i'm+20+years+old

f. the Paschal cycle ( cyclus Paschalis = 532 years), MS. 1812. 61, Rb. 64:

f. the solar cycle (twenty-eight years), Rb. passim.

* * *

(gömul, gamalt), a.

1) old;

á gamals aldri, in his old age;

opt er gott þat er gamlir kveða, old men’s sayings are often good;

2) old, aged, of a certain age;

hve gamall maðr ertu, how old art thou?

tólf vetra (gen.) gamall, twelve years old.

* * *

contr. forms, gamlan, gamla, gamlir, gamlar, gömlum, etc., fem. sing. and neut. pl. gömul; neut. sing. gamalt; the compar. and superl. from a different root, viz. compar. ellri, superl. ellztr, mod. eldri eldstr or elztr: [not recorded in Ulf., who renders αρχαιος by alþeis; but in A. S. gamol and gomel occur, although rarely even in Beowulf; in mod. Engl. and Germ. it is lost, but is in full use in all Scandin. dialects; Swed. gammal; Dan. gammel; Norse gamal, fem. gomol, Ivar Aasen]:

I. old, Lat. senex; in the sayings, þeygi á saman gamalt og ungt, Úlf. 3. 44; opt er gott þat er gamlir kveða, Hm. 134, Fb. i. 212; íllt að kenna gömlum hundi að sitja; gamlir eru elztir, old are the eldest, i. e. the most cunning, clever; tvisvar verðr gamall maðr barn; engi verðr eldri en gamall; en þótt konungr þessi sé góðr maðr … þá mun hann þó eigi verða ellri en gamall, Fms. iv. 282; faðir minn var gamall, Nj. 31; g. spámaðr, an old spae-man, 656 B. 12; hence gamals-aldr, m. old age, Ld. 4, Fms. ii. 71: compds, af-garnall, fjör-g., eld-g., q. v.; cp. also ör-gemlir = Germ. uralt, a giant in Edda.

2. grown up, old, of animals; arðr-uxi gamall, Grág. i. 502; gamlir sauðir, old rams; gjalda grís fyrir gamalt svín, Ó. H. 86; fyrr á gömlum uxanum at bæsa en kálfinum, a pun, Fms. vi. 28.

3. old, of things, freq. in mod. usage, but the ancients use gamall of persons or living things, and distinguish between gamall and forn (q. v.); a man is ‘gamall,’ but he wears ‘forn’ klæði ( old clothes), thus in the verse Fms. xi. 43 gamall prob. refers to Gorm and not to land; Merl. 1. 61 is corrupt; vide gjallr (below); gamall siðr, Anal. 187, does not appear in Fb. iii. 401 (the original of the mod. text in Anal.)

II. old, aged, of a certain age; nokkurra vetra gamall, some years old, Fms. xi. 78; fjögurra vetra gömul, Þiðr. 221; hve gamall maðr ertu, how old art thou? Ísl. ii. 220; tólf vetra gamall, 204; fimm, sex, vetra gamall, Grág. i. 502; vetr-gamall, a winter old; árs-gamall, a year old; misseris-gamall, half a year old; nætr-g., a night old, etc.

III. in pr. names, hinn Gamli is added as a soubriquet, like ‘major’ in Lat., to distinguish an older man from a younger man of the same name; hinn gamli and hinn ungi also often answer to the Engl. ‘father and son;’ thus, Hákon Gamli and Hákon Ungi, old and young H., Fms.; also, Jörundr Gamli, Ketilbjörn Gamli, Örlygr Gamli, Bragi Gamli, Ingimundr hinn Gamli, etc., vide Landn.; Ari hinn Gamli, Bs. i. 26, to distinguish him from his grandson Ari Sterki; cp. the Lat. Cato Major: in some of the instances above it only means the old = Lat. priscus.

B. The compar. is ellri and superl. ellztr; eigi ellra en einnar nætr, 1812. 57; fjórtan vetra gamall eðr ellri, K. Á. 190; enir ellri synir Brjáns, Nj. 269; inn ellzti, 38; ellztr bræðranna, Grág. i. 307; hann var ellztr, Eg. 27, Fms. i. 20, passim.

(gen. -ar; pl. -ir, acc. -u), m. a ten, decade, = tegr, tøgr, togr, tugr; tíu tigir manna, one hundred men; hálfan fjórða tøg skipa, thirty-five ships; sex ins fimta tigar, forty-six; vetri fátt í fjóra tigu, thirty-nine years.

* * *

tegr, also tögr, togr, tugr, m., gen. tigar, pl. tigir, acc. tigu (tögo, tugu), later tigi, Band. 36, Fb. iii. 578; [a Goth. tigus is suggested by the adj. -tigjus; A. S. tig, teg; O. H. G. zic, zuc; Germ. zebn; Dan. ty; Engl. ten.]

A. A ten, decade. The ancient Scandinavians and Teutons had no indeclinable numeral adjectives from twenty to a hundred; the word tigr (like hundrað and þúsund) being a regular substantive. The ancient way of counting is therefore complex and curious; e. g. forty-one was called ‘four tens and one’ or ‘one of the fifth decade;’ forty-eight was called ‘four tens and eight,’ or by counting back, ‘five tens short of two,’ cp. the Lat. un-de-viginti, duo-de-triginta: forty-five was called ‘half the fifth ten,’ and so on, as will best be seen from the references below; and so it goes on to ‘one hundred and twenty,’ for in Icel. a hundred means the duodecimal hundred. In the 14th century (in deeds) ‘tigr’ began to lose its character of a substantive, eg. þrjátigir, fimtigir …, or þrjátigi, fimtigi (used inclecl.), whence at last came the mod. þrjátíu, fjörutíu, fimtíu …, the tíu being a contracted form from the acc. pl. tigu. At the same time hundrað and þúsund became indecl. adjectives, e. g. þrjátiu, brjúhundruð, þrjuþúsund skipum, for the old þrem tiguin hundruðum, þúsundum skipa.

B. REFERENCES: þessi vetr fylidi annan tög aldrs Magnúss konungs, this winter completed the second ten, i. e. the twentieth year, of king Magnus’ life, Fms. vi. 90; þat skipti tögum, it amounted to tens, several tens, ii. 32; þrjá tigu manna, three tens of men, Eg. 41; á þrem tigum daga, on three tens of days, 656 A. ii. 14; þrír tigir hundraða, Dipl. v. 2; níu tigu manna, Eg. 62; þrettán tigi aura, Band. 36; nær fjórum tigum faðma töðu, well-nigh four tens of fathoms, i. e. forty, Dipl. v. 18; fjóra togo dægra, 655 iii. 3; sex togo hundraða, D.I. i. 350; sex tigir manna, Grág. ii. 194; sex tigir þúsunda manna, Post.; sex tigu hundraða, six tens of hundreds, i. e. sixty hundred, i. e. six thousand, Orkn. 416 old Ed.; tíu tigir manna, ten tens of men, i. e. one hundred, Nj. 191; tíu tigo fjár, K. Þ. K. 140; tíu tigum ásauðar, a hundred sheep, Dipl. v. 19; tíu tegu bæja, Fms. viii. 203: ellifu tigir vætta skreiðar, eleven tens, i. e. one hundred and ten, 655 iii. 4; even, þrettán tigi aura, thirteen tens, i. e. one hundred and thirty, Band. 36; fimtán tigum sinna, fifteen tens, i. e. one hundred and fifty, Dipl. ii. 14: repeating, fjóra tigi vetra ok fjóra vetr, four tens of winters and four winters, i. e. forty-four years, ÓH. (pref.); með tveim skipum ok átta togum skipa, Fms. x. 394; sex tigi vetra ok fjóra vetr, Ó. H. (pref.); þrjá tigi ára ok sex ár, three tens of years and six years, Bs. i. 30; eitt skip ok sjau tigu skipa, i. e. seventy-one, Fms. x. 344; hálfan fjórða tög vetra, half the fourth decade, i. e. thirty-five, vi. 430; hálfan fjórða tög skipa, i. 76; hálfr fimti tugr kúgilda, half the fifth decade, i. e. forty-five, Dipl. v. 18; hálfr þriði tögr manna, Ísl. ii. 387, Ld. 292; hálfr átti tögr kirkna, seventy-five, Clem.; á einu ári ins fimmta tigar konungdóms Hákonar, on the first year of the fifth ten, i. e. forty-first, Sturl. iii. 308; hann hafði vetr ens sétta tigar, one winter of the sixth ten, i. e. fifty-one, Fms. ix. 534; á öðru ári ens fjórða tigar, i. 67; annann vetr ens fjórða tigar konungdóms hans, Fms. x. 33, Bs. i. 74; fjóra vetr ens tíunda tegar, Ó. H. (pref.); sex ens fjórða tigar, i. e. thirty-six, Thorodd; vikur tvær ens sétta tegar, i. e. fifty-two, Íb. 7; hann hafði sjau vetr ens sjaunda tigar, i. e. sixty-seven, Ld. 330; á enum sjaunda vetri ens sjaunda tugar aldrs síns, Eb. 125 new Ed.; á enum sétta vetri ens átta tugar aldrs síns, Sturl. ii. 187; Þorkell hafði átta vetr ens fimta tigar þá er hann druknaði, i. e. forty-eight, Ld. 326; átta dagar ens níunda tegar, i. e. eighty-two, 1812. 49; átta aurar ens fimta tigar, Grág. ii. 144; á níunda ári ens sjaunda tigar ens tíunda hundraðs, in the ninth year of the seventh ten of the tenth hundred (i. e. 969 A. D.), Fms. i. 67; þá var Egill á níunda tigi, then was Egil in the ninth ten ( between eighty and ninety years of age), Eg. 764; vetri fátt í fjóra tigu, one year short of four tens, i. e. thirty-nine, Fms. x. 2, v. l.; lítið fátt í fimm tigi vetra, iii. 60; einu ári fátt í fimm tigi, i. e. forty-nine, … vetri einum fátt í níu tigi ára gamall, i. e. aged eighty-nine, Fb. iii. 578: curious is the phrase, af-tig gamall, = Lat. unde-viginti, aged ‘lacking twenty,’ i. e. nineteen years old, Fms. vii. 84 (in a verse); the context and chronology shew that this is the sense, and not as explained in Lex. Poët. s. v. afstigr: níu tigir ok tvau ár (elliptically dropping gen. ára), Dipl. v. 3; whence lastly as adj., þrítigir álnir (sic) lérepts, id.; fjöre-tiger manns, Bs. i. 867. As this method was somewhat unwieldy, the counting by twenty was also resorted to, cp. Gramm. xxi, sex merkr ok tuttugu; spænir þrír ok tuttugu, … sjautján merkr ok tuttugu, Bs. i. 874 (Laur. S.), or the word tigr was altogether discarded, and replaced by skor or sneis (Engl. score, Dan. snees). ☞ As in vellums the numbers are mostly represented by Roman figures, and abbreviations used, the editions cannot in these cases be implicitly relied on; the same is the case with old texts preserved in mod. paper transcripts.

(þrjár, þrjú), card. numb. three.

* * *

þrjár, þrjú; gen. þriggja; dat. þrimr and þrim, later and mod. þremr, þrem; acc. þrjá, þrjár, þrjú: [Goth. þreis; A. S. þrî; Engl. three; O. H. G. drî; Germ. drei; Dan. tre; Lat.-Gr. tres, τρεις; etc.]:—three, Nj. 16, 23, 81, Grág. i. 82, ii. 392, Landn. 126, K. Þ. K. 164, Fms. v. 8, vii. 235, and passim; brjóta í þrjú (cp. í tvau), to break into three (mod. í þrennt), Hom. 141, Ísl. ii. 337.

B. COMPDS with þrí- = three-, thrice-: þrí-angaðr, adj. three-forked, Stj. 430, MS. 544. 15. þrí-boginn, part. thrice-bent, Bárð. 175. þrí-breiðr, adj. of triple breadth, of cloth, Rb. 120, D. N. i. 410. þrí-bryddr, part. with threefold mounting, Landn. 190. þrí-deila, u, f. the rule of three. þrí-deildr, part. divided into three parts, A.A. 283. þrí-deili, n. a third part (?), N. G. L. i. 356. þrí-delningr, m. a third part, B. K. 40. þrí-engdr, part. three-pronged, Stj. 430. þri-falda, að, to make threefold, Stj. 551. þrí-faldr, adj. threefold, = þrefaldr, Fb. i. 423. þrí-forn, adj. thrice-old, i. e. three years old; þrífornt smjör, Skíða R. 197. þrí-fættr, adj. three-legged, Vápn. 24; þrífættr piltr þrifinn ok vandstilltr, in a riddle of the distaff. þrí-gilda, d, to pay threefold, Fms. x. 172, Gþl. 359. þrí-gildr, part. of threefold value. þrí-greindr, part. three-branched, Stj. 57, 67. þrí-hendr, adj. a metrical term, each line having three rhyming syllables, Edda i. 648. þrí-heilagr, adj. lasting three days, of feasts, e. g. halda Jól þríheilagt, to keep Christmas three days. þrí-húsaðr, part. consisting of three houses, Stj. 57. þrí-hyrndr, part. [A. S. þryhyrned], three-horned, triangular, Fms. iii. 180. þrí-hyrningr, m. a triangle, Pr. 477, 478: a local name of a mountain, Landn., Nj. þrí-höfðaðr, adj. three-headed, Niðrst. 6, Skm. 31. þrí-kvíslaðr, part. three-branched, Stj. ch. 135, Al. 168, Karl. 299. þrí-liða, u, f. the rule of three, mathem. þrí-menningr, m. a third cousin, Fb. i. 287, Nj. 235, Gþl. 247; in K. Á. 140 even of a woman. þrí-merkingr, m. a ring weighing three ounces, Grág. ii. 171. þrí-mútaðr, thrice-moulted, of a falcon, Karl. 10. þrí-nættr, adj. three nights old, Edda 58; þing þrínætt, lasting three nights (days), Js. 37. þrí-skafinn, part. thrice-polished, Fas. ii. 326. þrí-skeptr, part. wadmal of three strands, cp. tvískeptr, Grág. (Kb.) ii. 246. þrí-skeyta, u, f. a triangle, Rb. (1812) 25. þrí-skipta, t, to divide into three parts, Stj. 451, N. G. L. i. 389. þrí-strendingr, m. a kind of shell, Eggert Itin. ch. 901. þrí-taka, tók, to repeat thrice. þrí-tíðungr, m. a bull three years old, N. G. L. i. 31, 99, Gþl. 111. þrí-tugandi, -undi (mod. þrí-tugasti), [A. S. þryttigoða], the thirtieth. Fms. x. 194, Rb. (1812) 3. þrítug-nátti, of thirty nights (days), of a month, Jb., Rb. 10, 56. þrí-tugr and þrí-tögr, adj. aged thirty, Fms. iv. 2, Hom. 55; þrítögr, Íb. 15: having thirty oars, þrítugt skip, Fms. vii. 234, N. G. L. i. 104: measuring thirty (fathoms, ells), Fas. i. 159, Landn. 51, Rb. 12 ( of thirty days). þrítugs-aldr, m. the age of thirty. þrítug-sessa, u, f. a thirty-oared ship, Nj. 42. þrítugs-morginn, m. the morning of the thirtieth day, N. G. L. i. 14. þrí-tugti, the thirtieth, D. N. iv. 343, 369. þrítög-náttr, adj. = þrítugnátti, of thirty nights, epithet of a month, Íb. 7. þrí-valdi, a, m. the name of a giant, Edda (in a verse). þrí-vegis, adv. thrice. þrí-vetr, adj. three winters old, = þrévetr, Eluc. 149, Stj. 111, O. H. L. ch. 77. þrí-vægr, adj. of triple weight, 732. 16. þrí-þættr, adj. three-twisted. þrí-æri, n. a period of three years, D. N. þrí-ærr, adj. three years old, Stj. 111.

* * *

(dat. smjörvi), n. butter (brauð ok s.).

* * *

an older form smör, esp. in Norse vellums, cp. mod. Dan., Swed., and Norse smör; smörs, Gþl. 99, 110, Sks. 123; smœr, id., D. N. passim: old dat. smjörvi, 623. 1; gen. pl. smjörva; in western Icel. sounded smér (cp. mjöl and mél, kjöt and ket, gör and ger), and rhymed thus, e. g. ef þú étr ekki smér | eða það sem matr er | dugr allr drepst í þér | Danskr Íslendingr, Eggert: again, sm jör rhymes with k jör, Skíða R. 104: [Ulf. smairþr = πιότης, Róm. xi. 14; as also A. S. and Hel. smere; Engl. smear; Dan. smør; O. H. G. smero; Germ. schmeer]:—prop. grease (fat, oil); þat smjör rennr af þeim hvölum, Sks. 123; við-smjör, ‘wood-smear’ = oil; smjör-bakr, smear-back, a nickname, Fms. ix, but usually,

II. butter; brauð ok smjör, Eg. 204; Þórólfr kvað drjúpa smjör af hverju strái á landinu, því er þeir höfðu fundið, því var hann kallaðr Þórólfr ‘smjör,’ Landn. 31; fraus drykkinn ok smjörit svá at eigi mátti klína brauðit, hann sá at menn sumir bitu annan bita af brauði, en annan af smjöri, hann tók smjörit ok vafði í brauðinu, svá bindu vér nú smjörit, Fms. ix. 241; mjöl ok s., Landn.; smjör ok tin, Fs. 22. The ancients used to store up butter for years, see Debes in his book on the Faroe Islands; hence, þrífornt s. = butter three years old, Skíða R. 197; fornt s., súrt s., sour, old butter.

III. local names, Smjör-hólar, in Skarð in the west of Icel., ‘Butter-hillock,’ where the lady Oluf stored her butter: Smjör-sund, Smjör-vatn, Landn., map of Icel.

B. COMPDS: smjöraskja, smjörgildr, smjörgæði, smjörgörð, smjörkaup, smjörkengr, smjörlaupr, smjörlauss, smjörpund, smjörpundari, smjörskip, smjörspann, smjörtrog, smjörtunna, smjörsvín, smjörvalr.

in compds, in fours: fer-elingr, m. four ells long, of a fish, Finnb. 220. fer-falda, að, to make fourfold, Stj. 148. fer-faldr, adj. fourfold, Rb. 334, El. 13, Fas. ii. 215, 343, Sturl. iii. 206, 656 A. 33. fer-fætingr, m. a quadruped, 656 C. 8. fer-fættr, adj. four-footed, Stj. 56, Sks. 628, Fas. iii. 272, N. G. L. i. 82; fjór-f., id., Sks. 628 B. fer-hyrndr, part. four-cornered, square, Stj. 57, 171, 205, Al. 109. fer-hyrningr, n. a square. fer-menningr, m. a fourth cousin, vide fjór-menningr. fer-nættingr, m. a period of four nights, K. Á. 182. fer-skepta, u, f. a stuff with fourfold warp, Vm. 52, 93, 115, Am. 50, 90, Jm. 9. fer-skeyta, tt, to square, 415. 18. fer-skeyttr, part. ‘four-sheeted,’ square, Edda, 623. 24: mathem., ferskeytt tala, a square number, Alg. 366; ferskeytt vísa, a quatrain, like the common ballad metre, as in the ditty—yrkja kvæði ólán bjó | eptir flestra sögu | en gaman er að geta þó | gert ferskeytta bögu. fer-skiptr, part. divided into four parts, Stj. 148, v. l. fer-strendr, adj. four-edged, Eg. 285, Sturl. ii. 134, Magn. 450. fer-söngr, m. a quartett, Bb. 2. 11. fer-tugandi, fer-tugasti, adj. fortieth, Fms. x. 73, v. l. fertug-faldr, adj. fortyfold, Stj. 147. fer-tugr (- tögr), adj. forty years old, Stj. 624, N. G. L. i. 106, Fms. iii. 26:— measuring forty (ells, fathoms, etc.). Fas. i. 298, Stj. 563; fertug drápa, a poem of forty verses, Fms. iii. 93; f. at rúma-tali. numbering forty ‘rooms,’ Fb. ii. 277. fer-ærðr, adj. four-oared, Ísl. ii. 74. fer-æringr, m. a four-oared boat. fer-ærr, adj. four years old, Dipl. ii. 16.

adv. compar. less (þeir sem vitrari vóru ok m. drukknir); with dat., vetri m. en hálf-sextugr, fifty-four years old; vera lífi m., to be minus one’s life, lifeless, dead; engu m., no less; minnr en, less than.

* * *

adv., compar. also spelt and proncd. miðr, and so always in mod. usage; superl. minnst; answering to lítt (see lítill); [Ulf. mins or minz; cp. Lat. minus]:—less, with dat.; hálfum vegnum penningi miðr en hálfan sjötta eyri, Grág. ii. 175; vetri miðr en hálf-sextugr, i. e. fifty-five years old save one [cp. ‘forty stripes save one’], Íb. 18; manni minnr en hálfr sétti tigr, Sturl. iii. 37; vera lífi minnr, to be minus one’s life, lifeless, dead, Ísl. ii. 315 (Heiðarv. S.); engu miðr Skallagrími, no less than S., Eg. 334; engu minnr, no less, ‘nihilo minus,’ Edda 36; sá er miðr neytir, he who makes less use of it, Grág. ii. 293; minnr á viðborða, Fms. vii. 292; ef maðr stelr minnr en þveiti, N. G. L. i. 253; miðr vel, less well, not very well, Ísl. ii. 330; þeir sem vitrari vóru ok minnr druknir, Fms. i. 59; þat skipit er minnr var brotið, ii. 128; minnr mundi Þjóstólfi í augu vaxa, Nj. 58; þat er minnr er fjarat, Ld. 76; ok er þat eigi minnr mitt hugboð, Fær. 202; mundi hann þú minnr saka sóttin, Sks. 704; sem minnr er at sköpuðu, Sturl. iii. 7; minnr frá líkendum, Fms. v. 86: in mod. usage, því er miðr, alack! því er verr og miðr = alack! I am sorry.

II. superl. minnst, least; þá er hann varði minnst, when he least expected, Eg. 296; minnst mánuð, at least a month, Vígl. 33; minnst staddr, i. e. in a bad plight, Pr. 410.

gen. sing. of allr, used as an adv.;

1) a. ekki (eigi), not at all, by no means;

þeir ugðu a. ekki at sér, they were not a bit afraid;

a. engi, no one at all;

sometimes without a negative following it, quite, altogether;

ær a. geldar, ewes quite barren;

a. vesall, altogether wretched;

hann var eigi a. tvítugr, not quite twenty years old;

2) in connection with numbers, in all;

alls fórust níu menn, there perished nine in all;

3) far;

alls of lengi, alls til lengi, far too long a time.

conj. as, since (alls þú ert góðr drengr kallaðr);

with addition of ‘er’ (alls er þú ert svá þráhaldr á þínu máli).

* * *

and als, conj. [Ulf. allis = γάρ; Engl. as, contr. = als; cp. the consecutive als in Grimm D. W. sub voce, col. 257 sqq.], as, while, since; freq. in Lex. Poët. in old poets, less freq. in old prose writers, rare in the classics of the 13th century: used four times in the treatise of Thorodd,—alls hann sjálfr er hebreskr stafr, Skálda 167; alls vér erum einnar tungu, 161; alls engi grein er enn á gör, 162; alls þeir höfðu áðr allir eitt hljóð, 166,—and as often in the old Heiðarv. S.—alls þú ert góðr drengr kallaðr, Ísl. ii. 366; alls Barði var eigi bítr á fébætr, 386; alls þú rekr þitt erendi, 483; alls þú hefir þó hér til nokkorar ásjá ætlað, Ld. 42; alls þeir máttu ekki sínum vilja fram koma, Boll. 348; alls hann trúir mér til, Fs. (Hallfr. S.) 90: alls þú hefir þó áðr giptu til mín sótt, Fms. v. 254; alls þeir höfðu frítt lið, viii. 362. With the addition of ‘er’ (at); en þó, alls er þú ert svá þráhaldr á þínu máli, Fms. i. 305; alls er ek reyni, at…, as I …, ii. 262, (Grág. i. 142 is a false reading = allt), Fas. ii. 283: with addition of ‘þó,’ alls þó hefir þetta með meirum fádæmum gengið, heldr en hvert annara, þá vil ek …, but considering that…, Band. 32 new Ed.; cp. Lex. Poët.

* * *

n. pl. Yule, a great midwinter feast in the heathen time, afterwards applied to Christmas.

* * *

n. pl., in rhymes, gólig, Jóla, Ó. H. (in a verse); [A. S. geôl, sometimes used of the whole month of December, whereas December is also called æra geola = fore Yule, and January æftera geola = after Yule; the plur. in Icel. perhaps refers to this double month. The origin and etymology of the word Yule is much contested, and has been treated at length by Grimm (Gesch. der Deutschen Sprache), who tries to make out a relation between the Lat. Jūlus or Jūlius and the Teut. Yule, the one being a midsummer month, the other a midwinter month; like former etymologists, he also derives the word from hjól, a wheel, as referring to the sun’s wheeling round at midwinter and midsummer time. The resemblance of the words is striking, as also the old northern celebration of the midsummer feast Jónsvaka (see below), which was in fact a kind of midsummer Yule.]

B. Yule, a great feast in the heathen time, afterwards applied to Christmas (as still in North. E.) In Icel. popular usage Yule-eve is a kind of landmark by which the year is reckoned, so that a man is as many years old as he has passed Yule nights, hafa lifað (so and so) margar Jóla-nætr; for the year counts from Yule night, whence the phrase, vera ílla or vel á ár kominn, to become well or ill in the year; thus a person born shortly before Yule is ‘ílla á ár kominn,’ for at next Yule he will be reckoned one year old, whereas one born just after it is ‘vel á ár kominn.’ The heathen Yule lasted thirteen days, whence are derived the names Þrettándi, the thirteenth = Epiphany, i. e. the 6th of January, as also the Engl. ‘Twelfth-night;’ it is however probable that the heathen feast was held a little later than the Christian (see hökunótt). The heathen Yule was a great merry-making, and tales of ghosts, ogres, and satyrs were attached to it, esp. the Jóla-sveinar or ‘Yule-lads,’ a kind of goblins or monster satyrs, thirteen in number, one to each day of the feast, sons of the kidnapping hag Grýla (q. v.), whose names were used to frighten children with, see Ísl. Þjóðs. i. 219, 220. As the night lengthens and the day shortens, the ghosts gain strength, and reach their highest at Yule time, see Grett. ch. 34–37, 67–70, Eb. ch. 34, Flóam. S. ch. 22. The day next before Yule is called atfanga-dagr (q. v.) Jóla, when stores were provided and fresh ale brewed, Jóla-öl. Passages in the Sagas referring to Yule are numerous, e.g. Hervar. S. ch. 4, Hálfd. S. Svarta ch. 8, Har. S. Hárf. ch. 16 (in a verse), Hák. S. Góða ch. 12, 15, 19, Ó. H. ch. 151, Eb. ch. 31, Landn. 3. ch. 15 (in the Hb.), Bjarn. 51 sqq., Sturl. iii. 127. As for Yule games cp. the Norse and Danish Jule-buk, Jola-geit (Ivar Aasen) = a Yule goat, Dan. Jule-leg = a Yule game.

II. in poetry a feast (generally); hugins jól, a raven’s feast, Fms. vi. 255 (in a verse), cp. Bjarn. 36.

COMPDS: Jólaaptan, Jólabál, Jólaboð, Jólabók, Jóladagr, Jóladrykkja, Jólafasta, Jólafriðr, Jólaföstubók, Jólaföstutíð, Jólagjöf, Jólagrið, Jólahald, Jólahelgi, Jólahöll, Jólakveld, Jólales, Jólamorgin, Jólanótt, Jólaskrá, Jólasveinar, Jólatíð, Jólatíðir, Jólatíðabók, Jólatungl, Jólaveizla, Jólavist, Jólaöl.

m. the skin of the shanks.

* * *

m. (hömungr, N. G. L. ii. 511), [höm = a shank], the skin of the shanks of a hide; eigi vilda ek sjá þá húð er þú ert einn h. af, Fb. iii. 405; in N. G. L. i. 208 referring to a curious old ceremony of adoption:—the adopted son himself and his nearest heirs were to put their feet into a shoe made from the skin of the right leg of a three years old ox, cp. Ruth iv. 7, and Deut. xxv. 9.

II. a pr. name, Fb. iii, prob. derived from this mode of adoption.

a. thrice-old, three years old (þrífornt smjör).

adj. part. spoken by all, what all say; esp. in the phrase, almælt tíðindi, news; spyrjast almæltra tíðinda, what news? Nj. 227, Ld. 80, Fms. xi. 118 (a standing phrase).

β. of a child that has learnt to talk; en þá er sveinninn var tvævetr, þá rann hann einn saman ok var a. sem fjögra vetra gömul börn, but when the boy was two years old, then he ran alone and could say everything as well as bairns of four years, Ld. 34, (altalandi is the word now used.)

adj. of two years, two years old, D. N.; tvíær landskyld, id.

or fimm-tugr, adj. fifty years old, Fms. xi. 75:— measuring fifty (ells, fathoms, or the like), cp. áttræðr.

f. oar-thong, grummet;

láta síga á hömlu, to pull backwards (stern foremost);

ganga e-m í hömlu (um e-t), to take one’s place, be a substitute for one (in a thing).

(að), v.

1) to pull backwards;

2) to stop, hinder (hamla e-m);

3) to maim, mutilate (sumir vóru hamlaðir at höndum eða fótum).

* * *

u, f. an oar-loop made of a strap or withe fastened to the thole-pin (hár), into which the oar was put, the oarsman pulling the oar against the thole, as is still done in the fjords of Norway; hence is called láta síga á hömlu, to pull slowly towards the hamla, i. e. stern foremost, Fms. i. 172, vii. 213; láta skip síga á hömlum, Hkr. iii. 336; á hömlo, Mork. l. c.; lét hann leggja fimm skipum fram í sundit svá at mátti þegar síga á hömlu, Grett. 83 A; hömlur slitnuðu, háir brotnuðu, the h. were torn, the tholes broken, Am. 35; leggja árar í hömlur, they put the oars in the loops, Fms. iii. 57. In Norway the levy or conscription was counted by the hömlur, cp. Ó. H. 227, where one hamla (i. e. man) was to be levied from every seven males over five years old, and so ‘til hömlu’ means naut. = per man, per oar, Gþl. 99, N. G. L. i. 98; thus, gera mat í hömlu, to contribute provisions by the head, 201, cp. D. N. passim and Fritzner’s remarks s. v.: the metaph. phrase, ganga e-m í hömlu um e-t, to go into one’s hamla, take one’s place, to be one’s match; sem Sigvalda myni fæst til skorta, at ganga mér í hömlu um ráða-gerðir ok dæma hér um mál manna, bæði fyrir vizku sakir ok ráðspeki, Fms. xi. 98.

COMPDS: hömluband, hömlubarði, hömlufall, hömlumaðr.

II. mod. a short oar with which the boatman paddles, leaning the body forwards and with his face towards the stem, using the oar partly instead of a rudder; hence stýris-hamla, a ‘rudder-oar.’

sex-tögr, adj. sixty: of age, sixty years old, Landn. 300 (twice), Fms. ii. 251, Stj. 160, 191: of measure, sixty fathoms (ells) long, refil sextögan, Gísl. 21; fordyri sextugt, Fms. viii. 14; þar var sextugt ofan á fjöru-grjótið, a sixty-fathom precipice, Fb. ii. 159; dreki sextugr at rúma-tali, Ó. H. 161.

adj. six years old.

mod. sjö-tugr, adj. seventy years old, K. Þ. K. 134, Fs. 160. Bs. i. 77, Stj. 554: of measure, measuring seventy fathoms, ells. sjautug-faldliga, adv. sevenfyfold, Stj. 46.

adj. seven years old.