maid-song

f. a ‘singing maid,’ a kind of bell; klukkur, söngmeyjar tvær, D. I. i. 476; Postula-klokkur ok enn söngmeyjar fimm, Bs. i. 858.

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.

(fögr, fagrt; comp. fegri), a. fair, fine, beautiful; f. sýnum, álitum, fair to see; fagrt veðr, fair (fine) weather; f. söngr, beautiful (sweet) song; fagrt kvæði, a fine poem; talaði fagrt, en hugði flátt, spoke fair, but thought else.

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adj., fem. fögr, neut. fagrt; compar. fagrari or better fegri, superl. fagrastr or better fegrstr; mod. fegurri, fegurstr; [Ulf. fagrs = ευθετος; A. S. fœger; Engl. fair; O. H. G. fagar; Dan. favre, in Dan. ballads favre mö = fair maid; Swed. fager]:—- fair; used very freq. and almost as in Engl., except that the Icel. does not use it in a moral sense, like Engl. fair, unfair:

1. of persons, the body, etc.; fögr mær, a fair maid, Nj. 2, Vkv. 2; fagr sýnum, fair to see, Fms. i. 116; f. álitum, id., Edda 5, Skv. 1. 27; fögr hönd, a fair hand (hand-fögr), Fms. ix. 283; fógr augu, fair eyes (fagr-eygr); fagrt hár, fair hair, Ísl. ii; fagrar brúðir, fair brides, Sdm. 28; mær undarliga fögr, a wonderfully fair maid, Hkr. i. 40; fegra mann ( a fairer man) eðr tígurlegra, Fms. vi. 438.

2. of places; fögr er Hlíðin svá at mér hefir hón aldri jafnfögr sýnzk, Nj. 112; fagra túna (gen.), a fair abode (‘toun’), þkv. 3; salr sólu fegri, Vsp. 63; fagrar lendur, fair fields, Ld. 96: freq. in local names, Fagra-brekka, Fagr-ey, Fagri-dalr, Fagra-nes, Fagri-skógr, etc., = Fair-brink, -isle, -dale, -ness, -wood, etc., Landn.

3. of light, wind, weather, etc.; fagrt ljós, a bright light, Hom. 111, Fms. i. 230; skína fagrt, to shine brightly (of the sun); fagr byrr, a fair wind, Fms. ii. 182, Orkn. 356; fagrt veðr, fair weather, Ó. H. 216.

4. as an epithet of tears; in the phrase, gráta fögrum tárum, cp. Homer’s θαλερον δάκρυ; hence grát-fagr, beautiful in tears, Edda 63.

5. of the voice; fögr rödd, a sweet voice; fagr söngr, a sweet song, Bs. i. 168; fögr orð, a fine speech, Mork.

6. of other things; fagrt skip, a fine ship, Eg. 173; fagr borði, Nj. 24; fagrt kvæði, a fine poem, Ísl. ii. 237.

II. metaph., fagrt líf, a fair, goodly life, Mork. 72; lifa fagrt, to live a happy life, Hm. 53; fagrir siðir, fine manners, Sks. 279.

β. as an epithet of victory; fagr sigr, með fögrum sigri (freq.)

γ. mæla (tala) fagrt, to speak fair, Hm. 91, Ísl. ii. 339; talaði fagrt, en hugði flátt, spoke fair, but thought false, Fms. ii. 91; heita fögru, to promise fair, Hm. 131, Eg. (in a verse); lota öllu fögrv, cp. the Dan. ‘love guld og grönne skove’; biðja fagrt, to bid fair (with false intention), Am. 37.

B. In COMPDS, with nouns, adjectives, fair, fine, gracious:

I. prefixed, e. g. munn-fagr, fine-mouthed; augna-fagr, fair eyed; hand-fagr, fair-handed; gang-fagr, with a fair, gracious gait; lit-fagr, of fair hue; hár-fagr, fair-haired, etc.

II. suffixed, e. g. fagra-hvel, n. the fair wheel or disk, the sun (poët.), Alm. 17. fagra-ræfr, n. the fair roof, the sky (poët.), Alm. 13. fagr-bláinn, m. fair blue, a shield (poët.), Lex. Poët. fagr-blár, adj. light-blue. fagr-blóm, n., botan. trientalis, Hjalt. fagr-búinn, part. ‘fair-boun’, bright-dressed, chiefly as an epithet of a lady, Eg. 77, Hkr. iii. 290, Hom. 120, Am. 29: of a ship, Hkv. 1. 31. fagr-bygg, n. the fair ‘bigg’, gold (poët.), Lex. Poët., cp. Edda 83. fagr-dæll, adj. a man from Fairdale, Sturl. iii. 181, Landn. fagr-eygr (- eygðr), adj. fair-eyed, Bs. i. 127, 178, Hkr. ii. 2, Fms. xi. 205. fagr-ferðugr, adj. graceful, virtuous, Stj. 136, v. l. fagr-flekkóttr, adj. fair-flecked (of a snake), Stj. 97. fagr-gali, a, m. a fair, enticing song, enchantment, flattery. fagr-gim, n. the fair gem, the sun (poët.), Lv. 2. fagr-glóa, adj. fair-glowing, bright (poët.), Alm. 5 (the Sun as bride). fagr-grænn, adj. light-green, Fms. xi. 335, Hkr. i. 71 (of a field or tree). fagr-gulr, adj. light-yellow. fagr-hárr (- hærðr), adj. fair-haired, Nj. 16, Fms. xi. 205. fagr-hljóðr (-hljóðandi, - hljóðaðr), adj. sweet-voiced, Grett. 159, Fms. ii. 199. fagr-kinn, f. (fögrum-kinni, m., Fms. xi), fair-cheek, soubriquet of a lady, Sd. fagr-klæddr, part. fair-clad, Greg. 24, Dropl. 25. fagr-kolla, u, f., botan. hieracium, hawkweed, Hjalt. fagr-limi, a, m. ‘fair-branch’, a wood (poët.), Alm. 29. fagr-læti, n. blandishment, Barl. 119. fagr-máll, adj. fair-spoken, Fms. vi. 52. fagr-mæli, n. fair language, Barl. 24, 117, Nj. 167. Fms. i. 74. fagr-mæltr, part. bland, Fms. vi. 52, v. 1. fagr-orðr (- yrðr), adj. fair-spoken, bland, Sks. 370, 432, Sturl. ii. 133. fagr-raddaðr, part. sweet-voiced. fagr-rauðr, adj. light-red (opp. to dökk-rauðr or dumb-rauðr, dark-red), Þiðr. 181, Fas. i. 172, Vsp. 34. fagr-rendr, part. painted with fine stripes (of a shield), Hornklofi. fagr-skapaðr, part. fair-shapen, Sks. 627. fagr-skrifaðr, part. finely drawn, painted in bright colours, Greg. 26. fagr-skygðr, part. transparent as crystal (of a shield), Lex. Poët. fagr-strykvinn, part. painted with fair streaks (of a ship), Lex. Poët. fagr-varinn, part. wearing fine clothes (of a lady), Vkv. 37. fagr-vaxinn, part. of fair stature (of a lady), Band. (in a verse). fagr-yrði, n. pl. fair words, Fms. x. 104.