nykker

(gen. -rs, pl. nykrar), m.

1) a fabulous water-being (mostly appearing in the shape of a grey horse);

2) the hippopotamus.

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m., gen. nykrs, [a word common to all Teut. languages; A. S. nicor; Engl. nick; Germ. nix; Dan. nök and nisse; mod. Norse nyk; Swed. näcken = a sea goblin; one is tempted to suggest that the Lat. Neptunus (p = g) may be related to this Teutonic word; cp. also Germ. neckisch, neckerei = whims, Dan. nykker]:—the ‘nick,’ a fabulous water-goblin, mostly appearing in the shape of a gray water-horse, emerging from lakes, to be recognised by its inverted hoofs, cp. the tale told in Landn. 2. ch. 10, as also Maurer’s Volksagen: poët., nykra borg = ‘nick-burrow,’ a lake, Lex. Poët. The nykr is the Proteus of the Northern tales, and takes many shapes, whence the gramm. term nykrat, part. a kind of kakemphaton, a change in a figure of speech, e. g. to call a sword first a ‘serpent’ and then a ‘wand,’ or to choose a verb which does not suit the trope in the noun; sá löstr er vér köllum nykrat eðr finngálknat … ok er þar svá skipt líkneskjum á hinum sama hlut, sem nykrinn skiptisk á margar leiðir, Skálda 187; en ef sverð er ormr kallaðr en síðan fiskr eða vöndr eðr annan veg breytt, þat kalla menn nykrat ok þykir þat spilla, Edda 123. In mod. Norse tales a water-goblin is called nykk or nök (nökken), see Ivar Aasen and Mr. Dasent’s Transl. of Asbjörnsen and Moe’s Norse Tales. The legend exists also in the Highlands of Scotland. In mod. Icel. tales the nykr is also called nennir or kumbr, q. v.; nykr-hestr, vatna-hestr.

II. the hippopotamus; nykrar svá stórir sem fílar, Al. 167, 171.