is+this+a+genuine

1) great-grandmother;

2) the name of the book Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson, c. 1220.

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u, f. a great-grandmother, Rm. 2. 4; móðir ( mother) heitir ok amma (grandmother), þriðja edda (the third is edda), Edda 108: this sense is obsolete.

II. metaph. the name of the book Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson, and containing old mythological lore and the old artificial rules for verse making. The ancients only applied this name to the work of Snorri; it is uncertain whether he himself called it so; it occurs for the first time in the inscription to one of the MSS. of Edda, viz. the Ub., written about fifty or sixty years after Snorri’s death: Bók þessi heitir Edda, hann hefir saman setta Snorri Sturlusonr eptir þeim hætti sem hér er skipat (viz. consisting of three parts, Gylfagynning, Skáldskaparmál, and Háttatal), Edda ii. 250 (Ed. Arna-Magn.); sva segir í bók þeirri er Edda heitir, at sá maðr sem Ægir hét spurði Braga …, 532 (MS. of the 14th century); hann (viz. Snorri) samansetti Eddu, he put together the Edda, Ann. 1241 (in a paper MS., but probably genuine). As the Skáldskaparmál ( Ars Poëtica) forms the chief part of the Edda, teaching the old artificial poetical circumlocutions (kenningar), poetical terms and diction, and the mythical tales on which they were founded, the Edda became a sort of handbook of poets, and therefore came gradually to mean the ancient artificial poetry as opposed to the modern plain poetry contained in hymns and sacred poems; it, however, never applies to alliteration or other principles of Icel. poetry: reglur Eddu, the rules of Edda, Gd. (by Arngrim) verse 2, Lil. 96, Nikulas d. 4; Eddu list, the art of Edda, Gd. (by Arni) 79;—all poems of the 14th century. The poets of the 15th century frequently mention the Edda in the introduction to their Rímur or Rhapsodies, a favourite kind of poetry of this and the following time, Reinalds R. I. 1, Áns R. 7. 2, Sturlaugs R., Sigurðar þögla R. 5. 4, Rimur af Ill Verra og Vest, 4, 3, Jarlmanns R. 7. 1, 5, II. 3, Dímis R. 2. 4, Konraðs R. 7. 5;—all these in vellum and the greater part of them belonging to the 15th century. Poets of the 16th century (before 1612), Rollants R. 9. 6, 12. 1, Pontus R. (by Magnus Gamli, died 1591), Valdimars R., Ester R. 2. 2, 6. 3, Sýraks R. 1. 2, 6. 2, Tobias R. I. 2; from the first half of the 17th century, Grett. R., Flores R. 6. 3, 9. 2, Króka Refs R. 1. 7, Lykla Pétrs R. 4. 2, 12. 1, Apollonius R. 1. 5, Flovents R. 6. 3, Sjö Meistara R. 1. 7, 2. 1, 3. 8;—all in MS. In these and many other references, the poets speak of the art, skill, rules, or, if they are in that mood, the obscure puerilities and empty phrases of the Edda, the artificial phraseology as taught and expounded by Snorri; and wherever the name occurs (previous to the year 1643) it only refers to Snorri’s book, and such is still the use of the word in Icel.; hence compd words such as Eddu-lauss, adj. void of Eddic art; Eddu-borinn, part. poetry full of Eddic phrases; Eddu-kenningar, f. pl. Eddic circumlocutions, Kötlu Draumr 85, e. g. when the head is called the ‘sword of Heimdal,’ the sword the ‘fire or torch of Odin,’ etc.; Eddu-kendr = Edduborinn; Eddu-bagr, adj. a bungler in the Eddic art, etc. The Icel. bishop Brynjolf Sveinsson in the year 1643 discovered the old mythological poems, and, led by a fanciful and erroneous suggestion, he gave to that book the name of Sæmundar Edda, the Edda of Sæmund; hence originate the modern terms the Old or Poetical and New or Prose Edda; in foreign writers Eddic has been ever since used in the sense of plain and artless poetry, such as is contained in these poems, opposed to the artificial, which they call Scaldic (Skald being Icel. for a poet); but this has no foundation in old writers or tradition. Further explanation of this subject may be seen in Ersch and Gruber’s Encyclopedia, s. v. Graagaas.

mod. dans, n. a word of for. origin; [cp. mid. Lat. dansare; Fr. danser; Ital. danzare; Engl. dance; Germ. tanz, tanzen.] This word is certainly not Teutonic, but of Roman or perhaps Breton origin: the Icel. or Scandin. have no genuine word for dancing,—leika means ‘to play’ in general: the word itself (danza, danz, etc.) never occurs in the old Sagas or poetry, though popular amusements of every kind are described there; but about the end of the 11th century, when the Sagas of the bishops (Bs.) begin, we find dance in full use, accompanied by songs which are described as loose and amorous: the classical passage is Jóns S. (A. D. 1106–1121), ch. 13. Bs. i. 165, 166, and cp. Júns S. by Gunnlaug, ch. 24. Bs. i. 237—Leikr sá var kær mönnum áðr en hinn heilagi Jón varð biskup, at kveða skyldi karlmaðr til konu í danz blautlig kvæði ok rægilig; ok kona til karlmanns mansöngs vísur; þenna leik lét hann af taka ok bannaði styrkliga; mansöngs kvæði vildi hann eigi heyra né kveða láta, en þó fékk hann því eigi af komið með öllu. Some have thought that this refers to mythical (Eddic) poetry, but without reason and against the literal sense of the passage; the heathen heroic poems were certainly never used to accompany a dance; their flow and metre are a sufficient proof of that. In the Sturl. (Hist. of the 12th and 13th century) dancing is mentioned over and over again; and danz is used of popular ballads or songs of a satirical character (as those in Percy’s ballads): flimt ( loose song) and danz are synonymous words; the Sturl. has by chance preserved two ditties (one of A. D. 1221, running thus—Loptr liggr í Eyjum, bítr lunda bein | Sæmundr er á heiðum, etr berin ein. Sturl. ii. 62, and one referring to the year 1264—Mínar eru sorgirnar þungar sem blý, Sturl. iii. 317) sufficient to shew the flow and metre, which are exactly the same as those of the mod. ballads, collected in the west of Icel. (Ögr) in the 17th century under the name of Fornkvæði, Old Songs, and now edited by Jon Sigurdsson and Svend Grundtvig. Danz and Fornkvæði are both of the same kind, and also identical with Engl. ballads, Dan. kæmpeviser. There are passages in Sturl. and B.S. referring to this subject — færðu Breiðbælingar Lopt í flimtun ok görðu um hann danza marga, ok margskonar spott annat, Sturl. ii. 57, cp. 62; Danza-Bergr, the nickname of a man (Stud, ii), prob. for composing comic songs; danza-görð, composing comic songs; fylgðar-menn Kolbeins fóru með danza-görð, … en er Brandr varð varr við flimtan þeirra, iii. 80; þá hrökti Þórðr hestinn undir sér, ok kvað danz þenna við raust, 317.

β. a wake, Arna S. ch. 2; in Sturl. i. 23; at the banquet in Reykhólar, 1119, the guests amused themselves by dancing, wrestling, and story-telling; þá var sleginn danz í stofu, ii. 117; í Viðvík var gleði mikil ok gott at vera; þat var einn Drottins dag at þar var danz mikill; kom þar til fjöldi manna; ok ríðr hann í Viðvík til danz, ok var þar at leik; ok dáðu menn mjök danz hans, iii. 258, 259; honum var kostr á boðinn hvat til gamans skyldi hafa, sögur eða danz um kveldit, 281;—the last reference refers to the 21st of January, 1258, which fell on a Sunday (or wake-day): in ballads and tales of the Middle Ages the word is freq.:—note the allit. phrase, dansinn dunar, Ísl. Þóðs. ii. 8: the phrases, stiga danz; ganga í danz; brúðir í danz, dansinn heyra; dans vill hun heyra, Fkv. ii. 7. Many of the burdens to the mod. Icel. ballads are of great beauty, and no doubt many centuries older than the ballads to which they are affixed; they refer to lost love, melancholy, merriment, etc., e. g. Blítt lætur veröldin, fölnar fögr fold | langt er síðan mitt var yndið lagt í mold, i. 74; Út ert þú við æginn blá, eg er hér á Dröngum, | kalla eg löngum, kalla eg til þin löngum; Skín á skildi Sól og sumarið fríða, | dynur í velli er drengir í burtu riða, 110; Ungan leit eg hofmann í fögrum runni, | skal eg í hljóði dilla þeim mér unm; Austan blakar laufið á þann linda, 129; Fagrar heyrða eg raddirnar við Niflunga heim; Fagrt syngr svanrinn um sumarlanga tíð, | þá mun list að leika sér mín liljan fríð, ii. 52: Einum unna eg manninum, á meðan það var, | þó hlaut eg minn harm að bera í leyndum stað, 94; Svanrinn víða. svanurinn syngr viða, 22; Utan eptir firðinum, sigla fagrar fleyr | sá er enginn glaður eptir annan þreyr, 110; Svo er mér illt og angrsamt því veldur þú, | mig langar ekki í lundinn með þá jungfrú, Espol. Ann. 1549. The earliest ballads seem to have been devoted to these subjects only; of the two earliest specimens quoted in the Sturl. (above), one is satirical, the other melancholy; the historical ballads seem to be of later growth: the bishops discountenanced the wakes and dancing (Bs. l. c., Sturl. iii), but in vain: and no more telling proof can be given of the drooping spirits of Icel. in the last century, than that dancing and wakes ceased, after having been a popular amusement for seven hundred years. Eggert Olafsson in his poems still speaks of wakes, as an eyewitness; in the west of Icel. (Vestfirðir) they lasted longer, but even there they died out about the time that Percy’s ballads were published in England. The Fornkvæði or songs are the only Icel. poetry which often dispenses with the law of alliteration, which in other cases is the light and life of Icel. poetry; vide also hofmaðr, viki-vakar, etc. In the 15th century the rímur (metrical paraphrases of romances) were used as an accompaniment to the danz, höldar danza harla snart, ef heyrist vísan mín; hence originates the name man-söngr ( maid-song), minne-sang, which forms the introduction to every ríma or rhapsody; the metre and time of the rímur are exactly those of ballads and well suited for dancing. An Icel. MS. of the 17th century, containing about seventy Icel. Fornkvæði, is in the Brit. Mus. no. 11,177; and another MS., containing about twenty such songs, is in the Bodl. Libr. no. 130.

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1) closed hand, fist;

2) the king in hnefa-tafl.

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a, m. the king in a kind of chess played by the ancients, Fas. ii. 68: the game was called hnefa-tafl, n., which is variously spelt—nettafl, Gullþ. 20, and hnettafl, Grett. 144 A (which are contracted or assimilated forms); hneftafl, Mork. 186, Fms. vi. 29, Fas. i. 284; hnottafl (a bad form), Fas. i. 476 in a spurious verse, and in Krók. ch. 10; hnefa-tafl (the true form), Fas. i. 67. The game is best described in Friðþ. S. ch. 3, and in one of the riddles in Hervar. S. (where however the rhymed replies are not genuine): ‘Who are the maids that fight about their unarmed lord, the dark all day defending, but the fair slaying?’ The players were two, as in chess; there was only one king (hnefi), here called the ‘unarmed lord;’ the pieces (töflur) were white and red, the white attacking, the red defending the hnefi; þat er hneftafl, enar dökkri verja hnefann, en hinar hvítari sækja, Fas. i. 474; þat er húninn í hneftafli, 476: pieces made of silver are recorded in Gullþ. S., of walrus-bone in Krók. l. c. For the general use of this game, cp. the dialogue between the two brother kings, Mork. l. c.,—teflig hneftafl betr, era þat minna vert en afl þitt; Sigurðr Ormr í auga ok Hvítserkr hvati sitja at hneftafli, Fas. i. 284: whenever tafl is mentioned, this particular game seems to be understood, e. g. the gullnar töflur and tefldu í túni of the Vsp.; cp. earl Rögnvald’s verse in Orkn. ch. 61; and the fatal game of chess between king Canute and earl Ulf in Roeskilde A. D. 1027 was probably a hneftafl. We see from Mork. l. c. that it was still played at the beginning of the 12th century, but in after times it was superseded by the true chess (skák); both games were probably of the same origin.

COMPDS: hnefatafla, hneftöfl, hnettöfl, hnettafla.

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(dat. sumri, pl. sumur), n. summer; um sumarit, in the course of the summer, during the summer; at sumri, next summer; mitt s., midsummer; í s., this summer.

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n., dat. sumri; pl. sumur; sumra, sumrum; in the old language this word was masculine in the form sumarr, of which gender a trace may still be seen in the contracted forms sumri, sumra, sumrum, for a genuine neuter does not admit these contractions. But there remains a single instance of the actual use of the masculine in the rhyme of a verse of the beginning of the 11th century, sumar hv ern frekum erni, Skálda,—from which one might infer that at that time the word was still masc.; if so, it is not likely that in a poem so old as the Vsp. it would be neuter, and ‘sumur’ in ‘of sumur eptir’ perhaps ought to be corrected ‘sumra’ or ‘sumar’ (acc. sing.); as also ‘varmt sumar’ should be ‘varmr sumarr,’ Vþm. 26: [A. S. sumar; a word common to all Teut. languages; in the Orm. sumerr, denoting a long u; the mod. Dan., Germ., and Engl. have sommer, summer, with a double m]:—a summer, passim.

II. mythical, Sumarr, the son of Svásað, Edda 13.

B. CHRONOLOGICAL REMARKS.—The old Northmen, like the Icel. of the present time, divided the year into two halves, summer and winter; the summer began on the Thursday next before the 16th of April in the old calendar, which answers to the 26th of the Gregorian calendar (used in Icel. since A. D. 1700). The Northern and Icelandic summer is therefore a fixed term in the calendar, and consists of 184 days, viz. six months of thirty days, plus four days, called aukanætr (‘eke-nights’). Summer is divided into two halves, each of three months (= ninety days), before and after midsummer (mið-sumar); and the four ‘eke-nights’ are every summer intercalated immediately before midsummer: thus in the Icel. Almanack of 1872—Sumar-dagr fyrsti, or the first summer-day, falls on Thursday the 25th of April; Auka-nætr from the 24th to the 27th of July; Mið-sumar on the 28th of July; Sumar-dagr síðasti, or the last day of summer, on the 25th of October; cp. sumar-nátt siðasta, Gísl. 67. In mod. usage the time from April to October is counted by the summer weeks, the first, second, … twentieth … week of the summer, and in Icel. Almanacks every Thursday during summer is marked by the running number of the week. The ancients, too, counted the summer by weeks, but only down to midsummer, thus, tíu vikur skulu vera af sumri er menn koma til alþingis, K. Þ. K. 166; but in the latter part of the summer they counted either by the weeks from midsummer or by the weeks still left of the summer, thus, hálfum mánaði eptir mitt sumar, Nj. 4; er átta vikur lifa sumars, Grág. i. 122; frá miðju sumri til vetrar, 147; er átta vikur eru til vetrar, Nj. 192; er tveir mánaðir vóru til vetrar, 195; líðr á sumarit til átta vikna, 93; ellipt., var Rútr heima til sex vikna (viz. sumars), 10.

C. COMPDS: sumarauki, sumarávöxtr, sumarbjörg, sumarbók, sumarbú, sumarbær, sumardagr, sumarfang, sumarfullr, sumargamall, sumargjöf, sumarhagi, sumarherbergi, sumarhiti, sumarhluti, sumarhold, sumarhöll, sumarkaup, sumarlangt, sumarliði, sumarligr, sumarmagn, sumarmál, sumarnátt, sumarnætr, SumarPáskar, sumarsetr, sumarskeið, sumarstefna, sumarsöngr, sumartíð, sumartími, sumartungl, sumarverk, sumarviðr.

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(ek, ók, ókum, ekinn), v.

1) to drive (a vehicle or animal drawing a vehicle), with dat.: gott er heilum vagni heim at a., it is good to get home safe and sound; a. þrennum eykjum, with three yoke of horses;

2) to carry or convey in a vehicle, to cart, with dat. or acc. (hann ók heyjum sínum á yxnum; hann ók skarni á hóla); a. saman hey, to cart hay; líkin váru ekin í sleða, carried in a sledge;

3) with the prep. í or á; Freyr ók í kerru með gelti; ríðr Þ. hesti þeim, er hann hafði ekit á;

4) absol., to drive in a vehicle (fóru þeir í sleðann ok óku alla nóttina); with acc. of the road (óku úrgar brautir);

5) naut., to trim the sail (aka seglum at endilöngum skipum);

6) to remove, with dat.; ók hann af sér fjötrinum, worked it off by rubbing; ók Oddr sér þar at, worked himself thither (of a fettered prisoner); a. e-m á bug or a. bug;á e-n, to make one give way, repel; intrans. = ‘akast’, to move slowly; hvárrgi ók (gave way) fyrir oðrum; a. undan, to retire, retreat;

7) impers., hart ekr at e-m, one is in great straits; ekr nú mjók at, I am hard pressed; e-m verðr nær ekit, one gets into straits, is hard pressed;

refl., e-m ekst e-t í tauma, one is thwarted in a thing.

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ók, óku, ekit; pres. ek. It also occurs in a weak form, að, Fagrsk. 104, which form is now perhaps the most common. [Neither Ulf. nor Hel. use this word, which appears also to be alien to the South-Teut. idioms. The Germans say fahren; the English to drive, carry; cp. Engl. yoke. In Latin, however, agere; Gr. άγειν] Gener. to move, drive, transport, carry:

I. to drive in harness in a sledge or other vehicle (where the vehicle is in dat.), as also the animal driven; bryggjur svá breiðar, at aka mátti vögnum á víxl, ‘briggs’ (i. e. wharfs or piers,, cp. ‘Filey Brigg’) so broad, that wains might meet and pass each other, Hkr. ii. 11; gott er heilum vagni heim at aka, ‘tis good to drive home with a whole wain, to get home safe and sound, cp. Horace solve senescentem, Orkn. 464, Al. 61; þórr á hafra tvá, ok reið þá er hann ekr, in which he drives, Edda 14, Ób. adds í (viz. reið þá er hekr i), which may be the genuine reading.

β. with the prep. í; Freyr ók ok í kerru með gelti, Edda 38.

γ. absol. to drive, i. e. travel by driving; þeir óku upp á land, Eg. 543; fóru þeir í sleðann ok óku nóttina alia, drove the whole night, Fms. iv. 317. With the road taken in acc.; aka úrgar brautir, Rm. 36; báðu hennar ok heim óku (dat. henni being understood), carrying a bride home, 37. 20.

II. to carry or cart a load, ( to lead, in the north of England):—in Iceland, where vehicles are rare, it may perhaps now and then be used of carrying on horseback. The load carried is commonly in dat. or acc.:

α. acc.: aka saman hey, to cart hay, Eb. 150; saman ok hann heyit, Ísl. ii. 330; hann ok saman alla töðu sína, Landn. 94; þá tekr Gísli eyki tvá, ok ekr fé sitt til skógar, Gísl. 121; but absol., ok ekr til skógar með fjárhlut sinn, l. c. 36; þá let konungr aka til haugsins vist ok drykk, then the king let meat and drink be carted to the ‘how’ ( barrow), Fms. x. 186; vill hann húsit ór stað færa, ok vill hann aka þat, carry it away, Grág. ii. 257; líkin váru ekin í sleða, carried in a sledge, Bs. i. 144.

β. dat. more freq., as now; hann ók heyjum sínum á öxnum, carried his hay on oxen, Fbr. 43 new Ed.; einn ók skarni á hóla, carted dung alone on the fields, Nj. 67, Rd. 277.

γ. with the animals in dat., Þórólfr let aka þrennum eykjum um daginn, with three yoke of oxen, Eb. 152; or with the prep. á, ríðr Þórðr hesti þeim er hann hafði ekit á um aptaninn, Ísl. ii. 331, Fbr. 43; ef maðr ekr eðr berr klyfjar á, leads or carries on packsaddles, Grág. i. 441.

δ. absol., þat mun ek til finna, at hann ok eigi í skegg ser, that he did not cart it on his own beard, Nj. 67.

ε. part., ekinn uxi, a yoked, tamed ox, Vm. 152.

III. used by sailors, in the phrase, aka segli, to trim the sail; aka seglum at endilöngum skipum, Fms. vii. 94; bað hann þá aka skjótt seglunum, ok víkja út í sund nokkut, 131. In mod. Icel. metaph., aka seglum eptir vindi, to set one’s sail after ( with) the wind, to act according to circumstances; cp. aktaumar.

IV. metaph. in a great many proverbs and phrases, e. g. aka heilum vagni heim, v. above; aka höllu fyrir e-m, to get the worst of it, Ld. 206; aka undan (milit), to retire, retreat slowly in a battle; óku þeir Erlingr undan ofan með garðinum, Fms. vii. 317; akast undan (reflex.), id., 278; þeir ökuðust undan ok tóku á skógana, they took to the woods, Fagrsk. 174 (where the weak form is used); sumir Norðmenn óku undan á hæli ofan með sjónum, x. 139: aka e-m á bug, the figure probably taken from the ranks in a battle, to make one give way, repel, en ef Ammonite aka, þér á bug, if they be too strong for thee, Stj. 512. 2 Sam. x. 11. Mkv. 7; also metaph., aka bug á e-n, id.; mun oss þat til Birkibeinum, at þeir aki á oss engan bug, to stand firm, with unbroken ranks, Fms. viii. 412. It is now used impers., e-m á ekki ór að aka, of one who has always bad luck, probably ellipt., ór steini or the like being understood; cp. GÍsl. 54, the phrase, þykir ekki ór steini hefja, in the same sense, the figure being taken from a stone clogging the wheels; ok hann af sér fjötrinum, threw it off by rubbing, Fas. ii. 573; þá ekr Oddr sér þar at, creeps, rolls himself thither, of a fettered prisoner, id.; the mod. phrase, að aka sér, is to shrug the shoulders as a mark of displeasure: aka ór öngum, ex angustiis, to clear one’s way, get out of a scrape, Bjarn. 52; aka í moínn, to strive against, a cant phrase. Impers. in the phrase, e-m verðr nær ekit, is almost run over, has a narrow escape, varð honum svá nær ekit at hann hleypti inn í kirkju, he was so hard driven that he ran into the church, Fms. ix. 485; hart ekr at e-m, to be in great straits, ok er þorri kemr, þá ekr hart at mönnum, they were pressed hard, Ísl. ii. 132; ekr mi mjök at, I am hard pressed, GÍsl. 52; er honum þótti at sér aka, when death drew near,, of a dying man, Grett. 119 A. Reflex., e-m ekst e-t í tauma, to be thwarted in a thing, where the figure is taken from trimming the sail when the sheet is foul, Fms. xi. 121. In later Icelandic there is a verb akka, að, to heap together, a. e-u saman, no doubt a corruption from aka with a double radical consonant, a cant word. Aka is at present a rare word, and is, at least in common speech, used in a weak form, akar instead of ekr; akaði = ók; akat = ekit.

n. a bridle, freq. in old vellum MSS. spelt beils, Fs. 128, 62, Fms. x. 86, xi. 256 C; with z, beizl or mod. beizli, Sks. 84, 87 new Ed., N. G. L. ii. 115, Grett. 122, Fms. viii. 52, v. 1., Fas. ii. 508; beisl (wilh s), Karl. 4, Grág. i. 439 (Kb. and Sb.), Stj. 206, Nj. 33, Fms. x. 86, Flov. 26, etc. The word is not to be derived from bíta; this may with certainty be inferred from comparison with the other Teut. idioms, and even in the Roman tongues we find r after the first letter: A. S. bridle and bridels; O. H. G. brittill; Dutch bridel; Engl. bridle; these forms seem to point to the Lat. frenum; the Scandin. idioms seem to have elided the r; Swed. betsel; Dan. bidsel; Icel. beils and beisl or beizl; many words referring to horse taming and racing are not genuine Scandinavian, but of foreign extraction; so is söðull, saddle, derived from A. S. saðol, Lat. sedile.

COMPDS: beislál, beislhringr, beisltamr, beisltaumar.

m. merchant-ship.

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m. [old Dan. byrthing, from byrðr], a ship of burthen, merchant-ship, Eg. 53, Nj. 281, Fær. 12, 195, 196, Fms. iv. 255, vii. 283, 286, 310, viii. 208, 274, 372, ix. 18, 44, 46, 299, 470, x. 25, xi. 430, etc.; this is the genuine Scandin. word, wilst kjóll, kuggr, karfi (q. v.) are all of foreign origin.

COMPDS: byrðingsmaðr, byrðingssegl.

n. what is ‘laid’ up:

I. esp. in sing. provision for living, a livelihood, Bs. i. 137, Fms. vi. 304; urðu þaðan í frá góð forlög manna, Bs. i: metaph. of marriage, Ísl. ii. 416, 453: fate in store for one = forlög, Lv. 33, Glúm. 333. forlags-eyrir, m. livelihood, Gþl. 259, 442, N. G. L. i. 52: means, Jb. 166.

II. in pl. for-lög, n., properly ‘fore-law;’ hence law or fate, destiny, cp. ör-lög and lög; the word is not very freq. in old writers, and chiefly occurs in Sagas such as Vd., Flóam. S., in old poetry only in Km. 23, but rare in genuine heathen Sagas; the very word conveys some Christian notion; örlög and sköp are solely heathen, e. g. Hm. 55; this distinction is rightly marked in a ditty of Pal Vídalín—forlög koma ofan að | örlög kringum sveima | álögin úr ymsum stað | en ólög fæðast heima; in mod. usage forlög is current, but orlög, sköp, obsolete; þetta mun vera forlög hennar, Glúm. 333; Hákon kvaðsk þá heyra vilja forlög sin, … ef þú vilt vita forlög þín, Orkn. 140, Fs. 19; úhægt mun forlögin at flýja, 20; eigi mundi tjóa at brjótask við forlögunum, id.; ok mætti þit njóta lengri forlaga, that ye might enjoy a longer life, 84; honum var annarra forlaga auðit, 6; verðr hverr eptir sínum forlögum at leita, 11; torsótt er at forðask forlögin, 24; forlög ekki forðumst ill | fram kemr það hamingjan vill, Úlf. 3. 69; má vera at hér sé hennar forlög ( destiny), Fs.

m. hemp.

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m. [this word, like all words in mp (np), is of for. origin; cp. Gr. κάνναβις, whence Lat. cannabis; Germ. hanf; Engl. hemp; Dan. hamp: it scarcely occurs before the middle of the 13th century; hörr, q. v., is the genuine northern word]:—hemp, Sks. 287, H. E. i. 395, N. G. L. ii. 355.

(gen., dat. and acc. móður or mœðr; pl. mœðr), f. mother.

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f., gen. dat. acc. móður; plur. in nom. and acc. mæðr (mœðr), gen. mæðra, dat. mæðrum. There is also a monosyll. form mæðr, indecl. throughout in the sing., and answering to feðr, föðr or bræðr (= faðir, bróðir); but these forms are unknown in mod. Icel., and are seldom used in the genuine old writers, being mostly found in legendary writers, who probably followed some provincial Norwegianism; thus passim in Stjórn, af mæðr konungsins, Stj. 82; mæðrinnar kvið, 80: [this word is common to all Teut. languages except Goth., which used aiþei = Icel. eiða (q. v.) instead]:—a mother; sonr á at taka arf eptir föður sinn ok móður, Grág. i. 171; föður-móðir, a father’s mother, 172; faðir ok móðir, id., in countless instances: as a nickname, konunga-móðir, Jarla-m., Fb. iii: in popular tales, the mother of a whole brood (animals), skötu-m., sela-m., laxa-m., represented as an ogre, Maurer’s Volks. 34.

COMPDS: móðurafi, móðuramma, móðurarfr, móðurbrjóst, móðurbróðir, móðurfaðir, móðurfrændr, móðurhús, móðurkviðr, móðurkyn, móðurlauss, móðurleggr, móðurliga, móðurmjólk, móðurmóðir, móðursonr, móðursystir, móðurtunga, móðurætt.

(-s, -ar), m. plough.

* * *

m. [Engl. plough; O. H. G. pfluoc; Germ. pflug; Dan. plov; Swed. plog; a borrowed word, for arðr (q. v.) is the genuine old Norse word; the word was also unknown to the Goth. as well as to the A. S., for Ulf. calls the plough hoha, and sulh is the A. S. term; the Engl. plough was borrowed later, see s. v. arðr, and Grimm’s Gramm. iii. 414]:—a plough; plógr first occurs in the poem Rm.—karta at görva, keyra plóg, 19; skilling silfrs af plógi hverjum, Eg. 278; bera þeir þá út plóga sína, Sks. 336; ef maðr höggr eyk fyrir plógi eðr arðri, N. G. L. ii. 115; hón setti þá fyrir plóg en plógrinn gékk svá hart ok djúpt, Edda (begin.); rekum eigi plug af akri, Orkn. (in a verse); eiga auðan plóg, to have an idle plough, Fms. vi. (in a verse); fjándans plógr, Gd. 33.

2. metaph. gain, produce, especial emoluments of an estate, either in down, jetsum, fowl, or the like; það er mesta plógs-jörð; virð lítils veraldar plóg, this world’s gain, Pass. 16. 10.

II. a Dan. pr. name, Plógr, Fms. xi. (Knytl. S.), whence mod. Dan. Ploug. plógs-land, n. an acre of land; gjalda mörk af hverju plógslandi, Orkn. 286: hann gaf henni eitt plógsland, Edda (begin.), (Yngl. S. ch. 5.)

(-s, -ar), m. trick, deceit, fraud (með flærð ok prettum).

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m., pl. prettar, Barl. 197, but mod. prettir; acc. pl. prettu; [A. S. Dictionaries give a word præt, pl. prattas; but the age and the etymology of this word are uncertain]:—a trick; var þetta ekki nema prettr þeirra, Fms. i. 59, Fs. 73; konungr mælti, þetta er p. yðvarr, Fms. vii. 32; hafa þeir sýnt eigi góðan prett, Ld. 704; sviksamliga prettu, Stj. 144, Al. 68, Barl. 24; Þórir svarir at hann hirði ekki um prettu þeirra Erlings, Ó. H. 115; þetta vóru þínir prettar, Barl. 197; etja e-n við prettu, Ísl. ii. 224 (in a verse of the beginning of the 10th century, if the verse be genuine).

COMPDS: prettafullr, prettalauss.

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n. [A. S. rêcels], incense; this Icel. word was borrowed from the A. S. (words in - elsi not being genuine Norse); for incense was first known in the Scandin. countries through the Roman Catholic mass, as may be seen from the description of the impression made by peals of bells and incense on the heathen natives, see Kristni S. ch. 11, Bs. passim, Dipl. iii. 4; reykelsis-brenna, -fórn, -ilmr, -offran, Stj., Eluc.; reykelsis-buðkr, -ker, -kista, -stokkr, Vm. 110, 152, Stj. 565, Str. 80, MS. 623. 55, Pm. 25, 62, Jm. 35, passim, reykelsi-ligr, adj. belonging to incense, Stj. 74.

* * *

(gen. pl. vikna), f.

1) week; nú lífa sumarit til átta vikna, till it was eight weeks to winter; hin helga v., Holy-week (after Whitsun); efsta v., the last week of Lent, Passion-week;

2) sea-mile, = vika sjóvar, v. sævar (Ólafseyjar liggja út á firðinum hálfa aðra viku undan Reykjanesi).

* * *

u, f., gen. pl. vikna, pl. vikur: [this can hardly be a genuine Teutonic word, but rather is adopted from Lat. vice, otherwise the k could not have remained unchanged; thus Lat. vicus is Icel. vé, Goth. weihs: Ulf. only uses the word in a single instance, viz. to translate ἐν τη τάξει της ἐφημερίας αὐτου by in wikon kunjis seinis in Luke i. 8, where the Latin text ‘in vice sua’ perhaps suggested the word to the translator; A. S. and Hel. wica; Engl. week; O. H. G. wecha; Germ. woche; Dan. uge; Swed. wecha; in Norse dialects vika, veka, vuku, uku, and in compds -oke, Jóns-oke, Ivar Aasen.]

B. USAGES.—A week, passim: used in a peculiar manner, as marking the remaining weeks of the summer; líðr á sumarit til átta vikna, viz. till eight weeks remained before winter, Nj. 93; var Rútr heima til sex vikna, 10; vá Böðvarr Kolbein Drottins-daginn at fjórum vikum, Ann. 1376. The ancient Scandinavians and Teutons in heathen times seem to have counted the year by pentads, called fimt, as has already been remarked s. v. fimt (p. 153), to which may be added the authority of the late Prof. Schlegel of Copenhagen in a notice of 1825, mentioned in Lex. Mythol. p. 753. The time when the Scandinavians changed their system is quite unknown; it would seem that in Icel. ‘weeks’ were already in use in the middle of the 10th century, could we but trust the record in Íb. ch. 4 as authentic in its details.

II. spec. usages in the calendar; Helga vika, the Holy-week (i. e. after Whitsun), Thom. 22, Dipl. iii. 10, D. I. i. 594; Efsta-vika, the last week of Lent, i. e. Passion-week, Orkn. 386, D. I. i. 594; Páska-vika, Easter-week; Sælu-vika, Ember-week, passim, see Icel. Almanack; as also Auka-vika or Lagningar-vika, the additional week, intercalary week, = sumar-auki, see p. 604; fyrsta Sumar-vika, síðasta vika sumars, síðasta vika vetrar.

COMPDS: vikudagr, vikufrestr, vikuför, vikugamall, vikulagning, vikumunr, vikustafr, vikustef, vikustefna, vikuþing, viknamót, viknatal.

u, f. [a word quite different from the preceding, akin to vik and vík, the root word being víkja, q. v.]:—a sea mile, knot, answering to a mod. geographical mile, and equal to a ‘röst’ on land (see röst, p. 508): the term seems to have been derived from vík, a small bay, denoting the distance from ness to ness, and so referring to a time when ships coasted along-shore; the word is still in almost exclusive use in Icel. The following instances may suffice:—the distance from Reykjanes to Flatey in western Icel. is counted as three viknr (frá Reykjanesi til Flateyjar, þat eru þrjár vikur sjófar, Bs. i. 461); from Drangey in the north to the nearest point on the mainland as one vika (frá Revkjum er skemst til eyjarinnar ok er þat vika sjóvar … þat var vika sjáfar sem skemst var til lands ór eyjunni, Grett. 144, 148); eyjar þær sem Ólafs-eyjar heita, þær liggja út á firðinum hálfa aðra viku undan Reykjanesi, 125; heyrði yfir til Skarfstaða hálfa viku sjóvar (viz. from Ljárskógar), 129; for the respective distances see the map of Icel.: so in Norway, vatnið var hálfrar viku breitt, Fms. viii. 32; sigla þeir fyrir þat torleiði sex vikur sævar, Fb. i. 186: in the Faroes, þangat var skemst ok var þat þó löng vika sjóvar, Fær. 173 (viz. from the Great Dimon to Suðrey): in Greenland, hann lagðisk eptir geldingi gömlum út í Hvalsey, ok flutti á baki sér, þá er hann vildi fagna Eireki frænda sínum, en ekki var sæfært skip heima, þat er löng hálf vika, Landn. 107: great distances at the open sea are counted by ‘tylpt,’ ‘dozens, sc. of knots,’ leaving out the word ‘vika,’ þá mun siglt vera tylpt fyrir sunnan Ísland, Landn. 25: a writer of the 14th century calculates the voyage round Iceland direct from headland to headland at ‘fourteen dozens,’—fjórtan tylptir umbergis at sigla réttleiðis fyrir hvert nes, Bs. ii. 5.

a. German.

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adj., but better Þýðerskr, often spelt Þyeskr; the v and r are due to a wrong notion as to its origin, as if it came from - verjar (= men) instead of the inflex. iskr, as is seen from the German form; [O. H. G. Diutisc; mid.H. G. Diutisch, Tiusch; low Lat. Theotiscus; Hel. Thiudisk; mod. Germ. Teutsch, Deutsch; Engl. Dutch; these forms shew that v and r are in the Norse wrongly inserted; the old Icel. word was evidently borrowed from the Germ. through the trading people, perhaps in the 11th or 12th century; it does not therefore appear in a genuine Norse form, for then the inflexive iskr should have been assimilated to the preceding root word, so forming a monosyllable; the mod. form Þýzkr is in this respect correct; the root word is Goth. þiuda = þjóð, see Grimm’s Dict. s. v. ii. 1043; in Ulf. þiuþisko = ἐθνικως]:—German; Þýðerskir menn (Þýðverskir, Þýverskir, Þýðskir, v. l.), Fms. viii. 248; Vindum ok Þýðeskum mönnum, x. 45, v. l.; Þýðerska menn, 47; en Þýðeskir menn segja, Fas. i. 332; Þýverskir, Fb. i. 355. l. c.; Þýveskr, Ann. 1342 C; svá segir í kvœðum Þýðærskum, Þiðr. 304; frá sögn Þýðærskra manna, 334; Þýðeskum kvæðum, 231, 330, 352; Þýðeskra manna sögur, 180; í Þýðersk tunga, 1, 302, 304.

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(pl. -ir), f.

1) quarter of the heaven, direction, = átt( flugu þau í brott bæði samt í sömu ætt);

2) one’s family, extraction, pedigree (hann var sœnskr at ætt); þaðan eru komnar þræla ættir, the race of thralls; telja ætt til e-s, to trace one’s pedigree to; e-t gengr í ætt, it is hereditary;

3) generation (í ina þriðju eða fjórðu ætt).

* * *

f., like sætt (q. v.), the forms vary between átt and ætt; in old writers the latter form is by far the more common; in mod. usage they have been separated, átt meaning a quarter in a local sense, ætt a family: [ætt is akin to Ulf. aihts = τα ὑπάρχοντα; A. S. æhte = property; Early Engl. agte; Germ. acht = patrimony; the root verb is eiga, átti, like mega, máttr; from this original sense are derived both the senses, ætt = a family, and ætt or átt = Scot. ‘airt,’ ‘regio caeli;’ the etymology of átt from átta ( eight), suggested at p. 47, col. 1, is too fanciful.]

B. An airt, quarter of the heavens, in gen. dat. pl. átta, áttum; eptir þat sá sól, ok mátti þá deila ættir, Fb. i. 431; átta ættir, eina ætt, Sks. 54; af suðr-ætt, … vestr-ætt, flugu brott í sömu ætt, … ór þeim ættum sem þér þóttu ernirnir fljúga, Ísl. ii. 195, 196; þá drífr snær ór öllum áttum, Edda i. 186 (so also Ub. l. c., but ættum Cod. Worm. l. c.); í allar áttir, Edda i. 182 (ættir Ub. l. c.); norðr-ætt, suðr-ætt, vestr-ætt, austr-ætt, qq. v.; hann skyldi auka ríki sitt hálfu í hverja höfuð-átt, Hkr. i. 49; af öllum áttum, from all ‘airts’ of heaven, Edda 40, Hkr. i. 33; ór ýmissum áttum, Orkn. (in a verse), and so on; see átt, p. 47.

II. prop. what is inborn, native, one’s own, Lat. proprium; one’s family, extraction, kindred, pedigree; áttir, Grág. i. 238, Haustl. 10; allt er þat ætt þín, Óttar heimski, Hdl.; telja, rekja ættir, to trace pedigrees, id.; jötna ætt, id.; órar ættir, Vþm.; komnir af ætt Hörða-Kára, Fms. i. 287; hitt veit ek eigi hvaðan þjófs-augu eru komin í ættir várar, Nj. 2; tvá menn er ættir eru frá komnar, Adam ok Evu, Edda (pref.); dýrra manna ættir, … enginn stærisk af sinni ætt, Landn. 357; er þaðan komin mikil ætt, Eb. 123 new Ed.; hann er orðinn stórum kynsæll, því at til hans telja ættir flestir inir göfgustu menn á Íslandi, 126; Háleygja-ætt, Landn. 255; jarla-ættir, konunga-ættir, biskupa-ættir, etc., passim; ór ættum er ef lengra er rekit, out of the ætt, not genuine, spurious, Edda 124; e-t gengr í ætt, to be hereditary, of habits, character, diseases, or the like, Ó. H. 122; cp. úr-ætta.

COMPDS: ættarbálkr, ættarbragð, ættarbætir, ættarferð, ættarfylgja, ættarfærsla, ættargripr, ættarhaugr, ættarhögg, ættarlaukr, ættarmenn, ættarmót, ættarnafn, ættarréttr, ættarskarð, ættarskjöldr, ættarskömm, ættarspillir, ættarstofn, ættarsvipr, ættartal, ættartala.

☞ Genealogies (ættir, ættar-tölur, ætt-vísi) form the ground-work of the old Icel. historiography; the ancient Saga-men delighted in them, and had a marvellous memory for lineages; in the Sagas the pedigrees give the clue by which to trace the succession of events, and supply the want of chronology. Whole chapters in the best Sagas, esp. at the beginning of a work, are set apart for genealogies, thus. Nj. ch. 1, 19, 20, 25, 26, 46, 57, 96, 97, 114, 115, 155, as also 47, 57, 58, 106 (begin.), Eb. ch. 1, 7, 8, 12, 65, Ld. ch. 1, 31, 32, Eg. ch. 23, Gullþ. ch. 1, Dropl. S. ch. 1–3, Þorst. hv. ch. 1–3, Þorst. Saga St. (the end), Rafns S. (the end-chapter), Flóam. S. ch. 1 (and esp. the end-chapter), Hænsa Þ. S. ch. 1, Gísl. S. pp. 8, 9, Vapn. S. ch. 3, Ísl. i. 353–362 (Biskupa-ættir), Guðm. S. ch. 1, Árna b. S. ch. 1, Þórð. S. hr. new Ed. (at the end), Fagrsk. 144–148, Orkn. S. ch. 39, 59. In the Sturlunga S. the initial chapters (Sturl. i. 44–55, with which the work of Sturla begins) are devoted to the tracing the families of that time; so also Sturl. i. 202–206, iii. 96, 97. But the chief store-house for genealogical knowledge is the Landnáma, which contains about 5000 pr. names, of which perhaps a third are names of women.