäc], Lat. tergum, back, Eg. 218, Edda 29, 30, Hkr. i. 337: in metaph. phrases, bera sök á baki, to be guilty, Gþl. 539; leggja bleyðiorð á bak e-m, to load, charge one with being a coward. Fas. ii. 530; hafa mörg ár á baki, to ‘carry a weight of years’ Ísl. ii. 456: of horseback, léttr á baki, Sturl. ii. 195; fara á bak, to mount; stíga af baki, to dismount, Eg. 397, Grág. ii. 95: in other relations, as adv., at hurðar-baki, behind the door; at húsa-baki, at the back of the houses; að fjalla-baki, behind the mountains; handar-bak, the back of the hand.

2. á bak or á baki used as a prep. or as an adv.; á bak (acc.) if denoting motion, á baki (dat.) if without motion:

α. loc. behind, at the back of; á baki húsunum, Háv. 49, Nj. 28; at baki þeim, at their back, Eg. 91, Nj. 261, 262, 84, Eg. 583; Hrútr kveðst þat ætla, at hans skyldi lítt á bak at leita, he should not be found in the rear, Ld. 278; berr á baki, unbacked, helpless, in the proverb, Nj. 265, Grett. 154: metaph., ganga á bak e-u, orðum, heitum …, to elude, evade one’s pledged word, Fms. ii. 209, Ísl. ii. 382; göra e-t á baki e-m, in one’s absence, behind one’s back, N. G. L. i. 20; á bak aptr (= aptr á bak), backward; falla; á b. a., Eb. 240, Nj. 9, Eg. 397, Háv. 48 new Ed.; til baks, better til baka, to back, Sturl. ii. 203; brjóta á bak, prop. to break one’s back, Fms. viii. 119; to break, subdue, and also to make void, annul; brjóta á bak Rómverja, to ‘break the back’ of the R., defeat them, 625. 65; Heiðrekr vildi öll rúð fóður síns á bak brjóta, Fas. i. 528.

β. temp. with dat. past, after; á bak Jólum, after Yule, Fms. viii. 60; á b. Jónsvöku, ix. 7: metaph., Héðinn kvaðst eigi hirða hvat er á bak kæmi, H. said he did not care for what came after, Fas. i. 402; muntú eigi vera mót Njáli, hvat sem á b. kemr, Nj. 193.

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(ber; bar, bárum; borinn), v.

I.

1) to bear, carry, convey (bar B. biskup í börum suðr í Hvamm);

bera (farm) af skipi, to unload a ship;

bera (mat) af borði, to take (the meat) off the table;

bera e-t á hesti, to carry on horseback;

2) to wear (bera klæði, vápn, kórónu);

bera œgishjálm, to inspire fear and awe;

3) to bear, produce, yield (jörðin berr gras; tré bera aldin, epli);

4) to bear, give birth to, esp. of sheep and cows;

kýr hafði borit kálf, had calved;

absol., ván at hón mundi bera, that the cow would calve;

the pp. is used of men; hann hafði verit blindr borinn, born blind;

verða borinn í þenna heim, to be born into this world;

þann sóma, sem ek em til borinn, born to;

borinn e-m, frá e-m (rare), born of;

Nótt var Nörvi borin, was the daughter of N.;

borinn Sigmundi, son of S.;

5) bera e-n afli, ofrafli, ofrliði, ofrmagni, ofríki, to bear one down, overcome, oppress, one by odds or superior force;

bera e-n ráðum, to overrule one;

bera e-n málum, to bear one down (wrongfully) in a lawsuit;

bera e-n sök, to charge one with a fault;

bera e-n bjóri, to make drunk with beer;

verða bráðum borinn, to be taken by surprise;

borinn verkjum, overcome by pains;

þess er borin ván, there is no hope, all hope is gone;

borinn baugum, bribed; cf. bera fé á e-n, to bribe one;

6) to lear, be capable of bearing (of a ship, horse, vehicle);

þeir hlóðu bæði skipin sem borð báru, with as much as they could carry;

fig., to sustain, support (svá mikill mannfjöldi, at landit fekk eigi borit);

of persons, to bear up against, endure, support (grief, sorrow, etc.);

absol., bar hann drengiliga, he bore it manfully;

similarly, bera (harm) af sér, berast vel (illa, lítt) af;

bar hon sköruliga af sér, she bore up bravely;

hversu berst Auðr af um bróðurdauðann, how does she bear it?

hon berst af lítt, she is much cast down;

bera sik vel upp, to bear well up against;

7) bera e-t á, e-n á hendr e-m, to charge or tax one with (eigi erum vér þess valdir, er þú berr á oss);

bera (kvið) á e-n, to give a verdict against, declare guilty (í annat sinn báru þeir á Flosa kviðinn);

bera af e-m (kviðinn), to give a verdict for;

bera e-t af sér, to deny having done a thing;

bera or bera vitni, vætti, to bear witness, testify;

bera or bera um e-t, to give a verdict in a case;

bera e-n sannan at sök, to prove guilty by evidence;

bera e-n undan sök, to acquit;

bera í sundr frændsemi þeirra, to prove (by evidence) that they are not relations;

bera e-m vel (illa) söguna, to give a favourable (unfavourable) account of one;

refl. (pass.), berast, to be proved by evidence (þótt þér berist þat faðerni, er þú segir);

8) to set forth, report, tell;

bera e-m kveðju (orð, orðsending), to bring one a greeting, compliments (word, message);

bera or bera fram erindi sín fyrir e-n, to state (tell) one’s errand or to plead one’s case before one;

bera e-m njósn, to apprise one;

bera e-t upp, to produce, mention, tell;

bera upp gátu, to give (propound) a riddle;

bera upp erindi sín, to state one’s errand;

bera saman ráð sín, to consult together;

eyddist það ráð, er þeir báru saman, which they had designed;

9) to keep, hold, bear, of a title (bera jarlnafn, konnungsnafn);

bera (eigi) giptu, gæfu, hammingju, auðnu til e-s, (not) to have the good fortune to do a thing (bar hann enga gæfu til at þjóna þér);

bera vit, skyn, kunnáttu á e-t, to have knowledge of, uniderstanding about;

vel viti borinn, endowed with a good understanding;

bera hug, áræði, þor, traust til e-s, to have courage, confidence to do a thing;

bera áhyggju fyrir e-u, to be concerned about;

bera ást, elsku, hatr til e-s, to bear affection, love, hatred to;

10) to bear off or away, carry off (some gain);

bera sigr af e-m, af e-u, to carry off the victory from or in;

hann hafði borit sigr af tveim orustum, he had been victorious in two battles;

bera hærra (lægra) hlut to get the best (the worst) of it;

bera efra (hærra) skjöld, to gain the victory;

bera hátt (lágt) höfuðit, to bear the head high (low), to be in high (low) spirits;

bera halann bratt, lágt, to cock up or let fall the tail, to be in high or low spirits;

11) with preps.:

bera af e-m, to surpass;

en þó bar Bolli af, surpassed all the rest;

bera af sér högg, lag to ward off, parry a blow or thrust;

bera eld at, to set fire to;

bera fjötur (bönd) at e-m, to put fetters (bonds) on one;

bera vápn á e-n, to attack one with sharp weapons;

bera á or í, to smear, anoint (bera vatn í augu sér, bera tjöru í höfuð sér);

bera e-t til, to apply to, to try if it fits (bera til hvern lykil af öðrum at portinu);

bera e-t um, to wind round;

þá bar hann þá festi um sik, made it fast round his body;

bera um með e-n, to bear with, have patience with;

bera út barn, to expose a child;

12) refl., berast mikit (lítit) á, to bear oneself proudly (humbly);

láta af berast, to die;

láta fyrir berast e-s staðar, to stay, remain in a place (for shelter);

berast e-t fyrir, to design a thing (barst hann þat fyrir at sjá aldregi konur);

at njósna um, hvat hann bærist fyrir, to inquire into what he was about;

berast vápn á, to attack one another;

berast at or til, to happen;

þat barst at (happened) á einhverju sumri;

ef svá harðliga kann til at berast, if that misfortune does happen;

berast í móti, to happen, occur;

hefir þetta vel í móti borizt, it is a happy coincidence;

berast við, to be prevented;

ok nú lét almáttugr guð við berast kirkjubrunann, prevented, stopped the burning of the church;

II. impers., denoting a sort of passive or involuntary motion;

1) with acc., it bears or carries one to a place;

alla berr at sama brunni, all come to the same well (end);

bar hann (acc.) þá ofan gegnt Ösuri, he happened to come down just opposite to Ö.;

esp. of ships and sailors; berr oss (acc.) til Íslands eða annarra landa, we drift to Iceland or other countries;

þá (acc.) bar suðr í haf, they were carried out southwards;

Skarpheðin (acc.) bar nú at þeim, S. came suddenly upon them;

ef hann (acc.) skyldi bera þar at, if he should happen to come there;

e-n berr yfir, one is borne onwards, of a bird flying, a man riding;

hann (acc.) bar skjótt yfir, it passed quickly (of a flying meteor);

2) followed by preps.:

Gunnar sér, at rauðan kyrtil bar við glugginn, that a red kirtle passed before the window;

hvergi bar skugga (acc.) á, there was nowhere a shadow;

e-t berr fram (hátt), is prominent;

Ólafr konungr stóð í lyptingu ok bar hann (acc.) hátt mjök, stood out conspicuously;

e-t berr á milli, comes between;

leiti (acc.) bar á milli, a hill hid the prospect;

fig. e-m berr e-t á milli, they are at variance about a thing;

mart (acc.) berr nú fyrir augu mér, many things come now before my eyes;

veiði (acc.) berr í hendr e-m, game falls to one’s lot;

e-t berr undan, goes amiss, fails;

bera saman, to coincide;

bar nöfn þeirra saman, they had the same name;

fig., with dat.; bar öllum sögum vel saman, all the stories agreed well together;

fund várn bar saman, we met;

3) bera at, til, við, at hendi, til handa, to befall, happen, with dat. of the person;

svá bar at einn vetr, it happened one winter;

þó at þetta vandræði (acc.) hafi nú borit oss (dat.) at hendi, has befallen us;

bar honum svá til, it so befell him;

þat bar við (it so happened), at Högni kom;

raun (acc.) berr á, it is proved by fact;

4) of time, to fall upon;

ef þing (acc.) berr á hina helgu viku, if the parliament falls in the holy week;

bera í móti, to coincide, happen exactly at the same time;

5) denoting cause;

e-t berr til, causes a thing;

konungr spurði, hvat til bæri úgleði hans, what was the cause of his grief;

ætluðu þat þá allir, at þat mundi til bera, that that was the reason;

berr e-m nauðsyn til e-s, one is obliged to do a thing;

6) e-t berr undir e-n, falls to a person’s lot;

hon á arf at taka, þegar er undir hana berr, in her turn;

e-t berr frá, is surpassing;

er sagt, at þat (acc.) bæri frá, hvé vel þeir mæltu, it was extraordinary how well they spoke;

7) e-t berr bráðum, happens of a sudden;

e-t berr stóru, stórum (stœrrum), it amounts to much (more), it matters a great deal (more), it is of great (greater) importance;

8) absol. or with an adv., vel, illa, with infin.;

e-m berr (vel, illa) at gera e-t, it becomes, beseems one (well, ill) to do a thing (berr yðr vel, herra, at sjá sannindi á þessu máli);

used absol., berr vel, illa, it is beseeming, proper, fit, or unbeseeming, improper, unfit (þat þykkir eigi illa bera, at).

(að), v. to make bare (hon beraði likam sinn).

f. she-bear, = birna.

* * *

að, [berr, nudus], to make bare, Lat. nudare; hon beraði líkam sinn, Bret. 22: impers., berar hálsinn (acc.), the neck became bare, Bs. i. 624.

(sónn, satt), a.

1) true (sónn saga); hón sagði þór satt frá Geirróði, she told Thor the truth about G.; nú skal ek segja þér it sanna, now I will tell thee the truth; hafa e-t fyrir satt, to be sure (convinced) of; hafa sannara, to be in the right (skal konungr um segja, hvárir sannara hafi); gøra e-t satt, to make good, prove (hvern veg gørir þú þat satt); s. sem dagr, true as day, clear as noonday (= dagsannr); sönnu sagðr, justly charged; með sönnu, at sönnu, in truth, truly; til sanns, certainly, for certain (vita e-t til sanns);

2) meet, proper (væri þat sannara, at þú værir drepinn);

3) s. at e-u, convicted of, (proved) guilty of (s. at sökinni).

1) truth (vita sann á e-u); fœra e-m heim sanninn, to tell one the bitter truth;

2) fairness; e-t er nær sanni, is fair or reasonable; ástir þeirra vóru at góðum sanni, they loved each other fittingly;

3) estimation; bœtta e-t við góðra manna sann, according to the estimate of good men.

* * *

adj., fem. sönn, neut. satt for sannt, Dan. sandt; an older form saðr, as also saðrar, saðri, see introduction to letter N; cp. sannari, sannastr: with suffix satt-na, Bs. i. 469, v. l.: [Goth. sunis is assumed from Ulf. sunjeins = ἀληθής, sunja = ἀλήθεια; A. S. and Hel. sôð; Engl.sooth; O. H. G. sunnis; old Frank, sone; cp. Germ. ver-söhnen, all with a radical u sound, whereas Swed.-Dan. sann, sand; Lat. -sons, -sontis, is the same word; the old Norse law term, sannr at sök, or ú-sannr, eigi sannr at sök, exactly answers to the Lat. law term ‘in-sons’; thus Lat. injuriae insons is literally rendered in Icel. by ‘ú-sannr at sök.’]:—sooth, true; allit., vitni salt ok sært, D. N. ii. 140; sönn saga, Ld. 52; sönn sök, Hm. 119; sannar jarteinir, Eg. 476; segja satt, to say sooth, Vþm. 43, Ld. 194, Eb. 47 new Ed.; hafa e-t fyrir satt, to believe to be true, be convinced of, Nj. 10; eigi er þat satt, Fs. 97; þat er satt, ‘tis true, Bs. i. 469; hverir sannara hafa, Fas. i. 317, N. G. L. i. 40; hann kveðsk sagt hafa sem hann vissi sannast, Ld. 194; it sannasta, Vþm. 42; mála sannast, Ísl. ii. 125:—at sönnu. forsooth, Sks. 491 B, MS. 655 xiii. A. 2, 633. 31: in mod. used as Germ. zwar (‘tis true enough …, but); með sönnu, Ld. 76; til sanns. forsooth, Fms. vi. 41, 128, Gþl. 315, Eg. 458, 568; vera, verða sannr at e-n, to be convicted of, be guilty of; þeir báru Gunnar sannan at sökinni, Nj. 87, Eb. 22 new Ed.; þeir er sannir urðu at á verkum við Sigurð konung, Fms. vii. 248; er áðr hefir kuðr ok saðr orðinn at þjófskap, Grág. ii. 189, Fs. 97, 159; er hann sönnu sagðr, is he justly charged? Bret. 12; þá þykkir þú bleyði borinn eða sönnu sagðr, Sdm. 25.

2. sincere; með sönnu hugskoti, Mar.: due, meet, væri þat sannara at þú værir drepinn, Gísl. 50.

(önnur, annat), a., indef. pron., ord. numb.;

1) one of the two, the one (of two);

Egill þessi hefir aðra hönd (only one hand) ok er kaliaðr einhendr;

á aðra hönd, on the one side;

a. … a. one … the other (hét a. Sörli, en a. Þorkell);

2) second;

í annat sinn, for the second time;

høggr hann þegar annat (viz. högg), a second blow;

3) the next following;

á öðru hausti, the next autumn;

annat sumar eptir;

fig., next in value or rank;

annat mest hof í Noregi, the next greatest temple;

fjölmennast þing annat eptir brennu Njáls, the fullest assembly next to that after the burning of N.;

4) some other (hón lék á gólfinu við aðrar meyjar);

Þórarinn ok tíu menn aðrir, and ten men besides;

hann var örvari af fé en nokkurr a., than anybody else;

5) other, different;

öl er a. maðr, ale (a drunken man) is another man, is not the same man;

þau höfðu annan átrúnað, a different religion;

6) in various combinations;

annarr slíkr, such another, another of the same sort;

gekk a. til at öðrum (one after another) at biðja hann;

hverja nótt aðra sem aðra, every night in turn;

annat var orð Finns harðara en annat, each word of Finn was harder than another;

aðrir … aðrir, some … others;

einir ok aðrir, various;

ymsir ok aðrir, now one, now another (nefna upp ymsa ok aðra);

hvárr (or hverr) … annan, each other, one another (hétu hvárir öðrum atförum);

við þau tíðindi urðu allir giaðir ok sagði hverr öðrum, one told the news to another, man to man.

* * *

önnur, annat, adj.; pl. aðrir; gen. pl. annarra; dat. sing. f. annarri, [Ulf. anþar; A. S. oþar; Engl. other; Germ, andere; Swed. andra and annan: in Icel. assimilated, and, if followed by an r, the nn changes into ð.]

I. = ετερος, alter:

1. one of two, the other; tveir formenn þeirra, hét annarr, the one of them, Fms. ix. 372; sá er af öðrum ber, be that gets the better of it, Nj. 15; a. augat, Fms. ii. 61; á öðrum fæti, Bs. i. 387, Edda 42; annarri hendi…, en annarri, with the one hand …, with the other, Eb. 250, 238; á aðra hönd, on the one side, Grág. i. 432, Nj. 50; a. kné, Bs. i. 680; til annarrar handar, Nj. 50; annarr—annarr, one—other; gullkross á öðrum en ari af gulli á öðrum, Fms. x. 15. Peculiar is the phrase, við annan, þriðja, fjórða … mann, = being two, three, four … altogether; við annan, oneself and one besides, Eb. 60; cp. the Greek τρίτον ήμιτάλαντον, two talents and a half, Germ. anderthalh.

2. secundus, a cardinal number, the second; sá maðr var þar a. Íslenzkr, Fms. xi. 129; í annat sinn, for the second time, Íb. ch. 1, 9; a. vetr aldrs hans, Bs. i. 415; höggr harm þegar annat (viz. högg), a second blow, Sturl. ii. 118.

β. the next following, Lat. proximus; á öðru hausti, the next autumn, Ísl. ii. 228; önnur misseri, the following year, Bs. i. 437, 417; a. sumar eptir, 415, Fms. i. 237. Metaph. the second, next in value or rank, or the like; annat mest hof í Noregi, the next greatest temple, Nj. 129; a. mestr höfðingi, the next in power, Ísl. ii. 202; fjölmennast þing, annat eptir brennu Njáls, the fullest parliament next to that after the burning of N., 259; vitrastr lögmanna annarr en Skapti, the wisest speaker next after S., Bs. i. 28; a. mestr maðr í Danmörk, the next greatest man, Fms. xi. 51; annat bezt ríki, v. 297; var annarr sterkastr er hét Freysteinn, the next strongest champion, Eb. 156; mestrar náttúru a. en Þorsteinn, Fs. 74, Fms. iv. 58.

II. = αλλος, alius, one of many, other, both in sing. and pl.; hon lék á gólfinu við aðrar meyjar, Nj. 2; mart var með henni annara kvenna, i. e. many women besides, 50; jafnt sekr sem aðrir menn, as guilty as anybody else, Grág. i. 432; einginn annarra Knúts manna, none besides, Fms. x. 192; ef þeir gerði lönd sín helgari enn aðrar jarðir, … than all other grounds, Eb. 20; er Þórólfr hafði tignað um fram aðra staði, … more than any other place, id.; kalla þá jörð nú eigi helgari enn aðra, id.; tók Börkr þann kost er hann hafði öðrum ætlað, 40; Þórarinn vann eið … ok tíu menn aðrir, Th. and ten men besides, 48; þeir þóttust fyrir öðrum mönnum, … over all other people, 20; góðr drengr um fram alla menn aðra, 30; af eyjum ok öðru sjófangi, other produce of the sea, 12; hann skal tvá menn nefna aðra en sik, … besides himself, Grág. i. 57; hann var örvari af fé enn nokkurr annarr, … than anybody else, Bret.; jafnt sem annat fúlgufé, as any other money, Grág. i. 432.

2. other, different, in the proverb, öl er annarr maðr, ale (a drunken man) is another man, is not the true man, never mind what he says, Grett. 98; the proverb is also used reversely, öl er innri ( the inner) maðr, ‘in vino veritas:’ annað er gæfa ok görfuleiki, luck and achievements are two things (a proverb); önnur var þá æfi, viz. the reverse of what it is now (a proverb), Grett. 94 (in a verse); ætla ek þik annan mann en þú segir, Fms. xi. 192; hafi þér Danir heldr til annars gört, you deserve something different, worse than that, id.; varð þá annan veg, otherwise, Hkr. ii. 7; Björn varð þess víss at þau höfðu annan átrúnað, … different religion, Eb. 12.

3. like οι αλλοι, reliqui, the rest, the remains; þá er eigi sagt hversu öðrum var skipað, Nj. 50; at hönd b. sé fyrir innan n., en annarr líkami hans ( the rest of his body) fyrir utan, 1812. 18.

III. repeated in comparative clauses: annarr—annarr, or connected with einn, hvárr, hverr, ymsir: gékk annarr af öðrum at biðja hann, alius ex alio, one after another, Bs. i. 128; hverja nótt aðra sem aðra, every night in turn, Mag. 2; annat var orð Finns harðara enn annat, every word of Finn was harder than that which went before it, of a climax, Fms. v. 207: einn—annarr, alius atque alius, one and another, various; eina hluti ok aðra, Stj. 81; einar afleiðingar ok aðrar, Barl. 36; einir ok aðrir, various, Stj. 3; ef maðr telr svá, at hann var einn eðr annarr (that he was anybody, this or that man, viz. if he does not give the name precisely), ok er hinn eigi þá skyldr at rísa ór dómi, Grág. i. 28: ymsir—aðrir, in turn, now this, now the other; ymsir eiga högg í annars garð (a proverb); heita á helga menn, ok nefna ymsa ok aðra (now one, now another), Mar. 35: þágu þessir riddarar veizlur ymsir at öðrum, gave banquets one to another in turn, id.; færðu ymsir aðra niðr, now one was under water and now the other, of two men struggling whilst swimming, Fms. ii. 269: hvárr—annan, hverir—aðra, each other; mæltu hvárir vel fyrir öðrum; hétu hvárir öðrum atförum: of a rapid succession, hvert vandræði kom á bak öðru, misfortunes never come singly, but one on the back of the other, Fr.; við þau tiðindi urðu allir glaðir ok sagði hverr öðrum, one told the news to another, man to man, Fms. i. 21; þóttust hvárirtveggju meira vald at hafa í borginni en aðrir, 655 xvii. 1; hvárirtveggja—aðrir, αλλελοις, mutually, reciprocally; skulu nú h. ganga til ok veita öðrum grið, Nj. 190.

IV. annat, n. used as a subst.; þetta sem annat, as other things, Fas. i. 517; skaltu eigi þora annat, en, Nj. 74; ef eigi bæri a. til, unless something happened, Bs. i. 350: at öllu annars, in everything else, Grág. ii. 141, K. Þ. K. 98: annars simply used adverb. = else = ella; now very freq. but very rare in old writers; stendr a. ríki þitt í mikilli hættu, Fas. i. 459, from a paper MS. and in a text most likely interpolated in the 17th century.

COMPDS: annarskonar, annarskostar, annarsstaðar, annarsvegar. annarra- gen. pl. is used in annarra-bræðra, -bræðri, pl. fourth cousins, Grág. i. 285, ii. 172; cp. D. I. i. 185; v. næsta-bræðra = third cousins, þriðja-bræðra = fifth cousins.

I) prep.

A. with dative.

I. Of motion;

1) towards, against;

Otkell laut at Skamkatli, bowed down to S.;

hann sneri egginni at Ásgrími, turned the edge against A.;

2) close atup to;

Brynjólfr gengr alit at honum, quite up to him;

þeir kómust aldri at honum, they could never get near him, to close quarters with him;

3) to, at;

koma at landi, to come to land;

ganga at dómi, to go into court;

4) along (= eptir);

ganga at stræti, to walk along the street;

dreki er niðr fór at ánni (went down the river) fyrir strauminum;

refr dró hörpu at ísi, on the ice;

5) denoting hostility;

renna (sœkja) at e-m, to rush at, assault;

gerði þá at þeim þoku mikla, they were overtaken by a thick fog;

6) around;

vefja motri at höfði sér, to wrap a veil round one’s head;

bera grjót at e-m, to heap stones upon the body;

7) denoting business, engagement;

ríða at hrossum, at sauðum, to go looking after horses, watching sheep;

fara at landskuldum, to go collecting rents.

II. Of position, &c.;

1) denoting presence at, near, by, upon;

at kirkju, at church;

at dómi, in court;

at lögbergi, at the hill of laws;

2) denoting participation in;

vera at veizlu, brullaupi, to be at a banquet, wedding;

vera at vígi, to be an accessory in man-slaying;

3) ellipt., vera at, to be about, to be busy at;

kvalararnir, er at vóru at pína hann, who were tormenting him;

var þar at kona nökkur at binda (was there busy dressing) sár manna;

4) with proper names of places (farms);

konungr at Danmörku ok Noregi, king of;

biskup at Hólum, bishop of Holar;

at Helgafelli, at Bergþórshváli;

5) used ellipt. with a genitive, at (a person’s) house;

at hans (at his house) gisti fjölmenni mikit;

at Marðar, at Mara’s home;

at hins beilaga Ólafs konungs, at St. Olave’s church;

at Ránar, at Ran’s (abode).

III. Of time;

1) at, in;

at upphafi, at first, in the beginning;

at skilnaði, at parting, when they parted;

at páskum, at Easter;

at kveldi, at eventide;

at þinglausnum, at the close of the Assembly;

at fjöru, at the ebb;

at flœðum, at the floodtide;

2) adding ‘komanda’ or ‘er kemr’;

at ári komanda, next year;

at vári, er kemr, next spring;

generally with ‘komanda’ understood;

at sumri, hausti, vetri, vári, next summer, &c.;

3) used with an absolute dative and present or past part.;

at sér lifanda, duing his lifetime;

at öllum ásjándum, in the sight of all;

at áheyranda höfðingjanum, in the hearing of the chief;

at upprennandi sólu, at sunrise;

at liðnum sex vikum, after six weeks are past;

at honum önduðum, after his death;

4) denoting uninterrupted succession, after;

hverr at öðrum, annarr at öðrum, one after another;

skildu menn at þessu, thereupon, after this;

at því (thereafter) kómu aðrar meyjar.

IV. fig. and in various uses;

1) to, into, with the notion of destruction or change;

brenna (borgina) at ösku, to burn to ashes;

verða at ormi, to become a snake;

2) for, as;

gefa e-t at gjöf, as a present;

eiga e-n at vin, to have one as friend;

3) by;

taka sverð at hjöltum, by the hilt;

draga út björninn at hlustunum, by the ears;

kjósa at afli, álitum, by strength, appearrance;

4) as regards as to;

auðigr at fé, wealthy in goods;

vænn (fagr) at áliti, fair of face;

5) as a law term, on the grounds of, by reason of;

ryðja ( to challenge) dóm at mægðum, kvið at frændsemi;

6) as a paraphrase of a genitive;

faðir, móðir at barni (= barns, of a child);

aðili at sök = aðili sakar;

7) with adjectives denoting colour, size, age, of;

hvítr, svartr, rauðr at lit, while, black, red of colour;

mikill, lítill at stœrð, vexti, tall, small of stature;

tvítugr at aldri, twenty years of age;

kýr at fyrsta, öðrum kálfi, a cow that has calved once, twice;

8) determining the source from which anything comes, of, from;

Ari nam ok marga frœði at Þuríði (from her);

þiggja, kaupa, geta, leigja e-t at e-m, to receive, buy, obtain, borrow a thing from one;

hafa veg (virðing) styrk at e-m, to derive honour, power, from one;

9) according, to, after (heygðr at fornum sið);

at ráði allra vitrustu manna, by the advice of;

at landslögum, by the law of the land;

at vánum, as was to be expected;

at leyfi e-s, by one’s leave;

10) in adverbial phrases;

gróa (vera grœddr) at heilu, to be quite healed;

bíta af allt gras at snøggu, quite bare;

at fullu, fully;

at vísu, surely;

at frjálsu, freely;

at eilífu, for ever and ever;

at röngu, at réttu, wrongly, rightly;

at líku, at sömu, equally, all the same;

at mun, at ráði, at marki, to a great extent.

B. with acc., after, upon (= eptir);

sonr á at taka arf at föður sinn, to take the inheritance after his father;

eiga féránsdóm at e-n, to hold a court of execution upon a person;

at þat (= eptir þat), after that, thereafter;

connected with a past part. or a., at Gamla fallinn, after the fall of Gamli;

at Hrungni dauðan, upon the death of Hrungnir.

1) as the simple mark of the infinitive, to;

at ganga, at ríða, at hlaupa, to walk, to ride, to run;

2) in an objective sense;

hann bauð þeim at fara, sitja, he bade (ordered) them to go, sit;

gefa e-m at eta, at drekka, to give one to eat, to drink;

3) denoting design or purpose, in order to (hann gekk í borg at kaupa silfr).

1) demonstrative particle before a comparative, the, all the, so much the;

hón grét at meir, she wept the more;

þykkir oss at líkara, all the more likely;

þú ert maðr at verri (so much the worse), er þú hefir þetta mælt;

2) rel. pron., who, which, that (= er);

þeir allir, at þau tíðindi heyrðu, all those who heard;

sem þeim er títt, at ( as is the custom of those who) kaupferðir reka.

conj., that;

1) introducing a subjective or objective clause;

þat var einhverju sinni, at Höskuldr hafði vinaboð, it happened once that H.;

vilda ek, at þú réðist austr í fjörðu, I should like you to go;

2) relative to svá, denoting proportion, degree;

svá mikill lagamaðr, at, so great a lawyer, that;

3) with subj., denoting end or purpose, in order that (skáru þeir fyrir þá (viz. hestana) melinn, at þeir dœi eigi af sulti);

4) since, because, as (= því at);

5) connected with þó, því, svá;

þó at (with subj.), though, although;

því at, because, for;

svá at, so that;

6) temp., þá at (= þá er), when;

þegar at (= þegar er), as soon as;

þar til at (= þar til er), until, till;

áðr at (= á. en), before;

7) used superfluously after an int. pron. or adv.;

Ólafr spurði, hvern styrk at hann mundi fá honum, what help he was likely to give him;

in a relative sense; með fullkomnum ávexti, hverr at (which) þekkr ok þægiligr mun verða.

negative verbal suffix, = ata; var-at, was not.

n. an incited conflict or fight ( see etja);

odda at, Yggs at, battle.

* * *

and að, prep., often used ellipt. dropping the case and even merely as an adverb, [Lat. ad; Ulf. at = πρός and παρά, A. S. ät; Engl. at; Hel. ad = apud; O. H. G. az; lost in mod. Germ., and rare in Swed. and Dan.; in more freq. use in Engl. than any other kindred language, Icel. only excepted]:—the mod. pronunciation and spelling is að (aþ); this form is very old, and is found in Icel. vellum MSS. of the 12th century, e. g. aþ, 623. 60; yet in earlier times it was sounded with a tenuis, as we may infer from rhymes, e. g. jöfurr hyggi at | hve ek yrkja fat, Egill: Sighvat also makes it rhyme with a t. The verse by Thorodd—þar vastu at er fjáðr klæðið þvat (Skálda 162)—is hardly intelligible unless we accept the spelling with an aspirate (að), and say that þvað is = þvá = þváði, lavabat; it may be that by the time of Thorodd and Ari the pure old pronunciation was lost, or is ‘þvat’ simply the A. S. þvât, secuit? The Icelanders still, however, keep the tenuis in compounds before a vowel, or before h, v, or the liquids l, r, thus—atyrða, atorka, athöfn, athugi, athvarf, athlægi; atvinna, atvik; atlaga, atlíðanði ( slope), atriði, atreið, atróðr: but aðdjúpr, aðfinsla (critic), aðferð, aðkoma, aðsókn, aðsúgr (crowding), aðgæzla. In some words the pronunciation is irregular, e. g. atkvæði not aðkv-; atburðr, but aðbúnaðr; aðhjúkran not athjúkran; atgörvi not aðgörfi. At, to, towards; into; against; along, by; in regard to; after.

Mostly with dat.; rarely with acc.; and sometimes ellipt.—by dropping the words ‘home,’ ‘house,’ or the like—with gen.

WITH DAT.

A. LOC.

I. WITH MOTION; gener. the motion to the borders, limits of an object, and thus opp. to frá:

1. towards, against, with or without the notion of arrival, esp. connected with verbs denoting motion (verba movendi et eundi), e. g. fara, ganga, koma, lúta, snúa, rétta at…; Otkell laut at Skamkatli, O. louted (i. e. bowed down) towards S., Nj. 77, Fms. xi. 102; sendimaðrinn sneri ( turned) hjöltum sverðsins at konungi, towards the king, i. 15; hann sneri egginni at Ásgrími, turned the edge towards A., Nj. 220; rétta e-t at e-m, to reach, hand over, Ld. 132; ganga at, to step towards, Ísl. ii. 259.

2. denoting proximity, close up to, up to; Brynjólfr gengr … allt at honum, B. goes quite up to him, Nj. 58; Gunnarr kom þangat at þeim örunum, G. reached them even there with his arrows, 115; þeir kómust aldri at honum, they could never get near him, to close quarters, id.; reið maðr at þeim (up to them), 274; þeir höfðu rakit sporin allt at ( right up to) gammanum, Fms. i. 9; komu þeir at sjó fram, came down to the sea, Bárð. 180.

3. without reference to the space traversed, to or at; koma at landi, to land, Ld. 38, Fms. viii. 358; ríða at dyrum, Boll. 344; hlaupa at e-m, to run up to, run at, Fms. vii. 218, viii. 358; af sjáfarganginum er hann gekk at landinu, of the surf dashing against the shore, xi. 6; vísa ólmum hundi at manni, to set a fierce hound at a man, Grág. ii. 118; leggja e-n at velli, to lay low, Eg. 426, Nj. 117; hníga at jörðu, at grasi, at moldu, to bite the dust, to die, Njarð. 378; ganga at dómi, a law term, to go into court, of a plaintiff, defendant, or bystander, Nj. 87 (freq.)

4. denoting a motion along, into, upon; ganga at stræti, to walk along the street, Korm. 228, Fms. vii. 39; at ísi, on the ice, Skálda 198, Fms. vii. 19, 246, viii. 168, Eb. 112 new Ed. (á is perh. wrong); máttu menn ganga bar yfir at skipum einum, of ships alone used as a bridge, Fas. i. 378; at höfðum, at nám, to trample on the slain on the battle-field, Lex. Poët.; at ám, along the rivers; at merkiósum, at the river’s mouth, Grág. ii. 355; at endilöngu baki, all along its back, Sks. 100.

5. denoting hostility, to rush at, assault; renna at, hlaupa at, ganga, fara, ríða, sækja, at e-m, (v. those words), whence the nouns atrenna, athlaup, atgangr, atför, atreið, atsókn, etc.

β. metaph., kom at þeim svefnhöfgi, deep sleep fell on them, Nj. 104. Esp. of weather, in the impers. phrase, hríð, veðr, vind, storm görir at e-m, to be overtaken by a snow storm, gale, or the like; görði þá at þeim þoku mikla, they were overtaken by a thick fog, Bárð. 171.

6. denoting around, of clothing or the like; bregða skikkju at höfði sér, to wrap his cloak over his head, Ld. 62; vefja motri at höfði sér, to wrap a snood round her head, 188; sauma at, to stick, cling close, as though sewn on; sauma at höndum sér, of tight gloves, Bs. i. 453; kyrtill svá þröngr sem saumaðr væri at honum, as though it were stitched to him, Nj. 214; vafit at vándum dreglum, tight laced with sorry tags, id.; hosa strengd fast at beini, of tight hose, Eg. 602; hann sveipar at sér iðrunum ok skyrtunni, he gathers up the entrails close to him and the skirt too, Gísl. 71; laz at síðu, a lace on the side, to keep the clothes tight, Eg. 602.

β. of burying; bera grjót at einum, to heap stones upon the body, Eg. 719; var gör at þeim dys or grjóti, Ld. 152; gora kistu at líki, to make a coffin for a body, Eb. 264, Landn. 56, Ld. 142.

γ. of summoning troops or followers; stefna at sér mönnum, to summon men to him, Nj. 104; stefna at sér liði, Eg. 270; kippa mönnum at sér, to gather men in haste, Ld. 64.

7. denoting a business, engagement; ríða at hrossum, at sauðum, to go looking after after horses, watching sheep, Glúm. 362, Nj. 75; fara at fé, to go to seek for sheep, Ld. 240; fara at heyi, to go a-haymaking, Dropl. 10; at veiðum, a-hunting; at fuglum, a-fowling; at dýrum, a-sbooting; at fiski, a-fishing; at veiðiskap, Landn. 154, Orkn. 416 (in a verse), Nj. 25; fara at landskuldum, to go a-collecling rents, Eg. 516; at Finnkaupum, a-marketing with Finns, 41; at féföngum, a-plundering, Fms. vii. 78; ganga at beina, to wait on guests, Nj. 50; starfa at matseld, to serve at table, Eb. 266; hitta e-n at nauðsynjum, on matters of business; at máli, to speak with one, etc., Fms. xi. 101; rekast at e-m, to pursue one, ix. 404; ganga at liði sér, to go suing for help, Grág. ii. 384.

β. of festivals; snúa, fá at blóti, veizlu, brullaupi, to prepare for a sacrificial banquet, wedding, or the like, hence at-fangadagr, Eb. 6, Ld. 70; koma at hendi, to happen, befall; ganga at sínu, to come by one’s own, to take it, Ld. 208; Egill drakk hvert full er at honum kom, drained every horn that came to him, Eg. 210; komast at keyptu, to purchase dearly, Húv. 46.

8. denoting imaginary motion, esp. of places, cp. Lat. spectare, vergere ad…, to look or lie towards; horfði botninn at höfðanum, the bight of the bay looked toward the headland, Fms. i. 340, Landn. 35; also, skeiðgata liggr at læknum, leads to the brook, Ísl. ii. 339; á þann arminn er vissi at sjánum, on that wing which looked toward the sea, Fms. viii. 115; sár þau er horft höfðu at Knúti konungi, xi. 309.

β. even connected with verbs denoting motion; Gilsáreyrr gengr austan at Fljótinu, G. extends, projects to F. from the east, Hrafh. 25; hjá sundi því, er at gengr þingstöðinni, Fms. xi. 85.

II. WITHOUT MOTION; denoting presence at, near, by, at the side of, in, upon; connected with verbs like sitja, standa, vera…; at kirkju, at church, Fms. vii. 251, K. f). K. 16, Ld. 328, Ísl. ii. 270, Sks. 36; vera at skála, at húsi, to be in, at home, Landn. 154; at landi, Fms. i. 82; at skipi, on shipboard, Grág. i. 209, 215; at oldri, at a banquet, inter pocula; at áti, at dinner, at a feast, inter edendum, ii. 169, 170; at samförum ok samvistum, at public meetings, id.; at dómi, in a court; standa (to take one’s stand) norðan, sunnan, austan, vestan at dómi, freq. in the proceedings at trials in lawsuits, Nj.; at þingi, present at the parliament, Grág. i. 142; at lögbergi, o n the hill of laws, 17, Nj.; at baki e-m, at the back of.

2. denoting presence, partaking in; sitja at mat, to sit at meat, Fms. i. 241; vera at veizlu, brullaupi, to be at a banquet, nuptials, Nj. 51, Ld. 70: a law term, vera at vígi, to be an accessory in manslaying, Nj. 89, 100; vera at e-u simply means to be about, be busy in, Fms. iv. 237; standa at máli, to stand by one in a case, Grág. ii. 165, Nj. 214; vera at fóstri, to be fostered, Fms. i. 2; sitja at hégóma, to listen to nonsense, Ld. 322; vera at smíð, to be at one’s work, Þórð. 62: now absol., vera at, to go on with, be busy at.

3. the law term vinna eið at e-u has a double meaning:

α. vinna eið at bók, at baugi, to make an oath upon the book by laying the band upon it, Landn. 258, Grág., Nj.; cp. Vkv. 31, Gkv. 3. 3, Hkv. 2. 29, etc.: ‘við’ is now used in this sense.

β. to confirm a fact (or the like) by an oath, to swear to, Grág. i. 9, 327.

γ. the law phrase, nefna vátta at e-u, of summoning witnesses to a deed, fact, or the like; nefna vátta at benjum, to produce evidence, witnesses as to the wounds, Nj., Grág.; at görð, Eg. 738; at svörum, Grág. i. 19: this summoning of witnesses served in old lawsuits the same purpose as modern pleadings and depositions; every step in a suit to be lawful must be followed by such a summoning or declaration.

4. used ellipt., vera at, to be about, to be busy at; kvalararnir er at vóru at pína hann, who were tormenting him; þar varstu at, you were there present, Skálda 162; at várum þar, Gísl. (in a verse): as a law term ‘vera at’ means to be guilty, Glúm. 388; vartattu at þar, Eg. (in a verse); hence the ambiguity of Glum’s oath, vask at þar, I was there present: var þar at kona nokkur ( was there busy) at binda sár manna, Fms. v. 91; hann var at ok smíðaði skot, Rd. 313; voru Varbelgir at ( about) at taka af, þau lög …, Fms. ix. 512; ek var at ok vafk, I was about weaving, xi. 49; þeir höfðu verit at þrjú sumur, they had been busy at it for three summers, x. 186 (now very freq.); koma at, come in, to arrive unexpectedly; Gunnarr kom at í því, G. came in at that moment; hvaðan komtú nú at, whence did you come? Nj. 68, Fms. iii. 200.

5. denoting the kingdom or residence of a king or princely person; konungr at Danmörk ok Noregi, king of…, Fms. i. 119, xi. 281; konungr, jarl, at öllum Noregi, king, earl, over all N., íb. 3, 13, Landn. 25; konungr at Dyflinni, king of Dublin, 25; but í or yfir England!, Eg. 263: cp. the phrase, sitja at landi, to reside, of a king when at home, Hkr. i. 34; at Joini, Fms. xi. 74: used of a bishop; biskup at Hólum, bishop of Hólar, Íb. 18, 19; but biskup í Skálaholti, 19: at Rómi, at Rome, Fbr. 198.

6. in denoting a man’s abode (vide p. 5, col. 1, l. 27), the prep. ‘at’ is used where the local name implies the notion of by the side of, and is therefore esp. applied to words denoting a river, brook, rock, mountain, grove, or the like, and in some other instances, by, at, e. g. at Hofi (a temple), Landn. 198; at Borg ( a castle), 57; at Helgafelli (a mountain), Eb. constantly so; at Mosfelli, Landn. 190; at Hálsi (a hill), Fms. xi. 22; at Bjargi, Grett. 90; Hálsum, Landn. 143; at Á ( river), 296, 268; at Bægisá, 212; Giljá, 332; Myrká, 211; Vatnsá, id.; þverá, Glúm. 323; at Fossi (a ‘force’ or waterfall), Landn. 73; at Lækjamoti (waters-meeting), 332; at Hlíðarenda ( end of the lithe or hill), at Bergþórshváli, Nj.; at Lundi (a grove), at Melum (sandhill), Landn. 70: the prep. ‘á’ is now used in most of these cases, e. g. á Á, á Hofi, Helgafelli, Felli, Hálsi, etc.

β. particularly, and without any regard to etymology, used of the abode of kings or princes, to reside at; at Uppsölum, at Haugi, Alreksstöðum, at Hlöðum, Landn., Fms.

γ. konungr lét kalla at stofudyrum, the king made a call at the hall door, Eg. 88; þeir kölluðu at herberginu, they called at the inn, Fms. ix. 475.

7. used ellipt. with a gen., esp. if connected with such words as gista, to be a guest, lodge, dine, sup (of festivals or the like) at one’s home; at Marðar, Nj. 4; at hans, 74; þingfesti at þess bóanda, Grág. i. 152; at sín, at one’s own home, Eg. 371, K. Þ. K. 62; hafa náttstað at Freyju, at the abode of goddess Freyja, Eg. 603; at Ránar, at Ran’s, i. e. at Ran’s house, of drowned men who belong to the queen of the sea, Ran, Eb. 274; at hins heilaga Ólafs konungs, at St. Olave’s church, Fms. vi. 63: cp. ad Veneris, εις Κίμωνος.

B. TEMP.

I. at, denoting a point or period of time; at upphafi, at first, in the beginning, Ld. 104; at lyktum, at síðustu, at lokum, at last; at lesti, at last, Lex. Poët., more freq. á lesti; at skilnaði, at parting, at last, Band. 3; at fornu, in times of yore, formerly, Eg. 267, D. I. i. 635; at sinni, as yet, at present; at nýju, anew, of present time; at eilífu, for ever and ever; at skömmu, soon, shortly, Ísl. ii. 272, v. l.

II. of the very moment when anything happens, the beginning of a term; denoting the seasons of the year, months, weeks, the hours of the day; at Jólum, at Yule, Nj. 46; at Pálmadegi, on Palm Sunday, 273; at Páskum, at Easter; at Ólafsvöku, on St. Olave’s eve, 29th of July, Fms.; at vetri, at the beginning of the winter, on the day when winter sets in, Grág. 1. 151; at sumarmálum, at vetrnáttum; at Tvímánaði, when the Double month (August) begins, Ld. 256, Grág. i. 152; at kveldi, at eventide, Eg. 3; at því meli, at that time; at eindaga, at the term, 395; at eykð, at 4 o’clock p. m., 198; at öndverðri æfi Abra hams, Ver. II; at sinni, now at once, Fms. vi. 71; at öðruhverju, every now and then.

β. where the point of time is marked by some event; at þingi, at the meeting of parliament (18th to the 24th of June), Ld. 182; at féránsdómi, at the court of execution, Grág. i. 132, 133; at þinglausnum, at the close of the parliament (beginning of July), 140; at festarmálum, eðr at eiginorði, at betrothal or nuptials, 174; at skilnaði, when they parted, Nj. 106 (above); at öllum minnum, at the general drinking of the toasts, Eg. 253; at fjöru, at the ebb; at flæðum, at flood tide, Fms. viii. 306, Orkn. 428; at hrörum, at an inquest, Grág. i. 50 (cp. ii. 141, 389); at sökum, at prosecutions, 30; at sinni, now, as yet, v. that word.

III. ellipt., or adding ‘komanda’ or ‘er kemr,’ of the future time:

1. ellipt., komanda or the like being understood, with reference to the seasons of the year; at sumri, at vetri, at hausti, at vári, next summer, winter…, Ísl. ii. 242; at miðju sumri, at ári, at Midsummer, next year, Fas. i. 516; at miðjum vetri, Fms. iv. 237,

2. adding ‘komanda’ or ‘er kemr;’ at ári komanda, Bárð. 177; at vári er kemr, Dipl. iii. 6.

IV. used with an absolute dat. and with a pres. part.:

1. with pres. part.; at morni komanda, on the coming morrow, Fms. i. 263; at sér lifanda, in vivo, in his life time, Grág. ii. 202; at þeim sofundum, illis dormientibus, Hkr. i. 234; at öllum ásjándum, in the sight of all, Fms. x. 329; at úvitanda konungi, illo nesciente, without his knowledge, 227; at áheyranda höfðingjanum, in the chief’s bearing, 235.

2. of past time with a past part. (Lat. abl. absol.); at hræjum fundnum, on the bodies being found, Grág. ii. 87; at háðum dómum ok föstu þingi, during the session, the courts being set, i. 484; at liðnum sex vikum, after six weeks past, Band. 13; at svá búnu, so goru, svá komnu, svá mæltu (Lat. quibus rebus gestis, dictis, quo facto, dicto, etc.), v. those words; at úreyndu, without trial, without put ting one to the test, Ld. 76; at honum önduðum, illo mortuo.

3. ellipt. without ‘at;’ en þessum hlutum fram komnum, when all this has been done, Eb. 132.

V. in some phrases with a slight temp, notion; at görðum gildum, the fences being strong, Gþl. 387; at vörmu spori, at once, whilst the trail is warm; at úvörum, unawares, suddenly, Nj. 95, Ld. 132; at þessu, at this cost, on that condition, Eb. 38, Nj. 55; at illum leiki, to have a narrow escape, now við illan leik, Fms. ix. 473; at því, that granted, Grág. ii. 33: at því, at pessu, thereafter, thereupon, Nj. 76.

2. denoting succession, without interruption, one after another; hverr at öðrum, annarr maðr at öðrum, aðrir at öðrum; eina konu at annarri, Eg. 91, Fms. ii. 236, vi. 25, Bs. i. 22, 625. 80, H. E. i. 522.

C. METAPH. and in various cases:

I. denoting a transformation or change into, to, with the notion of destruction; brenna at ösku, at köldum kolum, to burn to ashes, to be quite destroyed, Fms. i. 105, Edda 3, Sturl. ii. 51: with the notion of transformation or transfiguration, in such phrases as, verða at e-u, göra e-t at e-u, to turn it into:

α. by a spell; verða at ormi, to become a snake, Fms. xi. 158; at flugdrekum, Gullþ. 7; urðu þau bönd at járni, Edda 40.

β. by a natural process it can often be translated by an acc. or by as; göra e-n at urðarmanni, to make him an outlaw, Eg. 728; græða e-n at orkumlamanni, to heal him so as to maim him for life, of bad treatment by a leech, Eb. 244: in the law terms, sár görist at ben, a wound turning into a ben, proving to be mortal, Grág., Nj.; verða at ljúgvætti, to prove to be a false evidence, Grág. i. 44; verða at sætt, to turn into reconciliation, Fms. i. 13; göra e-t at reiði málum, to take offence at, Fs. 20; at nýjum tíðindum, to tell as news, Nj. 14; verða fátt at orðum, to be sparing of words, 18; kveðr (svá) at orði, to speak, utter, 10; verða at þrifnaði, to geton well, Fms. vii. 196: at liði, at skaða, to be a help or hurt to one; at bana, to cause one’s death, Nj. 223, Eg. 21, Grág. ii. 29: at undrum, at hlátri, to become a wonder, a laughing-stock, 623. 35, Eg. 553.

II. denoting capacity, where it may be translated merely by as or for; gefa at Jólagjöf, to give for a Christmas-box, Eg. 516; at gjöf, for a present; at erfð, at láni, launum, as an inheritance, a loan; at kaupum ok sökum, for buying and selling, Ísl. ii. 223, Grág. i. 423; at solum, ii. 204; at herfangi, as spoil or plunder; at sakbótum, at niðgjöldum, as a compensation, weregeld, i. 339, ii. 171, Hkr. ii. 168; taka at gíslingu, to take as an hostage, Edda 15; eiga e-n at vin, at óvin, to have one as friend or foe, illt er at eiga þræl at eingavin, ‘tis ill to have a thrall for one’s bosom friend (a proverb), Nj. 77; fæða, eiga, at sonum (syni), to beget a son, Edda 8, Bs. i. 60 (but eiga at dóttur cannot be said); hafa möttul at yfirhöfn, Fms. vii. 201; verða nökkut at manni (mönnum), to turn out to be a worthy man; verða ekki at manni, to turn out a worthless person, xi. 79, 268.

2. in such phrases as, verða at orðum, to come towards, Nj. 26; var þat at erindum, Eg. 148; hafa at veizlum, to draw veizlur ( dues) from, Fms. iv. 275, Eg. 647; gora e-t at álitum, to take it into consideration, Nj. 3.

III. denoting belonging to, fitting, of parts of the whole or the like; vóru at honum (viz. the sword) hjölt gullbúin, the sword was ornamented with a hilt of gold, Ld. 330; umgörð at ( belonging to) sverði, Fs. 97 (Hs.) in a verse; en ef mór er eigi at landinu, if there be no turf moor belonging to the land, Grág. ii. 338; svá at eigi brotnaði nokkuð at Orminum, so that no harm happened to the ship Worm, Fms. x. 356; hvatki er meiðir at skipinu eðr at reiðinu eðr at viðum, damage done t o …, Grág. ii. 403; lesta ( to injure) hús at lásum, við eðr torfi, 110; ef land hefir batnað at húsum, if the land has been bettered as to its buildings, 210; cp. the phrase, göra at e-u, to repair: hamlaðr at höndum eðr fótum, maimed as to hands or feet, Eg. 14; heill at höndum en hrumr at fótum, sound in band, palsied in foot, Fms. vii. 12; lykill at skrá, a key belonging, fitting, to the latch; hurð at húsi; a key ‘gengr at’ ( fits) skrá; and many other phrases. 2. denoting the part by which a thing is held or to which it belongs, by; fá, taka at…, to grasp by …; þú tókt við sverði hans at hjöltunum, you took it by the bill, Fms. i. 15; draga út björninn at hlustum, to pull out the bear by the ears, Fas. ii. 237; at fótum, by the feet, Fms. viii. 363; mæla ( to measure) at hrygg ok at jaðri, by the edge or middle of the stuff, Grág. i. 498; kasta e-m at höfði, head foremost, Nj. 84; kjósa e-n at fótum, by the feet alone, Edda 46; hefja frændsemi at bræðrum, eða at systkynum, to reckon kinship by the brother’s or the sister’s side, Grág. i. 28; kjósa at afli, at álitum, by strength, sight, Gs. 8, belongs rather to the following.

IV. in respect of, as regards, in regard to, as to; auðigr at fé, wealthy of goods, Nj. 16, 30, 51; beztir hestar at reið, the best racehorses, 186; spekingr at viti, a man of great intellect, Ld. 124; vænn (fagr) at áliti, fair of face, Nj. 30, Bs. i. 61; kvenna vænst at ásjónu ok vits munum, of surpassing beauty and intellect, Ld. 122; fullkominn at hyggju, 18; um fram aðra menn at vinsældum ok harðfengi, of surpassing popularity and hardihood, Eb. 30.

2. a law term, of challenging jurors, judges, or the like, on account of, by reason of; ryðja ( to challenge) at mægðum, guðsifjum, frændsemi, hrörum …; at leiðarlengd, on account of distance, Grág. i. 30, 50, Nj. (freq.)

3. in arithm. denoting proportion; at helmingi, þriðjungi, fjórðungi, tíunda hluta, cp. Lat. ex asse, quadrante, for the half, third… part; máttr skal at magni (a proverb), might and main go together, Hkr. ii. 236; þú munt vera at því mikill fræðimaðr á kvæði, in the same proportion, as great, Fms. vi. 391, iii. 41; at e-s hluta, at… leiti, for one’s part, in turn, as far as one is con cerned, Grág. i. 322, Eg. 309, Fms. iii. 26 (freq.): at öðrum kosti, in the other case, otherwise (freq.) More gener., at öllu, öngu, in all (no) respects; at sumu, einhverju, nokkru, partly; at flestu, mestu, chiefly.

4. as a paraphrase of a genitive; faðir, móðir at barni (= barns); aðili at sök (= sakar a.); morðingi at barni (= barns), faðerni at barni (barns); illvirki at fé manna (cp. Lat. felo de se), niðrfall at sökum (saka), land gangr at fiskum (fiska), Fms. iv. 274, Grág. i. 277, 416, N. G. L. i. 340, K. Þ. K. 112, Nj. 21.

5. the phrase ‘at sér,’ of himself or in himself, either ellipt. or by adding the participle görr, and with the adverbs vel, ilia, or the like; denoting breeding, bearing, endowments, character …; væn kona, kurteis ok vel at sér, an accomplished, well-bred, gifted lady, Nj. I; vitr maðr ok vel at sér, a wise man and thoroughly good in feeling and bearing, 5; þú ert maðr vaskr ok vel at þér, 49; gerr at sér, accomplished, 51; bezt at sér görr, the finest, best bred man, 39, Ld. 124; en þó er hann svá vel at sér, so generous, Nj. 77; þeir höfðingjar er svá vóru vel at sér, so noble-minded, 198, Fms. i. 160: the phrase ‘at sér’ is now only used of knowledge, thus maðr vel að sér means clever, a man of great knowledge; illa að sér, a blockhead.

6. denoting relations to colour, size, value, age, and the like; hvitr, svartr, grár, rauðr … at lit, white, swarthy, gray, red … of colour, Bjarn. 55, 28, Ísl. ii. 213, etc.; mikill, lítill, at stærð, vexti, tall, small of size, etc.; ungr, gamall, barn, at aldri, young, old, a child of age; tvítugr, þrítugr … at aldri, twenty, thirty … years of age (freq.): of animals; kyr at fyrsta, öðrum … kálfi, a cow having calved once, twice…, Jb. 346: value, amount, currency of money, kaupa e-t at mörk, at a mark, N. G. L. 1. 352; ok er eyririnn at mörk, amounts to a mark, of the value of money, Grág. i. 392; verðr þá at hálfri murk vaðmála eyrir, amounts to a half a mark, 500.

β. metaph. of value, connected with verbs denoting to esteem, hold; meta, hafa, halda at miklu, litlu, vettugi, engu, or the like, to hold in high or low esteem, to care or not to care for (freq.): geta e-s at góðu, illu, öngu, to mention one favourably, unfavourably, indifferently … (freq.), prop. in connection with. In many cases it may be translated by in; ekki er mark at draumum, there is no meaning in dreams, no heed is to be paid to dreams, Sturl. ii. 217; bragð er at þá barnið finnr, it goes too far, when even a child takes offence (a proverb): hvat er at því, what does it mean? Nj. 11; hvert þat skip er vöxtr er at, any ship of mark, i. e. however small, Fms. xi. 20.

V. denoting the source of a thing:

1. source of infor mation, to learn, perceive, get information from; Ari nam ok marga fræði at Þuríði, learnt as her pupil, at her hands, as St. Paul at the feet of Gamaliel, (just as the Scotch say to speer or ask at a person); Ari nam at Þorgeiri afraðskoll, Hkr. (pref.); nema kunnáttu at e-m, used of a pupil, Fms. i. 8; nema fræði at e-m, xi. 396.

2. of receiving, acquiring, buying, from; þiggja e-t at e-m, to receive a thing at his hands, Nj. 51; líf, to be pardoned, Fms. x. 173; kaupa land at e-m, to buy it from, Landn. 72, Íb. II, (now af is more freq. in this sense); geta e-t at e-m, to obtain, procure at one’s hands, impetrare; þeirra manna er þeir megu þat geta at, who are willing to do that, Grág. i. I; heimta e-t at e-m (now af), to call in, demand (a debt, money), 279; fala e-t at e-m (now af), to chaffer for or cheapen anything, Nj. 73; sækja e-t at e-m, to ask, seek for; sækja heilræði ok traust at e-m, 98; leiga e-t at e-m (now af), to borrow, Grág. ii. 334; eiga e-t (fé, skuld) at e-m, to be owed money by any one, i. 399: metaph. to deserve of one, Nj. 113; eiga mikit at e-m, to have much to do with, 138; hafa veg, virðing, styrk, at, to derive honour, power from, Fms. vi. 71, Eg. 44, Bárð. 174; gagn, to be of use, Ld. 216; mein, tálma, mischief, disadvantage, 158, 216, cp. Eg. 546; ótta, awe, Nj. 68.

VI. denoting conformity, according to, Lat. secundum, ex, after; at fornum sið, Fms. i. 112; at sögn Ara prests, as Ari relates, on his authority, 55; at ráði allra vitrustu manna, at the advice of, Ísl. ii. 259, Ld. 62; at lögum, at landslögum, by the law of the land, Grág., Nj.; at líkindum, in all likelihood, Ld. 272; at sköpum, in due course (poet.); at hinum sama hætti, in the very same manner, Grág. i. 90; at vánum, as was to be expected, Nj. 255; at leyfi e-s, by one’s leave, Eg. 35; úlofi, Grág. ii. 215; at ósk, vilja e-s, as one likes…; at mun, id. (poet.); at sólu, happily (following the course of the sun), Bs. i. 70, 137; at því sem …, as to infer from …, Nj. 124: ‘fara, láta, ganga at’ denotes to yield, agree to, to comply with, give in, Ld. 168, Eg. 18, Fms. x. 368.

VII. in phrases nearly or quite adverbial; gróa, vera græddr, at heilu, to be quite healed, Bárð. 167, Eb. 148; bíta at snöggu, to bite it bare, Fms. xi. 6; at þurru, till it becomes dry, Eb. 276; at endilöngu, all along, Fas. ii; vinnast at litlu, to avail little, 655 x. 14; at fullu, fully, Nj. 257, Hkr. i. 171; at vísu, of a surety, surely, Ld. 40; at frjálsu, freely, 308; at líku, at sömu, equally, all the same, Hom. 80, Nj. 267; at röngu, wrongly, 686 B. 2; at hófi, temperately, Lex. Poët.; at mun, at ráði, at marki, to a great extent; at hringum, utterly, all round, (rare), Fms. x. 389; at einu, yet, Orkn. 358; svá at einu, því at einu, allt at einu, yet, however, nevertheless.

VIII. connected with comparatives of adverbs and adjectives, and strengthening the sense, as in Engl. ‘the,’ so much the more, all the more; ‘at’ heldr tveimr, at ek munda gjarna veita yðr öllum, where it may be translated by so much the more to two, as I would willingly grant it to all of you; hon grét at meir, she grat (wept) the more, Eg. 483; þykir oss at líkara, all the more likely, Fms. viii. 6; þess at harðari, all the harder, Sturl. iii. 202 C; svá at hinn sé bana at nær, Grág. ii. 117; at auðnara, at hólpnara, the more happy, Al. 19, Grett. 116 B; þess at meiri, Fms. v. 64; auvirðismaðr at meiri, Sturl. ii. 139; maðr at vaskari, id.; at feigri, any the more fey, Km. 22; maðr at verri, all the worse, Nj. 168; ok er ‘at’ firr…, at ek vil miklu heldr, cp. Lat. tantum abest… ut, Eg. 60.

β. following after a negation; eigi at síðr, no less, Nj. 160, Ld. 146; eigi… at meiri maðr, any better, Eg. 425, 489; erat héra at borgnara, any the better off for that, Fms. vii. 116; eigi at minni, no less for that, Edda (pref.) 146; eigi at minna, Ld. 216, Fms. ix. 50; ekki at verri drengr, not a bit worse for that, Ld. 42; er mér ekki son minn at bættari, þótt…, 216; at eigi vissi at nær, any more, Fas. iii. 74.

IX. following many words:

1. verbs, esp. those denoting, a. to ask, enquire, attend, seek, e. g. spyrja at, to speer (ask) for; leita at, to seek for; gæta, geyma at, to pay attention to; huga, hyggja at; hence atspurn, to enquire, aðgæzla, athugi, attention, etc.

β. verbs denoting laughter, play, joy, game, cp. the Engl. to play at …, to laugh at …; hlæja, brosa at e-u, to laugh, smile at it; leika (sér) at e-u, to play at; þykja gaman at, to enjoy; hæða, göra gys at …, to make sport at …

γ. verbs denoting assistance, help; standa, veita, vinna, hjálpa at; hence atstoð, atvinna, atverk:—mode, proceeding; fara at, to proceed, hence atför and atferli:—compliance; láta, fara at e-u, v. above:— fault; e-t er at e-u, there is some fault in it, Fms. x. 418; skorta at e-u, to fall short of, xi. 98:—care, attendance; hjúkra at, hlýja at, v. these words:—gathering, collecting; draga, reiða, flytja, fá at, congerere:—engagement, arrival, etc.; sækja at, to attack; ganga at, vera at, to be about; koma at, ellipt. to arrive: göra at, to repair: lesta at, to impair (v. above); finna at, to criticise (mod.); telja at, id.: bera at, to happen; kveða at e-m, to address one, 625. 15, (kveða at (ellipt.) now means to pronounce, and of a child to utter (read) whole syllables); falla at, of the flood-tide (ellipt.): metaph. of pains or straits surrounding one; þreyngja, herða at, to press hard: of frost and cold, with regard to the seasons; frjósa at, kólna at, to get really cold (SI. 44), as it were from the cold stiffening all things: also of the seasons themselves; hausta, vetra að, when the season really sets in; esp. the cold seasons, ‘sumra at’ cannot be used, yet we may say ‘vára að’ when the spring sets in, and the air gets mild.

δ. in numberless other cases which may partly be seen below.

2. connected ellipt. with adverbs denoting motion from a place; norðan, austan, sunnan, vestan at, those from the north, east…; utan at, innan at, from the outside or inside.

3. with adjectives (but rarely), e. g. kærr, elskr, virkr (affectionate), vandr (zealous), at e-m; v. these words.

WITH ACC.

TEMP.: Lat. post, after, upon, esp. freq. in poetry, but rare in prose writers, who use eptir; nema reisi niðr at nið (= maðr eptir mann), in succession, of erecting a monument, Hm. 71; in prose, at þat. posthac, deinde, Fms. x. 323, cp. Rm., where it occurs several times, 2, 6, 9, 14, 18, 24, 28, 30, 35; sonr á at taka arf at föður sinn, has to take the inheritance after his father, Grág. i. 170 new Ed.; eiga féránsdóm at e-n, Grág. i. 89; at Gamla fallinn, after the death of G., Fms. x. 382; in Edda (Gl.) 113 ought to be restored, grét ok at Oð, gulli Freyja, she grat (wept) tears of gold for her lost husband Od. It is doubtful if it is ever used in a purely loc. sense; at land, Grág. (Sb.)ii. 211, is probably corrupt; at hönd = á hönd, Grág. (Sb.) i. 135; at mót = at móti, v. this word.

☞ In compounds (v. below) at- or að- answers in turn to Lat. ad- or in- or con-; atdráttr e. g. denotes collecting; atkoma is adventus: it may also answer to Lat. ob-, in atburðr = accidence, but might also be compared with Lat. occurrere.

and að, the mark of the infinitive [cp. Goth. du; A. S. and Engl. to; Germ. zu]. Except in the case of a few verbs ‘at’ is always placed immediately before the infinitive, so as to be almost an inseparable part of the verb.

I. it is used either,

1. as, a simple mark of the infinitive, only denoting an action and independent of the subject, e. g. at ganga, at hlaupa, at vita, to go, to run, to know; or,

2. in an objective sense when following such verbs as bjóða segja…, to invite, command …; hann bauð þeim at ganga, at sitja, be bade, ordered them to go, sit, or the like; or as gefa and fá; gefa e-m at drekka, at eta, to give one to drink or to eat, etc. etc.

β. with the additional notion of intention, esp. when following verba cogitandi; hann ætlaði, hafði í hyggju at fara, he had it in his mind to go (where ‘to go’ is the real object to ætlaði and hafði í hyggju).

3. answering to the Gr. ινα, denoting intention, design, in order to; hann gékk í borg at kaupa silfr, in order to buy, Nj. 280; hann sendi riddara sína með þeim at varðveita þær, 623. 45: in order to make the phrase more plain, ‘svá’ and ‘til’ are frequently added, esp. in mod. writers, ‘svá at’ and contr. ‘svát’ (the last however is rare), ‘til at’ and ‘til þess at,’ etc.

II. in the earlier times the infin., as in Greek and Lat., had no such mark; and some verbs remain that cannot be followed by ‘at;’ these verbs are almost the same in Icel. as in Engl.:

α. the auxiliary verbs vil, mun ( μέλλω), skal; as in Engl. to is never used after the auxiliaries shall, will, must; ek vil ganga, I will go; ek mun fara, (as in North. E.) I mun go; ek skal göra þat, I shall do that, etc.

β. the verbs kunna, mega, as in Engl. I can or may do, I dare say; svá hygginn at hann kunni fyrir sökum ráða, Grág. ii. 75; í öllu er prýða má góðan höfðingja, Nj. 90; vera má, it may be; vera kann þat, id.: kunnu, however, takes ‘at’ whenever it means to know, and esp. in common language in phrases such as, það kann að vera, but vera kann þat, v. above.

γ. lata, biðja, as in Engl. to let, to bid; hann lét (bað) þá fara, he let (bade) them go.

δ. þykkja, þykjast, to seem; hann þykir vera, he is thought to be: reflex., hann þykist vera, sibi videtur: impers., mér þykir vera, mibi videtur, in all cases without ‘at.’ So also freq. the verbs hugsa, hyggja, ætla, halda, to think, when denoting merely the act of thinking; but if there be any notion of intention or purpose, they assume the ‘at;’ thus hann ætlaði, hugði, þá vera góða menn, he thought them to be, acc. c. inf.; but ætlaði at fara, meant to go, etc.

ε. the verbs denoting to see, bear; sjá, líta, horfa á … ( videre); heyra, audire, as in Engl. I saw them come, I heard him tell, ek sá þá koma, ek heyrði hann tala.

ζ. sometimes after the verbs eiga and ganga; hann gékk steikja, be went to roast, Vkv. 9; eiga, esp. when a mere periphrasis instead of skal, móður sína á maðr fyrst fram færa (better at færa), Grág. i. 232; á þann kvið einskis meta, 59; but at meta, id. l. 24; ráða, nema, göra …, freq. in poetry, when they are used as simple auxiliary verbs, e. g. nam hann sér Högna hvetja at rúnum, Skv. 3. 43.

η. hljóta and verða, when used in the sense of must (as in Engl. he must go), and when placed after the infin.of another verb; hér muntu vera hljóta, Nj. 129; but hljóta at vera: fara hlýtr þú, Fms. 1. 159; but þú hlýtr at fara: verða vita, ii. 146; but verða at vita: hann man verða sækja, þó verðr (= skal) maðr eptir mann lifa, Fms. viii. 19, Fas. ii. 552, are exceptional cases.

θ. in poetry, verbs with the verbal neg. suffix ‘-at,’ freq. for the case of euphony, take no mark of the infinitive, where it would be indispensable with the simple verb, vide Lex. Poët. Exceptional cases; hvárt sem hann vill ‘at’ verja þá sök, eða, whatever he chooses, either, Grág. i. 64; fyrr viljum vér enga kórónu at bera, en nokkut ófrelsi á oss at taka, we would rather bear no crown than …, Fms. x. 12; the context is peculiar, and the ‘at’ purposely added. It may be left out ellipt.; e. g. þá er guð gefr oss finnast (= at finnast), Dipl. ii. 14; gef honum drekka (= at drekka), Pr. 470; but mostly in unclassical writers, in deeds, or the like, written nastily and in an abrupt style.

and að, conj. [Goth. þatei = οτι; A. S. þät; Engl. that; Germ, dass; the Ormul. and Scot. at, see the quotations sub voce in Jamieson; in all South-Teutonic idioms with an initial dental: the Scandinavian idioms form an exception, having all dropped this consonant; Swed. åt, Dan. at]. In Icel. the Bible translation (of the 16th century) was chiefly based upon that of Luther; the hymns and the great bulk of theol. translations of that time were also derived from Germany; therefore the germanised form það frequently appears in the Bible, and was often employed by theol. authors in sermons since the time of the Reformation. Jón Vidalin, the greatest modern Icel. preacher, who died in 1720, in spite of his thoroughly classical style, abounds in the use of this form; but it never took root in the language, and has never passed into the spoken dialect. After a relative or demonstr. pronoun, it freq. in mod. writers assumes the form eð, hver eð, hverir eð, hvað eð, þar eð. Before the prep. þú (tu), þ changes into t, and is spelt in a single word attú, which is freq. in some MS.;—now, however, pronounced aððú, aððeir, aððið …, = að þú…, with the soft Engl. th sound. It gener. answers to Lat. ut, or to the relat. pron. qui.

I. that, relative to svá, to denote proportion, degree, so…, that, Lat. tam, tantus, tot…, ut; svá mikill lagamaðr, at…, so great a lawyer, that…, Nj. 1; hárið svá mikit, at þat…, 2; svá kom um síðir því máli, at Sigvaldi, it came so far, that…, Fms. xi. 95, Edda 33. Rarely and unclass., ellipt. without svá; Bæringr var til seinn eptir honum, at hann … (= svá at), Bær. 15; hlífði honum, at hann sakaði ekki, Fas. iii. 441.

II. it is used,

1. with indic, in a narrative sense, answering partly to Gr. οτι, Lat. quod, ut, in such phrases as, it came to pass, happened that …; þat var einhverju sinni, at Höskuldr hafði vinaboð, Nj. 2; þat var á palmdrottinsdag, at Ólafr konungr gékk út um stræti, Fms. ii. 244.

2. with subj. answering to Lat. acc. with infin., to mark the relation of an object to the chief verb, e. g. vilda ek at þú réðist, I wished that you would, Nj. 57.

β. or in an oblique sentence, answering to ita ut…; ef svá kann verða at þeir láti…, if it may be so that they might…, Fms. xi. 94.

γ. with a subj. denoting design, answering to ϊνα or Lat. ut with subj., in order that; at öll veraldar bygðin viti, ut sciat totus orbis, Stj.; þeir skáru fyrir þá melinn, at þeir dæi eigi af sulti, ut ne fame perirent, Nj. 265; fyrsti hlutr bókarinnar er Kristindómsbálkr, at menn skili, in order that men may understand, Gþl. p. viii.

III. used in connection with conjunctions,

1. esp. þó, því, svá; þó at freq. contr. þótt; svát is rare and obsolete.

α. þóat, þótt (North. E. ‘thof’), followed by a subjunctive, though, although, Lat. etsi, quamquam (very freq.); þóat nokkurum mönnum sýnist þetta með freku sett… þá viljum vér, Fms. vi. 21: phrases as, gef þú mér þó at úverðugri, etsi indignae (dat.), Stj. MS. col. 315, are unclass., and influenced by the Latin: sometimes ellipt. without ‘þó,’ eigi mundi hón þá meir hvata göngu sinni, at (= þóat) hon hraeddist bana sinn, Edda 7, Nj. 64: ‘þó’ and ‘at’ separated, svarar hann þó rétt, at hann svari svá, Grág. i. 23; þó er rétt at nýta, at hann sé fyrr skorinn, answering to Engl. yet—though, Lat. attamen —etsi, K. Þ. K.

β. því at, because, Lat. nam, quia, with indic.; því at allir vóru gerfiligir synir hans, Ld. 68; því at af íþróttum verðr maðr fróðr, Sks. 16: separated, því þegi ek, at ek undrumst, Fms. iii. 201; því er þessa getið, at þat þótti, it i s mentioned because …, Ld. 68.

γ. svá at, so that, Lat. ut, ita ut; grátrinn kom upp, svá at eingi mátti öðrum segja, Edda 37: separated, so … that, svá úsvúst at …, so bad weather, that, Bs. i. 339, etc.

2. it is freq. used superfluously, esp. after relatives; hver at = hverr, quis; því at = því, igitur; hverr at þekkr ok þægiligr mun verða, Fms. v. 159; hvern stvrk at hann mundi fá, 44; ek undrumst hvé mikil ógnarraust at liggr í þér, iii. 201; því at ek mátti eigi þar vera elligar, því at þar var kristni vel haldin, Fas. i. 340.

IV. as a relat. conj.:

1. temp, when, Lat. quum; jafnan er ( est) mér þá verra er ( quum) ek fer á braut þaðan, en þá at ( quum) ek kem, Grett. 150 A; þar til at vér vitum, till we know, Fms. v. 52; þá at ek lýsta (= þá er), when, Nj. 233.

2. since, because; ek færi yðr (hann), at þér eruð í einum hrepp allir, because of your being all of the same Rape, Grág. i. 260; eigi er kynlegt at ( though) Skarphéðinn sé hraustr, at þat er mælt at…, because (since) it is a saying that…, Nj. 64.

V. in mod. writers it is also freq. superfluously joined to the conjunctions, ef að = ef, si, (Lv. 45 is from a paper MS.), meðan að = meðan, dum; nema að, nisi; fyrst að = fyrst, quoniam; eptir að, síðan að, postquam; hvárt að = hvárt, Lat. an. In the law we find passages such as, þá er um er dæmt eina sök, at þá eigu þeir aptr at ganga í dóminn, Grág. i. 79; ef þing ber á hina helgu viku, at þat á eigi fyrir þeim málum at standa, 106; þat er ok, at þeir skulu reifa mál manna, 64; at þeir skulu með váttorð þá sök sækja, 65: in all these cases ‘at’ is either superfluous or, which is more likely, of an ellipt. nature, ‘the law decrees’ or ‘it is decreed’ being understood. The passages Sks. 551, 552, 568, 718 B, at lokit (= at ek hefi lokit), at hugleitt (= at ek hefi h.), at sent (= at ek hefi sent) are quite exceptional.

and að, an indecl. relat. pronoun [Ulf. þatei = ος, ος αν, οστις, οσπερ, οιος, etc.; Engl. that, Ormul. at], with the initial letter dropped, as in the conj. at, (cp. also the Old Engl. at, which is both a conj. and a pronoun, e. g. Barbour vi. 24 in Jamieson: ‘I drede that his gret wassalage, | And his travail may bring till end, | That at men quhilc full litil wend.’ | ‘His mestyr speryt quhat tithings a t he saw.’—Wyntoun v. 3. 89.) In Icel. ‘er’ (the relat. pronoun) and ‘at’ are used indifferently, so that where one MS. reads ‘er,’ another reads ‘at,’ and vice versâ; this may easily be seen by looking at the MSS.; yet as a rule ‘er’ is much more freq. used. In mod. writers ‘at’ is freq. turned into ‘eð,’ esp. as a superfluous particle after the relative pron. hverr (hver eð, hvað eð, hverir eð, etc.), or the demonstr. sá (sá eð, þeir eð, hinir eð, etc.):—who, which, that, enn bezta grip at ( which) hafði til Íslands komið, Ld. 202; en engi mun sá at ( cui) minnisamara mun vera, 242; sem blótnaut at ( quae) stærst verða, Fms. iii. 214; þau tiðendi, at mér þætti verri, Nj. 64, etc. etc.

n. collision (poët.); odda at, crossing of spears, crash of spears, Höfuðl. 8.

β. a fight or bait of wild animals, esp. of horses, v. hesta-at and etja.

the negative verbal suffix, v. -a.

* * *

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.

* * *

(að), v.

1) to cut into bits;

2) bita út (útbita), with dat., to extend, distend, stretch out.

* * *

beit, bitu, bitið; pres. bít; imperat. bít, 2nd pers. bittú; poët. forms with the negative, beitat, Eg. (in a verse); subj. bítia, Hkv. 2. 31, [Ulf. beitan; Engl. bite; Germ. beizen]:—to bite, Lat. mordere:

I. properly,

1. with the teeth, Eg. 508, N. G. L. i. 351; b. menn (of a dog), Grág. ii. 119; b. skarð ór, Eg. 605: of a horse, N. G. L. i. 392: foxes killing sheep, Bs. ii. 138, N. G. L. ii. 34 (wolf):—to sting, of wasps, gnats, Landn. 146.

2. of grazing animals; b. gras, lauf, skóg, Grág. ii. 229, (hence beit, pasture); hvar hestar þínir bitu gras, Fs. 57: absol. to graze, Karl. 71.

3. of sharp instruments, weapons (vápnbitinn); engir vóru ósárir nema þeir er eigi bitu járn, except those whom iron could not bite, Eg. 33; sverðit beit ekki, did not cut, Nj. 45, Edda 7; ljárnir bíta, 48; fótrinn brotnaði en eigi beit, the sword did not cut but broke the leg, Bjarn. 66.

β. e-m bítr, one’s weapon ( scythe) cuts well, bites; allt bitu honum annan veg vápnin, Eg. 93.

4. of a ship, to cruise; hér er skip … er vér köllum bíta ( bite the wind) allra skipa bezt, the best sailer, Fs. 27: impers., beit þeim eigi fyrir Reykjanes, they could not clear cape R., Landn. 30.

5. in fishing, to bite, take the bait; bítr vel á um daginn, the fishes did bite, Ld. 40; bíta mætti beitfiskr, q. v.

6. bíta á vörrinni, to bite the lip as a token of pain or emotion, Nj. 68; hann hafði bitið á kampinum, had bitten the beard, 209.

II. metaph.:

α. of frost, cold, sickness, and the like.

β. to bite, sting, hurt; hvat mun oss heldr b. orð hans, why should his speech sting us any more? Grett. 95 A; eigi veit ek prestr, nema orðin þín hafi bitið, thy words have bit, Fms. vii. 39.

γ. as a law term; sekt, sök bítr, the guilt strikes the convict, when brought home to him, hence sakbitinn, guilty; pá menn er hvártveggja hafa bitið, lög, réttindi ok svá dómar, convicted in the face of law and justice, Sks. 655 B; um þau mál sem sekt bítr, i. e. unlawful cases, liable to punishment, K. Á. 148; um þat er sekt bítr, Grett. 133 A (new Ed. 1853), Sks. 655.

δ. b. á e-n, to cut deep, affect, make an impression upon; the phrase, láta ekki á sig b., to stand proof against all; þetta lét Kjartan á sik b., K. felt pain from it, Ld. 204; láttu þetta ekki á þik b., do not mind it, id.; rennr þat öðrum opt mjök í brjóst, er á suma bítr ekki (of the conscience), 655 xi.

ε. e-t bítr fyrir, something ‘bites off,’ i. e. is decisive, makes a thing impossible or out of question; þat annat ( the other reason) er þó bítr skjótara, which is still more decided against it, Fms. ii. 266; þeir kváðust þenna kost eigi vilja, ok kváðu þat tvennt til vera er fyrir beit, two decided obstacles, reasons against it, Sturl. iii. 47; þú ert miklu œri maðr at aldri, en svá at vér hafim her lögtekna í Jómsborg, ok bítr þat fyrir, that puts it out of question, makes it impossible, Fms. x. 93; Þorgilsi þykir nú þetta ráð mega fyrir bíta, Th. thought this would be quite sufficient,—fyrir hlíta would here be better,—Ld. 264; þeir höfðu jafnan minna hlut ór málum, þó þetta bití nú fyrir, they always got the worst of it, though this was a thorough beating, Fas. i. 144; (þat er) lögmanni ok lögréttumönnum þykir fyrir b., seems a decisive proof, cuts the case off at once, N. G. L. ii. 21; b. e-m at fullu, to prove fatal to, tell fully upon; hafa mik nú at fullu bitið hans ráð, Fs. 8; Njáls bíta ráðin, a proverb quoted by Arngrim in Brevis Comment., written A. D. 1593, denoting the sagacity of Njal’s schemes; beit þetta ráð, it was effective, Fs. 153; e-m bítr við at horfa, Band. 7 C, is no doubt a false reading, = býðr, which is the reading l. c. of the vellum MS. 2845, vide bjóða.

III. recipr. of horse fight, Rd. 298.

adj. guilty, Fms. xi. 444, Jb. 55, 112, 339.

* * *

ð, [from fár, n., different from the following word, having á as root vowel], to slight, taunt one, with dat.; ok færa þeim eigi í orðum né verkum, offend them not in words nor acts, Hom. 57: mod., færa at e-m, id.

ð, [i. e. fœra, a trans. verb formed from the pret. of fara, fór; not in Ulf.; A. S. fergan or ferjan; Engl. to ferry; Germ. führen; Dan. före; Swed. föra]:—to bring; a very freq. word, as the Germ. and Saxon ‘bring’ was unknown in the old Scandin., as in mod. Icel.; the Dan. bringe and Swed. bringa are mod. and borrowed from Germ.; færa fé til skips, Nj. 4; færa barn til skírnar, K. Þ. K. 2 passim; ef Þorvaldr væri færandi þangat, if Th. could be carried thither, Sturl. i. 157.

2. to bring, present; hafði Þórólfr heim marga dýrgripi ok færði föður sínum ok móður, Eg. 4; þér munut f. mér höfuð hans, 86; færa e-m höfuð sitt, to surrender to one, Fms. x. 261; færa fórn, to bring offerings, Stj. passim; færa tak, to offer, give bail, Gþl. 122: the phrase, koma færandi hendi, to come with bringing hand, i. e. to bring gifts.

3. phrases, færa ómaga á hendr e-m, of forced alimentation, Grág. Ó. Þ. passim; færa til þýfðar, to bring an action for theft, Grág. i. 429; færa e-t til sanns vegar, to make a thing right, assert the truth of it, 655 xxviii. 2; færa alla hluti til betra vegar, to turn all things to the best account; þat er gjörtæki, ok færir til meira máls, and leads to a more serious case, Grág. i. 429, v. l.; færa til bana, to put to death, Rb. 398; færa í hljóðmæli, to hush up, Nj. 51; færa í útlegð, to bring to outlawry, banish, Rb. 414; færa til Kristni, to bring to Christ, convert, Fms. xi. 408; færa sik í ætt, to vindicate one’s kinship (by a gallant deed), Sturl. ii. 197; er þú færðir þik með skörungskap í þína ætt, shewed thee to be worthy of thy friends, Glúm. 338.

4. special usages; færa frá, to wean lambs in the spring, Vm. 13, hence frá-færur, q. v.; færa e-n af baki, to throw one, of a horse, Grág. ii. 95: færa niðr korn, sæði, to put down corn, seed, i. e. to sow, Nj. 169; tiu sáld niðr færð, Vm. 55; sálds sæði niðr fært, D. I. i. 476, Orkn. 462; færa e-n niðr, to keep one under, in swimming, Ld. 168; færa upp, to lift up, Nj. 19: færa upp, a cooking term, to take out the meat ( of the kettle), 247; færa í sundr, to split asunder, Grett. 151 (of logs); færa til, to adduce as a reason; færa við bakið (síðuna, etc.), to present the back (side, etc.) to a blow, Fms. vi. 15, Korm. 6; færa e-n fram, to maintain, feed, Grág. passim; færa fram, to utter, pronounce, Skálda 178; as a law term, to produce (færa fram sókn, vörn), Grág. passim; færa fé á vetr, to bring sheep to winter, i. e. keep them in fold, Grág. ch. 224; færa e-t á hendr e-m, to charge one with a thing, 656 A. 1. 3; færa skömm at e-m, to sneer at one, Eg. 210; færa á e-n, to mock one, Fms. v. 90, but see færa (from fár); færa e-t saman, to bring a thing about, Sturl. i. 139 C; færa kvæði, to deliver a poem, Ld. 114, Landn. 197, 199.

5. to remove, change; færa kirkju, to remove a church, in rebuilding it, K. Þ. K. 38, cp. Eb. fine; færa bein, Bjarn. 19, Lat. translatio; færa mark, to change the mark on cattle, Grág. i. 416; færa landsmerki, to remove the landmarks, ii. 219: metaph., færa til rétts máls, to turn into plain language, viz. into prose, Edda 126; færa heimili sitt, to change one’s abode, Grág. i. 146; færa út búðarveggi, to enlarge the walls, Ísl. ii. 293.

II. reflex. to bring, carry oneself; hann gat færsk þar at, he dragged himself thither, Fms. vi. 15; færask við, to strain, exert oneself, Eg. 233; færask í aukana, to strive with might and main, vide auki; færask at, to bestir oneself, Fms. vii. 243; mega ekki at færask, to be unable to do anything, 220, 265; svá hræddir, at þeir máttu ekki at f., so frightened that they could do nothing, 655 xxvii. 22; færask e-t ór fangi, to withhold from, vide fang; færask undan, to withhold; færa undan sökum, to plead not guilty, Fms. xi. 251; bera járn at færask undan, to carry iron (as an ordeal) in order to quit oneself, v. 307; færask á fætr, to grow up, Ld. 54; aldr færisk ( passes) e-n, one grows up, Fs. 3, Rb. 346; tvímælit færisk af, is removed, Lv. 52.

* * *

1) even; jöfn tala, even number;

2) equal, the same; þínar (viz. ferðir) verða flestar jafnastar, thy doings are mostly the same, all equally bad; hann var ellefu vetra ok sterkr at jöfnum aldri, and strong for his age; jafn e-m, equal to one; jafnt er sem þér sýnist, af er fótrinn, it is just as it appears to thee, the leg is off; komast til jafns við e-n, hafa e-t til jafns við e-n, to equal one, be one’s match in a thing; at jöfnu, equally, in equal shares.

* * *

adj., also spelt jamn, f. jöfn, neut. jafnt, often spelt as well as proncd. jamt; compar. jafnari, superl. jafnastr: [Ulf. ibns, Luke vi. 17; A. S. efen; Engl. and Dutch even; old Fr. ivin; O. H. G. eban; mod. Germ. eben; Dan. jevn; Swed. jemn; akin to Lat. aequus by interchange of palatal and labial, see Grimm’s Dict. s. v. eben]:—even, equal, but, like Lat. aequus, mostly in a metaph. sense, for sléttr (q. v.) answers to Lat. planus; often followed by a dat., jafn e-u, equal to a thing, in comparison:

I. equal, equal to; jöfn eyri (dat.) gulls, K. Þ. K. 72; jafn Guði, equal to God; jafn mér, passim.

2. equal, the same; enda er jöfn helgi hans meðan hann ferr svá með sér, Grág. i. 93; ella er jöfn sök við hann fram á leið, 322; at ek verða jafn drengr í hvert sinn, Sd. 188; þínar verða flestar jafnastar, thy acts are mostly the same, i. e. all bad, Fms. viii. 409.

3. fixed, unchanged; með jafnri leigu, jöfnum kaupum, jöfnum skildaga, Rétt. 2. 7, Stat. 264, Fb. ii. 137; hann var ellefu vetra eðr tíu, ok sterkr at jöfnum aldri, and strong for his age, Eg. 188, 592; eiga þeir jöfnum höndum (see hönd) allt þat er þeir taka, Grág. ii. 66.

4. even, even-tempered; jafn ok úmíslyndr, Mar.: of numbers, jöfn tala, even in tale, equal, opp. to odda-tala, Alg. 356.

II. neut. jafnt or jamt, almost adverbially, equally, just; jafnt utan sem innan, Grág. i. 392: as, just as, ok hafa eitt atferli báðar jamt, both together, both alike, Fms. xi. 137; jafnt er sem þér sýnisk (‘tis as it appears, indeed), af er fótrinn, Nj. 97; jafnt þrælar sem frjálsir menn, Fms. i. 113: jamt sem, just as, equally as; jafnt sem í fjórðungs-dómi, jamt skal eiga féránsdóm eptir fjörbaugs-mann sem eptir skógar-mann, Grág. i. 87; skal hann láta virða fé þat jamt sem úmaga-eyri, 189; menn skulu svá sakir hluta, jamt sem á alþingi, 122; jafnt hefir komit er þú spáðir, it has happened just as thou didst foretel, Niðrst. 8: ellipt., ok skal hann þá jamt (sem þeir) allri bót upp halda, Grág. ii. 182.

2. temp. at the same time, just; ek skíri þik, ok nefna barn, í nafni Föður, ok drepa barninu í vatn um sinn jafnt fram fyrir sik, and dip the bairn each time info the water, K. Þ. K. 10: just, precisely, in the very moment, þat var jamt Jóla-aptan sjálfan er þeir börðusk, Fms. xi. 15; jamt í því hann stakaði. 133.

3. adverb., at jöfnu, equally, in equal shares, Fms. xi. 131.

4. til jafns, vóru þeir engir at né eina íþrótt hefði til jafns við hann, Nj. 46; halda til jafns við e-n, Ld. 40; komask til jafns við e-n, Fb. i. 261.

B. COMPDS:

I. such a, so … a; Karvel jafn-frægum dreng, so fine a fellow as K., Karl. 103; er þat skömm jafn-mörgum mönnum, ‘tis a shame for so many men, Gísl. 51: with the particle sem, jafn-ungr sem hann var, young as he was, i. e. so young as he was for his age, Vápn. 5; vel hafi þér mínu máli komit, jafn-úvænt sem var, Þiðr. 136; kvað þat ekki hæfa á jafn-mikilli hátið sem ( in such a feast as) í hönd ferr, Fb. i. 376; at eigi skyldi Hugon keisari yfir þá stíga jafn-reiðr sem hann varð þeim, Karl. 478; undraðisk hón hversu fríðr ok fagr hann var jafn-gamall maðr ( for his age), Stj. 225; mikill maðr ertú þó Þórir, jafn-gamall, Ó. H. 176; Þórir Oddsson var sterkastr jafn-gamall, Gullþ. 4.

II. mod. phrases such as, það er jafngott fyrir hann, it serves him right; hann er jafngóðr fyrir því, it won’t hurt him; or honum er það jafn-gott, it will do him good, serve him right; vera jafn-nær, to be equally near, i. e. none the better; hann fór jafnnær, it was all of no use.

III. in countless COMPDS (esp. adjectives) with almost any participle or adverb, rarely with verbs and nouns, and denoting equal, as, the same, as seen from the context often followed by a dat., e. g. jafn-gamall e-m, of the same age as another person:—of these compds only some can be noticed: jafn-aldri, a, m. one of the same age, Fms. i. 13, vii. 199, Bs. i. 179, Eg. 25, 84. jafn-auðigr, adj. equally wealthy, Band. 2: equally happy, hann setr hund sinn jafnaudigan okkr undir borði, Bjarn. 27. jafn-auðsær, adj. as perspicuous, Eluc. 41. jafn-auðveldr, adj. as easy, Ld. 78. jafn-ágætr, adj. as good, as noble, Nj. 129. jafn-ákafr, adj. as impetuous, Fms. xi. 137. jafn-beinn, adj. as straight, Sturl. i. 196. jafn-berr, adj. equally bare, Fas. i. 67. jafn-bitinn, part. evenly bitten or grazed, of a field, Gþl. 407. jafn-bitr, jafn-beittr, adj. as sharp, keen. jafn-bjartr, adj. as bright, Nj. 208: neut., Sks. 69. jafn-bjóða, bauð; j. e-m, to be a match for one, Finnb. 260: to be equal to, contest on equal terms with one, Fms. ii. 27, vii. 22; gripr betri en þeim peningum jafnbjóði, 655 xxx. 10. jafn-blíðr, adj. equally mild, Fær. 154. jafn-borinn, part. of equal birth, Ld. 332, Fms. x. 79 (v. l.), Gþl. 133; j. til e-s, having equal birthright to, Fms. vii. 8, x. 407. jafn-brattr, adj. as steep. jafn-brátt, n. adj. as soon, at the same moment, Hom. 114. jafn-breiðr, adj. equally broad, Edda 28, Gþl. 355. jafn-búinn, part. equally ‘boun’ or armed, Fms. ii. 165: ready, prepared, Stj. jafn-deildr, part. equally shared, Hom. 148. jafn-digr, adj. as stout, Sturl. iii. 63. jafn-djúpr, adj. as deep. jafn-djúpvitr, adj. as deep-scheming, Orkn. 214, Hkr. iii. 95. jafn-drengilegr, adj. as gallant, Ísl. ii. 446. jafn-drjúgdeildr, part. going as far, of stores, Sturl. i. 166. jafn-drjúgr, adj. keeping as long, Sturl. i. 216, Rb. 18. jafn-dýrligr, adj. equally splendid, Bs. i. 454. jafn-dýrr, adj. as costly, glorious, of the same price, K. Þ. K. 28, Nj. 56, Grett. 104 A, N. G. L. i. 150, 348. jafn-dægri, n. (mod. jafndægr), the equinox, both dægr (q. v.) being equally long, Edda 103, Rb. 454, 456, 472, and passim: equal length, of day and night, Fb. i. 539; see eykt. jafn-dæmi, n. equal judgment, justice, Fms. vi. 431, Pr. 413. jafn-dæmr, adj. just, giving equal judgment, Rb. 364. jafn-einfaldr, adj. as simple, guileless, Hom. 50. jafn-fagr, adj. as fair, Nj. 112. jafn-fallegr, adj. as handsome. jafn-fastr, adj. equally firm, Grág. i. 7, K. Þ. K. 166: as adv., Fms. x. 270, Finnb. 338. jafn-fáir, adj. as few. jafn-feigr, adj. as fey. jafn-feitr, adj. as fat. jafn-fimlega, adv. (-ligr, adj.), as alert, Fms. ii. 273. jafn-fimr, adj. as alert, Fær. 272, Hkr. i. 291, v. l. jafn-fjær, adv. as far. jafn-fjölmennr, adj. with as many men, Nj. 222. jafn-flatt, n. adj.; fara j., to fare so ill, Fms. vi. 379; see flatr. jafn-fljótr, adj. as swift. jafn-fram, adv. equally forward, side by side: with dat., jafnfram skipi Rúts, Nj. 8: locally, of places, over against, (= gegnt and gagn-vart, q. v.); with dat., er hann kom jafnfram Borgund, Hkr. ii. 309; j. Eiðsvelli, Vermá, Fms. ix. 408; j. gagntaki konungs sonar, j. boðanum, vii. 170, ix. 387 (v. l.): as adv., standa jafnfram, to stand evenly, in a straight line; standa allir j. fyrir konungs borðinu, i. 16, Eg. 581, Nj. 140, Rb. 466, Sturl. iii. 244: temp. at the same moment, of two things happening together, Fms. vi. 24; þeir riðu til þings jafnfram Skeggja, Þórð. 18 new Ed.; hann ferr ávalt jafnfram í frásogn æfi Guðs-sonar, follows parallel in the story, 625. 83: in equal share, taka arf j., Gþl. 248; at the same time, also, hugsa þat j., at the same time consider, Stj. 156; jafnfram sem, jafnfram ok, as soon as, Karl. 158, Pr. 413. jafn-framarla, -framar, -liga, adv. as forward, as far, just as well, Ld. 254, Bs. i. 778. jafn-frammi, adv. = jafnframt, Sks. 364, Sturl. i. 32: temp., Fms. iii. 218. jafn-framt, adv. = jafnfram, Háv. 42: temp., Sturl. i. 1: along with, with dat., Pass. viii. 9: equally, in the same degree, Ld. 62. jafn-fríðr, adj. as fair, Fms. i. 8: as valuable, K. Þ. K. 172. jafn-frjáls, adj. equally free, Fas. iii. 8. jafn-frjálsliga, adv. (-ligr, adj.), as freely, as liberally, Hkr. i. 78. jafn-fróðr, adj. as wise, as knowing, Sks. 544. jafn-frægr, adj. as famous, Fas. i. 277. jafn-frækn, adj. equally gallant, Edda. jafn-fullr, adj. as full, Grág. i. 20, 68, Gþl. 477. jafn-fúinn, adj. equally rotten, jafn-fúss, adj. equally willing, Sturl. i. 190. jafn-færr, adj. as able, Nj. 97. jafn-fætis, adv. on equal footing; standa j. e-m, Sturl. ii. 134, Hkr. ii. 153. jafn-gamall, adj. of the same age, Ld. 108, Fms. i. 60, xi. 96. jafn-geði, n. evenness of temper, Sks. 435. jafn-gefinn, part. equally given to, Fas. i. 268. jafn-gegnt, adv. just opposite to, Sks. 63, Fms. ix. 463; see gegnt. jafn-girnd, f. and jafn-girni, f. fairness, equity, Sks. 273, 639, Hom. 17. jafn-gjarn, adj. as eager, Hom. 19: as equitable, Sks. 355, Hom. 135, Karl. 495. jafn-gjarna (- gjarnliga), adv. as willingly, as readily, Fms. iii. 45 (v. l.), ix. 508, Stj. jafn-glaðr, adj. as glad, as cheerful, Eb. 88: neut., mér er ekki jafnglatt sem áðr, Fas. i. 106. jafn-glöggt, n. adj. as clearly, Bs. i. 352. jafn-góðr, adj. equally good, as good, Nj. 18, Eg. 54, Gþl. 233, N. G. L. i. 347, Dipl. v. 16: unhurt, none the worse, see (II) above. jafn-góðviljaðr, adj. with equally good will, Stj. 629. jafn-grannr, adj. equally thin. jafn-grimmliga, adv. (-ligr, adj.), as fiercely, Th. jafn-grimmr, adj. as fierce, Sks. 79. jafn-grunnr, adj. as shallow. jafn-gæfr, adj. as meek, Rb. 397. jafn-göfigr, adj. as good, as famous, Sturl. iii. 11, Bs. i. 133. jafn-görla, adv. as clearly, Grág. i. 299, Fms. ii. 171, Fas. i. 271. jafn-hafðr, part. equally used, N. G. L. i. 249. jafn-hagliga, adv. as skilfully, Krók. 53. jafn-hagr, adj. as skilful in handiwork, Nj. 147. jafn-harðr, adj. as hard, as severe, Nj. 79: neut. jafn-hart, as fast, Fas. iii. 488: jafn-harðan, adv. instantly. jafn-harðsnúinn, part. as hard-twisted, as tight, Nj. 79. jafn-hár, adj. as high, as tall, as loud, Rb. 112, 474, Fas. ii. 79: of metre, see hár (I. 3), Fms. vi. 386, Skálda 182, 190: neut., Stj. 79. jafnhátta-góðr, adj. as well-mannered, Ld. 174. jafn-heilagr, adj. as holy, as inviolable, Sks. 674, Grág. i. 90. jafn-heill, adj. as hale, as whole, Eg. 425, v. l. jafn-heimoll, adj. equally open to use, Eg. 47, Ld. 70, Gþl. 214, 353: equally bound, 57. jafn-heimskr, adj. equally stupid, Fms. ii. 156, Sd. 178. jafn-heitr, adj. as hot, Sks. 540. jafn-hentr, adj. as well fitted, Sturl. i. 196. jafn-hlær, adj. equally snug, Rb. 440. jafn-hollr, adj. equally sincere, Orkn. 166. jafn-hógværliga, adv. (-ligr, adj.), as meekly, Krók. 36. jafn-hógværr, adj. as gentle. jafn-hraustr, adj. as valiant, Fms. ii. 356, Krók. 51. jafn-hryggr, adj. as distressed, Hkr. iii. 269. jafn-hugaðr, adj. even-tempered, Sks. 24: of one mind, 300: as daring. jafn-hvass, adj. as sharp, Ld. 306: blowing as hard. jafn-hvatr, adj. as bold, as quick, Sturl. i. 112, v. l. jafn-hvítr, adj. equally white. jafn-hæðiligr, adj. (-liga, adv.), as ridiculous, Fas. iii. 91. jafn-hægr, adj. equally easy, ready, meek, Fms. ii. 106, Fær. 69, Grág. i. 264, ii. 257. jafn-hættr, adj. as dangerous, Sks. 540. jafn-höfigr, adj. as heavy, Rb. 102, Edda 38. jafn-ílla, adv. as badly, Fms. viii. 140 (v. l.), Ísl. ii. 181. jafn-ílliligr, adj. (-liga, adv.) as ill-looking, Fas. ii. 207. jafn-íllr, adj. equally bad, Grág. ii. 145, Fas. ii. 513. jafn-kaldr, adj. as cold, Sks. 215. jafn-keypi, n. an equal bargain, Fs. 25. jafn-kominn, part. on even terms, Sks. 455: neut. an even match, jafnkomit er á með ykkr, ye are well-matched, Nj. 59; hann kvað jafnkomit með þeim fyrir aldrs sakir, Fms. iii. 76; jafnkomnir til erfðar, with equal title to, Grág. i. 304; jafnkomnir til fyrir ættar sakir, Fms. i. 220; jafnkomnir at frændsemi, Ísl. ii. 315. jafn-kosta, adj. well-matched, good enough, of wedlock, Stj. 204. jafn-kostgæfinn, adj. equally painstaking, Bs. i. 681. jafn-krappr, adj. as straight, narrow; í jafnkrappan stað, in such a strait, Ld. 168. jafn-kringr, adj. equally dexterous, Sks. 381. jafn-kristinn, adj. a fellow Christian, Jb. 92, Barl. 44. jafn-kunnigr, adj. as well known, Grett. 162 A: knowing as well. jafn-kunnr, adj. as well known, Hom. 90. jafn-kurteis, adj. as courteous, Sturl. i. 165. jafn-kyrr, adj. as quiet. jafn-kýta, t, with dat. = jafnyrða. jafn-kænn, adj. as ‘cunning,’ as well versed, Stj. 561. jafn-kærr, adj. as dear, as beloved, Fms. i. 215, xi. 319. jafn-langr, adj. as long, equally long, Fms. xi. 376, Gþl. 350, 355, Ísl. ii. 219, Grág. i. 406, Edda 138 ( of the same length): neut., en ef þær segja jafnlangt, if they say both the same, Grág. i. 7. jafn-lágr, adj. equally low. jafn-leiðr, adj. equally loathed, Fms. viii. 240. jafn-leiki, n. = jafnleikit. jafn-leikit, n. part. an equal game, Fms. xi. 131. jafn-lendi, n. a level, even piece of ground, Eg. 584. jafn-lengd, f. ‘even-length,’ the return to the same time in the next day, week, month, year, etc.: of a day, til jafnlengdar annars dags, Grág. ii. 16, Stj. 49; þann sama dag tók Gormr konungr sótt, ok andaðisk annan dag at jafnlengdinni, Fms. i. 119, Fas. ii. 30, 37: of a year, anniversary, skal eigi brullaup vera fyrr en at jafnlengd, Grág. i. 311; tíu aurar sé leigðir eyri til jafnlengdar (a year’s rent), 390; at jafnlengd it síðasta, 487; eigi síðarr en fyrir jafnlengd, Fms. xi. 397; halda hátíð at jafnlengdum, Greg. 13, Hom. 98; jafnlengdar-dagr, 129, Fms. v. 214, Dipl. v. 8; jafnlengdar hátíð, an anniversary, Greg. 13. jafn-lengi, adv. as long, Grág. i. 423, Fms. iii. 9, MS. 732. 7. jafn-léttmæltr, adj. equally easy, just as pleasant in one’s speech, Fms. vii. 227. jafn-léttr, adj. as light, as easy, Sturl. iii. 90: neut. (adverb.), Kjartani var ekki annat jafn-létthjalat, K. liked not to speak of anything so much, Ld. 214. jafn-léttvígr, adj. as ready in wielding arms, Sturl. iii. 90. jafn-liða, adj. with an equal number of men, Eb. 144. jafn-liga, adv. equally, fairly; sýnisk mér eigi j. á komit, Bs. i. 531, Vm. 169; skipta j., Fb. ii. 300: perpetually, all along, always, usually, Fms. i. 191, x. 88, 89, Dipl. v. 8, Rb. 348, 472, Stj. 77. jafn-ligr, adj. equal, fair, Hkr. ii. 149, Háv. 57, Eg. 488; er þat miklu jafnligra, a more equal match, Fms. vii. 115. jafn-líkligr, adj. as likely, Sturl. iii. 7, Lv. 77. jafn-líkr, adj. as like, Lv. 58, Fas. ii. 478: equal, alike, j. sem hornspónar efni, Bs. i. 59. jafn-lítill, adj. as little, Fas. iii. 487. jafn-ljóss, adj. as bright, Bret. 62. jafn-ljótr, adj. as ugly, Fms. iv. 175. jafn-ljúfr, adj. as willing. jafn-lygn, adj. as ‘loun,’ as calm, of the wind. jafn-lyndi, n., fem. in Mar. 848; evenness of temper, Stj., Fagrsk. 132, Bs. i. 141, Mar. passim. jafn-lyndr, adj. even-tempered, Fms. vi. 287, viii. 447 (v. l.) jafn-lýðskyldr, adj. equally bound, as liegemen, Sks. 270. jafn-lærðr, adj. as learned. jafn-magr, adj. equally meagre. jafn-maki, a, m. an equal, a match, Sks. 22, 255. jafn-mannvænn, adj. equally promising, Þorf. Karl. 382. jafn-margr, adj. as many, Nj. 104, Grág. ii. 210, 403, Fms. i. 152, ii. 34. jafn-máttugr, adj. as mighty, Fms. ii. 157, Eluc. 6. jafn-máttuligr, adj. equally possible, 655 xxii. B. jafn-menni, n. an equal, a match, Ld. 132, Ísl. ii. 358, Fms. vi. 345, vii. 103. jafn-menntr, adj. of equal rank, Hrafn. 10. jafn-merkiligr, adj. equally dignified, Bs. i. 148. jafn-mikill, adj. as great, Grág. ii. 264, 403, Fms. i. 1, Gþl. 363: equally big, tall, Fms. x. 202, Nj. 11: neut. as much, Fms. vii. 240, Skálda 168. jafn-mildr, adj. as mild, as gracious, Rb. 366. jafn-minnigr, adj. having as good a memory, Bs. i. 681. jafn-mjúkliga, adv. as meekly, as gently, Lv. 50. jafn-mjúkr, adj. equally soft. jafn-mjök, adv. as much, as strongly, Grág. ii. 140, Skálda 168. jafn-myrkr, adj. equally dark, Skálda 209. jafn-mæli, n. fair play, equality, Fb. i. 407, Fms. vi. 206, Grág. i. 88, 200, Ld. 258, H. E. i. 247, Karl. 99. jafn-naumr, adj. as close. jafn-náinn, adj.; j. at frændsemi, equally near akin, Grág. i. 171, ii. 67, Eb. 124, Ísl. ii. 315, (jafnan, Ed.) jafn-nær, mod. jafn-nærri, adv. equally near: loc., er Ólafs mark j. báðum, Fms. vii. 64, 268, Sks. 63, 216: as near, at honum væri úvarligt at láta jafnmarga heiðna menn vera j. sér, Fms. ii. 34: equally near (by birth), i. 123: metaph., eigi hefir honum jafnnærri gengit újafnaðr þeirra sem mér, Sturl. iii. 238: also jafn-nær, adj. equally nigh, not a whit the better, see (II) above. jafn-nætti, n. the equinox, 673. 54, Stj. 15. jafn-oki, a, m. = jafnmaki, an equal, a match for one, Sks. 22: a play-fellow, Stj. 497, Þiðr. 213. jafn-opt, adv. as often, Nj. 211, Rb. 566, Grág. i. 186. jafn-ótt, adj., neut. as adv., at the same, time, immediately. Pass. 20. 2: one after another, taka e-ð jafnótt og það kemr. jafn-rakkr, adj. as strong, as straight, Ld. 168. jafn-ramr, adj. as mighty, as great a wizard, Vþm. 2. jafn-rangr; adj. as wrong. jafn-ráðinn, part. equally determined, Grett. 149. jafn-reiðr, adj. equally angry, Háv. 52. jafn-rétti, n. an equal right. jafnréttis-maðr, m. a man with equal right, N. G. L. i. 31. jafn-réttr, adj. as right, as lawful, Edda 93, Grág. i. 18: of equal authority, Hkr. iii. 79. jafn-réttvíss, adj. equally just, Sks. 670. jafn-rífligr, adj. (-liga, adv.), as large, Lv. 75. jafn-ríkr, adj. as rich, equally mighty. jafn-rjóðr, adj. as ruddy, Hkr. i. 102. jafn-rúmr, adj. equally large, Bjarn. jafn-ræði, n. an equal match, Fms. ii. 22, Glúm. 350, Nj. 49, Gþl. 215. jafn-röskr, adj. as brisk, as quick, Fms. iii. 225, vi. 96. jafn-saman, adv.; fyrir þessa hugsan alla jafnsaman, all at once, all together, Fms. i. 185, Ld. 326, Ó. H. 46, Stj. 86, 121, Barl. 191. jafn-sannr, adj. equally true, 671. 1, Edda 19, Stj. 471. jafn-sárr, adj. as sore, as smarting, Mar. jafn-seinn, adj. as slow. jafn-sekr, adj. just as guilty, Grág. ii. 64, 89. jafn-síðis, adv. along with. jafn-síðr, adj. as long, of a garment (síðr), Stj. 563. jafn-sjúkr, adj. as sick, Fms. v. 324. jafn-skammr, adj. as short, Al. 129. jafn-skarpliga, adv. (-ligr, adj.), as briskly, Nj. 199, v. l. jafn-skarpr, adj. as sharp, as keen. jafn-skipti, n. equal, fair dealing. jafn-skiptiliga, adv. (-ligr, adj.), equally, mutually, Stj. 159. jafn-skiptr, part. equally shared. jafn-skjótr, adj. as swift, Fms. vii. 169, Rb. 454:—jafn-skjótt, neut. as adv. immediately, at once, Eg. 87, 291, 492, Fms. ii. 10; jafnskjótt sem, as soon as, Nj. 5, Barl. 176, Karl. 409, 441. jafn-skygn, adj. as clear-sighted, 655 xiii. A, Bjarn. 59. jafn-skyldliga, adv. (-ligr, adj.), as dutifully, Ver. 3. jafn-skyldr, adj. equally bound or obliged, Grág. ii. 362, 403, Gþl. 70, 477, Fms. vii. 274. jafn-sköruliga, adv. (-ligr, adj.), equally bold, Nj. 199. jafn-slétta, u, f. even, level ground. jafn-sléttr, adj. equally level, Stj. 79: as easily, Fas. ii. 48. jafn-slægr, adj. as cunning, Fær. 99. jafn-snarpr, adj. (-snarpligr, adj., -liga, adv.), as sharp, Fms. vi. 156. jafn-snarr, adj. as alert. jafn-snart, adj., neut. as adv., as soon, instantly, Fas. iii. 434, Matth. xxvii. 48. jafn-snauðr, adj. as poor. jafn-snemma, adv. at the very same moment, of a coincidence, Eg. 425, Nj. 253, Fms. vi. 221; allir j., all at once, ix. 506, xi. 368 ( both together); vóru þessir atburðir margir jafnsnemma, en sumir litlu fyrr eðr síðar, Hkr. ii. 368. jafn-snjallr, adj. equal, Glúm., Bjarn. (in a verse). jafn-spakr, adj. equally wise, Hm. 53. jafn-sparr, adj. as saving, as close, Grág. i. 197, 222. jafn-sterkr, adj. as strong, Fms. i. 43. jafn-stirðr, adj. as stiff. jafn-stórlátr, adj. as proud, Ld. 116. jafn-stórliga, adv. (-ligr, adj.), as proudly, Ölk. 34. jafn-stórr, adj. as big, as great. jafn-stórættaðr, adj. of equally high birth, Fms. iv. 26. jafn-stríðr, adj. as hard, severe, Sks. 639. jafn-stuttr, adj. equally short, brief. jafn-syndligr, adj. as sinful, Sks. 674. jafn-sætr, adj. as sweet, Fb. i. 539. jafn-sætti, n. an agreement on equal terms, Nj. 21, Sturl. iii 253, Fb. i. 126. jafn-tamr, adj. equally alert. jafn-tefli, n. an equal, drawn game, Vígl. 32. jafn-tengdr, part. in equal degrees of affinity, Grág. ii. 183. jafn-tíðhjalat, n. part. as much talked about, Nj. 100. jafn-tíðrætt, n. adj. = jafntíðhjalat, Nj. 100. jafn-tíguliga, adv. (-ligr, adj.), equally lordly, Fms. x. 109. jafn-títt, n. adj. as often, as frequent, Niðrst. 10. jafn-torogætr, adj. as rarely to be got, choice, Bs. i. 143. jafn-torsótligr, adj. as hard to get at, Fms. x. 358. jafn-trauðr, adj. as unwilling. jafn-traustr, adj. as much to be trusted, Fms. vi. 244. jafn-trúr, jafn-tryggr, adj. as faithful. jafn-undarligr, adj. (-liga, adv.), as strange, Sks. 80. jafn-ungr, adj. as young, Fms. iii. 60, iv. 383. jafn-úbeint, n. adj. as far from the mark, of a bad shot, Fms. viii. 140. jafn-úfærr, adj. as unpassable, Sturl. iii. 163. jafn-úhefnisamr, adj. as tame, Rb. 366. jafn-úráðinn, part. as irresolute, Grett. 153. jafn-úspakr, adj. as unruly, Sturl. ii. 63. jafn-útlagr, adj. having to lay out the same fine, N. G. L. i. 158. jafn-vandhæfr, adj. as dangerous to keep, treat, Grág. i. 89. jafn-vandliga, adv. as carefully, Grág. ii. 249. jafn-varliga, adv. (-ligr, adj.), as warily, Fms. vii. 127. jafn-varmr, adj. as warm, Sks. 217. jafn-varr, adj. as well aware, as much on one’s guard, Dropl. 28. jafn-vaskliga, adv. as gallantly, Fms. vii. 127, Ld. 272. jafn-vaskligr, adj. as gallant. jafn-vaskr, adj. as bold, Str. 3. jafn-vátr, adj. equally wet. jafn-veginn, part. of full weight, Stj. 216. jafn-vegit, n. a law phrase, used when an equal number has been slain on both sides, in which case there were no further proceedings, Glúm. 383, Fas. ii. 208. jafn-vel, adv. as well, equally well, Nj. 48, Eg. 111, Gþl. 354: likewise, hafa fyrirgört fé ok friði ok jafnvel óðals-jörðum sínum, 142; en þenna eið skulu jafnvel biskupar ábyrgjask við Guð …, jafnvel sem ( as well as) hinir úlærðu, 57; jafnvel af sænum sem af landinu, Al. 2; ok jamvel sendir jarl þeim mönnum orð, sem …, Fms. xi. 120: even, dögföll um nætr jafnvel at heiðskírum veðrum, Stj. 17; jafnvel eptir þat er þau misgörðu, 40; jafnvel sýniliga, j. oss önduðum, 9, Bs. i. 549, Barl. 170, 176, Gísl. 83; this last sense is very freq. in mod. usage. jafn-velviljaðr, part. as well wishing, Sks. 312. jafn-vesall, adj. as wretched, Krók. 54. jafn-virði, n. equal wirth, Bs. i. 9, Al. 48. jafn-vægi, n. equal weight, equilibrium, Hkr. ii. 250, Fas. i. 121; bóandi ok húsfreyja j. sitt, i. e. both of them equally, N. G. L. i. 6. jafn-vægja, ð, to weigh the same as another, Fms. iii. 120. jafn-vægr, adj. of equal weight, Sks. 644. jafn-vænn, adj. equally fine, handsome, promising, Fms. x. 429, Sturl. iii. 67. jafn-vætta, t, to weigh against, counterbalance, Stj. 13, Þorst. Síðu H. 14. jafn-yrða, ð, with dat. to altercate, bandy words, Sturl. iii. 213. jafn-þarfr, adj. as useful, Arnor. jafn-þéttr, adj. pressed as closely together. jafn-þjófgefinn, adj. as thievish. jafn-þolinmóðr, adj. as patient, Rb. 366. jafn-þolinn, adj. as enduring. jafn-þreyttr, part. as weary. jafn-þrifinn, adj. as cleanly. jafn-þröngr, adj. as tight. jafn-þungr, adj. as heavy, pressing, Fms. v. 264, Stj. 278. jafn-þurr, adj. equally dry. jafn-þykkr, adj. as thick, Hkr. iii. 159. jafn-þyrstr, part. as thirsty. jafn-æfr, adj. as impetuous. jafn-æstr, part. equally excited, Band. 34 new Ed. jafn-örr, adj. as eager, as liberal. jafn-öruggr, adj. as firm, steadfast.