lösören

(gen. -is, pl. aurar), m.

1) ounce of silver, the eighth part of a mark (átta aurar í mörk); hringr, er stendr sex aura, a ring weighing or worth six aurar; verðr þá at hálfri mörk vaðmála e., then the eyrir is equal to half a mark in wadmal; e. brendr = e. brends silfrs, an ounce of pure silver;

2) ounce (svá var haglit stórt, at hvert haglkornit vá eyri);

3) money in general, property; ljósir aurar verða at löngum trega, bright silver brings long, woe; ilir af aurum, a miser; gefin til aura (= til fjár), wedded for money; hann vissi ekki aura sinna tal, he knew not the tale (extent) of his riches; lausir aurar, opp. to ‘fastr eyrir’, movables, chattels (lönd ok lausir aurar); fríðr eyrir (= frítt fé, kvikfé), cattle;

4) money, currency; Flosi spurði í hverjum aurum hann vildi fyrir hafa, asked in what money he wished to be paid.

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m., gen. eyris, dat. and acc. eyri; pl. aurar, gen. aura, dat. aurum; a word prob. of foreign origin, from Lat. aureus, Fr. or, Engl. ore; (A. S. ora is, however, prob. Danish.) The first coins known in Scandinavia were Roman or Byzantine, then Saxon or English; as the old word baugr (q. v.) denoted unwrought, uncoined gold and silver, so eyrir prob. originally meant a certain coin:

I. an ounce of silver or its amount in money, the eighth part of a mark; an eyrir is = sixty pennies (penningar) = three ertog; tuttugu penningar vegnir í örtug, þrír örtugar í eyri. átta aurar í mörk, 732. 16; silfr svá slegit at sextigir penninga görði eyri veginn, Grág. i. 500; penning, þat skal hinn tíundi (prob. a false reading, x instead of lx) hlutr eyris, 357; hálfs eyris met ek hverjan, I value each at a half eyrir, Glúm, (in a verse); leigja skip þrem aurum, to hire a boat for three aurar, Korm.; einn eyrir þess fjár heitir alaðsfestr, Grág. i. 88: the phrase, goldinn liverr eyrir, every ounce paid; galt Guðmundr hvern eyri þá þegar, Sturl. i. 141; gjalda tvá aura fyrir einn, to pay two for one, Grág. i. 396, ii. 234; verðr þá at hálfri mörk vaðmála eyrir, then the eyrir amounts to half a mark in wadmal, i. 500; brent silfr, ok er eyririnn at mörk lögaura, pure silver, the ounce of which amounts to a mark in lögaurar, 392; hring er stendr sex aura, a ring worth or weighing six aurar, Fms. ii. 246; hence baugr tví-eyringr, tvítug-eyringr, a ring weighing two or twenty aurar, Eb., Glúm.

β. as a weight of other things beside silver; hagl hvert vá eyri, every hail-stone weighed an ounce, Fms. i. 175; stæltr lé ok vegi áttjan aura, eggelningr, þeir skulu þrír fyrir tvá aura, a scythe of wrought steel and weighing eighteen aurar, an ell-long edge, three such cost two aurar (in silver), the proportion between the weight in wrought iron and the worth in silver being 1:28, Grág. i. 501.

γ. the amount of an ounce, without any notion of the medium of payment, hence such phrases as, tólf aura silfrs, twelve aurar to be paid in silver, Nj. 54; eyrir brendr, burnt eyrir, i. e. an eyrir sterling, pure silver, D. N.

II. money in general; skal þar sinn eyri hverjum dæma, to every one his due, his share, Grág. i. 125; in proverbs, ljósir aurar verða at löngum trega, bright silver brings long woe, Sl. 34; margr verðr af aurum api, Hm. 74; illr af aurum, a miser, Jd. 36; vára aura, our money, Vkv. 13; leggja aura, to lay up money, Eg. (in a verse); gefin til aura (= til fjár), wedded to money, Ísl. ii. 254 (in a verse); telja e-m aura, to tell out money to one, Skv. 3. 37, cp. 39: the phrase, hann veit ekki aura sinna tal, he knows not the tale of his aurar, of boundless wealth. Mar. 88: the allit. phrase, lönd (land, estate) ok lausir aurar (movables, cp. Dan. lösöre, Swed. lösören), Eg. 2; hafa fyrirgört löndum ok lausum eyri, K. Á. 94.

2. money or specie; the allit. phrase, aurar ok óðal, money and estates, N. G. L. i. 48; ef hann vill taka við aurum slíkum ( such payment) sem váttar vitu at hann reiddi honum, 93; þeim aurum öllum ( all valuables) sem til bús þeirra vóru keyptir, Grág. i. 412; Flosi spurði í hverjum aurum hann vildi fyrir hafa, F. asked in what money he wished to he paid, Nj. 259; lögaurar, such money as is legal tender; þú skalt gjalda mér vaðmál, ok skilrað hann frá aðra aura, other kinds of payment, Grág. i. 392; útborinn eyrir, in the phrase, mér er það enginn utborinn (or útburðar-) eyrir, I do not want to part with it, offer it for sale; eyrir vaðmála, payment in wadmal (stuff), 300, Bs. i. 639: for the double standard, the one woollen (ells), the other metal (rings or coin), and the confusion between them, see Dasent’s Burnt Njal, vol. ii. p. 397 sqq.: at different times and places the ell standard varied much, and we hear of three, six, nine, twelve ell standards (vide alin, p. 13): in such phrases as ‘mörk sex álna aura,’ the word ‘mörk’ denotes the amount, ‘sex álna’ the standard, and ‘aura’ the payment = payment of ‘a mark of six ells,’ cp. a pound sterling, K. Þ. K. 172; hundrað (the amount) þriggja álna (the standard) aura, Sturl. i. 141, 163, Boll. 362, Ísl. ii. 28; mörk sex álna eyris, Fsk. 10, N. G. L. i. 65, 101, 389, 390; þrem mörkum níu álna eyris, 387–389; sex merkr tólf álna eyrir, 81.

β. in various compds, etc.; land-aurar, land tax, Jb. ch. i, Ó. H. 54; öfundar-eyrir, money which brings envy, Fs. 12; sak-metinn e., sak-eyrir, sakar-eyrir, money payable in fines, Fms. vii. 300; ómaga-eyrir, the money of an orphan, K. Þ. K. 158, Grág. ii. 288; liksöngs-eyrir, a ‘lyke-fee,’ burial fee (to the clergyman); vísa-eyrir, a tax: góðr e., good payment, D. N.; verð-aurar, articles used for payment, id.; forn-gildr e., standard, sterling payment, id.; færi-eyrir = lausir aurar, Skv. 3. 50; flytjandi e., id., Fr.; kaupmanna e., trade money; búmanna e., D. N.; Norrænn e., Norse money, Lv. 25; Hjaltenzkr e., Shetland money, D. N. (vide Fritzner s. v.); fríðr e., ‘kind,’ i. e. sheep and cattle, Grág.

COMPDS:

I. pl., aura-dagr, m. pay-day, D. N. aura-lag, n. the standard of money, Fms. vii. 300, 304. aura-lán, n. worldly luck, 656 i. 3. aura-lógan, f. the squandering of money, 655 iii. 1. aura-lykt, n. payment, D. N. aura-skortr, m. scarcity of money, D. N. aura-taka, u, f. receipt of money, N. G. L. i. 93, Gþl. 298.

II. sing., eyris-bót, f. fine of an eyrir, Grág. i. 158. eyris-kaup, n. a bargain to the amount of an eyrir, Gþl. 511. eyris-land, n. land giving the rent of an eyrir, Fms. x. 146. eyris-skaði, a, m. loss to the amount of an eyrir, Jb. 166. eyris-tíund, f. tithe of an eyrir, K. Þ. K. 148. eyris-tollr, m. toll of an eyrir, H. E. ii. 95.