most likely

(bý; bjó, bjoggum or bjuggum; búinn), v.

1) to prepare, make ready;

búa skip í för, to make a ship ready for a voyage;

búa ferð sína, to make ready for a journey (voyage);

búa veizlu, to prepare (make preparations) for a feast;

búa mál á hendr e-m, to take out a summons against one, be in a lawsuit;

2) to dress, attire, adorn, ornament;

bjó hón hana sem hón kunni bezt, she dressed her as well as she could;

sá þeir konur vel búnar, well dressed;

búa beð, rekkju, to make a bed;

búa öndvegi, hús, to make a high seat, adorn a house (for a feast);

öll umgjörðin var búin gulli ok silfri, adorned (mounted) with gold and silver;

vápn búit mjök, much ornamented;

3) to fix one’s abode in a place, = byggja( þegar munu jötnar Ásgarð búa);

4) to deal with, to treat;

þeir bjuggu búi sem þeim líkaði, they treated it as they liked, viz. recklessly;

Haraldr bjó heldr úsparliga kornum Sveins, used S.’s stores rather unsparingly;

5) to live, dwell (búa í tjöldum);

þeir bjuggu þar um nóttina, they stayed there during the night;

sá maðr bjó á skipi (had his berth) næst Haraldi;

6) to have a household (cattle, sheep, and milk);

meðan þú vilt búa, as long as thou will keep house;

búa á or at, with the name of the place added in dat., to live at or in (hann bjó á Velli; Gunnar bjó at Hlíðarenda);

7) to be, = vera( skip þau öll, er á vatni búa);

búa í skapi, brjósti e-m, to be, dwell in one’s mind (eigi býr þér lítit í skapi);

sýnandi þá hjartaliga gleði, er í brjósti býr, that fills the breast;

8) to behave, conduct onself (bjuggu þeir þar fremr úfriðliga);

9) with preps.:

búa af e-u, to lose;

láta e-n af baugum búa, to let him be deprived of his riches;

búa at e-u, to treat, = búa e-u (cf. 4);

þeir höfðu spurt hvern veg Þórólfr hafði búit at herbergjum þeirra, how Th. had treated their premises;

búa e-t fyrir, to prepare (þeir hlutir, er guð hefir fyrir búit sínum ástvinum);

búa fyrir, to be present (hann ætlar, at Selþórir muni fyrir búa í hverju holti);

búa hjá konu, to lie with a woman;

búa í e-u, to be at the bottom of, = búa undir e-u (en í þessu vináttumerki bjuggu enn fleiri hlutir);

búa með e-m or e-rri, to cohabit with;

búa með konu, to lie with;

búa saman, to live together (as husband and wife, as friends); to have a common household (ef menn búa saman);

búa e-t til, to prepare, take the preparatory steps in a case (búa sök, mál, vígsmál til, cf. 1);

búa til veizlu, to prepare for a feast;

búa til seyðis, to get the fire ready for cooking;

búa til vetrsetu, to make preparations for a winter abode;

búa um e-n, to make one’s bed (var búit um þá Þórodd á seti ok lögðust þeir til svefns);

Þórólfr lét setja upp skip sitt ok um búa, he had his ship laid up and fenced round;

kváðu nú Guðrúnu eiga at búa um rauða skör Bolla, said that G. would have to dress B.’s (her husband’s) bloody head;

búa um andvirki, to fence and thatch hayricks;

at búa svá um, at aldri mátti vökna, to pack it up so that it could not get wet;

búa svá um, at (with subj.), to arrange it so, that;

búa eigi um heilt við e-n, to be plotting something against one;

búa um nökkurn skoll, to brood over some mischief (deceit);

búa um grun, to be suspicious;

búa um hverfan hug, to be fickleminded;

gott er um öruggt at búa, to be in a safe position;

búa undir e-u, to be subject to, suffer, endure (hart mun þykkja undir at búa);

eiga undir slíkum ofsa at búa, to have to put up with such insolence; to be the (hidden) reason of, to be at the bottom of (þat bjó þar undir, at hann vildi taka ríkit undir sik);

þér vitið gørst, hvat yðr býr undir (what reason you have) at girnast eina útlenda mey;

búa e-n veg við e-n, to behave or act so and so towards one;

sárt býr þú nú við mik, Þóra, thou treatest me sorely;

búa við e-t, to enjoy (þú býr við eilífa ást ok bíðr eilífra ömbuna); to submit to, put up with;

ok mun eigi við þat mega búa, it will be too hard to bide;

búa yfir e-u, to hide, conceal;

framhlutr ormsins býr yfir eitri, is venomous;

lítill búkr býr yfir miklu viti, little body holds mickle wit;

búa yfir brögðum, flærð ok vélum, to brood over tricks, falsehood, and deceit;

10) refl., búast.

* * *

pret. sing. bjó, 2nd pers. bjótt, mod. bjóst; plur. bjoggu, bjöggu, and mod. bjuggu, or even buggu; sup. búit, búið, and (rarely) contr. búð; part. búinn; pret. subj. bjöggi, mod. byggi or bjyggi; pres. sing. indic. bý; pl. búm, mod. búum: reflex. forms býsk or býst, bjósk or bjóst, bjöggusk, búisk, etc.: poët. forms with suffixed negative bjó-at, Skv. 3. 39: an obsolete pret. bjoggi = bjó, Fms. ix. 440 (in a verse); bjöggisk = bjósk, Hom. 118. [Búa is originally a reduplicated and contracted verb answering to Goth. búan, of which the pret. may have been baibau: by bûan Ulf. renders Gr. οικειν, κατοικειν; Hel. bûan = habitare; Germ. bauen; Swed. and Dan. bo. The Icel. distinguishes between the strong neut. and originally redupl. verb búa, and the transit. and weak byggja, q. v.: búa seems to be kindred to Gr. φύω, εφυσα (cp. Sansk. bhû, bhavâmi, Lat. fui); byggja to Lat. făcio, cp. Swed.-Dan. bygga, Scot. and North. E. to ‘big,’ i. e. to build; cp. Lat. aedificare, nidificare: again, the coincidence in sense with the Gr. οικος, οικειν, Lat. vicus, is no less striking, cp. the references s. v. bú above. Búa, as a root word, is one of the most interesting words in the Scandin. tongues; bú, bær, bygg, bygð, byggja, etc., all belong to this family: it survives in the North. E. word to ‘big,’ in the Germ. bauen ( to till), and possibly (v. above) in the auxiliary verb ‘to be.’]

A. NEUTER, to live, abide, dwell, = Gr. οικειν, Lat. habitare; sú synd sem í mér býr, Rom. vii. 17, 20; í mér, þat er í mínu holdi, býr ekki gott, 18; hann sem býr í ljósinu, 1 Tim. vi. 16; fyrir Heilagan Anda sem í oss býr, 2 Tim. i. 14; Látið Christs orð ríkulega búa meðal yðar, Col. iii. 16; þá trú … sem áðr fyr bjó í þinni ömmu Loide, 2 Tim. i. 5; þat hit góða sem í oss býr, 14; hann sem býr í ljósinu, þar einginn kann til að komast, 1 Tim. vi. 16; hence íbúð, living in, etc.; in many of those passages some Edd. of N. T. use byggja, but búa suits better: of a temporary abode, hann bjó í tjöldum, he abode in tents, Fms. x. 413.

2. a naut. term; þeir bjuggu þar um nóttina, they stayed, cast anchor during the night, Fms. vii. 3: on board ship, to have one’s berth, sá maðr bjó á skipi næst Haraldi er hét Loðinn, 166; engi maðr skyldi búa á þessu skipi yngri en tvítugr, x. 321.

3. to live together as man and wife; henni hagar að b. við hann, 1 Cor. vii. 12; hagar honum hjá henni að b., 13; b. með húsfrú sinni, Stj. 47; b. við; Helgi prestr bjó við konu þá, er Þórdís hét (of concubinage), Sturl. i. 141; but búa saman, of wedded life, K. Á. 134.

4. b. fyrir, to be present in the place: at Selþórir muni fyrir b. í hverju holti, Fms. iv. 260: recipr., sjór ok skúgr bjoggusk í grend, Skálda 202, Baruch.

5. esp. (v. bú) to have a household, cattle, sheep, and milk; hence búandi, bóndi, bær, and bú; búa við málnytu ( milk), ok hafa kýr ok ær at búi, Nj. 236, Grág. i. 168, 335; b. búi (dat.), 153, K. Þ. K. 90; búa búi sínu, to ‘big ane’s ain biggin,’ have one’s own homestead.

β. absol., meðan þú vilt b., so long as thou wilt keep bouse, Hrafn. 9; b. vel, illa, to be a good (bad) housekeeper; vænt er að kunna vel að búa, Bb. 3. 1; Salomon kóngur kunni að b., 100; fara að b., to begin housekeeping, 2. 6; b. á jörðu, to keep a farm, gefa þeim óðul sín er á bjoggu, Fms. i. 21.

γ. búa á …, at …, i …, with the name of the place added, to live at or in a place; hann bjó á Velli (the farm) á Rangárvöllum (the county), Nj. 1; Höskuldr bjó á Höskuldstöðum, 2: hann bjó at Varmalæk, 22; hann bjó undir Felli, 16; Gunnarr bjó at Hlíðarenda, 29; Njáll bjó at Bergþórshváli, 30, 38, 147, 162, 164, 173, 174, 213, Landn. 39–41, and in numberless passages; Eb., Ld., Eg., Sturl., Bs., Ísl. ii, etc. (very freq.): also b. í brjósti, skapi, huga e-m, to be, dwell in one’s mind, with the notion of rooted conviction or determination, þess hins mikla áhuga, er þér býr í brjósti, Fms. iv. 80; því er mér hefir lengi í skapi búit, 78; ekki muntu leynask fyrir mér, veit ek hvat í býr skapinu, Lv. 16.

II. metaph. and with prepp.; b. um e-t, or b. yfir e-u, almost in an uncanny sense, to brood over hidden schemes, designs, resentment, or the like; búa um hverfan hug, to be of a fickle mind, Skv. 3. 39; b. eigi um heilt, to brood over something against one, to be insincere, Fms. xi. 365; b. um skoll, to brood over some deceit, id.; b. um grun, to be suspicious, ii. 87: in good sense, b. um eitt lunderni, to be of one mind, Jb. 17; b. um þrek, hug, to have a bold heart, Lex. Poët.: b. í or undir e-u, to be at the bottom of a thing; en í þessu vináttu merki bjoggu enn fleiri hlutir, Ó. H. 125; mart býr í þokunni (a proverb), many things bide in the mist; en þat b. mest undir ferð Áka, at …, Fms. xi. 45; þóttusk eigi vita hvat undir myndi b., Nj. 62: b. yfir e-u, to brood over something, conceal; (ormrinn) bjó yfir eitri, i. e. the snake was venomous, Fms. vi. 351: the saying, lítill búkr býr yfir miklu viti, little bulk hides mickle wit, Al.; b. yfir flærð ok vélum, to brood over falsehood and deceit, id.; b. yfir brögðum, Fas. i. 290: b. undir, við e-t, to live under or with a thing, to bide, put up with; eiga undir slíkum ofsa at b., to have to put up with such insolence, Fms. xi. 248; at hart mun þykkja undir at b., Nj. 90, 101; ok mun eigi við þat mega b., i. e. it will be too hard to bide, 164; því at bændr máttu eigi við hitt b., Fms. xi. 224.

III. in a half active sense; b. at e-u, or b. e-u (with dat.), to treat; þeir höfðu spurt hvern veg Þórólfr hafði búit at herbergjum þeirra, how Th. had used their premises, Eg. 85; þeir bjoggu búi sem þeim líkaði (where with dat.), i. e. they treated it recklessly, Bs. i. 544; Haraldr jarl fór til bús Sveins, ok bjó þá heldr úspakliga kornum hans, Orkn. 424 (in all passages in bad sense): búa vel saman, to live well together, be friendly, Fms. xi. 312; hence sam-búð, living together; b. við e-n, to treat one so and so; sárt býr þú við mik, Þóra, thou treatest me sorely, vii. 203.

B. ACTIVE, to make ready: the sense and form here reminds one of the Gr. ποιειν: [this sense is much used in Old Engl., esp. the part. bone, boon, or boun, ready, (‘boun to go,’ Chaucer, etc.); in later Engl. ‘boun’ was corrupted into ‘bound,’ in such naut. phrases as bound for a port, etc.: from this part, the ballad writers formed a fresh verb, to boun, ‘busk ye, boun ye;’ ‘busk’ is a remnant of the old reflex, búask, see Dasent, Burnt Njal, pref. xvi. note, and cp. below III.]

I. to make ready, ‘boun,’ for a journey; b. ferð, för sína; and as a naut. term, b. skip, to make ready for sea; bjoggu þeir ferð sína, Fms. ix. 453; en er þeir vóru búnir, Nj. 122; ok vóru þá mjök brott búnir, they were ‘boun’ for sea, Fms. vii. 101; bjó hann skip sitt, Nj. 128; en skip er brotið, svá at eigi er í för búanda á því sumri, i. e. ship unfit to go to sea, Grág. i. 92; b. sik til göngu, to be ‘boun’ for a walk, Ld. 46; b. sik at keyra, to make one ready for …, Nj. 91.

β. as a law term, b. sök, mál, or adding til, b. til sök, mál á hendr e-m, to take out a summons against one, begin a lawsuit; b. mál í dóm, of the preliminaries to a lawsuit, hence málatilbúningr, in numberless cases in the Grágás and Sagas.

γ. generally to prepare, make; b. smyrsl, to make ointments, Rb. 82.

2. = Old Engl. to boun, i. e. to dress, equip; b. sik, to dress; svá búinn, so dressed, Fms. xi. 272; hence búningr, dress (freq.); vel búinn, well-dressed, Nj. 3, Ísl. ii. 434; spari-búinn, in holiday dress; illa búinn, ill-dressed; síðan bjó hon hana sem hon kunni, she dressed her as well as she could, Finnb. 258; b. beð, rekkjur, to make a bed, Eg. 236; b. upp hvílur, id., Nj. 168; b. öndvegi, hús, to make a high seat, dress a house for a feast, 175, (hús-búnaðr, hús-búningr, tapestry); búa borð, to dress the table, (borð búnaðr, table-service); b. stofu, Fms. iv. 75.

β. búa til veizlu, to make ‘boun’ ( prepare) for a feast, Eg. 38, Fms. vii. 307; b. til seyðis, to make the fire ‘boun’ for cooking, Nj. 199; b. til vetrsetu, to make ‘boun’ for a winter abode, Fms. x. 42; til-búa, and fyrir-b., to prepare; eg fer héðan að til-b. yðr stað, John xiv. 3; eignizt það ríki sem yðr var til-búið frá upphafi veraldar, Matth. xxv. 34.

γ. b. um e-t, in mod. use with the notion of packing up, to make into a bundle, of parcels, letters, etc.; hence um-búningr and um-búðir, a packing, packing-cover; b. um rúm, hvílu, to make a bed; búa um e-n, to make one’s bed; var búið um þá Þórodd í seti, ok lögðusk þeir til svefns, Th.’s bed was made on the benches, and they went to sleep, Ó. H. 153; skaltú nú sjá hvar vit leggumk niðr, ok hversu ek bý um okkr (of the dying Njal), Nj. 701; er mér sagt at hann hafi illa um búit, of a dead body, 51; þeir höfðu (svá) um sik búit ( they had covered themselves so) at þá mátti eigi sjá, 261; kváðu nú Guðrúnu eiga at búa um rauða skör Bolla, said that G. would have to comb B.’s (her husband’s) bloody head, Ld. 244; búa svá um at aldri mátti vökna, pack it up so that it cannot get wet, Fms. vii. 225; Þórólfr lét setja upp skip ok um búa, he had the ship laid up and fenced it round (for the winter), Eg. 199; b. um andvirki, to fence and thatch bay-ricks, Grág. ii. 335: metaph. to manage, preserve a thing, Fms. ix. 52; aumlega búinn, in a piteous state, Hom. 115.

3. to ornament, esp. with metals or artificial work of any kind, of clothes laced with gold; kyrtill hlaðbúinn, Ísl. ii. 434, Nj. 48, Vm. 129: of gloves, B. K. 84: of a belt with stones or artificial work, Fms. xi. 271: of a drinking-horn, D. N. (Fr.); but esp. of a weapon, sword, or the like, enamelled with gold or silver (gull-búinn, silfr-búinn); búin gulli ok silfri, Fms. i. 15; búinn knífr, xi. 271; vápn búit mjök, much ornamented, ii. 255, iv. 77, 130, Eb. 226, 228.

β. part., búinn at e-u, or vel búinn, metaph. endowed with, well endowed; at flestum í þróttum vel búinn, Nj. 61, Fms. x. 295; at auð vel búinn, wealthy, 410; vel búinn at hreysti ok allri atgörvi, Eg. 82; bezt at viti búinn, Fms. xi. 51.

II. particular use of the part. pass, ‘boun,’ ready, willing; margir munu búnir at kaupa, ready, willing to buy, Fms. vi. 218; hann kvaðsk þess fyrir löngu búinn, Ld. 66, Fms. iii. 123; nefna vátta at þeir eru búnir ( ready) at leysa kvið þann af hendi, Grág. i. 54; vóru allir til þess búnir, Fms. xi. 360: compar., engir menn sýna sik búnari ( more willing) til liðveizlu, Sturl. i. 103: the allit. phrase, vera boðinn og búinn til e-s, vide bjóða VI: denoting fitted, adapted, ek em gamall, ok lítt b. at ( little fit to) hefna sona minna, Nj. 200; þótt ek sé verr til b. en hann fyrir vanheilsu sakir, Fms. vii. 275; eiga við búið (mod. vera við búinn), to keep oneself ready, to be on one’s guard, Bs. i. 537.

2. on the point of doing, about to do so and so; hann var búinn til falls, he was just about to tumble, Fms. x. 314; en áðr þeir kómu var búið til hins mesta váða, ix. 444, v. l.

β. neut. búið is used almost adverbially, on the point of, just about to; ok búið við skipbroti, Ísl. ii. 245; búið við váða miklum, Fms. ix. 310; sagði at þá var búit við geig mikinn með þeim feðgum, Eg. 158: this is rare and obsolete in mod. usage; and the Icel. now say, liggja við mér lá við að detta, where an old writer would have said, ek var búinn at detta; the sense would else be ambiguous, as búinn, vera búinn, in mod. usage means to have done; ég er búinn að eta, I have done eating; vera búinn að e-u (a work, business of any kind), to have done with it; also absol., eg er búinn, I have done; thus e. g. vera b. að kaupa, fyrir löngu b., b. at græða, leysa, etc., in mod. sense means to have done, done long ago; only by adding prepp. við, til (vera við búinn, til búinn) the part. resumes its old sense: on the other hand, búinn in the sense of having done hardly ever occurs in old writers.

γ. búð (búið) is even used adverbially = may be, may happen; with subj. with or without ‘at,’ búð, svá sé til ætlað, may be, it will come so to happen, Nj. 114; búð, dragi til þess sem vera vill, 185; búð, eigi fari fjarri því sem þú gazt til, id., Ed. Johns. 508, note c; búð, svá þykki sem ek grípa gulli við þá, 9, note 3; búð, eigi hendi hann slík úgipta annat sinn, 42; búð, ek láta annars víti at varnaði verða, 106; búð, vér þurfim enn hlífanna, Sturl. ii. 137 (vellum MSS.; um ríð, Ed., quite without sense), cp. also Eb. 27 new Ed.: in mod. usage it is freq. to say, það er búið, vel búið, albúið, etc., it is likely, most likely that …

δ. svá búit, adverbially, and proncd. as if one word, as matters stand, or even temp. at present, as yet; eigi mun hlýða svá búit, i. e. it will not do ‘so done,’ i. e. something else must be done, Eg. 507; eigi munu þér fá at unnit svá búið, i. e. not as yet, Fms. vii. 270; stendr þar nú svá búit (i. e. unchanged), um hríð, xi. 81; en berjask eigi svo búit, not fight as yet, Nj. 229; segja Eyjólfi til svá búins, they tell Eyolf the state of things, viz. that nothing had been done, Gísl. 41; þeir skildu við svá búit; þeir lögðu frá við svá búið, implying ‘vain effort,’ Germ. ‘unverrichteter Sache,’ Ísl. ii, Hkr. i. 340: at svá búnu, adverbially, as yet, at present; hann kvaðsk eigi fýsask til Íslands at svá búnu, Nj. 123, Fms. xi. 131; þenna draum segjum vér engum manni at svá búnu, this dream we will not tell to anybody as yet, Nj. 212; en at svá búnu tjár ekki, Fas. i. 364.

III. reflex. to ‘boun’ or ‘busk’ oneself, make oneself ready, equip oneself; gengu menn þá á skip sín, ok bjoggusk sem hvatligast, Fms. v. 15: adding the infinitive of a verb as predicate, bjósk hann at fara norðr til Þrandheims, Eg. 18; or ellipt., where búask thus denotes the act itself, nú býsk hann út til Íslands, i. e. he ‘busked’ him to go …, Nj. 10; bjoggusk þeir fóstbræðr í hernað, they went on a free-booting trip, Landn. 31; seg Agli at þeir búisk þaðan fimmtán, 94: or adding another verb denoting the act, in the same tense, bjósk Haraldr konungr úr Þrándheimi með skipaliði, ok fór suðr á Mæri, he ‘busked’ him … and went south, Eg. 7; the journey added in gen., búask ferðar sinnar, Fms. i. 3; búask menn ferða sinna, Ld. 177.

β. denoting intention, hidden or not put into action; fór sá kurr, at Skúli byggisk á land upp, Fms. ix. 483.

2. to prepare for a thing; búask við boði, veizlu, etc., Nj. 10, Korm. 10; b. (vel, kristilega) við dauða sínum, andláti sínu, (eccl.) to prepare for one’s death, Fs. 80, Bs. i. 74; búask við vetri, to provide for the winter, get store in, Fms. xi. 415; b. við úfriði, vii. 23.

β. to be on one’s guard, take steps to prevent a thing; nú ríða hér úvinir þínir at þér; skaltu svá við búask, i. e. be sure of that, make up thy mind, Nj. 264; bústu svá við, skal hann kveða, at …, Grág. ii. 244.

γ. such phrases as, búask um = búa um sik, to make one’s own bed, encamp, make oneself comfortable, Nj. 259; tjölduðu búðir ok bjöggusk vel um, 219; var hörð veðrátta, svá at ekki mátti úti um búask, Fms. x. 13. Ld. 348; in the last passage the verb is deponent.

3. metaph., b. við e-u, to expect, freq. in mod. usage; in phrases, það er ekki við að búast, it cannot be expected; búast við e-m, to expect a guest, or the like.

β. to intend, think about; eg býst við að koma, I hope to come; eg bjóst aldrei við því, I never hoped for that, it never entered my mind, and in numberless cases.

4. passive (very rare and not classical); um kveldit er matr bjósk = er m. var búinn, Fms. ix. 364.

n. whit, bit; hóti heldr, a bit more, a good deal more; with superl., hóti líkast, most likely; þat er hóti úmakligast, that is least undeserved.

n. pl. threats; hafa í hótum við e-n, to threaten one.

* * *

n., contr. from hvat (q. v.), a whit, bit; hóti heldr, a bit more, i. e. a good deal more, Fms. vii. 141; hóti ráðhollari, a good deal better, Ísl. ii. 347; hóti neðar, Hrafn. 18: hóti mun, a whit, a grain, a hair’s breadth; hóti mun skjótara, a bit swifter, Rb. 106, Fms. vii. 170, cp. Rb. 1812. 66: with superl., hóti helzt, a whit better, Ísl. ii. 134; hóti líkast, most likely, Fms. vi. 351; þat er hóti úmaklegast, i. e. that is least undeserved! iii. 25; endisk því þetta hóti helzt, þótt ekki væri með fullu, Gísl. 136, denoting a slight difference: gen. plur., er nú lítilla hóta ávant, Karl. 96: dat. plur., hótum framar, Clar.: gen., hóts annan veg, quite the other way, Nj. (in a verse).

2. the phrase, ekki hót, not a whit.

1) clear, evident, certain (þér skal sýn búhlífð í því vera); þótti öllum at sýnu ganga, at, all thought that it was clear, beyond doubt, that; dat. sing. ‘sýnu’ with a compar. a great deal, much (sýnu meiri, minni, betri, verri); with a superl., E. gekk upp sýnu fyrstr, far ahead; neut. ‘synt’ as adv. evidently, clearly (þik skortir sýnt við hann);

2) fit, likely; ef yðr þykkir eigi annat sýnna fyrir liggja en vera hér, if you have nothing better to do.

* * *

adj. visible; þótt ek sjá sýnar váfur, Grett. 112 A.

2. clear, evident; þer skal sýn búhlífð í því vera, Fms. v. 306; lýsir hann því, at hann er sýnn at brigðar-manni, if he declares himself as the unmistakable brigðar-mann, Gþl. 290; þeir atburðir er miklu eru sýnstir til þess úárans, most likely to cause, Sks. 332 B; sýna stund, a good while, Grett. (in a verse): likely, ef yðr þykkir eigi annat sýnna fyrir liggja enn vera hér, if you have nothing better to do than …, Fær. 45; sýnisk mér sem eigi muni í annat sinn sýnna at leita til fundar við Bolla enn nú, there will not be a better chance another time, Ld. 238; er þessu sýnna at svá beri (berr Cod.) til, there is every probability that it will turn out so, Fms. xi. 114; þótti mönnum ó-sýnt ( uncertain) hverr friðr gefinn mundi, Ó. H. 188.

3. sightly; vápnum ok váðum skolu vinir gleðjask, þat er á sjálfum sýnst, Hm.

II. spec. or adverb. usages; þótti þá öllum at sýnu ganga, at stórflokkar mundi komnir í héraðit, all thought that it was clear, beyond doubt, that …, Sturl. iii. 41.

2. sýnu with a compar., a great deal; sýnu minna, a great deal less, far less, Fms. vii. 242, xi. 112; sýnu meiri, much greater, Fas. ii. 515; sýnu verri, much worse, Ld. 322, Fb. i. 259; sýnu betri, s. betr, a great deal better, Fms. iii. 222, xi. 154; sýnu yngri, v. 263: superl., sýnu fyrstr, far a-head, Fær. 168.

3. sýnt, as adv. evidently, quite, very; greindi þá sýnt um, Vápn. 5; þik skortir sýnt við hann, thou fallest quite short of him, thou art no match for him, Ísl. ii. 215; hildr var sýnt í vexti, the battle waxed quite hot, Km.

III. in compds, ein-sýnn, one-eyed; tví-sýnn, doubtful; víð-sýnn, auð-sýnn, evident; ó-sýnt, uncertain.

(önnur, annat), a., indef. pron., ord. numb.;

1) one of the two, the one (of two);

Egill þessi hefir aðra hönd (only one hand) ok er kaliaðr einhendr;

á aðra hönd, on the one side;

a. … a. one … the other (hét a. Sörli, en a. Þorkell);

2) second;

í annat sinn, for the second time;

høggr hann þegar annat (viz. högg), a second blow;

3) the next following;

á öðru hausti, the next autumn;

annat sumar eptir;

fig., next in value or rank;

annat mest hof í Noregi, the next greatest temple;

fjölmennast þing annat eptir brennu Njáls, the fullest assembly next to that after the burning of N.;

4) some other (hón lék á gólfinu við aðrar meyjar);

Þórarinn ok tíu menn aðrir, and ten men besides;

hann var örvari af fé en nokkurr a., than anybody else;

5) other, different;

öl er a. maðr, ale (a drunken man) is another man, is not the same man;

þau höfðu annan átrúnað, a different religion;

6) in various combinations;

annarr slíkr, such another, another of the same sort;

gekk a. til at öðrum (one after another) at biðja hann;

hverja nótt aðra sem aðra, every night in turn;

annat var orð Finns harðara en annat, each word of Finn was harder than another;

aðrir … aðrir, some … others;

einir ok aðrir, various;

ymsir ok aðrir, now one, now another (nefna upp ymsa ok aðra);

hvárr (or hverr) … annan, each other, one another (hétu hvárir öðrum atförum);

við þau tíðindi urðu allir giaðir ok sagði hverr öðrum, one told the news to another, man to man.

* * *

önnur, annat, adj.; pl. aðrir; gen. pl. annarra; dat. sing. f. annarri, [Ulf. anþar; A. S. oþar; Engl. other; Germ, andere; Swed. andra and annan: in Icel. assimilated, and, if followed by an r, the nn changes into ð.]

I. = ετερος, alter:

1. one of two, the other; tveir formenn þeirra, hét annarr, the one of them, Fms. ix. 372; sá er af öðrum ber, be that gets the better of it, Nj. 15; a. augat, Fms. ii. 61; á öðrum fæti, Bs. i. 387, Edda 42; annarri hendi…, en annarri, with the one hand …, with the other, Eb. 250, 238; á aðra hönd, on the one side, Grág. i. 432, Nj. 50; a. kné, Bs. i. 680; til annarrar handar, Nj. 50; annarr—annarr, one—other; gullkross á öðrum en ari af gulli á öðrum, Fms. x. 15. Peculiar is the phrase, við annan, þriðja, fjórða … mann, = being two, three, four … altogether; við annan, oneself and one besides, Eb. 60; cp. the Greek τρίτον ήμιτάλαντον, two talents and a half, Germ. anderthalh.

2. secundus, a cardinal number, the second; sá maðr var þar a. Íslenzkr, Fms. xi. 129; í annat sinn, for the second time, Íb. ch. 1, 9; a. vetr aldrs hans, Bs. i. 415; höggr harm þegar annat (viz. högg), a second blow, Sturl. ii. 118.

β. the next following, Lat. proximus; á öðru hausti, the next autumn, Ísl. ii. 228; önnur misseri, the following year, Bs. i. 437, 417; a. sumar eptir, 415, Fms. i. 237. Metaph. the second, next in value or rank, or the like; annat mest hof í Noregi, the next greatest temple, Nj. 129; a. mestr höfðingi, the next in power, Ísl. ii. 202; fjölmennast þing, annat eptir brennu Njáls, the fullest parliament next to that after the burning of N., 259; vitrastr lögmanna annarr en Skapti, the wisest speaker next after S., Bs. i. 28; a. mestr maðr í Danmörk, the next greatest man, Fms. xi. 51; annat bezt ríki, v. 297; var annarr sterkastr er hét Freysteinn, the next strongest champion, Eb. 156; mestrar náttúru a. en Þorsteinn, Fs. 74, Fms. iv. 58.

II. = αλλος, alius, one of many, other, both in sing. and pl.; hon lék á gólfinu við aðrar meyjar, Nj. 2; mart var með henni annara kvenna, i. e. many women besides, 50; jafnt sekr sem aðrir menn, as guilty as anybody else, Grág. i. 432; einginn annarra Knúts manna, none besides, Fms. x. 192; ef þeir gerði lönd sín helgari enn aðrar jarðir, … than all other grounds, Eb. 20; er Þórólfr hafði tignað um fram aðra staði, … more than any other place, id.; kalla þá jörð nú eigi helgari enn aðra, id.; tók Börkr þann kost er hann hafði öðrum ætlað, 40; Þórarinn vann eið … ok tíu menn aðrir, Th. and ten men besides, 48; þeir þóttust fyrir öðrum mönnum, … over all other people, 20; góðr drengr um fram alla menn aðra, 30; af eyjum ok öðru sjófangi, other produce of the sea, 12; hann skal tvá menn nefna aðra en sik, … besides himself, Grág. i. 57; hann var örvari af fé enn nokkurr annarr, … than anybody else, Bret.; jafnt sem annat fúlgufé, as any other money, Grág. i. 432.

2. other, different, in the proverb, öl er annarr maðr, ale (a drunken man) is another man, is not the true man, never mind what he says, Grett. 98; the proverb is also used reversely, öl er innri ( the inner) maðr, ‘in vino veritas:’ annað er gæfa ok görfuleiki, luck and achievements are two things (a proverb); önnur var þá æfi, viz. the reverse of what it is now (a proverb), Grett. 94 (in a verse); ætla ek þik annan mann en þú segir, Fms. xi. 192; hafi þér Danir heldr til annars gört, you deserve something different, worse than that, id.; varð þá annan veg, otherwise, Hkr. ii. 7; Björn varð þess víss at þau höfðu annan átrúnað, … different religion, Eb. 12.

3. like οι αλλοι, reliqui, the rest, the remains; þá er eigi sagt hversu öðrum var skipað, Nj. 50; at hönd b. sé fyrir innan n., en annarr líkami hans ( the rest of his body) fyrir utan, 1812. 18.

III. repeated in comparative clauses: annarr—annarr, or connected with einn, hvárr, hverr, ymsir: gékk annarr af öðrum at biðja hann, alius ex alio, one after another, Bs. i. 128; hverja nótt aðra sem aðra, every night in turn, Mag. 2; annat var orð Finns harðara enn annat, every word of Finn was harder than that which went before it, of a climax, Fms. v. 207: einn—annarr, alius atque alius, one and another, various; eina hluti ok aðra, Stj. 81; einar afleiðingar ok aðrar, Barl. 36; einir ok aðrir, various, Stj. 3; ef maðr telr svá, at hann var einn eðr annarr (that he was anybody, this or that man, viz. if he does not give the name precisely), ok er hinn eigi þá skyldr at rísa ór dómi, Grág. i. 28: ymsir—aðrir, in turn, now this, now the other; ymsir eiga högg í annars garð (a proverb); heita á helga menn, ok nefna ymsa ok aðra (now one, now another), Mar. 35: þágu þessir riddarar veizlur ymsir at öðrum, gave banquets one to another in turn, id.; færðu ymsir aðra niðr, now one was under water and now the other, of two men struggling whilst swimming, Fms. ii. 269: hvárr—annan, hverir—aðra, each other; mæltu hvárir vel fyrir öðrum; hétu hvárir öðrum atförum: of a rapid succession, hvert vandræði kom á bak öðru, misfortunes never come singly, but one on the back of the other, Fr.; við þau tiðindi urðu allir glaðir ok sagði hverr öðrum, one told the news to another, man to man, Fms. i. 21; þóttust hvárirtveggju meira vald at hafa í borginni en aðrir, 655 xvii. 1; hvárirtveggja—aðrir, αλλελοις, mutually, reciprocally; skulu nú h. ganga til ok veita öðrum grið, Nj. 190.

IV. annat, n. used as a subst.; þetta sem annat, as other things, Fas. i. 517; skaltu eigi þora annat, en, Nj. 74; ef eigi bæri a. til, unless something happened, Bs. i. 350: at öllu annars, in everything else, Grág. ii. 141, K. Þ. K. 98: annars simply used adverb. = else = ella; now very freq. but very rare in old writers; stendr a. ríki þitt í mikilli hættu, Fas. i. 459, from a paper MS. and in a text most likely interpolated in the 17th century.

COMPDS: annarskonar, annarskostar, annarsstaðar, annarsvegar. annarra- gen. pl. is used in annarra-bræðra, -bræðri, pl. fourth cousins, Grág. i. 285, ii. 172; cp. D. I. i. 185; v. næsta-bræðra = third cousins, þriðja-bræðra = fifth cousins.

1) back; fara (snúa, koma, senda, sœkja, hverfa) a., to go (turn etc.) back; reka a., to drive back, repel; kalla a., to recall, revoke;

2) backwards; fram ok a., backwards and forwards, to and fro; þeir settu hnakka á bak sér a., they bent their necks backwards;

3) lúka (láta) a., to shut, close; hlið, port, hurð er a., is shut;

4) at the back, in the rear; þat er maðr fram, en dýr a., the fore part a man, the hind part of a beast; bæði a. ok fram, stem and stern (of a ship); Sigurðr sat a. á kistunni, S. sat aft on the stern-chest;

5) again; Freyja vaknar ok snerist við ok sofnar a., and falls asleep again.

* * *

and aftr (aptar, N. G. L. i. 347), adv., compar. aptar, superl. aptast, [Ulf. aftra = πάλιν], the spelling with p is borne out by the Gr. αψ.

I. Loc. back, back again:

1. WITH MOTION, connected with verbs denoting to go or move, such as fara, ganga, koma, leiða, senda, snúa, sækja, etc., where aptr almost answers to Lat. re-, remittere, reducere, reverti …; gefa a., reddere; bera a., refellere; kalla a., revocare; reka a., repellere: a. hverfr lygi þá er sönnu mætir (a proverb), a lie turns back when it meets truth, Bs. i. 639. ‘aptr’ implies a notion a loco or in locum, ‘eptir’ that of remaining in loco; thus skila a. means remittere; skilja eptir, relinquere; taka a., recipere, in a bad sense; taka eptir, animum attendere; fara a., redire; vera e., remanere, etc.; fara, snúa, koma, senda, sækja, hverfa a., Nj. 260, 281, Fms. x. 395, iv. 300, Edda 30, Eg. 271, Eb. 4, Fs. 6; færa a., to repay, N. G. L. i. 20; snúast a., Lækn. 472. Without actual motion,—as of sounds; þeir heyrðu a. í rjóðrit óp, they heard shouting behind them, Fms. iv. 300; nú skal eigi prestr ganga svá langt frá kirkju at hann heyri eigi klokkur hljóð aftar (= aftr), he shall not go out of the sound of the bells, N. G. L. i. 347.

β. backwards; fram ok a., to and fro (freq.); reið hann suðr aptr, rode back again, Nj. 29; aptr á bak, supine, bent or turned back, Eg. 380; þeir settu hnakka á bak sér a., bent their necks backwards in order to be able to see, Edda 30; skreiðast a. af hestinum, to slip down backwards from the croup of a horse, to dismount, Fs. 65.

γ. connected with many verbs such as, láta, lúka a., to close, shut, opp. to láta, lúka upp, Fær. 264, Eg. 7, Landn. 162; in a reverse sense to Lat. recludere, reserere, rescindere, resolvere.

2. WITHOUT MOTION = aptan, the hind part, the back of anything; þat er maðr fram ( superne), en dýr a., the fore part a man, the hind part a beast, 673. 2; síðan lagði hann at tennrnar a. við huppinn, he caught the hip with his teeth, Vígl. 21. The English aft when used of a ship; breði a. ok fram, stern and stem (of a ship), Fms. ix. 310; Sigurðr sat a. á kistunni, sate aft on the stern-chest, vii. 201; a. ok frammi, of the parts of the body (of a seal), Sks. 179. Compar. aptarr, farther back, Fms. vi. 76.

II. TEMP. again, πάλιν, iterum: this use of the word, general as it is at present, hardly appears in old writers; they seem to have had no special expression for again, but instead of it said síðan, enn, or used a periphrase, á nýja leik, öðru sinni, annat sinn, or some other substitute. It is, however, very freq. in Goth. aftra = πάλιν, Swed. åter, Dan. atter; some passages in the Sagas come near to the mod. use, e. g. bæta a., restituere, to give back (but not temp.); segja friði a., to recal, N. G. L. i. 103; hann maelti at engi mundi þann fald a. falda, El. 20, uncertain whether loc. ( backward) or iterum, most likely the former. It is now used in a great many compounds, answering to Lat. re-, cp. also endr.

a. pleasant (frýnlooking), inviting (only with negative, cf. úfrýnn).

* * *

or frýniligr, adj.; this word is never used but as compounded with the prefix ú- (except Fas. ii. 351 in a bad and late Saga), viz. ú-frýnn or ú-frýniligr = frowning. The sense as well as the etymology of frýnn is somewhat dubious; there is the Germ. fron or frohn or fran; but that word seems purely German and is by Grimm supposed to be qs. fro min = my lord (vide Hel.); neither does Icel. frýnn or Germ. frohn correspond properly as to the root vowel (cp. e. g. Germ. lohn = Icel. laun): on the other hand there is the Engl. frown, which in form answers to the simple frýnn, but in sense to the compd ú-frýnn; as no similar word is found in A. S. (nor in Germ. nor in Hel.), frown is most likely a Scandin. word; and we suppose that the Icel. prefix syllable ú- is not in this instance = un-, that is to say, negative, but = of-, that is to say, intensive (= too, very, greatly); the original forms of-frýnn, of-frýniligr were contr. and assimilated into ófrýnn, ófrýniligr, meaning very frowning, and these compds then superseded the primitive simple word: this is confirmed by the freq. spelling in MSS. with ‘ of-’ e. g. ofrynn, Ó. H. 144; all-ofrynn, Eg. Cod. Wolph.; heldr ofrynn, Ó. H. 167; but yet more freq. with ‘ú-’ e. g. Orkn. 440, Boll. 358, Fær. 50, Fms. i. 40, Fb. i. 73; the ekki frýnn, Fas. l. c., is again a variation of úfrýnn: the statement by Björn that frýnn is = bland, affable, is a mere guess by inference from the compd.

n. whit, bit; hóti heldr, a bit more, a good deal more; with superl., hóti líkast, most likely; þat er hóti úmakligast, that is least undeserved.

n. pl. threats; hafa í hótum við e-n, to threaten one.

* * *

n. pl. [Ulf. hwota], threats, Fms. ii. 32, Sks. 525, Fs. 31, Bs. i. 100, Fb. i. 297.

II. in the compds, ílsku-hót, wickedness; ástar-hót, marks, expressions of love; vinar-hót, marks of friendship.

* * *

1) certain (þótti honum sér þá vísari dauði en líf); þótt ek vita vísan bana minn, though I know my death is sure; verða e-s v., to ascertain, become aware of (ek mun þessa brátt v. verða af konungi); impers., þessa mun aldri víst verða, this will never be known; verða e-s v. um e-t, af e-u, to get some information of, as to; víss vitandi, knowingly, intentionally;

2) wise (I. var inn vísasti maðr í öllu);

3) known (nú liðu svá sex vetr, at þetta varð eigi vist);

4) neut. as adv., vita e-t víst, to know for certain; þat vil ek víst, surely I will; víst eigi, certainly not, by no means; at vísu, certainly, surely (hann hefir þat at vísu í hug sér); til víss, for certain (sjá, vita kenna e-t til víss) fyrir víst = til víss; acquainted with (dvergar veggbergs vísir).

* * *

adj. [Germ. gewiss]; viss and víss are two forms of the same word, the former of a more limited use, = certain, sure; thus Icel. say, það er vísast ( it is most likely); but það er vissast, ‘tis safest; er sú regla vissust, the safest rule, Rb. 262; see víss.

* * *

(fer; fór, fórum; farinn), v.

1) to move, pass along, go;

gekk hann hvargi sem hann fór, he walked wherever he went;

fara heim (heiman), to go home (from home);

fara á fund e-s to visit one;

fjöld ek fór, I travelled much;

hann sagði, hversu orð fóru með þeim, what words passed between them;

absol., to go begging (ómagar, er þar eigu at fara í því þingi);

2) with ‘ferð, leið’ or the like added in acc., gen., or dat.;

fara leiðar sinnar, to go one’s way, proceed on one’s journey (= fara ferðar sinnar or ferða sinna, fara ferð sina, fara för sina, förum sínum);

fara þessa ferð, to make this journey;

fara fullum dagleiðum, to travel a full days journeys;

fara stefnuför, to go a-summoning;

fara bónorðsför, to go a-wooing;

fara sigrför, to go on the path of victory, to triumph;

fara góða för, to make a lucky journey;

fig., fara ósigr, to be defeated;

fara mikinn skaða, to suffer great damage;

fara hneykju, skömm, to incur disgrace;

fara erendleysu, to fail in one’s errand;

with the road in acc. (fara fjöll ok dala);

3) fara búðum, bygðum, vistum, to move, change one’s abode;

fara eldi ok arni, to move one’s hearth and fire;

4) fara einn saman, to go alone;

fara eigi ein saman, to go with child (= fara með barni);

5) with infin.;

fara sofa, to go to sleep (allir menn vóru sofa farnir);

fara vega, to go to fight;

fara leita, to go seeking (var leita farit);

6) with an a., etc.;

fara villr, to go astray;

fara haltr, to walk lame;

fara vanstiltr, to go out of one’s mind;

fara duldr e-s, to be unaware of;

fara andvígr e-m, to give battle;

fara leyniliga (leynt), to be kept secret;

eigi má þetta svá fara, this cannot go on in that way;

fjarri ferr þat, far from it, by no means;

fór þat fjarri, at ek vilda, I was far from desiring it;

7) to turn out, end;

fór þat sem líkligt var, it turned out as was likely (viz. ended ill);

svá fór, at, the end was, that;

ef svá ferr sem ek get til, if it turns out as I guess;

á sómu leið fór um aðra sendimenn, it went the same way with the other messengers;

8) to fare well, ill;

biðja e-n vel fara, to bid one farewell;

9) to suit, fit, esp. of clothes, hair (ekki þykkir mér kyrtill þinn fara betr en stakkr minn; hárit fór vel);

impers., fór illa á hestinum, it sat ill on the horse;

10) impers., e-m ferr vel, illa, one behaves or acts well, ill;

honum hafa öll málin verst farit, he has behaved worst in the whole matter;

e-m ferr vinveittliga, one behaves in a friendly way;

11) fara e-t höndum, to touch with the hands, esp. of a healing touch, = fara höndum um e-t (bið hann fara höndum meinit);

fara land herskildi, brandi, to visit a land with ‘warshield’, with fire, to ravage or devastate it (gekk síðan á land upp með liði sínu ok fór alit herskildi);

12) to overtake (Án hrísmagi var þeirra skjótastr ok gat farit sveininn);

tunglit ferr sólina, the moon overtakes the sun;

áðr hana Fenrir fari, before F. overtakes her;

13) to ill-treat, treat cruelly;

menn sá ek þá, er mjök höfðu hungri farit hörund, that had chastened their flesh with much fasting;

14) to put an end to, destroy;

fara sér (sjálfr), to kill oneself;

fara lífi (fjörvi) e-s, to deprive one of life;

þú hefir sigr vegit ok Fáfni (dat.) um farit, killed F.;

15) to forfeit (fara löndum ok lausafé);

16) refl., farast;

17) with preps. and advs.:

fara af klæðum, to take off one’s clothes;

fara at e-m, to make an attack upon, to assault (eigi mundi í annat sinn vænna at fara at jarlinum);

fara at e-u, to mind, pay heed to;

ekki fer ek at, þótt þú hafir svelt þik til fjár (it does not matter to me, I do not care, though);

to deal with a thing, proceed in a certain way;

svá skal at sókn fara, thus is the pleading to be proceeded with;

fara at lögum, úlögum, to proceed lawfully, unlawfully;

fara mjúkliga at, to proceed gently;

hér skulu við fara at með ráðum, act with, deliberation;

impers. with dat., to do, behave;

illa hefir mér at farit, I have done my business badly; to go in pusuit (search) of (víkingar nökkurir þeir sem fóru at féföngum);

fara at fuglaveiðum, to go a-fowling;

fara at fé, to tend sheep;

fara á e-n, to come upon one;

sigu saman augu, þá er dauðinn fór á, when death seized him;

fara á hæl or hæli, to step back, retreat;

fara eptir e-m, to follow one;

fara eptir e-u, to go for, go to fetch (Snorri goði fór eptir líkinu; fara eptir vatni); to accommodate oneself to, conform to (engi vildi eptir öðrum fara);

þau orð er eptir fara, the following words;

fara fram, to go on, take place;

ef eigi ferr gjald fram, if no payment takes place;

veizlan ferr vel fram, the feast went on well;

spyrr, hvat þar fœri fram, he asked, what was going on there;

fara fram ráðum e-s, to follow one’s advice;

allt mun þat sínu fram fara, it will take its own course;

kváðu þat engu gegna ok fóru sínu fram, took their own way;

segir honum, hversu þeir fóru fram, how they acted;

fara e-t fram, to do., perform a thing;

spyrr hann, hvat nú sé fram faranda, what is to be done;

fara fyrir e-t, to pass for, be taken for (fari sá fyrir níðing, er);

fara hjá sér, to be beside oneself;

fara í e-t, to go into (fara í tunnu);

fara í sæng, rekkju, to go to bed;

fara í sess sinn, sæti sitt, to take one’s seat;

fara í klæði, to put on clothes, dress;

fara í vápn, brynju, to put on armour;

fara í lag, to go right or straight again (þá fóru brýnn hans í lag);

fara í vöxt, to increase;

fara í þurð, to wane;

fara í hernað, víking, to go a-freebooting;

nú ferr í úvænt efni, now matters look hopeless;

to happen, occur (alit þat, er í hafði farit um nóttina);

fara með e-t, to wield handle, manage;

fór Hroptr með Gungni, H. wielded (the spear) Gungnir;

fara með goðorð, to hold a goðorð;

fara með sök, to manage a lawsuit;

to practice, deal in;

fara með rán, to deal in robbery;

fara með spott ok háð, to go scoffing and mocking;

fara með galdra ok fjölkyngi, to practice sorcery;

to deal with, treat, handle (þú munt bezt ok hógligast með hann fara);

fara af hljóði með e-t, to keep matters secret;

fara með e-m, to go with one, follow one (ek skal með yðr fara með allan minn styrk);

fara með e-u, to do (so and so) with a thing, to deal with, manage;

hvernig þeir skyldu fara með vápnum sínum, what they were to do with their weapons;

sá maðr, er með arfinum ferr, who manages the inheritance;

fara með málum sínum, to manage one’s case;

fara vel með sínum háttum, to bear oneself well;

undarliga fara munkar þessir með sér, these monks behave strangely;

fara með barni, to go with child;

impers., ferr með þeim heldr fáliga, they are on indifferent terms;

fara ór landi, to leave the country;

fara ór klæðum, fötum, to take off one’s clothes, undress;

fara saman, to go together; to shake, shudder;

fór en forna fold öll saman, shivered all through;

to concur, agree (hversu má þat saman f);

fara til svefns, to go to sleep (= fara at sofa);

fara um e-t, to travel over (fara um fjall);

fara höndum um e-n, to stroke or touch one with the hands (hann fór höndum um þá, er sjúkir vóru);

fara mörgum orðum um e-t, to dilate upon a subject;

fara myrkt um e-t, to keep a matter dark;

fara undan, to excuse oneself (from doing a thing), to decline, refuse (hvat berr til, at þú ferr undan at gera mér veizluna);

borð fara upp, the tables are removed;

fara út, to go from Norway to Iceland; to come to a close, run out (fóru svá út þessir fimm vetr);

fara útan, to go abroad (from Iceland);

fara við e-n, to treat one, deal with one in a certain way;

margs á, ek minnast, hve við mik fóruð, I have many things to remember of your dealings with me;

fara yfir e-t, to go through;

nú er yfir farit um landnám, now an account of the settlements has been given;

skjótt yfir at fara, to be brief.

* * *

pret. fóra, 2nd pers. fórt, mod. fórst, pl. fóru; pres. ferr, 2nd pers. ferr, in mod. pronunciation ferð; pret. subj. færa; imperat. far and farðu (= far þú); sup. farit; part. farinn; with the suffixed neg. fór-a, Am. 45; farið-a ( depart not), Hkr. i. 115 MS. (in a verse). [In the Icel. scarcely any other verb is in so freq. use as fara, as it denotes any motion; not so in other Teut. idioms; in Ulf. faran is only used once, viz. Luke x. 7; Goth. farjan means to sail, and this seems to be the original sense of fara (vide far); A. S. faran; the Germ. fahren and Engl. fare are used in a limited sense; in the Engl. Bible this word never occurs (Cruden); Swed. fara; Dan. fare.]

A. NEUT. to go, fare, travel, in the widest sense; gékk hann hvargi sem hann fór, he walked wherever he went, Hkr. i. 100; né ek flý þó ek ferr, I fly not though I fare, Edda (in a verse); létt er lauss at fara (a proverb), Sl. 37: the saying, verðr hverr með sjálfum sér lengst at fara, Gísl. 25; cp. ‘dass von sich selbst der Mensch nicht scheiden kann’ (Göthe’s Tasso), or the Lat. ‘patriae quis exul se quoque fugit?’ usually in the sense to go, to depart, heill þú farir, heill þú aptr komir, Vþm. 4; but also to come, far þú hingat til mín, come here, Nj. 2.

2. to travel, go forth or through, pass, or the like; þú skalt fara í Kirkjubæ, Nj. 74; fara ór landi, to fare forth from one’s country, Fms. v. 24; kjóll ferr austan, Vsp. 51; Surtr ferr sunnan, 52; snjór var mikill, ok íllt at fara, and ill to pass, Fms. ix. 491; fóru þeir út eptir ánni, Eg. 81; siðan fór Egill fram með skóginum, 531; þeim sem hann vildi at færi … Njáll hét at fara, Nj. 49; fara munu vér, Eg. 579; Egill fór til þess er hann kom til Álfs. 577, Fms. xi. 122; fara þeir nú af melinum á sléttuna. Eg. 747; fara heiman, to fare forth from one’s home, K. Þ. K. 6; alls mik fara tíðir, Vþm. 1; fjölð ek fór, far I fared, i. e. travelled far, 3: the phrase, fara utan, to fare outwards, go abroad (from Iceland), passim; fara vestr um haf, to fare westward over the sea, i. e. to the British Isles, Hkr. i. 101; fara á fund e-s, to visit one, Ld. 62; fara at heimboði, to go to a feast, id.; fara fæti, to fare a-foot, go walking, Hkr.; absol. fara, to travel, beg, hence föru-maðr, a vagrant, beggar; in olden times the poor went their rounds from house to house within a certain district, cp. Grág. i. 85; ómagar er þar eigu at fara í því þingi eðr um þau þing, id.; ómagar skolu fara, 119; omegð þá er þar ferr, 296: in mod. usage, fara um and um-ferð, begging, going round.

β. with prep.: fara at e-m, to make an inroad upon one, Nj. 93, 94, 102 (cp. at-för); fara á e-n, to mount, e. g. fara á bak, to mount on horseback; metaph., dauðinn fór á, death seized him, Fms. xi. 150; f. saman, to go together, Edda 121, Grág. ii. 256; f. saman also means to shudder. Germ. zusammenfahren, Hým. 24: metaph. to concur, agree, hversu má þat saman f., Nj. 192; þeim þótti þat mjök saman f., Fms. iv. 382; fara á hæl, or á hæli, to go a-heel, i. e. step back. retreat, xi. 278, Eg. 296; fara undan, metaph. to excuse oneself, refuse (v. undan), Nj. 23, Fms. x. 227; fara fyrir, to proceed; fara eptir, to follow.

3. with ferð, leið or the like added, in acc. or gen. to go one’s way; fara leiðar sinnar, to proceed on one’s journey, Eg. 81, 477, Fms. i. 10, Grág. ii. 119; fara ferðar sinnar, or ferða sinna, id.. Eg. 180, Fms. iv. 125; fara derð sina, id.. Eg. 568; fara förum sínum, or för sinní, id., K. Þ. K. 80, 90; fara dagfari ok náttfari, to travel day and night, Fms. i. 203; fara fullum dagleiðum, to go full days-journeys, Grág. i. 91; or in a more special sense, fara þessa ferð, to make this journey, Fas. ii. 117; f. stefnu-för, to go a-summoning; f. bónorðs-för, to go a-courting, Nj. 148; f. sigr-för, to go on the way of victory, to triumph, Eg. 21; fara sendi-för, to go on a message, 540.

β. in a metaph. sense; fara hneykju-för, to be shamefully beaten, Hrafn. 19 (MS.); fara ósigr, to be defeated, Eg. 287; fara mikinn skaða, to ‘fare’ (i. e. suffer) great damage, Karl. 43; fara því verrum förum, fara skömm, hneykju, erendleysu, úsæmð, to get the worst of it, Fms. viii. 125.

4. with the road in acc.; hann fór Vánar-skarð, Landn. 226; f. sjó-veg, land-veg, K. Þ. K. 24; fór mörg lönd ok stórar merkr, Fas. ii. 540; fara sömu leið, Fms. i. 70; f. sama veg, Luke x. 31; f. fjöll ok dala, Barl. 104; fara út-leið, þjóð-leið, Fms. iv. 260; also, fara um veg, fara um fjall, to cross a fell, Hm. 3; fara liði, to march, Fms. i. 110.

II. in a more indefinite sense, to go; fara búðum, bygðum, vistum, to move, change one’s abode, Ld. 56, Hkr. ii. 177, Nj. 151, Vigl. 30; fara búferla, to more one’s household, Grág. ii. 409; fara vöflunarförum, to go a-begging, i. 163, 294, ii. 482.

2. the phrases, fara eldi ok arni, a law term, to move one’s hearth and fire. Grág. ii. 253; fara eldi um land, a heathen rite for taking possession of land, defined in Landn. 276. cp. Eb. 8, Landn. 189, 284.

3. fara einn-saman, to be alone. Grág. ii. 9; the phrase, f. eigi einn-saman, to be not alone, i. e. with child, Fms. iii. 109; or, fór hón með svein þann, Bs. i. 437; cp. ganga með barni.

4. adding an adj., to denote gait, pace, or the like; fara snúðigt, to stride haughtily, Nj. 100; fara mikinn, to rush on, 143; fara flatt, to fall flat, tumble, Bárð. 177; fara hægt, to walk slowly.

β. fara til svefns, to go to sleep, Nj. 35; f. í sæti sitt, to go to one’s seat, 129; f. í sess, Vþm. 9; f. á bekk, 19; fara á sæng, to go to bed, N. G. L. i. 30; fara í rúmið, id. (mod.); fara í mannjöfnuð, Ísl. ii. 214; fara í lag, to be put straight, Eg. 306; fara í vöxt, to wax, increase, Fms. ix. 430, Al. 141; fara í þurð, to wane, Ld. 122, l. 1 (MS.); fara í úefni, to go to the wrong side, Sturl. iii. 210; fara at skakka, to be odd ( not even). Sturl. ii. 258; fara at sölum, to be put out for sale, Grág. ii. 204.

5. fara at fuglum, to go a-fowling, Orkn. (in a verse); fara at fugla-veiðum, id., Bb. 3. 36; fara í hernað, í víking, to go a-freebooting, Fms. i. 33, Landn. 31; fara at fé, to watch sheep, Ld. 240; fara at fé-föngum, to go a-fetching booty, Fms. vii. 78.

β. with infin., denoting one’s ‘doing’ or ‘being;’ fara sofa, to go to sleep, Eg. 377; fara vega, to go to fight, Vsp. 54, Gm. 23; fara at róa, Vígl. 22; fara leita, to go seeking, Fms. x. 240; fara að búa, to set up a household, Bb. 2. 6; fara að hátta, to go to bed.

γ. akin to this is the mod. use of fara with an infin. following in the sense to begin, as in the East Angl. counties of Engl. it ‘fares’ to …, i. e. it begins, is likely to be or to do so and so; það fer að birta, það er farit að dimma, it ‘fares’ to grow dark; það fer að hvessa, it ‘fares’ to blow; fer að rigna, it ‘fares’ to rain. etc.:—no instance of this usage is recorded in old Icel., but the Engl. usage shews that it must be old.

δ. with an adj. etc.; fara villr, to go astray, Sks. 565; fara haltr, to go lame, Fms. x. 420; fara vanstiltr, to go out of one’s mind, 264; fara hjá sér, to be beside oneself, Eb. 270; fara apr, to feel chilly, Fms. vi. 237 (in a verse); fara duldr e-s, to be unaware of, Skálda 187 (in a verse); fara andvígr e-m, to give battle, Stor. 8; fara leyniliga, to go secretly, be kept hidden, Nj. 49.

6. to pass; fór sú skipan til Íslands, Fms. x. 23; fara þessi mál til þings, Nj. 100; hversu orð fóru með þeim, how words passed between them, 90; fóru þau orð um, the runner went abroad, Fms. i. 12; ferr orð er um munn líðr (a saying), iv. 279; þá fór ferligt úorðan, a bad report went abroad, Hom. 115.

7. fara fram, to go on, take place; ferr þetta fram, Ld. 258; ef eigi ferr gjald fram, if no payment takes place, K. Þ. K. 64; ferr svá fram, and so things went on without a break, Nj. 11, Eg. 711; veizlan ferr vel fram, the feast went on well, Nj. 11, 51; spyrr hvat þar færi fram, he asked what there was going on. Band. 17; fór allt á sömu leið sem fyrr, it went on all the same as before, Fms. iv. 112; fara fram ráðum e-s, to follow one’s advice, Nj. 5, 66, Fms. vii. 318; allt mun þat sínu fram f., it will take its own course, Nj. 259; nú er því ferr fram um hríð, it went on so for a while, Fms. xi. 108; a law term, to be produced, gögn fara fram til varnar, Grág. i. 65; dómar fara út, the court is set (vide dómr), Grág., Nj., passim.

8. borð fara upp brott, the tables are removed (vide borð), Eg. 247, 551; eigi má þetta svá f., this cannot go on in that way, Nj. 87; fjarri ferr þat, far from it, by no means, 134; fór þat fjarri at ek vilda, Ld. 12; fór þat ok svá til, and so if came to pass, Fms. x. 212.

9. to turn out, end; hversu ætlar þú fara hesta-atið, Nj. 90; fór þat sem likligt var, it turned out as was likely (i. e. ended ill). Eg. 46; svá fór, at …, the end was, that …, Grett. 81 new Ed.; ef svá ferr sem ek get til, if it turns out as I guess, Dropl. 30, Vígl. 21; ef svá ferr sem mín orð horfa til, Fms. v. 24; ef svá ferr sem mik varir, if it comes to pass as it seems to me, vi. 350; svá fór um sjóferð þá, Bjarni 202; á sömu leið fór um aðra sendi-menn, Eg. 537; to depart, die, þar fór nýtr maðr, Fs. 39; fara danða-yrði, to pass the death-weird, to die, Ýt. 8.

10. to fare well, ill, in addressing; fari þér vel, fare ye well, Nj. 7; biðja e-n vel fara, to bid one farewell, Eg. 22, Ld. 62; far heill ok sæll, Fms. vii. 197: in a bad sense, far þú nú þar, ill betide thee! Hbl. 60; far (impers.) manna armastr, Eg. 553; Jökull bað hann fara bræla armastan, Finnb. 306; fari þér í svá gramendr allir, Dropl. 23.

11. fara í fat, í brynju (acc.), etc., to dress, undress; but fara ór fötum (dat.), to undress, Fms. x. 16, xi. 132, vii. 202, Nj. 143, Gh. 16, etc.

III. metaph.,

1. to suit, fit, esp. of clothes, hair, or the like; ekki þykkir mér kyrtill þinn fara betr en stakkr minn, Fas. ii. 343; hárið fór vel, Nj. 30; jarpr á hár ok fór vel hárit, Fms. ii. 7; gult hár sem silki ok fór fagrliga, vi. 438, Fs. 88; klæði sem bezt farandi, Eb. 256; var sú konan bezt f., the most graceful, lady-like, Ísl. ii. 438; fór ílla á hestinum, it sat ill on the horse, Bs. i. 712.

2. impers. it goes so and so with one, i. e. one behaves so and so: e-m ferr vel, ílla, etc., one behaves well, ill, etc.; honum hafa öll málin verst farit, he has behaved worst in the whole matter, Nj. 210; bezta ferr þér, Fms. vii. 33; vel mun þér fara, Nj. 55; at honum fari vel, 64; þer hefir vel farit til mín, Finnb. 238; e-m ferr vinveittliga, one behaves in a friendly way, Nj. 217; ferr þér þá bezt jafnan ok höfðinglegast er mest liggr við, 228; mun honum nokkurn veg vel f., Hrafn. 10; údrengiliga hefir þér farit til vár, Ld. 48; ferr þér illa, Nj. 57; hversu Gunnari fór, how ( well) G. behaved, 119.

3. fara at e-u, to deal with a thing (i. e. proceed) so and so; svá skal at sókn fara, thus is the pleading to be proceeded with, Grág. i. 323; svá skal at því f. at beiða …, 7; fara at lögum, or úlögum at e-u, to proceed lawfully or unlawfully, 126; hversu at skyldi f., how they were to proceed, Nj. 114; fara mjúklega at, to proceed gently, Fms. vii. 18; hér skulu vér f. at með ráðum, to act with deliberation, Eg. 582; Flosi fór at öngu óðara ( took matters calmly), en hann væri heima, Nj. 220.

β. impers. with dat., to do, behave; ílla hefir mér at farit, I have done my business badly, Hrafn. 8; veit Guð hversu hverjum manni mun at f., Fms. x. 212: in mod. phrases, to become, ironically, þér ferr það, or þér ferst það, it becomes thee, i. e. ‘tis too bad of thee.

γ. hví ferr konungrinn nú svá (viz. at), Fms. i. 35; er slíkt úsæmiliga farit, so shamefully done, Nj. 82; hér ferr vænt at, here things go merrily, 232; karlmannliga er farit, manfully done, 144.

δ. to mind, care about; ekki ferr ek at, þótt þú hafir svelt þik til fjár, it does not matter to me, I do not care, though …, Nj. 18; ekki munu vit at því fara ( never mind that), segir Helgi, 133.

ε. fara eptir, to be in proportion; hér eptir fór vöxtr ok afl, his strength and stature were in proportion, Clar.

4. fara með e-t, to wield, handle, manage; fór Hroptr með Gungni, H. wielded Gungni ( the spear), Kormak; f. með Gríðar-völ, to wield the staff G., Þd. 9: as a law term, to wield, possess; fara með goðorð, to keep a goðorð, esp. during the session of parliament, Dropl. 8, Grág. and Nj. passim; fara með sök, to manage a lawsuit, Grág., Nj.; or, fara við sök, id., Nj. 86.

β. metaph. to practise, deal in; fara með rán, to deal in robbing, Nj. 73; fara með spott ok háð, to go sporting and mocking, 66; f. með fals ok dár, Pass. 16. 5; fara með galdra ok fjölkyngi, K. Þ. K. 76; f. með hindr-vitni, Grett. 111; cp. the phrase, farðu ekki með það, don’t talk such nonsense.

γ. to deal with, treat, handle; þú munt bezt ok hógligast með hann fara, thou wilt deal with him most kindly and most gently, Nj. 219; fara af hljóði með e-t, to keep matters secret, id.; Ingimundr fór vel með sögum (better than sögur, acc.), Ing. dealt well with stories, was a good historian. Sturl. i. 9.

δ. with dat.; fara með e-u, to do so and so with a thing, manage it; hversu þeir skyldi fara með vápnum sínum, how they were to do with their weapons, Fms. ix. 509; sá maðr er með arfinum ferr, who manages the arfr, Grág. i. 217; ef þeir fara annan veg með því fé, 216; fara með málum sínum, to manage one’s case, 46; meðan hann ferr svá með sem mælt er, 93; Gunnarr fór með öllu ( acted in all) sem honum var ráð til kennt, Nj. 100; ef svá er með farit, Ld. 152; f. vel með sínum háttum, to bear oneself well, behave well, Eg. 65; Hrafn fór með sér vel, H. bore himself well, Fms. vi. 109; undarliga fara munkar þessir með sér, they behave strangely, 188; við förum kynlega með okkrum málum, Nj. 130; vant þyki mér með slíku at fara, difficult matters to have to do with, 75; f. málum á hendr e-m, to bring an action against one, Ld. 138; fara sókn ( to proceed) sem at þingadómi, Grág. i. 463; fara svá öllu máli um sem …, 40, ii. 348; fara með hlátri ok gapi, to go laughing and scoffing, Nj. 220; cp. β above.

IV. fara um, yfir e-t, to pass over slightly; nú er yfir farit um landnám, shortly told, touched upon, Landn. 320; skjótt yfir at f., to be brief, 656 A. 12; fara myrkt um e-t, to mystify a thing, Ld. 322; fara mörgum orðum um e-t, to dilate upon a subject, Fbr. 124, Nj. 248, Fms. ix. 264.

β. in the phrase, fara höndum um e-t, to go with the hands about a thing, to touch it, Germ. befühlen, esp. medic. of a healing touch; jafnan fengu menn heilsubót af handlögum hans, af því er hann fór höndum um þá er sjúkir vóru, Játv. 24; ok pá fór hann höndum um hann, Bs. i. 644; þá lét Arnoddr fara aðra höndina um hann, ok fann at hann var berfættr ok í línklæðum. Dropl. 30; cp. fóru hendr hvítar hennar um þessar görvar, Fas. i. 248 (in a verse): note the curious mod. phrase, það fer að fara um mig, I began to feel uneasy, as from a cold touch or the like.

γ. impers. with dat.; eigi ferr þér nær Gunnari, en Merði mundi við þik, thou camest not nearer to G. than Mord would to thee, i. e. thou art just as far from being a match for G. as Mord is to thee, Nj. 37; þá ferr honum sem öðrum, it came to pass with him as with others, 172; þá mun mér first um fara, I shall fall much short of that, Fms. vi. 362; því betr er þeim ferr öllum verr at, the worse they fare the better I am pleased, Nj. 217.

V. reflex., esp. of a journey, to fare well; fórsk þeim vel, they fared well, Eg. 392, Fms. xi. 22; honum fersk vel vegrinn, he proceeded well on his journey, ii. 81; hafði allt farizt vel at, all had fared well, they had had a prosperous journey, Íb. 10; fórsk þeim þá seint um daginn, they proceeded slowly, Eg. 544; mönnum fórsk eigi vel um fenit, Fms. vii. 149; hversu þeim hafði farizk, Nj. 90; at þeim færisk vel, Ísl. ii. 343, 208, v. l.: the phrase, hamri fórsk í hægri hönd, he grasped the hammer in his right hand, Bragi; farask lönd undir, to subdue lands, Hkr. i. 134, v. l. (in a verse).

2. recipr., farask hjá, to go beside one another, miss one another, pass without meeting, Nj. 9; farask á mis, id., farask í móti, to march against one another, of two hosts; þat bar svá til at hvárigir vissu til annarra ok fórusk þó í móti, Fms. viii. 63, x. 46, Fas. ii. 515.

VI. part.,

1. act., koma farandi, to come of a sudden or by chance; þá kómu hjarðsveinar þar at farandi, some shepherds just came, Eg. 380; Moses kom farandi til fólksins, Sks. 574; koma inn farandi, 369, Fbr. 25.

2. pass. farinn, in the phrase, á förnum vegi, on ‘wayfaring,’ i. e. in travelling, passing by; finna e-n á förnum vegi, Nj. 258, K. Þ. K. 6; kveðja fjárins á förnum vegi, Grág. i. 403; also, fara um farinn veg, to pass on one’s journey; of the sun. sól var skamt farin, the sun was little advanced, i. e. early in the morning, Fms. xi. 267, viii. 146; þá var dagr alljós ok sól farin, broad day and sun high in the sky, Eg. 219; also impers., sól (dat.) var skamt farit, Úlf. 4. 10: the phrase, aldri farinn, stricken in years, Sturl. i. 212; vel farinn í andliti, well-favoured, Ld. 274; vel at orði farinn, well spoken, eloquent, Fms. xi. 193; mod., vel orði, máli farinn, and so Ld. 122; gone, þar eru baugar farnir, Grág. ii. 172; þó fætrnir sé farnir, Fas. iii. 308.

β. impers. in the phrase, e-m er þannig farit, one is so and so; veðri var þannig farit, at …, the winter was such, that …, Fms. xi. 34; veðri var svá farit at myrkt var um at litask, i. e. the weather was gloomy, Grett. 111; hversu landinu er farit, what is the condition of the country, Sks. 181; henni er þannig farit, at hón er mikil ey, löng …, ( the island) is so shapen, that it is large and long, Hkr. ii. 188; er eigi einn veg farit úgæfu okkari, our ill-luck is not of one piece, Nj. 183: metaph. of state, disposition, character, er hánum vel farit, he is a well-favoured man, 15; undarliga er yðr farit, ye are strange men, 154; honum var svá farit, at hann var vesal-menni, Boll. 352: adding the prepp. at, til, þeim var úlíkt farit at í mörgu, they were at variance in many respects, Hkr. iii. 97; nú er annan veg til farit, now matters are altered, Nj. 226; nú er svá til farit, at ek vil …, now the case is, that I wish …, Eg. 714; hér er þannig til farit, … at leiðin, 582; þar var þannig til farit, Fms. xi. 34. ☞ Hence comes the mod. form varið (v instead of f), which also occurs in MSS. of the 15th century—veðri var svá varit, Sd. 181; ér honum vel varið, Lv. 80, Ld. 266, v. l.; svá er til varið, Sks. 223, 224,—all of them paper MSS. The phrase, e-m er nær farit, one is pressed; svá var honum nær farit af öllu samt, vökum ok föstu, he was nearly overcome from want of sleep and fasting.

B. TRANS.

I. with acc.:

1. to visit; fara land herskildi, brandi, etc., to visit a land with ‘war-shield,’ fire, etc., i. e. devastate it; gékk siðan á land upp með liði sínu, ok fór allt herskildi, Fms. i. 131; land þetta mundi herskildi farit, ok leggjask undir útlenda höfðingja, iv. 357; (hann) lét Halland farit brandi, vii. 4 (in a verse); hann fór lvist eldi, 41 (in a verse); hann hefir farit öll eylönd brandi, 46 (in a verse); fara hungri hörund, to emaciate the body, of an ascetic, Sl. 71.

2. to overtake, with acc.; hann gat ekki farit hann, he could not overtake ( catch) him, 623. 17; tunglit ferr sólina, the moon overtakes the sun, Rb. 116; áðr hana Fenrir fari, before Fenrir overtakes her, Vþm. 46, 47; knegut oss fálur fara, ye witches cannot take us, Hkv. Hjörv. 13; hann gat farit fjóra menn af liði Steinólfs, ok drap þá alla, … hann gat farit þá hjá Steinólfsdal, Gullþ. 29; hann reið eptir þeim, ok gat farit þá út hjá Svelgsá, milli ok Hóla, Eb. 180; Án hrísmagi var þeirra skjótastr ok getr farit sveininn, Ld. 242; viku þeir þá enn undan sem skjótast svá at Danir gátu eigi farit þá, Fms. (Knytl. S.) xi. 377 (MS., in the Ed. wrongly altered to náð þeim); hérinn hljóp undan, ok gátu hundarnir ekki farit hann (Ed. fráit wrongly), Fas. iii. 374; ok renna allir eptir þeim manni er víg vakti, … ok verðr hann farinn, Gþl. 146: cp. the phrase, vera farinn, to dwell, live, to be found here and there; þótt hann sé firr um farinn, Hm. 33.

II. with dat. to destroy, make to perish; f. sér, to make away with oneself; kona hans fór sér í dísar-sal, she killed herself, Fas. i. 527; hón varð stygg ok vildi fara sér, Landn. (Hb.) 55; ef þér gangit fyrir hamra ofan ok farit yðr sjálfir, Fms. viii. 53; hví ætla menn at hann mundi vilja f. sér sjálfr, iii. 59; fara lífi, fjörvi, öndu, id.; skal hann heldr eta, en fara öndu sinni, than starve oneself to death, K. Þ. K. 130; ok verðr þá þínu fjörvi um farit, Lv. 57, Ýt. 20, Fas. i. 426 (in a verse), cp. Hkv. Hjörv. 13; mínu fjörvi at fara, Fm. 5; þú hefir sigr vegit, ok Fáfni (dat.) um farit, 23; farit hafði hann allri ætt Geirmímis, Hkv. 1. 14; ok létu hans fjörvi farit, Sól. 22; hann hafði farit mörgum manni, O. H. L. 11.

β. to forfeit; fara sýknu sinni, Grág. i. 98; fara löndum ok lausafé, ii. 167.

2. reflex. to perish (but esp. freq. in the sense to be drowned, perish in the sea); farask af sulti, to die of hunger, Fms. ii. 226; fellr fjöldi manns í díkit ok farask þar, v. 281; fórusk sex hundruð Vinda skipa, xi. 369; alls fórusk níu menn, Ísl. ii. 385; mun heimr farask, Eluc. 43; þá er himin ok jörð hefir farisk, Edda 12; farask af hita, mæði, Fms. ix. 47; fórsk þar byrðingrinn, 307; hvar þess er menn farask, Grág. i. 219; heldr enn at fólk Guðs farisk af mínum völdum, Sks. 732: of cattle, ef fé hins hefir troðisk eðr farisk á þá lund sem nú var tínt, Grág. ii. 286.

β. metaph., fersk nú vinátta ykkur, your friendship is done with, Band. 12.

γ. the phrase, farask fyrir, to come to naught, Nj. 131; at síðr mun fyrir farask nokkut stórræði, Ísl. ii. 340; en fyrir fórusk málagjöldin af konungi, the payment never took place, Fms. v. 278; lét ek þetta verk fyrir farask, vii. 158; þá mun þat fyrir farask, Fs. 20; en fyrir fórsk þat þó þau misseri, Sd. 150: in mod. usage (N. T.), to perish.

δ. in act. rarely, and perhaps only a misspelling: frá því er féit fór (fórsk better), K. Þ. K. 132; fóru (better fórusk, were drowned) margir Íslenzkir menn, Bs. i. 436.

3. part. farinn, as adj. gone, undone; nú eru vér farnir, nema …, Lv. 83; hans tafl var mjök svá farit, his game was almost lost, Fas. i. 523; þá er farnir vóru forstöðumenn Tróju, when the defenders of Troy were dead and gone, Ver. 36; tungl farit, a ‘dead moon,’ i. e. new moon, Rb. 34; farinn af sulti ok mæði, Fms. viii. 53; farinn at e-u, ruined in a thing, having lost it; farnir at hamingju, luckless, iv. 73; f. at vistum, xi. 33; f. at lausa-fé;. iii. 117: in some cases uncertain whether the participle does not belong to A.

I) prep.

A. with dative.

I. Of motion;

1) towards, against;

Otkell laut at Skamkatli, bowed down to S.;

hann sneri egginni at Ásgrími, turned the edge against A.;

2) close atup to;

Brynjólfr gengr alit at honum, quite up to him;

þeir kómust aldri at honum, they could never get near him, to close quarters with him;

3) to, at;

koma at landi, to come to land;

ganga at dómi, to go into court;

4) along (= eptir);

ganga at stræti, to walk along the street;

dreki er niðr fór at ánni (went down the river) fyrir strauminum;

refr dró hörpu at ísi, on the ice;

5) denoting hostility;

renna (sœkja) at e-m, to rush at, assault;

gerði þá at þeim þoku mikla, they were overtaken by a thick fog;

6) around;

vefja motri at höfði sér, to wrap a veil round one’s head;

bera grjót at e-m, to heap stones upon the body;

7) denoting business, engagement;

ríða at hrossum, at sauðum, to go looking after horses, watching sheep;

fara at landskuldum, to go collecting rents.

II. Of position, &c.;

1) denoting presence at, near, by, upon;

at kirkju, at church;

at dómi, in court;

at lögbergi, at the hill of laws;

2) denoting participation in;

vera at veizlu, brullaupi, to be at a banquet, wedding;

vera at vígi, to be an accessory in man-slaying;

3) ellipt., vera at, to be about, to be busy at;

kvalararnir, er at vóru at pína hann, who were tormenting him;

var þar at kona nökkur at binda (was there busy dressing) sár manna;

4) with proper names of places (farms);

konungr at Danmörku ok Noregi, king of;

biskup at Hólum, bishop of Holar;

at Helgafelli, at Bergþórshváli;

5) used ellipt. with a genitive, at (a person’s) house;

at hans (at his house) gisti fjölmenni mikit;

at Marðar, at Mara’s home;

at hins beilaga Ólafs konungs, at St. Olave’s church;

at Ránar, at Ran’s (abode).

III. Of time;

1) at, in;

at upphafi, at first, in the beginning;

at skilnaði, at parting, when they parted;

at páskum, at Easter;

at kveldi, at eventide;

at þinglausnum, at the close of the Assembly;

at fjöru, at the ebb;

at flœðum, at the floodtide;

2) adding ‘komanda’ or ‘er kemr’;

at ári komanda, next year;

at vári, er kemr, next spring;

generally with ‘komanda’ understood;

at sumri, hausti, vetri, vári, next summer, &c.;

3) used with an absolute dative and present or past part.;

at sér lifanda, duing his lifetime;

at öllum ásjándum, in the sight of all;

at áheyranda höfðingjanum, in the hearing of the chief;

at upprennandi sólu, at sunrise;

at liðnum sex vikum, after six weeks are past;

at honum önduðum, after his death;

4) denoting uninterrupted succession, after;

hverr at öðrum, annarr at öðrum, one after another;

skildu menn at þessu, thereupon, after this;

at því (thereafter) kómu aðrar meyjar.

IV. fig. and in various uses;

1) to, into, with the notion of destruction or change;

brenna (borgina) at ösku, to burn to ashes;

verða at ormi, to become a snake;

2) for, as;

gefa e-t at gjöf, as a present;

eiga e-n at vin, to have one as friend;

3) by;

taka sverð at hjöltum, by the hilt;

draga út björninn at hlustunum, by the ears;

kjósa at afli, álitum, by strength, appearrance;

4) as regards as to;

auðigr at fé, wealthy in goods;

vænn (fagr) at áliti, fair of face;

5) as a law term, on the grounds of, by reason of;

ryðja ( to challenge) dóm at mægðum, kvið at frændsemi;

6) as a paraphrase of a genitive;

faðir, móðir at barni (= barns, of a child);

aðili at sök = aðili sakar;

7) with adjectives denoting colour, size, age, of;

hvítr, svartr, rauðr at lit, while, black, red of colour;

mikill, lítill at stœrð, vexti, tall, small of stature;

tvítugr at aldri, twenty years of age;

kýr at fyrsta, öðrum kálfi, a cow that has calved once, twice;

8) determining the source from which anything comes, of, from;

Ari nam ok marga frœði at Þuríði (from her);

þiggja, kaupa, geta, leigja e-t at e-m, to receive, buy, obtain, borrow a thing from one;

hafa veg (virðing) styrk at e-m, to derive honour, power, from one;

9) according, to, after (heygðr at fornum sið);

at ráði allra vitrustu manna, by the advice of;

at landslögum, by the law of the land;

at vánum, as was to be expected;

at leyfi e-s, by one’s leave;

10) in adverbial phrases;

gróa (vera grœddr) at heilu, to be quite healed;

bíta af allt gras at snøggu, quite bare;

at fullu, fully;

at vísu, surely;

at frjálsu, freely;

at eilífu, for ever and ever;

at röngu, at réttu, wrongly, rightly;

at líku, at sömu, equally, all the same;

at mun, at ráði, at marki, to a great extent.

B. with acc., after, upon (= eptir);

sonr á at taka arf at föður sinn, to take the inheritance after his father;

eiga féránsdóm at e-n, to hold a court of execution upon a person;

at þat (= eptir þat), after that, thereafter;

connected with a past part. or a., at Gamla fallinn, after the fall of Gamli;

at Hrungni dauðan, upon the death of Hrungnir.

1) as the simple mark of the infinitive, to;

at ganga, at ríða, at hlaupa, to walk, to ride, to run;

2) in an objective sense;

hann bauð þeim at fara, sitja, he bade (ordered) them to go, sit;

gefa e-m at eta, at drekka, to give one to eat, to drink;

3) denoting design or purpose, in order to (hann gekk í borg at kaupa silfr).

1) demonstrative particle before a comparative, the, all the, so much the;

hón grét at meir, she wept the more;

þykkir oss at líkara, all the more likely;

þú ert maðr at verri (so much the worse), er þú hefir þetta mælt;

2) rel. pron., who, which, that (= er);

þeir allir, at þau tíðindi heyrðu, all those who heard;

sem þeim er títt, at ( as is the custom of those who) kaupferðir reka.

conj., that;

1) introducing a subjective or objective clause;

þat var einhverju sinni, at Höskuldr hafði vinaboð, it happened once that H.;

vilda ek, at þú réðist austr í fjörðu, I should like you to go;

2) relative to svá, denoting proportion, degree;

svá mikill lagamaðr, at, so great a lawyer, that;

3) with subj., denoting end or purpose, in order that (skáru þeir fyrir þá (viz. hestana) melinn, at þeir dœi eigi af sulti);

4) since, because, as (= því at);

5) connected with þó, því, svá;

þó at (with subj.), though, although;

því at, because, for;

svá at, so that;

6) temp., þá at (= þá er), when;

þegar at (= þegar er), as soon as;

þar til at (= þar til er), until, till;

áðr at (= á. en), before;

7) used superfluously after an int. pron. or adv.;

Ólafr spurði, hvern styrk at hann mundi fá honum, what help he was likely to give him;

in a relative sense; með fullkomnum ávexti, hverr at (which) þekkr ok þægiligr mun verða.

negative verbal suffix, = ata; var-at, was not.

n. an incited conflict or fight ( see etja);

odda at, Yggs at, battle.

* * *

and að, prep., often used ellipt. dropping the case and even merely as an adverb, [Lat. ad; Ulf. at = πρός and παρά, A. S. ät; Engl. at; Hel. ad = apud; O. H. G. az; lost in mod. Germ., and rare in Swed. and Dan.; in more freq. use in Engl. than any other kindred language, Icel. only excepted]:—the mod. pronunciation and spelling is að (aþ); this form is very old, and is found in Icel. vellum MSS. of the 12th century, e. g. aþ, 623. 60; yet in earlier times it was sounded with a tenuis, as we may infer from rhymes, e. g. jöfurr hyggi at | hve ek yrkja fat, Egill: Sighvat also makes it rhyme with a t. The verse by Thorodd—þar vastu at er fjáðr klæðið þvat (Skálda 162)—is hardly intelligible unless we accept the spelling with an aspirate (að), and say that þvað is = þvá = þváði, lavabat; it may be that by the time of Thorodd and Ari the pure old pronunciation was lost, or is ‘þvat’ simply the A. S. þvât, secuit? The Icelanders still, however, keep the tenuis in compounds before a vowel, or before h, v, or the liquids l, r, thus—atyrða, atorka, athöfn, athugi, athvarf, athlægi; atvinna, atvik; atlaga, atlíðanði ( slope), atriði, atreið, atróðr: but aðdjúpr, aðfinsla (critic), aðferð, aðkoma, aðsókn, aðsúgr (crowding), aðgæzla. In some words the pronunciation is irregular, e. g. atkvæði not aðkv-; atburðr, but aðbúnaðr; aðhjúkran not athjúkran; atgörvi not aðgörfi. At, to, towards; into; against; along, by; in regard to; after.

Mostly with dat.; rarely with acc.; and sometimes ellipt.—by dropping the words ‘home,’ ‘house,’ or the like—with gen.

WITH DAT.

A. LOC.

I. WITH MOTION; gener. the motion to the borders, limits of an object, and thus opp. to frá:

1. towards, against, with or without the notion of arrival, esp. connected with verbs denoting motion (verba movendi et eundi), e. g. fara, ganga, koma, lúta, snúa, rétta at…; Otkell laut at Skamkatli, O. louted (i. e. bowed down) towards S., Nj. 77, Fms. xi. 102; sendimaðrinn sneri ( turned) hjöltum sverðsins at konungi, towards the king, i. 15; hann sneri egginni at Ásgrími, turned the edge towards A., Nj. 220; rétta e-t at e-m, to reach, hand over, Ld. 132; ganga at, to step towards, Ísl. ii. 259.

2. denoting proximity, close up to, up to; Brynjólfr gengr … allt at honum, B. goes quite up to him, Nj. 58; Gunnarr kom þangat at þeim örunum, G. reached them even there with his arrows, 115; þeir kómust aldri at honum, they could never get near him, to close quarters, id.; reið maðr at þeim (up to them), 274; þeir höfðu rakit sporin allt at ( right up to) gammanum, Fms. i. 9; komu þeir at sjó fram, came down to the sea, Bárð. 180.

3. without reference to the space traversed, to or at; koma at landi, to land, Ld. 38, Fms. viii. 358; ríða at dyrum, Boll. 344; hlaupa at e-m, to run up to, run at, Fms. vii. 218, viii. 358; af sjáfarganginum er hann gekk at landinu, of the surf dashing against the shore, xi. 6; vísa ólmum hundi at manni, to set a fierce hound at a man, Grág. ii. 118; leggja e-n at velli, to lay low, Eg. 426, Nj. 117; hníga at jörðu, at grasi, at moldu, to bite the dust, to die, Njarð. 378; ganga at dómi, a law term, to go into court, of a plaintiff, defendant, or bystander, Nj. 87 (freq.)

4. denoting a motion along, into, upon; ganga at stræti, to walk along the street, Korm. 228, Fms. vii. 39; at ísi, on the ice, Skálda 198, Fms. vii. 19, 246, viii. 168, Eb. 112 new Ed. (á is perh. wrong); máttu menn ganga bar yfir at skipum einum, of ships alone used as a bridge, Fas. i. 378; at höfðum, at nám, to trample on the slain on the battle-field, Lex. Poët.; at ám, along the rivers; at merkiósum, at the river’s mouth, Grág. ii. 355; at endilöngu baki, all along its back, Sks. 100.

5. denoting hostility, to rush at, assault; renna at, hlaupa at, ganga, fara, ríða, sækja, at e-m, (v. those words), whence the nouns atrenna, athlaup, atgangr, atför, atreið, atsókn, etc.

β. metaph., kom at þeim svefnhöfgi, deep sleep fell on them, Nj. 104. Esp. of weather, in the impers. phrase, hríð, veðr, vind, storm görir at e-m, to be overtaken by a snow storm, gale, or the like; görði þá at þeim þoku mikla, they were overtaken by a thick fog, Bárð. 171.

6. denoting around, of clothing or the like; bregða skikkju at höfði sér, to wrap his cloak over his head, Ld. 62; vefja motri at höfði sér, to wrap a snood round her head, 188; sauma at, to stick, cling close, as though sewn on; sauma at höndum sér, of tight gloves, Bs. i. 453; kyrtill svá þröngr sem saumaðr væri at honum, as though it were stitched to him, Nj. 214; vafit at vándum dreglum, tight laced with sorry tags, id.; hosa strengd fast at beini, of tight hose, Eg. 602; hann sveipar at sér iðrunum ok skyrtunni, he gathers up the entrails close to him and the skirt too, Gísl. 71; laz at síðu, a lace on the side, to keep the clothes tight, Eg. 602.

β. of burying; bera grjót at einum, to heap stones upon the body, Eg. 719; var gör at þeim dys or grjóti, Ld. 152; gora kistu at líki, to make a coffin for a body, Eb. 264, Landn. 56, Ld. 142.

γ. of summoning troops or followers; stefna at sér mönnum, to summon men to him, Nj. 104; stefna at sér liði, Eg. 270; kippa mönnum at sér, to gather men in haste, Ld. 64.

7. denoting a business, engagement; ríða at hrossum, at sauðum, to go looking after after horses, watching sheep, Glúm. 362, Nj. 75; fara at fé, to go to seek for sheep, Ld. 240; fara at heyi, to go a-haymaking, Dropl. 10; at veiðum, a-hunting; at fuglum, a-fowling; at dýrum, a-sbooting; at fiski, a-fishing; at veiðiskap, Landn. 154, Orkn. 416 (in a verse), Nj. 25; fara at landskuldum, to go a-collecling rents, Eg. 516; at Finnkaupum, a-marketing with Finns, 41; at féföngum, a-plundering, Fms. vii. 78; ganga at beina, to wait on guests, Nj. 50; starfa at matseld, to serve at table, Eb. 266; hitta e-n at nauðsynjum, on matters of business; at máli, to speak with one, etc., Fms. xi. 101; rekast at e-m, to pursue one, ix. 404; ganga at liði sér, to go suing for help, Grág. ii. 384.

β. of festivals; snúa, fá at blóti, veizlu, brullaupi, to prepare for a sacrificial banquet, wedding, or the like, hence at-fangadagr, Eb. 6, Ld. 70; koma at hendi, to happen, befall; ganga at sínu, to come by one’s own, to take it, Ld. 208; Egill drakk hvert full er at honum kom, drained every horn that came to him, Eg. 210; komast at keyptu, to purchase dearly, Húv. 46.

8. denoting imaginary motion, esp. of places, cp. Lat. spectare, vergere ad…, to look or lie towards; horfði botninn at höfðanum, the bight of the bay looked toward the headland, Fms. i. 340, Landn. 35; also, skeiðgata liggr at læknum, leads to the brook, Ísl. ii. 339; á þann arminn er vissi at sjánum, on that wing which looked toward the sea, Fms. viii. 115; sár þau er horft höfðu at Knúti konungi, xi. 309.

β. even connected with verbs denoting motion; Gilsáreyrr gengr austan at Fljótinu, G. extends, projects to F. from the east, Hrafh. 25; hjá sundi því, er at gengr þingstöðinni, Fms. xi. 85.

II. WITHOUT MOTION; denoting presence at, near, by, at the side of, in, upon; connected with verbs like sitja, standa, vera…; at kirkju, at church, Fms. vii. 251, K. f). K. 16, Ld. 328, Ísl. ii. 270, Sks. 36; vera at skála, at húsi, to be in, at home, Landn. 154; at landi, Fms. i. 82; at skipi, on shipboard, Grág. i. 209, 215; at oldri, at a banquet, inter pocula; at áti, at dinner, at a feast, inter edendum, ii. 169, 170; at samförum ok samvistum, at public meetings, id.; at dómi, in a court; standa (to take one’s stand) norðan, sunnan, austan, vestan at dómi, freq. in the proceedings at trials in lawsuits, Nj.; at þingi, present at the parliament, Grág. i. 142; at lögbergi, o n the hill of laws, 17, Nj.; at baki e-m, at the back of.

2. denoting presence, partaking in; sitja at mat, to sit at meat, Fms. i. 241; vera at veizlu, brullaupi, to be at a banquet, nuptials, Nj. 51, Ld. 70: a law term, vera at vígi, to be an accessory in manslaying, Nj. 89, 100; vera at e-u simply means to be about, be busy in, Fms. iv. 237; standa at máli, to stand by one in a case, Grág. ii. 165, Nj. 214; vera at fóstri, to be fostered, Fms. i. 2; sitja at hégóma, to listen to nonsense, Ld. 322; vera at smíð, to be at one’s work, Þórð. 62: now absol., vera at, to go on with, be busy at.

3. the law term vinna eið at e-u has a double meaning:

α. vinna eið at bók, at baugi, to make an oath upon the book by laying the band upon it, Landn. 258, Grág., Nj.; cp. Vkv. 31, Gkv. 3. 3, Hkv. 2. 29, etc.: ‘við’ is now used in this sense.

β. to confirm a fact (or the like) by an oath, to swear to, Grág. i. 9, 327.

γ. the law phrase, nefna vátta at e-u, of summoning witnesses to a deed, fact, or the like; nefna vátta at benjum, to produce evidence, witnesses as to the wounds, Nj., Grág.; at görð, Eg. 738; at svörum, Grág. i. 19: this summoning of witnesses served in old lawsuits the same purpose as modern pleadings and depositions; every step in a suit to be lawful must be followed by such a summoning or declaration.

4. used ellipt., vera at, to be about, to be busy at; kvalararnir er at vóru at pína hann, who were tormenting him; þar varstu at, you were there present, Skálda 162; at várum þar, Gísl. (in a verse): as a law term ‘vera at’ means to be guilty, Glúm. 388; vartattu at þar, Eg. (in a verse); hence the ambiguity of Glum’s oath, vask at þar, I was there present: var þar at kona nokkur ( was there busy) at binda sár manna, Fms. v. 91; hann var at ok smíðaði skot, Rd. 313; voru Varbelgir at ( about) at taka af, þau lög …, Fms. ix. 512; ek var at ok vafk, I was about weaving, xi. 49; þeir höfðu verit at þrjú sumur, they had been busy at it for three summers, x. 186 (now very freq.); koma at, come in, to arrive unexpectedly; Gunnarr kom at í því, G. came in at that moment; hvaðan komtú nú at, whence did you come? Nj. 68, Fms. iii. 200.

5. denoting the kingdom or residence of a king or princely person; konungr at Danmörk ok Noregi, king of…, Fms. i. 119, xi. 281; konungr, jarl, at öllum Noregi, king, earl, over all N., íb. 3, 13, Landn. 25; konungr at Dyflinni, king of Dublin, 25; but í or yfir England!, Eg. 263: cp. the phrase, sitja at landi, to reside, of a king when at home, Hkr. i. 34; at Joini, Fms. xi. 74: used of a bishop; biskup at Hólum, bishop of Hólar, Íb. 18, 19; but biskup í Skálaholti, 19: at Rómi, at Rome, Fbr. 198.

6. in denoting a man’s abode (vide p. 5, col. 1, l. 27), the prep. ‘at’ is used where the local name implies the notion of by the side of, and is therefore esp. applied to words denoting a river, brook, rock, mountain, grove, or the like, and in some other instances, by, at, e. g. at Hofi (a temple), Landn. 198; at Borg ( a castle), 57; at Helgafelli (a mountain), Eb. constantly so; at Mosfelli, Landn. 190; at Hálsi (a hill), Fms. xi. 22; at Bjargi, Grett. 90; Hálsum, Landn. 143; at Á ( river), 296, 268; at Bægisá, 212; Giljá, 332; Myrká, 211; Vatnsá, id.; þverá, Glúm. 323; at Fossi (a ‘force’ or waterfall), Landn. 73; at Lækjamoti (waters-meeting), 332; at Hlíðarenda ( end of the lithe or hill), at Bergþórshváli, Nj.; at Lundi (a grove), at Melum (sandhill), Landn. 70: the prep. ‘á’ is now used in most of these cases, e. g. á Á, á Hofi, Helgafelli, Felli, Hálsi, etc.

β. particularly, and without any regard to etymology, used of the abode of kings or princes, to reside at; at Uppsölum, at Haugi, Alreksstöðum, at Hlöðum, Landn., Fms.

γ. konungr lét kalla at stofudyrum, the king made a call at the hall door, Eg. 88; þeir kölluðu at herberginu, they called at the inn, Fms. ix. 475.

7. used ellipt. with a gen., esp. if connected with such words as gista, to be a guest, lodge, dine, sup (of festivals or the like) at one’s home; at Marðar, Nj. 4; at hans, 74; þingfesti at þess bóanda, Grág. i. 152; at sín, at one’s own home, Eg. 371, K. Þ. K. 62; hafa náttstað at Freyju, at the abode of goddess Freyja, Eg. 603; at Ránar, at Ran’s, i. e. at Ran’s house, of drowned men who belong to the queen of the sea, Ran, Eb. 274; at hins heilaga Ólafs konungs, at St. Olave’s church, Fms. vi. 63: cp. ad Veneris, εις Κίμωνος.

B. TEMP.

I. at, denoting a point or period of time; at upphafi, at first, in the beginning, Ld. 104; at lyktum, at síðustu, at lokum, at last; at lesti, at last, Lex. Poët., more freq. á lesti; at skilnaði, at parting, at last, Band. 3; at fornu, in times of yore, formerly, Eg. 267, D. I. i. 635; at sinni, as yet, at present; at nýju, anew, of present time; at eilífu, for ever and ever; at skömmu, soon, shortly, Ísl. ii. 272, v. l.

II. of the very moment when anything happens, the beginning of a term; denoting the seasons of the year, months, weeks, the hours of the day; at Jólum, at Yule, Nj. 46; at Pálmadegi, on Palm Sunday, 273; at Páskum, at Easter; at Ólafsvöku, on St. Olave’s eve, 29th of July, Fms.; at vetri, at the beginning of the winter, on the day when winter sets in, Grág. 1. 151; at sumarmálum, at vetrnáttum; at Tvímánaði, when the Double month (August) begins, Ld. 256, Grág. i. 152; at kveldi, at eventide, Eg. 3; at því meli, at that time; at eindaga, at the term, 395; at eykð, at 4 o’clock p. m., 198; at öndverðri æfi Abra hams, Ver. II; at sinni, now at once, Fms. vi. 71; at öðruhverju, every now and then.

β. where the point of time is marked by some event; at þingi, at the meeting of parliament (18th to the 24th of June), Ld. 182; at féránsdómi, at the court of execution, Grág. i. 132, 133; at þinglausnum, at the close of the parliament (beginning of July), 140; at festarmálum, eðr at eiginorði, at betrothal or nuptials, 174; at skilnaði, when they parted, Nj. 106 (above); at öllum minnum, at the general drinking of the toasts, Eg. 253; at fjöru, at the ebb; at flæðum, at flood tide, Fms. viii. 306, Orkn. 428; at hrörum, at an inquest, Grág. i. 50 (cp. ii. 141, 389); at sökum, at prosecutions, 30; at sinni, now, as yet, v. that word.

III. ellipt., or adding ‘komanda’ or ‘er kemr,’ of the future time:

1. ellipt., komanda or the like being understood, with reference to the seasons of the year; at sumri, at vetri, at hausti, at vári, next summer, winter…, Ísl. ii. 242; at miðju sumri, at ári, at Midsummer, next year, Fas. i. 516; at miðjum vetri, Fms. iv. 237,

2. adding ‘komanda’ or ‘er kemr;’ at ári komanda, Bárð. 177; at vári er kemr, Dipl. iii. 6.

IV. used with an absolute dat. and with a pres. part.:

1. with pres. part.; at morni komanda, on the coming morrow, Fms. i. 263; at sér lifanda, in vivo, in his life time, Grág. ii. 202; at þeim sofundum, illis dormientibus, Hkr. i. 234; at öllum ásjándum, in the sight of all, Fms. x. 329; at úvitanda konungi, illo nesciente, without his knowledge, 227; at áheyranda höfðingjanum, in the chief’s bearing, 235.

2. of past time with a past part. (Lat. abl. absol.); at hræjum fundnum, on the bodies being found, Grág. ii. 87; at háðum dómum ok föstu þingi, during the session, the courts being set, i. 484; at liðnum sex vikum, after six weeks past, Band. 13; at svá búnu, so goru, svá komnu, svá mæltu (Lat. quibus rebus gestis, dictis, quo facto, dicto, etc.), v. those words; at úreyndu, without trial, without put ting one to the test, Ld. 76; at honum önduðum, illo mortuo.

3. ellipt. without ‘at;’ en þessum hlutum fram komnum, when all this has been done, Eb. 132.

V. in some phrases with a slight temp, notion; at görðum gildum, the fences being strong, Gþl. 387; at vörmu spori, at once, whilst the trail is warm; at úvörum, unawares, suddenly, Nj. 95, Ld. 132; at þessu, at this cost, on that condition, Eb. 38, Nj. 55; at illum leiki, to have a narrow escape, now við illan leik, Fms. ix. 473; at því, that granted, Grág. ii. 33: at því, at pessu, thereafter, thereupon, Nj. 76.

2. denoting succession, without interruption, one after another; hverr at öðrum, annarr maðr at öðrum, aðrir at öðrum; eina konu at annarri, Eg. 91, Fms. ii. 236, vi. 25, Bs. i. 22, 625. 80, H. E. i. 522.

C. METAPH. and in various cases:

I. denoting a transformation or change into, to, with the notion of destruction; brenna at ösku, at köldum kolum, to burn to ashes, to be quite destroyed, Fms. i. 105, Edda 3, Sturl. ii. 51: with the notion of transformation or transfiguration, in such phrases as, verða at e-u, göra e-t at e-u, to turn it into:

α. by a spell; verða at ormi, to become a snake, Fms. xi. 158; at flugdrekum, Gullþ. 7; urðu þau bönd at járni, Edda 40.

β. by a natural process it can often be translated by an acc. or by as; göra e-n at urðarmanni, to make him an outlaw, Eg. 728; græða e-n at orkumlamanni, to heal him so as to maim him for life, of bad treatment by a leech, Eb. 244: in the law terms, sár görist at ben, a wound turning into a ben, proving to be mortal, Grág., Nj.; verða at ljúgvætti, to prove to be a false evidence, Grág. i. 44; verða at sætt, to turn into reconciliation, Fms. i. 13; göra e-t at reiði málum, to take offence at, Fs. 20; at nýjum tíðindum, to tell as news, Nj. 14; verða fátt at orðum, to be sparing of words, 18; kveðr (svá) at orði, to speak, utter, 10; verða at þrifnaði, to geton well, Fms. vii. 196: at liði, at skaða, to be a help or hurt to one; at bana, to cause one’s death, Nj. 223, Eg. 21, Grág. ii. 29: at undrum, at hlátri, to become a wonder, a laughing-stock, 623. 35, Eg. 553.

II. denoting capacity, where it may be translated merely by as or for; gefa at Jólagjöf, to give for a Christmas-box, Eg. 516; at gjöf, for a present; at erfð, at láni, launum, as an inheritance, a loan; at kaupum ok sökum, for buying and selling, Ísl. ii. 223, Grág. i. 423; at solum, ii. 204; at herfangi, as spoil or plunder; at sakbótum, at niðgjöldum, as a compensation, weregeld, i. 339, ii. 171, Hkr. ii. 168; taka at gíslingu, to take as an hostage, Edda 15; eiga e-n at vin, at óvin, to have one as friend or foe, illt er at eiga þræl at eingavin, ‘tis ill to have a thrall for one’s bosom friend (a proverb), Nj. 77; fæða, eiga, at sonum (syni), to beget a son, Edda 8, Bs. i. 60 (but eiga at dóttur cannot be said); hafa möttul at yfirhöfn, Fms. vii. 201; verða nökkut at manni (mönnum), to turn out to be a worthy man; verða ekki at manni, to turn out a worthless person, xi. 79, 268.

2. in such phrases as, verða at orðum, to come towards, Nj. 26; var þat at erindum, Eg. 148; hafa at veizlum, to draw veizlur ( dues) from, Fms. iv. 275, Eg. 647; gora e-t at álitum, to take it into consideration, Nj. 3.

III. denoting belonging to, fitting, of parts of the whole or the like; vóru at honum (viz. the sword) hjölt gullbúin, the sword was ornamented with a hilt of gold, Ld. 330; umgörð at ( belonging to) sverði, Fs. 97 (Hs.) in a verse; en ef mór er eigi at landinu, if there be no turf moor belonging to the land, Grág. ii. 338; svá at eigi brotnaði nokkuð at Orminum, so that no harm happened to the ship Worm, Fms. x. 356; hvatki er meiðir at skipinu eðr at reiðinu eðr at viðum, damage done t o …, Grág. ii. 403; lesta ( to injure) hús at lásum, við eðr torfi, 110; ef land hefir batnað at húsum, if the land has been bettered as to its buildings, 210; cp. the phrase, göra at e-u, to repair: hamlaðr at höndum eðr fótum, maimed as to hands or feet, Eg. 14; heill at höndum en hrumr at fótum, sound in band, palsied in foot, Fms. vii. 12; lykill at skrá, a key belonging, fitting, to the latch; hurð at húsi; a key ‘gengr at’ ( fits) skrá; and many other phrases. 2. denoting the part by which a thing is held or to which it belongs, by; fá, taka at…, to grasp by …; þú tókt við sverði hans at hjöltunum, you took it by the bill, Fms. i. 15; draga út björninn at hlustum, to pull out the bear by the ears, Fas. ii. 237; at fótum, by the feet, Fms. viii. 363; mæla ( to measure) at hrygg ok at jaðri, by the edge or middle of the stuff, Grág. i. 498; kasta e-m at höfði, head foremost, Nj. 84; kjósa e-n at fótum, by the feet alone, Edda 46; hefja frændsemi at bræðrum, eða at systkynum, to reckon kinship by the brother’s or the sister’s side, Grág. i. 28; kjósa at afli, at álitum, by strength, sight, Gs. 8, belongs rather to the following.

IV. in respect of, as regards, in regard to, as to; auðigr at fé, wealthy of goods, Nj. 16, 30, 51; beztir hestar at reið, the best racehorses, 186; spekingr at viti, a man of great intellect, Ld. 124; vænn (fagr) at áliti, fair of face, Nj. 30, Bs. i. 61; kvenna vænst at ásjónu ok vits munum, of surpassing beauty and intellect, Ld. 122; fullkominn at hyggju, 18; um fram aðra menn at vinsældum ok harðfengi, of surpassing popularity and hardihood, Eb. 30.

2. a law term, of challenging jurors, judges, or the like, on account of, by reason of; ryðja ( to challenge) at mægðum, guðsifjum, frændsemi, hrörum …; at leiðarlengd, on account of distance, Grág. i. 30, 50, Nj. (freq.)

3. in arithm. denoting proportion; at helmingi, þriðjungi, fjórðungi, tíunda hluta, cp. Lat. ex asse, quadrante, for the half, third… part; máttr skal at magni (a proverb), might and main go together, Hkr. ii. 236; þú munt vera at því mikill fræðimaðr á kvæði, in the same proportion, as great, Fms. vi. 391, iii. 41; at e-s hluta, at… leiti, for one’s part, in turn, as far as one is con cerned, Grág. i. 322, Eg. 309, Fms. iii. 26 (freq.): at öðrum kosti, in the other case, otherwise (freq.) More gener., at öllu, öngu, in all (no) respects; at sumu, einhverju, nokkru, partly; at flestu, mestu, chiefly.

4. as a paraphrase of a genitive; faðir, móðir at barni (= barns); aðili at sök (= sakar a.); morðingi at barni (= barns), faðerni at barni (barns); illvirki at fé manna (cp. Lat. felo de se), niðrfall at sökum (saka), land gangr at fiskum (fiska), Fms. iv. 274, Grág. i. 277, 416, N. G. L. i. 340, K. Þ. K. 112, Nj. 21.

5. the phrase ‘at sér,’ of himself or in himself, either ellipt. or by adding the participle görr, and with the adverbs vel, ilia, or the like; denoting breeding, bearing, endowments, character …; væn kona, kurteis ok vel at sér, an accomplished, well-bred, gifted lady, Nj. I; vitr maðr ok vel at sér, a wise man and thoroughly good in feeling and bearing, 5; þú ert maðr vaskr ok vel at þér, 49; gerr at sér, accomplished, 51; bezt at sér görr, the finest, best bred man, 39, Ld. 124; en þó er hann svá vel at sér, so generous, Nj. 77; þeir höfðingjar er svá vóru vel at sér, so noble-minded, 198, Fms. i. 160: the phrase ‘at sér’ is now only used of knowledge, thus maðr vel að sér means clever, a man of great knowledge; illa að sér, a blockhead.

6. denoting relations to colour, size, value, age, and the like; hvitr, svartr, grár, rauðr … at lit, white, swarthy, gray, red … of colour, Bjarn. 55, 28, Ísl. ii. 213, etc.; mikill, lítill, at stærð, vexti, tall, small of size, etc.; ungr, gamall, barn, at aldri, young, old, a child of age; tvítugr, þrítugr … at aldri, twenty, thirty … years of age (freq.): of animals; kyr at fyrsta, öðrum … kálfi, a cow having calved once, twice…, Jb. 346: value, amount, currency of money, kaupa e-t at mörk, at a mark, N. G. L. 1. 352; ok er eyririnn at mörk, amounts to a mark, of the value of money, Grág. i. 392; verðr þá at hálfri murk vaðmála eyrir, amounts to a half a mark, 500.

β. metaph. of value, connected with verbs denoting to esteem, hold; meta, hafa, halda at miklu, litlu, vettugi, engu, or the like, to hold in high or low esteem, to care or not to care for (freq.): geta e-s at góðu, illu, öngu, to mention one favourably, unfavourably, indifferently … (freq.), prop. in connection with. In many cases it may be translated by in; ekki er mark at draumum, there is no meaning in dreams, no heed is to be paid to dreams, Sturl. ii. 217; bragð er at þá barnið finnr, it goes too far, when even a child takes offence (a proverb): hvat er at því, what does it mean? Nj. 11; hvert þat skip er vöxtr er at, any ship of mark, i. e. however small, Fms. xi. 20.

V. denoting the source of a thing:

1. source of infor mation, to learn, perceive, get information from; Ari nam ok marga fræði at Þuríði, learnt as her pupil, at her hands, as St. Paul at the feet of Gamaliel, (just as the Scotch say to speer or ask at a person); Ari nam at Þorgeiri afraðskoll, Hkr. (pref.); nema kunnáttu at e-m, used of a pupil, Fms. i. 8; nema fræði at e-m, xi. 396.

2. of receiving, acquiring, buying, from; þiggja e-t at e-m, to receive a thing at his hands, Nj. 51; líf, to be pardoned, Fms. x. 173; kaupa land at e-m, to buy it from, Landn. 72, Íb. II, (now af is more freq. in this sense); geta e-t at e-m, to obtain, procure at one’s hands, impetrare; þeirra manna er þeir megu þat geta at, who are willing to do that, Grág. i. I; heimta e-t at e-m (now af), to call in, demand (a debt, money), 279; fala e-t at e-m (now af), to chaffer for or cheapen anything, Nj. 73; sækja e-t at e-m, to ask, seek for; sækja heilræði ok traust at e-m, 98; leiga e-t at e-m (now af), to borrow, Grág. ii. 334; eiga e-t (fé, skuld) at e-m, to be owed money by any one, i. 399: metaph. to deserve of one, Nj. 113; eiga mikit at e-m, to have much to do with, 138; hafa veg, virðing, styrk, at, to derive honour, power from, Fms. vi. 71, Eg. 44, Bárð. 174; gagn, to be of use, Ld. 216; mein, tálma, mischief, disadvantage, 158, 216, cp. Eg. 546; ótta, awe, Nj. 68.

VI. denoting conformity, according to, Lat. secundum, ex, after; at fornum sið, Fms. i. 112; at sögn Ara prests, as Ari relates, on his authority, 55; at ráði allra vitrustu manna, at the advice of, Ísl. ii. 259, Ld. 62; at lögum, at landslögum, by the law of the land, Grág., Nj.; at líkindum, in all likelihood, Ld. 272; at sköpum, in due course (poet.); at hinum sama hætti, in the very same manner, Grág. i. 90; at vánum, as was to be expected, Nj. 255; at leyfi e-s, by one’s leave, Eg. 35; úlofi, Grág. ii. 215; at ósk, vilja e-s, as one likes…; at mun, id. (poet.); at sólu, happily (following the course of the sun), Bs. i. 70, 137; at því sem …, as to infer from …, Nj. 124: ‘fara, láta, ganga at’ denotes to yield, agree to, to comply with, give in, Ld. 168, Eg. 18, Fms. x. 368.

VII. in phrases nearly or quite adverbial; gróa, vera græddr, at heilu, to be quite healed, Bárð. 167, Eb. 148; bíta at snöggu, to bite it bare, Fms. xi. 6; at þurru, till it becomes dry, Eb. 276; at endilöngu, all along, Fas. ii; vinnast at litlu, to avail little, 655 x. 14; at fullu, fully, Nj. 257, Hkr. i. 171; at vísu, of a surety, surely, Ld. 40; at frjálsu, freely, 308; at líku, at sömu, equally, all the same, Hom. 80, Nj. 267; at röngu, wrongly, 686 B. 2; at hófi, temperately, Lex. Poët.; at mun, at ráði, at marki, to a great extent; at hringum, utterly, all round, (rare), Fms. x. 389; at einu, yet, Orkn. 358; svá at einu, því at einu, allt at einu, yet, however, nevertheless.

VIII. connected with comparatives of adverbs and adjectives, and strengthening the sense, as in Engl. ‘the,’ so much the more, all the more; ‘at’ heldr tveimr, at ek munda gjarna veita yðr öllum, where it may be translated by so much the more to two, as I would willingly grant it to all of you; hon grét at meir, she grat (wept) the more, Eg. 483; þykir oss at líkara, all the more likely, Fms. viii. 6; þess at harðari, all the harder, Sturl. iii. 202 C; svá at hinn sé bana at nær, Grág. ii. 117; at auðnara, at hólpnara, the more happy, Al. 19, Grett. 116 B; þess at meiri, Fms. v. 64; auvirðismaðr at meiri, Sturl. ii. 139; maðr at vaskari, id.; at feigri, any the more fey, Km. 22; maðr at verri, all the worse, Nj. 168; ok er ‘at’ firr…, at ek vil miklu heldr, cp. Lat. tantum abest… ut, Eg. 60.

β. following after a negation; eigi at síðr, no less, Nj. 160, Ld. 146; eigi… at meiri maðr, any better, Eg. 425, 489; erat héra at borgnara, any the better off for that, Fms. vii. 116; eigi at minni, no less for that, Edda (pref.) 146; eigi at minna, Ld. 216, Fms. ix. 50; ekki at verri drengr, not a bit worse for that, Ld. 42; er mér ekki son minn at bættari, þótt…, 216; at eigi vissi at nær, any more, Fas. iii. 74.

IX. following many words:

1. verbs, esp. those denoting, a. to ask, enquire, attend, seek, e. g. spyrja at, to speer (ask) for; leita at, to seek for; gæta, geyma at, to pay attention to; huga, hyggja at; hence atspurn, to enquire, aðgæzla, athugi, attention, etc.

β. verbs denoting laughter, play, joy, game, cp. the Engl. to play at …, to laugh at …; hlæja, brosa at e-u, to laugh, smile at it; leika (sér) at e-u, to play at; þykja gaman at, to enjoy; hæða, göra gys at …, to make sport at …

γ. verbs denoting assistance, help; standa, veita, vinna, hjálpa at; hence atstoð, atvinna, atverk:—mode, proceeding; fara at, to proceed, hence atför and atferli:—compliance; láta, fara at e-u, v. above:— fault; e-t er at e-u, there is some fault in it, Fms. x. 418; skorta at e-u, to fall short of, xi. 98:—care, attendance; hjúkra at, hlýja at, v. these words:—gathering, collecting; draga, reiða, flytja, fá at, congerere:—engagement, arrival, etc.; sækja at, to attack; ganga at, vera at, to be about; koma at, ellipt. to arrive: göra at, to repair: lesta at, to impair (v. above); finna at, to criticise (mod.); telja at, id.: bera at, to happen; kveða at e-m, to address one, 625. 15, (kveða at (ellipt.) now means to pronounce, and of a child to utter (read) whole syllables); falla at, of the flood-tide (ellipt.): metaph. of pains or straits surrounding one; þreyngja, herða at, to press hard: of frost and cold, with regard to the seasons; frjósa at, kólna at, to get really cold (SI. 44), as it were from the cold stiffening all things: also of the seasons themselves; hausta, vetra að, when the season really sets in; esp. the cold seasons, ‘sumra at’ cannot be used, yet we may say ‘vára að’ when the spring sets in, and the air gets mild.

δ. in numberless other cases which may partly be seen below.

2. connected ellipt. with adverbs denoting motion from a place; norðan, austan, sunnan, vestan at, those from the north, east…; utan at, innan at, from the outside or inside.

3. with adjectives (but rarely), e. g. kærr, elskr, virkr (affectionate), vandr (zealous), at e-m; v. these words.

WITH ACC.

TEMP.: Lat. post, after, upon, esp. freq. in poetry, but rare in prose writers, who use eptir; nema reisi niðr at nið (= maðr eptir mann), in succession, of erecting a monument, Hm. 71; in prose, at þat. posthac, deinde, Fms. x. 323, cp. Rm., where it occurs several times, 2, 6, 9, 14, 18, 24, 28, 30, 35; sonr á at taka arf at föður sinn, has to take the inheritance after his father, Grág. i. 170 new Ed.; eiga féránsdóm at e-n, Grág. i. 89; at Gamla fallinn, after the death of G., Fms. x. 382; in Edda (Gl.) 113 ought to be restored, grét ok at Oð, gulli Freyja, she grat (wept) tears of gold for her lost husband Od. It is doubtful if it is ever used in a purely loc. sense; at land, Grág. (Sb.)ii. 211, is probably corrupt; at hönd = á hönd, Grág. (Sb.) i. 135; at mót = at móti, v. this word.

☞ In compounds (v. below) at- or að- answers in turn to Lat. ad- or in- or con-; atdráttr e. g. denotes collecting; atkoma is adventus: it may also answer to Lat. ob-, in atburðr = accidence, but might also be compared with Lat. occurrere.

and að, the mark of the infinitive [cp. Goth. du; A. S. and Engl. to; Germ. zu]. Except in the case of a few verbs ‘at’ is always placed immediately before the infinitive, so as to be almost an inseparable part of the verb.

I. it is used either,

1. as, a simple mark of the infinitive, only denoting an action and independent of the subject, e. g. at ganga, at hlaupa, at vita, to go, to run, to know; or,

2. in an objective sense when following such verbs as bjóða segja…, to invite, command …; hann bauð þeim at ganga, at sitja, be bade, ordered them to go, sit, or the like; or as gefa and fá; gefa e-m at drekka, at eta, to give one to drink or to eat, etc. etc.

β. with the additional notion of intention, esp. when following verba cogitandi; hann ætlaði, hafði í hyggju at fara, he had it in his mind to go (where ‘to go’ is the real object to ætlaði and hafði í hyggju).

3. answering to the Gr. ινα, denoting intention, design, in order to; hann gékk í borg at kaupa silfr, in order to buy, Nj. 280; hann sendi riddara sína með þeim at varðveita þær, 623. 45: in order to make the phrase more plain, ‘svá’ and ‘til’ are frequently added, esp. in mod. writers, ‘svá at’ and contr. ‘svát’ (the last however is rare), ‘til at’ and ‘til þess at,’ etc.

II. in the earlier times the infin., as in Greek and Lat., had no such mark; and some verbs remain that cannot be followed by ‘at;’ these verbs are almost the same in Icel. as in Engl.:

α. the auxiliary verbs vil, mun ( μέλλω), skal; as in Engl. to is never used after the auxiliaries shall, will, must; ek vil ganga, I will go; ek mun fara, (as in North. E.) I mun go; ek skal göra þat, I shall do that, etc.

β. the verbs kunna, mega, as in Engl. I can or may do, I dare say; svá hygginn at hann kunni fyrir sökum ráða, Grág. ii. 75; í öllu er prýða má góðan höfðingja, Nj. 90; vera má, it may be; vera kann þat, id.: kunnu, however, takes ‘at’ whenever it means to know, and esp. in common language in phrases such as, það kann að vera, but vera kann þat, v. above.

γ. lata, biðja, as in Engl. to let, to bid; hann lét (bað) þá fara, he let (bade) them go.

δ. þykkja, þykjast, to seem; hann þykir vera, he is thought to be: reflex., hann þykist vera, sibi videtur: impers., mér þykir vera, mibi videtur, in all cases without ‘at.’ So also freq. the verbs hugsa, hyggja, ætla, halda, to think, when denoting merely the act of thinking; but if there be any notion of intention or purpose, they assume the ‘at;’ thus hann ætlaði, hugði, þá vera góða menn, he thought them to be, acc. c. inf.; but ætlaði at fara, meant to go, etc.

ε. the verbs denoting to see, bear; sjá, líta, horfa á … ( videre); heyra, audire, as in Engl. I saw them come, I heard him tell, ek sá þá koma, ek heyrði hann tala.

ζ. sometimes after the verbs eiga and ganga; hann gékk steikja, be went to roast, Vkv. 9; eiga, esp. when a mere periphrasis instead of skal, móður sína á maðr fyrst fram færa (better at færa), Grág. i. 232; á þann kvið einskis meta, 59; but at meta, id. l. 24; ráða, nema, göra …, freq. in poetry, when they are used as simple auxiliary verbs, e. g. nam hann sér Högna hvetja at rúnum, Skv. 3. 43.

η. hljóta and verða, when used in the sense of must (as in Engl. he must go), and when placed after the infin.of another verb; hér muntu vera hljóta, Nj. 129; but hljóta at vera: fara hlýtr þú, Fms. 1. 159; but þú hlýtr at fara: verða vita, ii. 146; but verða at vita: hann man verða sækja, þó verðr (= skal) maðr eptir mann lifa, Fms. viii. 19, Fas. ii. 552, are exceptional cases.

θ. in poetry, verbs with the verbal neg. suffix ‘-at,’ freq. for the case of euphony, take no mark of the infinitive, where it would be indispensable with the simple verb, vide Lex. Poët. Exceptional cases; hvárt sem hann vill ‘at’ verja þá sök, eða, whatever he chooses, either, Grág. i. 64; fyrr viljum vér enga kórónu at bera, en nokkut ófrelsi á oss at taka, we would rather bear no crown than …, Fms. x. 12; the context is peculiar, and the ‘at’ purposely added. It may be left out ellipt.; e. g. þá er guð gefr oss finnast (= at finnast), Dipl. ii. 14; gef honum drekka (= at drekka), Pr. 470; but mostly in unclassical writers, in deeds, or the like, written nastily and in an abrupt style.

and að, conj. [Goth. þatei = οτι; A. S. þät; Engl. that; Germ, dass; the Ormul. and Scot. at, see the quotations sub voce in Jamieson; in all South-Teutonic idioms with an initial dental: the Scandinavian idioms form an exception, having all dropped this consonant; Swed. åt, Dan. at]. In Icel. the Bible translation (of the 16th century) was chiefly based upon that of Luther; the hymns and the great bulk of theol. translations of that time were also derived from Germany; therefore the germanised form það frequently appears in the Bible, and was often employed by theol. authors in sermons since the time of the Reformation. Jón Vidalin, the greatest modern Icel. preacher, who died in 1720, in spite of his thoroughly classical style, abounds in the use of this form; but it never took root in the language, and has never passed into the spoken dialect. After a relative or demonstr. pronoun, it freq. in mod. writers assumes the form eð, hver eð, hverir eð, hvað eð, þar eð. Before the prep. þú (tu), þ changes into t, and is spelt in a single word attú, which is freq. in some MS.;—now, however, pronounced aððú, aððeir, aððið …, = að þú…, with the soft Engl. th sound. It gener. answers to Lat. ut, or to the relat. pron. qui.

I. that, relative to svá, to denote proportion, degree, so…, that, Lat. tam, tantus, tot…, ut; svá mikill lagamaðr, at…, so great a lawyer, that…, Nj. 1; hárið svá mikit, at þat…, 2; svá kom um síðir því máli, at Sigvaldi, it came so far, that…, Fms. xi. 95, Edda 33. Rarely and unclass., ellipt. without svá; Bæringr var til seinn eptir honum, at hann … (= svá at), Bær. 15; hlífði honum, at hann sakaði ekki, Fas. iii. 441.

II. it is used,

1. with indic, in a narrative sense, answering partly to Gr. οτι, Lat. quod, ut, in such phrases as, it came to pass, happened that …; þat var einhverju sinni, at Höskuldr hafði vinaboð, Nj. 2; þat var á palmdrottinsdag, at Ólafr konungr gékk út um stræti, Fms. ii. 244.

2. with subj. answering to Lat. acc. with infin., to mark the relation of an object to the chief verb, e. g. vilda ek at þú réðist, I wished that you would, Nj. 57.

β. or in an oblique sentence, answering to ita ut…; ef svá kann verða at þeir láti…, if it may be so that they might…, Fms. xi. 94.

γ. with a subj. denoting design, answering to ϊνα or Lat. ut with subj., in order that; at öll veraldar bygðin viti, ut sciat totus orbis, Stj.; þeir skáru fyrir þá melinn, at þeir dæi eigi af sulti, ut ne fame perirent, Nj. 265; fyrsti hlutr bókarinnar er Kristindómsbálkr, at menn skili, in order that men may understand, Gþl. p. viii.

III. used in connection with conjunctions,

1. esp. þó, því, svá; þó at freq. contr. þótt; svát is rare and obsolete.

α. þóat, þótt (North. E. ‘thof’), followed by a subjunctive, though, although, Lat. etsi, quamquam (very freq.); þóat nokkurum mönnum sýnist þetta með freku sett… þá viljum vér, Fms. vi. 21: phrases as, gef þú mér þó at úverðugri, etsi indignae (dat.), Stj. MS. col. 315, are unclass., and influenced by the Latin: sometimes ellipt. without ‘þó,’ eigi mundi hón þá meir hvata göngu sinni, at (= þóat) hon hraeddist bana sinn, Edda 7, Nj. 64: ‘þó’ and ‘at’ separated, svarar hann þó rétt, at hann svari svá, Grág. i. 23; þó er rétt at nýta, at hann sé fyrr skorinn, answering to Engl. yet—though, Lat. attamen —etsi, K. Þ. K.

β. því at, because, Lat. nam, quia, with indic.; því at allir vóru gerfiligir synir hans, Ld. 68; því at af íþróttum verðr maðr fróðr, Sks. 16: separated, því þegi ek, at ek undrumst, Fms. iii. 201; því er þessa getið, at þat þótti, it i s mentioned because …, Ld. 68.

γ. svá at, so that, Lat. ut, ita ut; grátrinn kom upp, svá at eingi mátti öðrum segja, Edda 37: separated, so … that, svá úsvúst at …, so bad weather, that, Bs. i. 339, etc.

2. it is freq. used superfluously, esp. after relatives; hver at = hverr, quis; því at = því, igitur; hverr at þekkr ok þægiligr mun verða, Fms. v. 159; hvern stvrk at hann mundi fá, 44; ek undrumst hvé mikil ógnarraust at liggr í þér, iii. 201; því at ek mátti eigi þar vera elligar, því at þar var kristni vel haldin, Fas. i. 340.

IV. as a relat. conj.:

1. temp, when, Lat. quum; jafnan er ( est) mér þá verra er ( quum) ek fer á braut þaðan, en þá at ( quum) ek kem, Grett. 150 A; þar til at vér vitum, till we know, Fms. v. 52; þá at ek lýsta (= þá er), when, Nj. 233.

2. since, because; ek færi yðr (hann), at þér eruð í einum hrepp allir, because of your being all of the same Rape, Grág. i. 260; eigi er kynlegt at ( though) Skarphéðinn sé hraustr, at þat er mælt at…, because (since) it is a saying that…, Nj. 64.

V. in mod. writers it is also freq. superfluously joined to the conjunctions, ef að = ef, si, (Lv. 45 is from a paper MS.), meðan að = meðan, dum; nema að, nisi; fyrst að = fyrst, quoniam; eptir að, síðan að, postquam; hvárt að = hvárt, Lat. an. In the law we find passages such as, þá er um er dæmt eina sök, at þá eigu þeir aptr at ganga í dóminn, Grág. i. 79; ef þing ber á hina helgu viku, at þat á eigi fyrir þeim málum at standa, 106; þat er ok, at þeir skulu reifa mál manna, 64; at þeir skulu með váttorð þá sök sækja, 65: in all these cases ‘at’ is either superfluous or, which is more likely, of an ellipt. nature, ‘the law decrees’ or ‘it is decreed’ being understood. The passages Sks. 551, 552, 568, 718 B, at lokit (= at ek hefi lokit), at hugleitt (= at ek hefi h.), at sent (= at ek hefi sent) are quite exceptional.

and að, an indecl. relat. pronoun [Ulf. þatei = ος, ος αν, οστις, οσπερ, οιος, etc.; Engl. that, Ormul. at], with the initial letter dropped, as in the conj. at, (cp. also the Old Engl. at, which is both a conj. and a pronoun, e. g. Barbour vi. 24 in Jamieson: ‘I drede that his gret wassalage, | And his travail may bring till end, | That at men quhilc full litil wend.’ | ‘His mestyr speryt quhat tithings a t he saw.’—Wyntoun v. 3. 89.) In Icel. ‘er’ (the relat. pronoun) and ‘at’ are used indifferently, so that where one MS. reads ‘er,’ another reads ‘at,’ and vice versâ; this may easily be seen by looking at the MSS.; yet as a rule ‘er’ is much more freq. used. In mod. writers ‘at’ is freq. turned into ‘eð,’ esp. as a superfluous particle after the relative pron. hverr (hver eð, hvað eð, hverir eð, etc.), or the demonstr. sá (sá eð, þeir eð, hinir eð, etc.):—who, which, that, enn bezta grip at ( which) hafði til Íslands komið, Ld. 202; en engi mun sá at ( cui) minnisamara mun vera, 242; sem blótnaut at ( quae) stærst verða, Fms. iii. 214; þau tiðendi, at mér þætti verri, Nj. 64, etc. etc.

n. collision (poët.); odda at, crossing of spears, crash of spears, Höfuðl. 8.

β. a fight or bait of wild animals, esp. of horses, v. hesta-at and etja.

the negative verbal suffix, v. -a.

1) likely, to be expected (er vænst, at liðnar sé mínar lífsstundir);

2) bidding fair, likely to succeed (eigi mundi í annat sinn vænna at fara at jarli);

hér ferr vænt at, here it goes fairly;

3) of persons, hopeful, promising (Björn þótti vænn til höfðingja);

4) fair to behold fine, beautiful (væn kona ok kurteis);

of things, fine (kross vænn með líkneskjum).

* * *

adj. [ván], promising, likely, to be expected; er vænst at liðnar sé mínar lífs-stundir, Fms. ii. 2; segir ella vera vandræða vænt, 11.

2. bidding fair, likely to succeed; eigi þykki mér þat vænt, þar er faðir þinn fékk eigi heimt, Nj. 31; eigi mundi í annat sinn vænna at fara at jarli, Fms. i. 54; þá mundi vænast at leita atfara við Gunnar, Nj. 107; hvar er oss vænst á brott at komask? Eg. 235; þá er þat vænst at vér görim félagskap, Fms. v. 253; leita sér hjálpar hverr þangat er vænst þykkir, i. 92; mun ek leggja til með þér þat er mér þykkir væust, Nj. 31; þótti þeim um hit vænsta ( they were very glad), er þeir sá hann þar kominn, Fms. vi. 211; hér ferr vænt at, here it goes well, Nj. 232.

3. of persons, of qualities, hopeful, promising; Björn þótti vænn til höfðingja, Fms. i. 11; vænn til vits, vii. 279; manna vænstr til vits ok framkvæmðar, ix. 480; þeir eru oss vænstir til landvarnar, er svá er háttað, vi. 144; vænir til skila, Js. 2; er nú leitað hverir vænstir sé um sættir at leita, Ísl. ii. 384.

4. fair to behold, fine, beautiful, Lat. venustus; vænn í andliti, Fms. x. 420; vænn maðr ok liðmannligr, vii. 112; hann var inn vænsti maðr, 224; hón var kvenna vænst ok mest, i. 14, Eg. 2; væn kona ok kurteis, Nj. 1; kvenna vitrust ok vænust, Fms. vi. 119 (vænst, v. l.); Þorgerðr var væn kona, Eg. 598; hver þeirra vænust væri, Bret. 22: of things, fine, kross vænn með líkneskjum, Vm. 54: and so in mod. usage, vænn hestr, væn kýr, vænn sauðr, etc.

5. in mod. usage, fine, good, of moral qualities; hann er vænn maðr, hún er væn kona, a fine woman; hann er allra vænsti maðr, a most excellent man, and the like, whereas the old sense of ‘handsome’ is well nigh obsolete.

(öll, allt), a.

1) all, entire, whole;

hón á allan arf eptir mik, she has all the heritage after me;

af öllum hug, with all (one’s) heart;

hvítr allr, white all over;

bú allt, the whole estate;

allan daginn, the whole day;

í allri veröld, in the whole world;

allan hálfan mánuð, for the entire fortnight;

with addition of ‘saman’;

allt saman féit, the whole amount;

um þenna hernað allan saman, all together;

2) used almost adverbially, all, quite, entirely;

klofnaði hann allr í sundr, he was all cloven asunder, kváðu Örn allan villast, that he was altogether bewildered;

var Hrappr allr brottu, quite gone;

allr annarr maðr, quite another man;

3) gone, past;

áðr þessi dagr er allr, before this day is past;

var þá óll þeirra vinátta, their friendship was all over;

allt er nú mitt megin, my strength is exhausted, gone;

4) departed, dead (þá er Geirmundr var allr);

5) neut. sing. (allt) used. as a subst. in the sense of all, everything;

eigi er enn þeirra allt, they have not yet altogether won the game;

þá var allt (all, everybody) við þá hrætt;

hér er skammætt allt, here everything is transient;

with a compar. all the more (því öllu þungbærri);

with gen., allt missera (= öll misseri), all the year round;

allt annars, all the rest;

at öllu annars, in all other respects;

alls fyrst, first of all;

alls mest, most of all;

in adverbial phrases: at öllu, in all respects, in every way;

í öllu, in everything;

með öllu, wholly, quite;

neita með öllu, to refuse outright;

6) pl. allir (allar, öll), as adj. or substantively, all (þeir gengu út allir);

ór öllum fjórðungum á landinu, from all the quarters of the land;

allir aðrir, all others, every one else;

flestir allir, nearly all, the greatest part of;

gen. pl. (allra) as an intensive with superlatives, of all things, all the more;

nú þykkir mér þat allra sýnst, er, all the more likely, as;

allra helzt, er þeir heyra, particularly now when they hear;

allra sízt, least of all.

* * *

öll, allt, and alt, adj. [Ulf. alls = πας, άπας, όλος; A. S. eall; Engl. and Germ. all].

A. In sing. as adj. or substantively, cunctus, totus, omnis:

I. all, entire, the whole; hón á allan arf eptir mik, she has all my heritage after me, Nj. 3; um alla þingsafglöpun, every kind of þ., 150; gaf hann þat allt, all, 101; at öllum hluta, in totum, Grág. i. 245; allr heilagr dómr, the whole body of Christians, ii. 165; á öllu því máli, Fms. vii. 311; allu fólki, thewhole people, x. 273; hvitr allr, white all over, 655 xxxii. 21; bú allt, thewhole estate, Grág. i. 244; fyrir allt dagsljós, before any dawn of light, Hom. 41: with the addition of saman = άπας—Icel. now in fem. sing. and n. pl. say öll sömun, and even n. sing. allt samant; in old writers saman is indecl.,—the whole, Germ. sänmtlich, zusammen; allt saman féit, thewhole amount, entire, Grág. ii. 148; þenna hernað allan saman, all together, Fms. i. 144; fyrir allan saman ójafnað þann, Sd. 157. Metaph. in the phrase, at vera ekki allr þar sem hann er sénn (séðr), of persons of deep, shrewd characters, not to be seen through, but also with a feeling of something ‘uncanny’ about them, Fms. xi. 157 (a familiar phrase); ekki er oil nótt úti enn, sagði draugrinn, the night is not all over yet, said the ghost, ‘the Ides are not past’ (a proverb), v. Ísl. Þjóðs.

2. all, entire, full; allan hálfan mánuð, for the entire fortnight, Nj. 7; þar til er Kjartani þykir allt mál upp, until Kjartan thought it was high time, of one nearly (or) well-nigh drowned, Hkr. i. 286.

II. metaph. past, gone, dead, extinct; perh. ellipt., vera allr í brottu, quite gone, Eb. 112 new Ed.; var Hrappr þá allr í brottu, Nj. 132; then by an ellipsis of ‘brottu,’ or the like, allr simply = past, gone:

α. past, of time; seg þú svá fremi frá því er þessi dagr er allr, when this day is past, Nj. 96, Fms. ii. 38, 301; var þá öll þeirra vinátta, their friendship was all gone, Fms. ix. 428; allt er mi mitt megin, my strength is gone, exhausted, Str.

β. dead; þá er Geirmundr var allr, gone, dead, Landn. (Hb.) 124; síz Gunnarr at Hlíðarenda var allr, since G. of Lithend was dead and gone (v. l. to lézt), Nj. 142; sem faðir þeirra væri allr, after his death, Stj. 127; þá er Nói var allr, 66; en sem hann var allr, 100; eptir þat er Sara var öll, after all Sara’s days were over, 139, 140, 405; á vegum allr hygg ek at at ek verða munu, that I shall perish on the way, Gg. verse 5; með því at þú ert gamlaðr mjök, þá munu þeir eigi út koma fyr en þú ert allr, Háv. 57; still freq. in Swed., e. g. blifwa all af bekumring, be worn out with sorrow; vinet blev alt, fell short; tiden er all, past.

III. used almost adverbially, when it may be translated by all, quite, just, entirely; klofnaði hann allr í sundr, was all cloven asunder, Nj. 205; er sá nú allr einn í þínu liði er nú hefir eigi höfuðs, ok hinn, er þá eggiaði hins versta verks er eigi var fram komit, where it seems, however, rather to mean one and the same … or the very same …, thus, and he is now one and the same man in thy band, who has now lost his head, and he who then egged thee on to the worst work when it was still undone, or the very same, … who, Nj. 213; vil ek at sú görð häldist öll, in all its parts, 256; kváðu Örn allan villast, that he was all bewildered, Ld. 74.

IV. neut. sing. used as a subst. in the sense of all, everything, in every respect; ok for svá með öllu, sem …, acted in everything as…, Nj. 14, Ld. 54; ok lát sem þú þykist þar allt eiga, that you depend upon him in all, Fms. xi. 113; eigi er enn þeirra allt, they have not yet altogether won the game, Nj. 235: í alls vesöld, in all misery, Ver. 4; alls mest, most of all, especially, Fms. ii. 137 C, Fs. 89 (in a verse); in mod. usage, allra mest, cp. below. The neut. with a gen.; allt missera, all the year round, Hom. 73; allt annars, all the rest, Grág. ii. 141; at öllu annars, in all other respects, K. Þ. K. 98; þá var allt (all, everybody) við þá hrætt, Fas. i. 338. In the phrases, at öllu, in all respects, Fms. i. 21, Grág. i. 431; ef hann á eigi at öllu framfærsluna, if he be not the sole supporter, 275: úreyndr at öllu, untried in every way, Nj. 90; cp. Engl. not at all, prop. not in every respect, analogous to never, prop. not always: fyrir alls sakir, in every respect, Grág. ii. 47, Fas. i. 252: í öllu, in everything, Nj. 90, 228: með öllu, wholly, quite, dauðr með öllu, quite dead, 153; neita með öllu, to refuse outright, Fms. i. 35, 232, Boll. 342: um allt, in respect of everything, Nj. 89; hence comes the adverb ávalt, ever = of allt = um allt, prop. in every respect, v. ávalt.

V. the neut. sing. allt is used as an adv., right up to, as far as, all the way; Brynjólfr gengr allt at honum, close to him, Nj. 58; kómu allt at bænum, 79; allt at búðardyrunum, right up to the very door of the booth, 247; allt norðr urn Stað, all along north, round Cape Stad, Fms. vii. 7; suðr allt í Englands haf, iv. 329; verit allt út í Miklagarð, as far out as Constantinople, ii. 7, iv. 250, 25; allt á klofa, Bárð. 171.

2. everywhere, in all places; at riki Eireks konungs mundi allt yfir standa í Eyjunum, might stretch over the whole of the Islands, Eg. 405; Sigröðr var konungr allt um Þrændalög, over all Drontheim, Fms. i. 19; bjoggu þar allt fyrir þingmenn Runólfs goða, the liegemen of R. the priest were in every house, ii. 234 ( = í hverju húsi, Bs. i. 20); allt norðr um Rogaland, all the way north over the whole of R., Fms. iv. 251; vóru svirar allt gulli búnir, all overlaid with gold, vi. 308; hafið svá allt kesjurnar fyrir, at ekki megi á ganga, hold your spears everywhere (all along the line) straight before you, that they (the enemy) may not come up to you, 413; allt imdir innviðuna ok stafnana, vii. 82.

3. nearly = Lat. jam, soon, already; vóru allt komin fyrir hann bréf, warrants of arrest were already in his way, Fms. vii. 207; var allt skipat liðinu til fylkingar, the troops were at once drawn up in array, 295; en allt hugðum vér ( still we thought) at fara með spekt um þessi héruð, Boll. 346.

4. temp. all through, until; allt til Júnsvöku, Ann. 1295; allt um daga Hákonar konungs, all through the reign of king Hacon, Bs. i. 731.

5. in phrases such as, allt at einu, all one, all in the same way, Fms. i. 113. In Icel. at present allt að einu means all the same: allt eins, nevertheless; ek ætla þó utan a. eins, Ísl. ii. 216; hann neitaði allt eins at…, refused all the same, Dipl. iii. 13; allt eins hraustliga, not the less manly, Fms. xi. 443. The mod. Icel. use is a little different, namely = as, in similes = just as; allt eins og blómstrið eina (a simile), just as the flower, the initial words of the famous hymn by Hallgrim.

6. by adding ‘of’ = far too …, much too …, Karl. 301 (now freq.)

7. with a comparative, much, far, Fms. vi. 45 (freq.)

VI. neut. gen. alls [cp. Ulf. allis = όλως; A. S. ealles], used as an adv., esp. before a negative (ekki, hvergi), not a bit, not at all, no how, by no means; þeir ugðu alls ekki at sér, they were not a bit afraid, Nj. 252; hræðumst vér hann nú alls ekki, we do not care a bit for him, 260; á hólmgöngu er vandi en alls ekki ( none at all) á einvigi, Korm. 84; en junkherra Eiríkr þóttist ekki hafa, ok kallaði sik Eirík alls ekki (cp. Engl. lackland), Fms. x. 160; alls hvergi skal sök koma undir enn þriðja mann, no how, in no case, by no means, Grág. i. 144: sometimes without a negative following it; ær alls geldar, ewes quite barren, Grág. i. 502; hafrar alls geldir, id.; alls vesall, altogether wretched, Nj. 124; alls mjök stærist hann nú, very much, Stj.; a. mest, especially, Fs. 89, Fms. ii. 137. In connection with numbers, in all, in the whole; tólf vóru þau alls á skipi, twelve were they all told in the ship, Ld. 142; tíu Íslenzkir menn alls, 164; alls fórust níu menn, the slain were nine in all, Ísl. ii. 385; verða alls sárir þrír eða fleiri, Grág. ii. 10; alls mánuð, a full month, i. 163; þeir ala eitt barn alls á aefi sinni, Rb. 346.

β. with addition of ‘til’ or ‘of’ = far too much; alls of lengi, far too long a time, Fms. i. 140; hefnd alls til lítil, much too little, vi. 35.

B. In pl. allir, allar, öll, as adj. or substantively:

1. used absol. all; þeir gengu út allir, all men, altogether, Nj. 80; Síðan bjoggust þeir heiman allir, 212; Gunnarr reið ok beir allir, 48; hvikit þér allir, 78, etc.

2. as adj., alla höfðingja, all the chiefs, Nj. 213; ór öllum fjórðungum á landinu, all the quarters of the land, 222; at vitni guðs ok allra heilagra manna, all the saints, Grág. ii. 22; í allum orrostum, in all the battles, Fms. x. 273; Josep ok allir hans ellifu bræðr, Stj., etc.

3. by adding aðrir, flestir, etc.; allir aðrir, all other, everyone else, Nj. 89, Fms. xi. 135: flestir allir, nearly all, the greatest part of, v. flestr; in mod. use flestallir, flest being indecl.: allir saman, altogether, Nj. 80.

4. adverb., Gregorius hafði eigi öll fjögr hundruð, not all, not quite, four hundred, Fms. vii. 255.

5. used ellipt., allir ( everybody) vildu leita þér vegs, Nj. 78.

6. gen. pl. allra, when followed by superl. neut. adj. or adv., of all things, all the more; en nú þyki mér þat allra sýnst er …, all the more likely, as …, Ld. 34; allra helzt er þeir heyra, particularly now when they hear, Fms. ix. 330; allra helzt ef hann fellr meir, all the rather, if …, Grág. ii. 8; allra sízt, least of all, 686 B. 2; bæn sú kemr til þess allra mest, especially, Hom. 149: very freq. at present in Icel., and used nearly as Engl. very, e. g. allra bezt, the very best; a. hæst, neðst, fyrst, the very highest, lowest, foremost, etc.

C. alls is used as a prefix to several nouns in the gen., in order to express something common, general, universal.

COMPDS: allsendis, allsháttar, allsherjar, allsherjarbúð, allsherjardómr, allsherjarfé, allsherjargoði, allsherjarlið, allsherjarlýðr, allsherjarlög, allsherjarþing, allskonar, allskostar, allskyns, allsstaðar, allsvaldandi, allrahanda, allraheilagra.

* * *

a negative suffix to verbs, not;

era útmakligt, at it is not unmeet that.

* * *

á, prep., often used elliptically, or even adverbially, [Goth. ana; Engl. on; Germ. an. In the Scandinavian idioms the liquid n is absorbed. In English the same has been supposed to happen in adverbial phrases, e. g. ‘along, away, abroad, afoot, again, agate, ahead, aloft, alone, askew, aside, astray, awry,’ etc. It is indeed true that the Ormulum in its northern dialect freq. uses o, even in common phrases, such as ‘o boke, o land, o life, o slæpe, o strande, o write, o naht, o loft,’ etc., v. the glossary; and we may compare on foot and afoot, on sleep (Engl. Vers. of Bible) and asleep; A. S. a-butan and on-butan (about); agen and ongean (again, against); on bæc, aback; on life, alive; on middan, amid. But it is more than likely that in the expressions quoted above, as well as in numberless others, as well in old as in modern English, the English a- as well as the o- of the Ormulum and the modern Scottish and north of England o- are in reality remains of this very á pronounced au or ow, which was brought by the Scandinavian settlers into the north of England. In the struggle for supremacy between the English dialects after the Conquest, the Scandinavian form á or a won the day in many cases to the exclusion of the Anglo-Saxon on. Some of these adverbs have representatives only in the Scandinavian tongues, not in Anglo-Saxon; see below, with dat. B. II, C. VII; with acc. C. I. and VI. The prep. á denotes the surface or outside; í and ór the inside; at, til, and frá, nearness measured to or from an object: á thus answers to the Gr. επί; the Lat. in includes á and i together.]

With dat. and acc.: in the first case with the notion of remaining on a place, answering to Lat. in with abl.; in the last with the notion of motion to the place, = Lat. in with acc.

WITH DAT.

A. Loc.

I. generally on, upon; á gólfi, on the floor, Nj. 2; á hendi, on the hand (of a ring), 48, 225; á palli, 50; á steini, 108; á vegg, 115; á sjá ok á landi, on sea and land. In some instances the distinction between d and i is loose and wavering, but in most cases common sense and usage decide; thus ‘á bók’ merely denotes the letters, the penmanship, ‘í’ the contents of a book; mod. usage, however, prefers ‘í,’ lesa í bók, but stafr á bók. Old writers on the other hand; á bókum Enskum, in English books, Landn. 24, but í Aldafars bók, 23 (in the book De Mensurâ Temporum, by Bede), cp. Grág. i. 76, where á is a false reading instead of at; á bréfi, the contents of a letter: of clothing or arms, mítr á höfði, sverð á hlið, mitre on head, sword on side, Fms. i. 266, viii. 404; hafa lykil á sér, on one’s person, 655 xxvii. 22; möttull á tyglum, a mantle hanging on (i. e. fastened by) laces, Fms. vii. 201: á þingi means to be present at a meeting; í þingi, to abide within a jurisdiction; á himni, á jörðu, on (Engl. in) heaven and earth, e. g. in the Lord’s Prayer, but í helviti, in hell; á Gimli, Edda (of a heavenly abode); á báti, á skipi denote crew and cargo, ‘í’ the timber or materials of which a ship is built, Eg. 385; vera í stafni á skipi, 177: á skógi, to be abroad in a wood (of a hunter, robber, deer); but to be situated (a house), at work (to fell timber), í skógi, 573, Fs. 5, Fms. iii. 122, viii. 31, xi. 1, Glúm. 330, Landn. 173; á mörkinni, Fms. i. 8, but í mörk, of a farm; á firðinum means lying in a firth, of ships or islands (on the surface of the water), þær eyjar liggja á Breiðafirði, Ld. 36; but í firði, living in a district named Firth; á landi, Nj. 98, Fms. xi. 386.

II. á is commonly used in connection with the pr. names or countries terminating in ‘land,’ Engl. in, á Englandi, Írlandi, Skotlandi, Bretlandi, Saxlandi, Vindlandi, Vínlandi, Grænalandi, Íslandi, Hálogalandi, Rogalandi, Jótlandi, Frakklandi, Hjaltlandi, Jamtalandi, Hvítramannalandi, Norðrlöndum, etc., vide Landn. and the index to Fms. xii. In old writers í is here very rare, in modern authors more frequent; taste and the context in many instances decide. An Icelander would now say, speaking of the queen or king, ‘á Englandi,’ ruling over, but to live ‘í Englandi,’ or ‘á Englandi;’ the rule in the last case not being quite fixed.

2. in connection with other names of countries: á Mæri, Vörs, Ögðum, Fjölum, all districts of Norway, v. Landn.; á Mýrum (in Icel.), á Finnmörk, Landn., á Fjóni (a Danish island); but í Danmörk, Svíþjóð (á Svíþjóðu is poët., Gs. 13).

3. before Icel. farms denoting open and elevated slopes and spaces (not too high, because then ‘at’ must be used), such as ‘staðr, völlr, ból, hjalli, bakki, heimr, eyri,’ etc.; á Veggjum, Landn. 69; á Hólmlátri, id.: those ending in ‘-staðr,’ á Geirmundarstöðum, Þórisstöðum, Jarðlangsstöðum…, Landn.: ‘-völlr,’ á Möðruvöllum: á Fitjum (the farm) í Storð (the island), í Fenhring (the island) á Aski (the farm), Landn., Eg.: ‘-nes’ sometimes takes á, sometimes í (in mod. usage always ‘í’), á Nesi, Eb. 14, or í Krossnesi, 30; in the last case the notion of island, νησος, prevails: so also, ‘fjörðr,’ as, þeir börðust á Vigrafirði (of a fight o n the ice), Landn. 101, but orusta í Hafrsfirði, 122: with ‘-bær,’ á is used in the sense of a farm or estate, hón sa á e-m bæ mikit hús ok fagrt, Edda 22; ‘í bæ’ means within doors, of the buildings: with ‘Bær’ as pr. name Landn. uses ‘í,’ 71, 160, 257, 309, 332.

4. denoting on or just above; of the sun, when the time is fixed by regarding the sun in connection with points in the horizon, a standing phrase in Icel.; sól á gjáhamri, when the sun is on the crag of the Rift, Grág. i. 26, cp. Glúm. 387; so, brú á á, a bridge on a river, Fms. viii. 179, Hrafn. 20; taka hús á e-m, to surprise one, to take the house over his head, Fms. i. 11.

III. á is sometimes used in old writers where we should now expect an acc., esp. in the phrase, leggja sverði (or the like) á e-m, or á e-m miðjum, to stab, Eg. 216, Gísl. 106, Band. 14; þá stakk Starkaðr sprotanum á konungi, then Starkad stabbed the king with the wand, Fas. iii. 34; bíta á kampi (vör), to bite the lips, as a token of pain or emotion, Nj. 209, 68; taka á e-u, to touch a thing, lay hold of it, v. taka; fá á e-u, id. (poët.); leggja hendr á (better at) síðum, in wrestling, Fms. x. 331; koma á úvart á e-m, to come on one unawares, ix. 407 (rare).

B. TEMP. of a particular point or period of time, at, on, in:

I. gener. denoting during, in the course of; á nótt, degi, nætrþeli …, Bs. i. 139; or spec. adding a pron. or an adject., á næsta sumri, the next summer; á því ári, þingi, misseri, hausti, vári, sumri …, during, in that year …, Bs. i. 679, etc.; á þrem sumrum, in the course of three summers, Grág. i. 218; á þrem várum, Fms. ii. 114; á hálfs mánaðar fresti, within half a month’s delay, Nj. 99; á tvítugs, sextugs … aldri, á barns, gamals aldri, etc., at the age of …, v. aldr: á dögum e-s, in the days of, in his reign or time, Landn. 24, Hrafn. 3, Fms. ix. 229.

II. used of a fixed recurrent period or season; á várum, sumrum, haustum, vetrum, á kveldum, every spring, summer …, in the evenings, Eg. 711, Fms. i. 23, 25, vi. 394, Landn. 292: with the numeral adverbs, cp. Lat. ter in anno, um sinn á mánuði, ári, once a month, once a year, where the Engl. a is not the article but the preposition, Grág. i. 89.

III. of duration; á degi, during a whole day, Fms. v. 48; á sjau nóttum, Bárð. 166; á því meli, during that time, in the meantime, Grág. i. 259.

IV. connected with the seasons (á vetri, sumri, vári, hausti), ‘á’ denotes the next preceding season, the last winter, summer, autumn, Eb. 40, 238, Ld. 206: in such instances ‘á’ denotes the past, ‘at’ the future, ‘í’ the present; thus í vetri in old writers means this winter; á vetri, last winter; at vetri, next winter, Eb. 68 (in a verse), etc.

C. In various other relations, more or less metaphorically, on, upon, in, to, with, towards, against:

I. denoting object, in respect of, against, almost periphrastically; dvelja á náðum e-s, under one’s protection, Fms. i. 74; hafa metnað á e-u, to be proud of, to take pride in a thing, 127.

2. denoting a personal relation, in; bæta e-t á e-m, to make amends, i. e. to one personally; misgöra e-t á e-m, to inflict wrong on one; hafa elsku (hatr) á e-m, to bear love ( hatred) to one, Fms. ix. 242; hefna sín á e-m, to take revenge on one’s person, on anyone; rjúfa sætt á e-m, to break truce on the person of any one, to offend against his person, Nj. 103; hafa sár á sér, 101; sjá á e-m, to read on or in one’s face; sér hann á hverjum manni hvárt til þín er vel eðr illa, 106; var þat brátt auðséð á hennar högum, at …, it could soon be seen in all her doings, that …, Ld. 22.

3. also generally to shew signs of a thing; sýna fáleika á sér, to shew marks of displeasure, Nj. 14, Fs. 14; taka vel, illa, lítt, á e-u, to take a thing well, ill, or indifferently, id.; finna á sér, to feel in oneself; fann lítt á honum, hvárt …, it could hardly be seen in his face, whether …, Eb. 42; líkindi eru á, it is likely, Ld. 172; göra kost á e-u, to give a choice, chance of it, 178; eiga vald á e-u, to have power over …, Nj. 10.

II. denoting encumbrance, duty, liability; er fimtardómsmál á þeim, to be subject to …, Nj. 231; the phrase, hafa e-t á hendi, or vera á hendi e-m, on one’s hands, of work or duty to be done; eindagi á fé, term, pay day, Grág. i. 140; ómagi (skylda, afvinna) á fé, of a burden or encumbrance, D. I. and Grág. in several passages.

III. with a personal pronoun, sér, mér, honum …, denoting personal appearance, temper, character, look, or the like; vera þungr, léttr … á sér, to be heavy or light, either bodily or mentally; þungr á sér, corpulent, Sturl. i. 112; kátr ok léttr á sér, of a gay and light temper, Fms. x. 152; þat bragð hafði hann á sér, he looked as if, … the expression of his face was as though …, Ld., cp. the mod. phrase, hafa á sér svip, bragð, æði, sið, of one’s manner or personal appearance, to bear oneself as, or the like; skjótr (seinn) á fæti, speedy ( slow) of foot, Nj. 258.

IV. as a periphrasis of the possessive pronoun connected with the limbs or parts of the body. In common Icel. such phrases as my hands, eyes, head … are hardly ever used, but höfuð, eyru, hár, nef, munnr, hendr, fætr … á mér; so ‘í’ is used of the internal parts, e. g. hjarta, bein … í mér; the eyes are regarded as inside the body, augun í honum: also without the possessive pronoun, or as a periphrasis for a genitive, brjóstið á e-m, one’s breast, Nj. 95, Edda 15; súrnar í augum, it smarts in my eyes, my eyes smart, Nj. 202; kviðinn á sér, its belly, 655 xxx. 5, Fms. vi. 350; hendr á henni, her hands, Gísl. (in a verse); í vörunum á honum, on his lips, Band. 14; ristin á honum, his step, Fms. viii. 141; harðr í tungu, sharp of tongue, Hallfred (Fs. 114); kalt (heitt) á fingrum, höndum, fótum …, cold ( warm) in the fingers, hands, feet …, i. e. with cold fingers, etc.; cp. also the phrase, verða vísa (orð) á munni, of extemporising verses or speeches, freq. in the Sagas; fastr á fótum, fast by the leg, of a bondsman, Nj. 27: of the whole body, díla fundu þeir á honum, 209. The pers. pron. is used only in solemn style (poetry, hymns, the Bible), and perhaps only when influenced by foreign languages, e. g. mitt hjarta hví svo hryggist þú, as a translation of ‘warumb betrübst du dich mein Herz?’ the famous hymn by Hans Sachs; instead of the popular hjartað í mér, Sl. 43, 44: hjartað mitt is only used as a term of endearment, as by a husband to his wife, parents to their child, or the like, in a metaphorical sense; the heart proper is ‘í mér,’ not ‘mitt.’

2. of other things, and as a periphrasis of a genitive, of a part belonging to the whole, e. g. dyrr á husi = húsdyrr, at the house-doors; turn á kirkju = kirkju turn; stafn, skutr, segl, árar … á skipi, the stem, stern, sail … of a ship, Fms. ix. 135; blöð á lauk, á tré …, leaves of a leek, of a tree …, Fas. i. 469; egg á sverði = sverðs egg; stafr á bók; kjölr á bók, and in endless other instances.

V. denoting instrumentality, by, on, or a-, by means of; afla fjár á hólmgöngum, to make money a-duelling, by means of duels, Eg. 498; á verkum sínum, to subsist on one’s own work, Njarð. 366: as a law term, sekjast á e-ju, to be convicted upon …, Grág. i. 123; sekst maðr þar á sínu eigini ( a man is guilty in re sua), ef hann tekr af þeim manni er heimild ( possessio) hefir til, ii. 191; falla á verkum sínum, to be killed flagranti delicto, v. above; fella e-n á bragði, by a sleight in wrestling; komast undan á flótta, to escape by flight, Eg. 11; á hlaupi, by one’s feet, by speed, Hkr. ii. 168; lifa á e-u, to feed on; bergja á e-u, to taste of a thing; svala sér á e-u, to quench the thirst on.

VI. with subst. numerals; á þriðja tigi manna, up to thirty, i. e. from about twenty to thirty, Ld. 194; á öðru hundraði skipa, from one to two hundred sail strong, Fms. x. 126; á níunda tigi, between eighty and ninety years of age, Eg. 764, v. above: used as prep., á hendi, on one’s hand, i. e. bound to do it, v. hönd.

VII. in more or less adverbial phrases it may often be translated in Engl. by a participle and a- prefixed; á lopti, aloft; á floti, afloat; á lífi, alive; á verðgangi, a-begging; á brautu, away; á baki, a-back, behind, past; á milli, a-tween; á laun, alone, secretly; á launungu, id.; á móti, against; á enda, at an end, gone; á huldu, hidden; fara á hæli, to go a-heel, i. e. backwards, Fms. vii. 70;—but in many cases these phrases are transl. by the Engl. partic. with a, which is then perh. a mere prefix, not a prep., á flugi, a-flying in the air, Nj. 79; vera á gangi, a-going; á ferli, to be about; á leiki, a-playing, Fms. i. 78; á sundi, a-swimming, ii. 27; á verði, a-watching, x. 201; á hrakningi, a-wandering; á reiki, a-wavering; á skjálfi, a-shivering; á-hleri, a-listening; á tali, a-talking, Ísl. ii. 200; á hlaupi, a-running, Hkr. ii. 268; á verki, a-working; á veiðum, a-hunting; á fiski, a-fishing; á beit, grazing: and as a law term it even means in flagranti, N. G. L. i. 348.

VIII. used absolutely without a case in reference to the air or the weather, where ‘á’ is almost redundant; þoka var á mikil, a thick fog came on, Nj. 267; niðamyrkr var á, pitch darkness came on, Eg. 210; allhvast á norðan, a very strong breeze from the north, Fms. ix. 20; þá var á norðrænt, a north wind came on, 42, Ld. 56; hvaðan sem á er, from whatever point the wind is; var á hríð veðrs, a snow storm came on, Nj. 282; görði á regn, rain came on, Fms. vi. 394, xi. 35, Ld. 156.

WITH ACC.

A. Loc.

I. denoting simple direction towards, esp. connected with verbs of motion, going, or the like; hann gékk á bergsnös, Eg. 389; á hamar, Fas. ii. 517.

2. in phrases denoting direction; liggja á útborða, lying on the outside of the ship, Eg. 354; á annat borð skipinu, Fms. vii. 260; á bæði borð, on both sides of the ship, Nj. 124, Ld. 56; á tvær hliðar, on both sides, Fms. v. 73. Ísl. ii. 159; á hlið, sidewards; út á hlið, Nj. 262, Edda 44; á aðra hönd henni, Nj. 50, Ld. 46; höggva á tvær hendr, to hew or strike right and left, Ísl. ii. 368, Fas. i. 384, Fms. viii. 363, x. 383.

3. upp á, upon; hann tók augu Þjaza ok kastaði upp á himin, Edda 47: with verbs denoting to look, see, horfa, sjá, líta, etc.; hann rak skygnur á land, he cast glances towards the land, Ld. 154.

II. denoting direction with or without the idea of arriving:

1. with verbs denoting to aim at; of a blow or thrust, stefna á fótinn, Nj. 84; spjótið stefnir á hann miðjan, 205: of the wind, gékk veðrit á vestr, the wind veered to west, Fms. ix. 28; sigla á haf, to stand out to sea, Hkr. i. 146, Fms. i. 39: with ‘út’ added, Eg. 390, Fms. x. 349.

2. conveying the notion of arriving, or the intervening space being traversed; spjótið kom á miðjan skjöldinn, Eg. 379, Nj. 96, 97; langt upp á land, far up inland, Hkr. i. 146: to reach, taka ofan á belti, of the long locks of a woman, to reach down to the belt, Nj. 2; ofan á bringu, 48; á þa ofan, 91.

III. without reference to the space traversed, connected with verbs denoting to go, turn, come, ride, sail, throw, or the like, motion of every kind; hann kastar honum á völlinn, he flings him down, Nj. 91; hlaupa á skip sitt, to leap on board his ship, 43; á hest, to mount quickly, Edda 75; á lend hestinum, Nj. 91; hann gengr á sáðland sitt, he walks on to his fields, 82: on, upon, komast á fætr, to get upon one’s legs, 92; ganga á land, to go a-shore, Fms. i. 40; ganga á þing, vii. 242, Grág. (often); á skóg, á merkr ok skóga, into a wood, Fb. i. 134, 257, Fms. xi. 118, Eg. 577, Nj. 130; fara á Finnmörk, to go travelling in Finmark, Fms. i. 8; koma, fara á bæ, to arrive at the farm-house; koma á veginn, Eg. 578; stíga á bát, skip, to go on board, 158; hann gékk upp á borg, he went up to the burg (castle), 717; en er þeir komu á loptriðið, 236; hrinda skipum á vatn, to float the ships down into the water, Fms. i. 58; reka austr á haf, to drift eastwards on the sea, x. 145; ríða ofan á, to ride down or over, Nj. 82.

IV. in some cases the acc. is used where the dat. would be used, esp. with verbs denoting to see or hear, in such phrases as, þeir sá boða mikinn inn á fjörðinn, they saw great breakers away up in the bight of the firth, the acc. being due perhaps to a motion or direction of the eye or ear towards the object, Nj. 124; sá þeir fólkit á land, they saw the people in the direction of land, Fas. ii. 517: in phrases denoting to be placed, to sit, to be seated, the seat or bench is freq. in the acc. where the dat. would now be used; konungr var þar á land upp, the king was then up the country, the spectator or narrator is conceived as looking from the shore or sea-side, Nj. 46; sitja á miðjan bekk, to be seated on the middle bench, 50; skyldi konungs sæti vera á þann bekk … annat öndvegi var á hinn úæðra pall; hann setti konungs hásæti á miðjan þverpall, Fms. vi. 439, 440, cp. Fagrsk. l. c., Sturl. iii. 182; eru víða fjallbygðir upp á mörkina, in the mark or forest, Eg. 58; var þar mörk mikil á land upp, 229; mannsafnaðr er á land upp (viewed from the sea), Ld. 76; stóll var settr á mótið, Fas. i. 58; beiða fars á skip, to beg a passage, Grág. i. 90.

V. denoting parts of the body; bíta e-n á barka, to bite one in the throat, Ísl. ii. 447; skera á háls, to cut the throat of any one, Nj. 156; brjóta e-n á háls, to break any one’s neck; brjóta e-n á bak, to break any one’s back, Fms. vii. 119; kalinn á kné, frozen to the knees with cold, Hm. 3.

VI. denoting round; láta reipi á háls hesti, round his horse’s neck, 623. 33; leggja söðul á hest, Nj. 83; and ellipt., leggja á, to saddle; breiða feld á hofuð sér, to wrap a cloak over his head, 164; reyta á sik mosa, to gather moss to cover oneself with, 267; spenna hring á hönd, á fingr, Eg. 300.

VII. denoting a burden; stela mat á tvá hesta, hey á fimtán hesta, i. e. a two, a fifteen horse load, Nj. 74: metaph., kjósa feigð á menn, to choose death upon them, i. e. doom them to death, Edda 22.

B. TEMP.

I. of a period of time, at, to; á morgun, to-morrow (í morgun now means the past morning, the morning of to-day), Ísl. ii. 333.

II. if connected with the word day, ‘á’ is now used before a fixed or marked day, a day of the week, a feast day, or the like; á Laugardag, á Sunnudag …, on Saturday, Sunday, the Old Engl. a-Sunday, a-Monday, etc.; á Jóladaginn, Páskadaginn, on Yule and Easter-day; but in old writers more often used ellipt. Sunnudaginn, Jóladaginn …, by dropping the prep. ‘á,’ Fms. viii. 397, Grág. i. 18.

III. connected with ‘dagr’ with the definite article suffixed, ‘á’ denotes a fixed, recurring period or season, in; á daginn, during the day-time, every day in turn, Grett. 91 A.

IV. connected with ‘evening, morning, the seasons,’ with the article; á kveldit, every evening, Ld. 14; á sumarit, every summer, Vd. 128, where the new Ed. Fs. 51 reads sumrum; á haust, every autumn, Eg. 741 (perh. a misprint instead of á haustin or á haustum); á vetrinn, in the winter time, 710; á várit, every spring, Gþl. 347; the sing., however, is very rare in such cases, the old as well as mod. usage prefers the plur.; á nætrnar, by night, Nj. 210; á várin, Eg. 710; á sumrin, haustin, á morgnana, in the morning (á morgin, sing., means to-morrow); á kveldin, in the evening, only ‘dagr’ is used in sing., v. above (á daginn, not á dagana); but elliptically and by dropping the article, Icelanders say, kveld og morgna, nótt og dag, vetr sumar vor og haust, in the same sense as those above mentioned.

V. denoting duration, the article is dropped in the negative phrase, aldri á sinn dag, never during one’s life; aldri á mína daga, never in my life, Bjarn. 8, where a possess. pron. is put between noun and prep., but this phrase is very rare. Such phrases as, á þann dag, that day, and á þenna dag, Stj. 12, 655 xxx. 2. 20, are unclassical.

VI. á dag without article can only be used in a distributive sense, e. g. tvisvar á dag, twice a-day; this use is at present freq. in Icel., yet instances from old writers are not on record.

VII. denoting a movement onward in time, such as, liðið á nótt, dag, kveld, morgun, sumar, vetr, vár, haust (or nóttina, daginn …), jól, páska, föstu, or the like, far on in the night, day …, Edda 33; er á leið vetrinn, when the winter was well on, as the winter wore on, Nj. 126; cp. áliðinn: also in the phrase, hniginn á inn efra aldr, well stricken in years, Ld. 68.

C. Metaph. and in various relations:

I. somewhat metaphorically, denoting an act only (not the place); fara á fund, á vit e-s, to call for one, Eg. 140; koma á ræðu við e-n, to come to a parley with, to speak, 173; ganga á tal, Nj. 103; skora á hólm, to challenge to a duel on an island; koma á grið, to enter into a service, to be domiciled, Grág. i. 151; fara á veiðar, to go a-hunting, Fms. i. 8.

β. generally denoting on, upon, in, to; bjóða vöxtu á féit, to offer interest on the money, Grág. i. 198; ganga á berhögg, to come to blows, v. berhögg; fá á e-n, to make an impression upon one, Nj. 79; ganga á vápn e-s, to throw oneself on an enemy’s weapon, meet him face to face, Rd. 310; ganga á lagið, to press on up the spear-shaft after it has passed through one so as to get near one’s foe, i. e. to avail oneself of the last chance; bera fé á e-n, to bribe, Nj. 62; bera öl á e-n, to make drunk, Fas. i. 13; snúinn á e-t, inclined to, Fms. x. 142; sammælast á e-t, to agree upon, Nj. 86; sættast, verða sáttr á e-t, in the same sense, to come to an agreement, settlement, or atonement, 78, Edda 15, Eb. 288, Ld. 50, Fms. i. 279; ganga á mála, to serve for pay as a soldier, Nj. 121; ganga á vald e-s, to put oneself in his power, 267; ganga á sætt, to break an agreement; vega á veittar trygðir, to break truce, Grág. ii. 169.

II. denoting in regard to, in respect to:

1. of colour, complexion, the hue of the hair, or the like; hvítr, jarpr, dökkr … á hár, having white, brown, or dark … hair, Ísl. ii. 190, Nj. 39; svartr á brún ok brá, dark of brow and eyebrow; dökkr á hörund, id., etc.

2. denoting skill, dexterity; hagr á tré, a good carpenter; hagr á járn, málm, smíðar …, an expert worker in iron, metals …, Eg. 4; fimr á boga, good at the bow: also used of mastership in science or arts, meistari á hörpuslátt, a master in striking the harp, Fas. iii. 220; fræðimaðr á kvæði, knowing many poems by heart, Fms. vi. 391; fræðimaðr á landnámssögur ok forna fræði, a learned scholar in histories and antiquities (of Are Frode), Ísl. ii. 189; mikill á íþrótt, skilful in an art, Edda (pref.) 148; but dat. in the phrase, kunna (vel) á skíðum, to be a cunning skater, Fms. i. 9, vii. 120.

3. denoting dimensions; á hæð, lengd, breidd, dýpt …, in the heighth, length, breadth, depth …, Eg. 277; á hvern veg, on each side, Edda 41 (square miles); á annan veg, on the one side, Grág. i. 89.

β. the phrase, á sik, in regard to oneself, vel (illa) á sik kominn, of a fine ( ugly) appearance, Ld. 100, Fas. iii. 74.

III. denoting instrumentality; bjargast á sínar hendr, to live on the work of one’s own hands, (á sínar spýtur is a mod. phrase in the same sense); (vega) á skálir, pundara, to weigh in scales, Grág. ii. 370; at hann hefði tvá pundara, ok hefði á hinn meira keypt en á hinn minna selt, of a man using two scales, a big one for buying and a little one for selling, Sturl. i. 91; á sinn kostnað, at one’s own expense; nefna e-n á nafn, by name, Grág. i. 17, etc. The Icel. also say, spinna á rokk, snældu, to spin on or with a rock or distaff; mala á kvern, to grind in a ‘querne,’ where Edda 73 uses dat.; esp. of musical instruments, syngja, leika á hljóðfæri, hörpu, gígju …; in the old usage, leika hörpu …, Stj. 458.

IV. denoting the manner or way of doing:

1. á þessa lund, in this wise, Grág. ii. 22; á marga vega, á alla, ymsa vega, in many, all, respects, Fms. i. 114; á sitt hóf, in its turn, respectively, Ld. 136, where the context shews that the expression answers to the Lat. mutatis mutandis; á Þýðersku, after German fashion, Sks. 288.

2. esp. of language; mæla, rita á e-a tungu, to speak, write in a tongue; á Írsku, in Irish, Ld. 76; Norrænu, in Norse, Eb. 330, Vm. 35; a Danska tungu, in Danish, i. e. Scandinavian, Norse, or Icelandic, Grág. i. 18; á Vára tungu, i. e. in Icelandic, 181; rita á Norræna tungu, to write in Norse, Hkr. (pref.), Bs. i. 59:—at present, dat. is sometimes used.

3. in some phrases the acc. is used instead of the dat.; hann sýndi á sik mikit gaman, Fms. x. 329; hann lét ekki á sik finna, he shewed no sign of motion, Nj. 111; skaltú önga fáleika á þik gera (Cod. Kalf.), 14.

V. used in a distributive sense; skal mörk kaupa gæzlu á kú, eðr oxa fim vetra gamlan, a mark for every cow, Grág. i. 147; alin á hvert hross, 442; á mann, per man (now freq.): cp. also á dag above, lit. B.

VI. connected with nouns,

1. prepositional; á hendr (with dat.), against; á hæla, at heel, close behind; á bak, at back, i. e. past, after; á vit (with gen.), towards.

2. adverbially; á braut, away, abroad; á víxl, in turns; á mis, amiss; á víð ok dreif, a-wide and a-drift, i. e. dispersedly.

3. used almost redundantly before the following prep.; á eptir, after, behind; á undan, in front of; á meðal, á milli, among; á mót, against; á við, about, alike; á frá (cp. Swed. ifrån), from (rare); á fyrir = fyrir, Haustl. 1; á hjá, beside (rare); á fram, a-head, forwards; á samt, together; ávalt = of allt, always: following a prep., upp á, upon; niðr á, down upon; ofan á, eptir á, post eventum, (temp.) á eptir is loc., id., etc.

VII. connected with many transitive verbs, answering to the Lat. ad- or in-, in composition, in many cases periphrastically for an objective case. The prep. generally follows after the verb, instead of being prefixed to it as in Lat., and answers to the Engl. on, to; heita kalla, hrópa á, to call on; heyra, hlusta, hlyða á, to hearken to, listen to; hyggja, hugsa á, to think on; minna á, to remind; sjá, líta, horfa, stara, mæna, glápa, koma auga … á, to look on; girnast á, to wish for; trúa á, to believe on; skora á, to call on any one to come out, challenge; kæra á, to accuse; heilsa á, to greet; herja, ganga, ríða, hlaupa, ráða … á, to fall on, attack, cp. ágangr, áreið, áhlaup; ljúga á, to tell lies of, to slander; telja á, to carp at; ausa, tala, hella, kasta, verpa … á, to pour, throw on; ríða, bera, dreifa á, to sprinkle on; vanta, skorta á, to fall short of; ala á, to plead, beg; leggja á, to throw a spell on, lay a saddle on; hætta á, to venture on; gizka á, to guess at; kveða á, to fix on, etc.: in a reciprocal sense, haldast á, of mutual strife; sendast á, to exchange presents; skrifast á, to correspond (mod.); kallast á, to shout mutually; standast á, to coincide, so as to be just opposite one another, etc.

f. [Lat. aqua; Goth. ahva; Hel. aha; A. S. eâ; O. H. G. aha, owa; cp. Germ. ach and aue; Fr. eau, eaux; Engl. Ax-, Ex-, etc., in names of places; Swed.-Dan. å; the Scandinavians absorb the hu, so that only a single vowel or diphthong remains of the whole word]:—a river. The old form in nom. dat. acc. sing. is , v. the introduction to A, page 1, Bs. i. 333 sq., where ́n, ́ (acc.), and ́na; so also Greg. 677; the old fragm. of Grág. ii. 222, 223, new Ed. In the Kb. of the Edda the old form occurs twice, viz. page 75, ́na (acc.), (but two lines below, ána), í ́nni (dat.) The old form also repeatedly occurs in the Kb. and Sb. of the Grág., e. g. ii. 266, 267: gen. sing. ár; nom. pl. ár, gen. á contracted, dat. ám, obsolete form ́m; Edda 43, Eg. 80, 99, 133, 185: proverbs, at ósi skal á stemma, answering to the Lat. principiis obsta, Edda 60; hér kemr á til sæfar, here the river runs into the sea, metaph. = this is the very end, seems to have been a favourite ending of old poems; it is recorded in the Húsdrápa and the Norðsetadrápa, v. Edda 96, Skálda 198; cp. the common saying, oil vötn renna til sævar, ‘all waters run into the sea.’ Rivers with glacier water are in Icel. called Hvítá, White river, or Jökulsá: Hitá, Hot river, from a hot spring, opp. to Kaldá, v. Landn.: others take a name from the fish in them, as Laxá, Lax or Salmon river (freq.); Örriða á, etc.: a tributary river is þverá, etc.: ár in the Njála often means the great rivers Ölfusá and Þjórsá in the south of Iceland. Áin helga, a river in Sweden, Hkr. ii: á is also suffixed to the names of foreign rivers, Tempsá = Thames; Dóná, Danube (Germ. Don-au), (mod.), etc. Vide Edda (Gl.) 116, 117, containing the names of over a hundred North-English and Scottish rivers.

COMPDS: áráll, árbakki, árbrot, ardjúp, árfarvegr, árfors, árgljúfr, árhlutr, ármegin, árminni, ármót, áróss, árreki, árstraumr, árströnd, árvað, árvegr, árvöxtr.

(bregð; brá, brugðum; brugðinn), v. with dat.

1) to cause to move (quickly);

bregða sverði, knífi, to draw a sword, knife;

bregða fingri, hendi í e-t, to put (thrust) the finger, hand, into;

hón brá hárinu undir belti sér, she put (fastened) her hair under her belt;

bregða kaðli um e-t, to pass a rope round a thing;

bregða augum sundr, to open the eyes;

bregða e-m á eintal, to take one apart;

bregða sér sjúkum, to feign illness;

2) to deviate from, disregard (vér höfum brugðit af ráðum þínum);

3) to alter, change;

bregða lit, litum, to change colour, to turn pale;

bregða e-m í e-s líki, to turn one (by spell) into another shape (þú brátt þér í merar líki);

4) to break up, leave off, give up;

bregða tjöldum, to strike the tents;

bregða samvist, to leave off living together;

bregða ráðahag, to break off an engagement (wedding);

bregða boði, to countermand a feast;

bregða sýslu, to leave off working;

bregða svefni, blundi, to awake;

bregða tali, to break off talking;

bregða orrustu, kaupi, to break off a battle, bargain;

5) to break (bregða trúnaði, heiti, sáttmáli);

6) bregða e-m e-u, to upbraid, reproach one with a thing (Kálfr brá mér því í dag);

7) with prepp.,

bregða e-m á loft, to lift one aloft;

bregða e-u á, to give out, pretend (hann brá á því, at hann mundi ríða vestr til Miðfjarðar);

absol., bregða á e-t, to begin (suddenly) doing a thing;

bregða á leik, to begin playing or sporting;

Kimbi brá á gaman, took it playfully, laughed at it;

þeir brugðu á glímu ok á glens, they started wrestling and playing;

hestrinn brá á leik, broke into play, ran away;

hönd bregðr á venju, is ready for its old work;

þá brá Ingimundr til útanferðar, I. started to go abroad;

bregða e-u undan, to put it out of the way, to hide it;

bregða upp hendi, höndum, to hold up the hand;

bregða e-u við, to ward off with (bregða við skildi); fig. to put forth as an example, to praise, wonder at (þínum drengskap skal ek við bregða);

absol., bregða við, to start off, set about a thing without delay;

brá hann við skjótt ok fór, he started off at once and went;

8) refl., bregðast;

9) impers., e-u bregðr, it ceases, fails;

svá hart, at nyt bregði (to drive the ewes) so fast that they fail to give milk;

veðráttu brá eigi, there was no change in the weather;

of a sudden appearance, kláða brá á hvarmana, the eye-lids began to itch;

þá brá ljóma af Logafjöllum, then from L. there burst flashes of light;

ljósi bregðr fyrir, a light passes before the eye;

with preps., bregðr af vexti hans frá öðrum selum, his shape differs from that of other seals;

e-m bregðr í brún, one is amazed, startled (nú bregðr mönnum í brún mjök);

e-m bregðr til e-s, one person takes after, resembles another;

en því bregðr mér til foreldris míns, in that I am like my father;

þat er mælt, at fjórðungi bregði til fóstrs, the fostering makes the fourth part of a man;

e-m bregðr við e-t = e-m bregðr í brún;

brá þeim mjök við, er þeir sá hann inn ganga, it startled them much when they saw him come in;

en þó brá fóstru Melkorku mest við þessi tíðindi, this news most affected M.’s nurse.

* * *

pret. sing. brá, 2nd pers. brátt, later brást; pl. brugðu, sup. brugðit; pres. bregð; pret. subj. brygði: reflex, (sk, z, st), pret. brásk, bráz, or brást, pl. brugðusk, etc.: poët. with the neg. suff. brá-at, brásk-at, Orkn. 78, Fms. vi. 51.

A. ACT. WITH DAT.

I. [A. S. bregdan, brædan; Old Engl. and Scot. to brade or braid; cp. bragð throughout]:—to move swiftly:

1. of a weapon, to draw, brandish; b. sverði, to draw the sword, Gísl. 55, Nj. 28, Ld. 222, Korm. 82 sqq., Fms. i. 44, ii. 306, vi. 313, Eg. 306, 505; sverð brugðit, a drawn sword, 746; cp. the alliterative phrase in Old Engl. Ballads, ‘the bright browne (= brugðinn) sword:’ absol., bregð (imperat.), Korm. l. c.: b. knífi, to slash with a knife, Am. 59; b. flötu sverði, to turn it round in the band, Fms. vii. 157; saxi, Bs. i. 629: even of a thrust, b. spjóti, Glúm. 344.

2. of the limbs or parts of the body, to move quickly; b. hendi, fingri, K. Þ. K. 10, Fms. vi. 122; b. augum sundr, to open the eyes, iii. 57, cp. ‘he bradde open his eyen two,’ Engl. Ballads; b. fótum, Nj. 253; b. fæti, in wrestling; b. grönum, to draw up the lips, 199, Fms. v. 220.

3. of other objects; b. skipi, to turn the ship (rare), Fms. viii. 145, Eb. 324; b. e-m á eintal, einmæli, to take one apart, Fms. vi. 11, Ölk. 35; b. sér sjúkum, to feign sickness, Fagrsk. ch. 51; bregða sér in mod. usage means to make a short visit, go or come for a moment; eg brá mér snöggvast til …, etc.

4. adding prepp.; b. upp; b. upp hendi, höndum, to hold up the hand, Fms. i. 167; b. upp glófa, 206, Eb. 326: b. e-m á lopt, to lift aloft, Eg. 122, Nj. 108; b. e-u undan, to put a thing out of the way, to hide it, Fas. i. 6; undir, Sturl. ii. 221, Ld. 222, Eb. 230: b. e-u við (b. við skildi), to ward off with …, Vápn. 5; but chiefly metaph. to put forth as an example, to laud, wonder at, etc.; þínum drengskap skal ek við b., Nj. 18; þessum mun ek við b. Áslaugar órunum, Fas. i. 257; nú mun ek því við b. ( I will speak loud), at ek hefi eigi fyr náð við þik at tala, Lv. 53: b. e-u á, to give out, pretend; hann brá á því at hann mundi ríða vestr til Miðfjarðar, Sturl. iii. 197, Fms. viii. 59, x. 322. β. to deviate from, disregard; vér höfum brugðit af ráðum þínum, Fær. 50, Nj. 13, 109, Ísl. ii. 198, Grág. i. 359; b. af marki, to alter the mark, 397.

5. to turn, alter, change; b. lit, litum, to change colour, to turn pale, etc., Fms. ii. 7, Vígl. 24; b. sér við e-t, to alter one’s mien, shew signs of pain, emotion, or the like, Nj. 116; b. e-m í (or b. á sik) e-s líki, to turn one (by spell) into another shape, Bret. 13; at þú brátt þér í merar líki, Ölk. 37; hann brá á sik ýmissa dýra líki, Edda (pref.) 149.

II. to break up or off, leave off, give up; b. búi, to give up one’s household, Grág. i. 153, Eg. 116, 704; b. tjöldum, to break up, strike the tents, Fms. iv. 302; b. samvist, to part, leave off living together, ii. 295; b. ráðahag, to break off an engagement, esp. wedding, 11; b. boði, to countermand a feast, 194; b. kaupi, to break off a bargain, Nj. 51, Rd. 251; b. sýslu, to leave off working, Fms. vi. 349; b. svefni, blundi, to awake, Sdm. 2; smátt bregðr slíkt svefni mínum, Lv. 53; b. tali, to break off talking, Vápn. 22; b. orustu, to break off the battle, Bret.: esp. freq. in poetry, b. hungri, föstu, sulti, to break or quell the hunger (of the wolf); b. gleði; b. lífi, fjörvi, to put to death, etc., Lex. Poët.

2. to break faith, promise, or the like; b. máli, Grág. i. 148; trúnaði, Nj. 141; brugðið var öllu sáttmáli, Hkr. ii. 121; b. heiti, Alvm. 3: absol., ef bóandi bregðr við griðmann ( breaks a bargain), Grág. i. 153.

3. reflex., bregðask e-m (or absol.), to deceive, fail, in faith or friendship; Gunnarr kvaðsk aldri skyldu b. Njáli né sonum hans, Nj. 57; bregðsk þú oss nú eigi, do not deceive us, Fms. vi. 17; vant er þó at vita hverir mér eru trúir ef feðrnir b., ii. 11; en þeim brásk framhlaupit, i. e. they failed in the onslaught, vii. 298; þat mun eigi bregðask, that cannot fail, Fas. ii. 526, Rb. 50; fáir munu þeir, at einörð sinni haldi, er slíkir brugðusk við oss, Fms. v. 36, Grett. 26 new Ed.

III. [A. S. brædan, to braid, braider], to ‘braid,’ knot, bind, the band, string being in dat.; hann bregðr í fiskinn öðrum enda, he braided the one end in the fish, Finnb. 220; hón brá hárinu undir belli sér, she braided her hair under her belt; (hann) brá ( untied) brókabelti sínu, Fas. i. 47; er þeir höfðu brugðið kaðli um, wound a cable round it, Fms. x. 53; hefir strengrinn brugðizk líttat af fótum honum, the rope had loosened off his feet, xi. 152: but also simply and with acc., b. bragð, to braid a braid, knit a knot, Eg. (in a verse); b. ráð, to weave a plot, (cp. Gr. ράπτειν, Lat. suere), Edda (in a verse); in the proper sense flétta and ríða, q. v., are more usual.

2. in wrestling; b. e-m, the antagonist in dat., the trick in acc., b. e-m bragð (hæl-krók, sveiflu, etc.)

3. recipr., of mutual strife; bregðask brögðum, to play one another tricks; b. brigzlum, to scold one another, Grág. ii. 146; b. frumhlaupum, of mutual aggression, 13, 48; bregðask um e-t, to contest a thing, 66, cp. i. 34.

4. part., brugðinn við e-t, acquainted with a thing; munuð þit brátt brugðnir við meira, i. e. you will soon have greater matters to deal with, Fs. 84; hann er við hvárttveggja b., he is well versed in both, Gísl. 51.

IV. metaph. to upbraid, blame, with dat. of the person and thing; fár bregðr hinu betra, ef hann veit hit verra (a proverb), Nj. 227; Þórðr blígr brá honum því ( Thord threw it in his face), á Þórsnesþingi, at …, Landn. 101; Kálfr brá mér því í dag, Fms. vi. 105; b. e-m brizglum, Nj. 227.

B. NEUT. OR ABSOL. without a case, of swift, sudden motion.

I. b. á e-t, as, b. á leik, gaman, etc., to start or begin sporting, playing; Kimbi brá á gaman, K. took it playfully, i. e. laughed at it, Landn. 101; b. á gamanmál, Fms. xi. 151; þeir brugðu á glímu ok á glens, they started wrestling and playing, Ld. 220; bregðr hann (viz. the horse) á leik, the horse broke into play, ran away, Fms. xi. 280; Glúmr svaraði vel en brá þó á sitt ráð, Glum gave a gentle answer, but went on in his own way, Nj. 26, Fas. i. 250: the phrase, hönd bregðr á venju, the hand is ready for its old work, Edda (Ht.) verse 26, cp. Nj. ch. 78 (in a verse).

2. b. við, to start off, set about a thing without delay, at a moment’s notice, may in Engl. often be rendered by at once or the like; brá hann við skjótt ok fór, he started off at once and went, Fms. i. 158; þeir brugðu við skjótt, ok varð þeim mjök við felmt, i. e. they took to their heels in a great fright, Nj. 105; þeir brugðu við skjótt, ok fara þaðan, 107; bregðr hon við ok hleypr, Grett. 25 new Ed., Bjarn. 60; hrossit bregðr nú við hart, id.; en er Ólafr spurði, at Þorsteinn hafði skjótt við brugðit, ok hafði mikit fjölmenni, Ld. 228.

β. b. til e-s, þá brá Ingimundr til utanferðar, Ingimund started to go abroad, Sturl. i. 117; b. til Grænlands ferðar, Fb. i. 430.

II. reflex, to make a sudden motion with the body; Rútr brásk skjótt við undan högginu, Nj. 28, 129; b. við fast, to turn sharply, 58, 97; bregðsk (= bregðr) jarl nú við skjótt ok ferr, the earl started at once, Fms. xi. 11; hann brásk aldregi við ( he remained motionless) er þeir píndu hann, heldr en þeir lysti á stokk eðr stein, vii. 227.

2. metaph. and of a circumlocutory character; eigi þætti mér ráðið, hvárt ek munda svá skjótt á boð brugðisk hafa, ef …, I am not sure whether I should have been so hasty in bidding you, if …, Ísl. ii. 156; bregðask á beina við e-n, to shew hospitality towards, Fms. viii. 59, cp. bregða sér above.

β. b. yfir, to exceed; heyra þeir svá mikinn gný at yfir brásk, they heard an awful crash, Mag. 6; þá brásk þat þó yfir jafnan ( it surpassed) er konungr talaði, Fms. x. 322, yet these last two instances may be better read ‘barst,’ vide bera C. IV; bregðask úkunnr, reiðr … við e-t, to be startled at the novelty of a thing, v. 258; b. reiðr við, to get excited, angry at a thing, etc.

C. IMPERS.

I. the phrase, e-m bregðr við e-t, of strong emotions, fear, anger, or the like; brá þeim mjök við, er þau sá hann inn ganga, it startled them much, when they saw him come in, Nj. 68; Flosa brá svá við, at hann var í andliti stundum sem blóð, 177; en þó brá fóstru Melkorku mest við þessi tíðindi, i. e. this news most affected Melkorka’s nurse, Ld. 82; aldri hefi ek mannsblóð séð, ok veit ek eigi hve mér bregðr við, I wot not how it will touch me, Nj. 59; brá honum svá við, at hann gerði fölvan í andliti … ok þann veg brá honum opt síðan ( he was oft since then taken in such fits), þá er vígahugr var á honum, Glúm. 342; en við höggit brá Glæsi svá at …, Eb. 324; Þorkell spurði ef honum hefði brugðit nokkut við þessa sýslu.—Ekki sjám vér þér brugðit hafa við þetta, en þó sýndist mér þér áðr brugðit, Fms. xi. 148.

β. bregða í brún, to be amazed, shocked, Fms. i. 214; þá brá Guðrúnu mjök í brún um atburð þenna allan saman, Ld. 326, Nj. 14; þat hlægir mik at þeim mun í brún b., 239; nú bregðr mönnum í brún mjök ( people were very much startled), því at margir höfðu áðr enga frétt af haft, Band. 7.

II. with prepp. við, til, í, af; of appearances, kynligu, undarliga bregðr við, it has a weird look, looks uncanny, of visions, dreams, or the like; en þó bregðr nú kynligu við, undan þykir mér nú gaflaðit hvárt-tveggja undan húsinu, Ísl. ii. 352, Nj. 62, 197, Gísl. 83; nú bregðr undrum við, id., Fms. i. 292.

III. e-m bregðr til e-s, one person turns out like another, cp. the Danish ‘at slægte en paa;’ þat er mælt at fjórðungi bregði til fóstrs, the fostering makes the fourth part of the man, Nj. 64; en því bregðr mér til foreldris míns, in that I am like my father, Hkr. iii. 223; er þat líkast, at þér bregði meir í þræla ættina en Þveræinga, it is too likely, that thou wilt show thyself rather to be kith and kin to the thrall’s house than to that of Thweræingar, Fb. i. 434; b. til bernsku, to be childish, Al. 3.

β. bregðr af vexti hans frá öðrum selum, his shape differs from that of any other seals, Sks. 41 new Ed. (afbrigði).

IV. to cease; e-u bregðr, it ceases; svá hart … at nyt (dat.) bregði, ( to drive the ewes) so fast that they fail ( to give milk), Grág. ii. 231; þessu tali bregðr aldri (= þetta tal bregzk aldri), this calculation can never fail, Rb. 536; veðráttu (dat.) brá eigi, there was no change in the weather, Grett. 91; skini sólar brá, the sun grew dim, Geisü 19; fjörvi feigra brá, the life of the ‘feys’ came to an end (poët.), Fms. vi. 316 (in a verse); brá föstu, hungri, úlfs, ara, the hunger of wolf and eagle was abated, is a freq. phrase with the poets.

V. of a sudden appearance; kláða (dat.) brá á hvarmana, the eye-lids itched, Fms. v. 96: of light passing swiftly by, þá brá ljóma af Logafjöllum, Hkv. 1. 15; ljósi bregðr fyrir, a light passes before the eye; mey brá mér fyrir hvarma steina, a maid passed before my eyes, Snót 117; þar við ugg (dat.) at þrjótum brá, i. e. the rogues were taken by fear, 170.

að, dep. [hönk, a bank or coil], in the phrase, e-m á., one gets the worst of it. But it is twisted to another sense in the dream of king Harold, Fms. vi. 312. Shortly before the battle at the river Niz, the king dreamt that king Sweyn pulled the hank of rope out of his hand,—réðu svá flestir at Sveinn mundi fá þat er þeir keptust um, þá mælti Hákon jarl: vera má at svá sé, en vænna þyki mér at Sveini konungi muni áhankast, most men read it so that S. would win the prize of contest, then said earl H.: well that may be so, but it seems more likely to me that king S. will be caught.