he+speaks+to+us

(gen. völu; pl. völur), f. prophetess, sibyl, wise woman, witch (fóru þá um landit spákonur, er kallaðar vóru völur).

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u, f., also spelt völfa, gen. völu, pl. völur; völfu. or also völfur or voluur; gen. pl. does not occur; the nom. Vala is erroneous: [the etymology as well as the origin of this word is uncertain; but may not the Norse Völva and the Gr. σίβυλλα be relations? the identity in sense at least is very striking; the Gr. word first occurs in Aristoph., and then in Plato; may it not have been adopted from some Scythian tribe, for a word like this, if Greek, could hardly fail to occur in Homer? in völva an initial s, we suppose, has been lost (qs. svölva); in the Greek the ĭ would be an inserted vowel]:—a prophetess, sibyl, wise woman; völva, seiðkona, spákona (qq. v.) are synonymous. The ancient Sagas contain many remarkable records of the heathen wise-women or sibyls, who were held in honour and reverence; at the great feasts and sacrifices in the autumn, the völva (often a woman of rank) went with her troop of maidens through the country, where she, so to say, crowned the feast; she was seated on a high seat (seiðhjallr) in the hall, where she wrought her spells and sang her ‘weird-songs’ (varðlokur), after which the guests went past her one by one, and she told each his fate, or whatever else one wanted to know, e. g. the course of the coming winter and the like. The former part of the Völuspá is evidently conceived as the inspired song of a völva, seated on her high seat, and addressing Odin, while the gods listen to her words; and the latter part of the poem appears to be a kind of necromancy, or the raising of a dead völva, as also is the lay Vegtamskviða; sú kona var þar í bygð er Þorbjörg hét, ok var kölluð lítil völva, hón hafði áttar sér níu systr, ok vóru allar spákonur, en hón var ein þá á lífi, þat var háttr Þorbjargar um vetrum, at hón fór á veizlur ok buðu þeir menn henni mest heim er forvitni var á at vita forlög sín eða árferð, Þorf. Karl. Names of such wise women, Gróa völva, Edda; Heimlaug völva, Gullþ.; Heiðr völva, Landn. 173; Huldr völva, Yngl. S., Hkr. i. 21; to which add the ‘Weleda’ of Tacitus: class. passages are Þorf. S. ch. 3 (exceedingly interesting), Örvar-Odds S. ch. 3 (Fas. ii. 506), Vd. ch. 10: völu vél-spá, Vsp.; eru völfur allar frá Víðólfi, Hdl.; völva ok vís kona. Vtkv.; þá kom til völva sú er Gróa hét, Edda 58; var á því landi spákona sú er sagði fyrir örlög manna, … þeir fara til móts við völunna, Fb. ii. 28; ek fór í skóg til þín í völvu líki, Fas. i. 135; þóttusk menn vita at þar mundi verst hafa völu-leiði, Ld. 328; þá reið Óðinn fyrir austan dyrr þar er hann vissi völu leiði, Vtkv.; úrsvöl Gýmis völva, of Rán the goddess, Edda (in a verse); at hás völva valdi því bölvi, Kormak; in a bad sense, völva and skollvis kona, Hkv. 1. 34; Tacitus (Germ. ch. 8, 46, and Hist. iv. 61, 65, v. 22, 24) speaks of these practices, as also does Plutarch, Caesar ch. 19,— τα μαντεύματα των ἱερων γυναικων.

COMPDS: Völuspá, Völvustaðir.

1) need, want, necessity;

2) necessary discharge esp. urine; ganga innar þynnri þurftarinnar, to make water.

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and þyrft, f. need, want, necessity; þeim aurum er til hans þyrfta var keypt, Grág. i. 412; til þyrftar ómögum, for their maintenance, 85, 128; of þurft fram, Hom. (St.); kveðr hverr sinnar þurftar, everyone speaks his own needs, a saying; þurpt sína ok nauðsyn, Fms. vii. 101; fylgja lögum eða svá laudsins þurft, ix. 252; hann miskunnaði hverjum sem helzt beiddi þurft til, Post. 304; þeir skygnðu um alla þ. í kenningum sínum, Hom. 46; hjalpa náungi þínum í hans þ. ok nauðsyn, Stj. 54.

2. medic. one’s needs; ganga þurfta sinna = örna sinna, N. G. L. i. 164; beiðast þurftar, id., Bs. i. 326, 644; lá steinn í hrörunum sá er stemdi þurftina, of stone in the bladder, 310; ganga innar þynnri þurftarinnar, the thin need, i. e. making water, 383.

1) word;

ef maðr mælir nökkuru orði í mót, if a man speaks a word against it;

segja í sínu orði hvárt, to say one thing in one breath and another in the next;

taka til orða, to begin to speak;

kveða at orði, to say, utter;

hafa við orð, to hint at;

vel orði farinn, well-spoken, eloquent;

fornkveðit orð, an old saw;

2) word, repute, report (gott, illt orð);

fyrir orðs sakir, because of what people might say;

leggja e-t til orðs, to talk about;

þótt okkr sé þat til orðs lagit, although we are blamed for it;

3) message (senda, gøra e-m orð).

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f., gen. arðar, [erja, arði], a crop, produce; örð sér ( sows) Yrsu burðar, the crop of the son of Yrsa, i. e. gold, Edda (in a verse); þá á leiguliði einnar arðar mála, … þá á leiguliði tvegeja mála atða, þá örð (not jörð) eina er lands-dróttinn andask á ok aðra næstu eptir, N. G. L. i. 233, Gþl. 329; þat eru þrjár arðir, 314; nú verðr maðr útlagr á jörðu manns. þá skal hann leigu hafa ef úreidd var, ok örð alla rótfasta, N. G. L. i. 40.

COMPDS: arðar leiga, u, f. rent for one year’s crop, Gpl. 330. arðar-máli, a, m. (and -mál, n.), a contract, agreement for one year, Gþl. 314, 329, 336.

mælast fyrir, to speak (hví þú, Gangráðr, mælist af gólfi fyrir?);

to pray, say one’s prayers (leggst hann niðr ok mælist nú fyrir, sem honum þótti vænligast);

mælist e-t vel (illa) fyrir, it is well (ill) spoken of (víg Gunnars spurðist ok mæltist illa fyrir um allar sveitir);

mælast um, to speak of;

mælast undan, to excuse oneself, decline (hann mæltist undan);

mælast við, to speak to one another (ekki mæltust þeir fleira þann dag við);

mælast einn (saman) við, to talk to oneself;

to have the word alone;

impers., e-m mælist vel, one speaks well, makes a good speech (sögðu menn, at honum mæltist vel);

mælast sér konu, to court (woo) a lady (ef þú vilt þér mælast man).