old+norse

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(gen. aldar, pl. aldir), f.

1) time, age (var öld hans góð landsfólkinu); of allar aldir, through all ages; at alda øðli, to everlasting possession, for ever;

2) cycle, period; gamla öld, the old cycle;

3) poet., men, people; alda börn, children of men.

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f., gen. aldar, dat. öldu, and later öld, pl. aldir, alda, öldum; [akin to aldr; A. S. eld or yld; Old Engl. eld (cp. the adj. old); Germ. alt; Dan. old in heden-old = the heathen age]:—a time, age; þessi eru nofn stundanna, ‘öld’ forðum, aldr, Edda 108; var öld hans góð landsfólkinu, Fms. vii. 174; vind-öld, varg-öld, skegg-öld, skálm-öld, Vsp.; róm-öld, war-age, Fms. vi. (in a verse); styrj-öld, veröld, qq. v.; en fyrsta öld var sú er alla dauða menn skyldi brenna, en síðan hófsk haugs-öld, Ó. H. (pref.); feðr várir ok allt forellri fyrst um brana-öld en nú um haugs-öld, Hkr. i. 141; ó-öld, a famine, Ann. 975: óaldar-vetr var mikill á Íslandi í heiðni, … þá átu menn hrafna ok melrakka, Landn. (Hb.); nú er sú öld ( such bad times) í Noregi at ek treysti eigi at halda ykkr hér heima með mér, Fms. ii. 4; hans aldar (his life, reign) mun æ vera at góðu getið, Hkm. 19.

2. in a computistic or chronological sense, a cycle, period; gamla öld. the old cycle = cyclus Paschalis; upphaf gömlu aldar, Ann. 1140 (cp. Talbyrding s.a.), also called Páska-öld; sólar-öld, the solar cycle; tungl-öld, the lunar cycle, also called nítján vetra öld. Ann., MS. 415. 9; sjau aldir veraldar þessar, the seven ages of the world, Ver. 7.

3. of allar aldir veralda, through all ages of the world, 686 B. 14; of öld alda, Eluc. 55; fyrir úendiligar aldir alda = secula seculorum, … of aldir alda, 623. 29; and so in mod. eccl. usage, ‘um aldir alda amen,’ Vídal. passim; the phrase, ár var alda (gen. pl.), upon a time, in days of yore, Vsp. 3, Hkv. 1. 1.

II. poët. men, people, Edda (Gl.); hálf er öld hvar, Hm. 52; ósnotr maðr er með aldir kemr, among men, 26; alda börn, Vsp. 20; alda sona, sons of men, Hm. 11; alda hverr. each of men, Fm. 10; ýtti örr hilmir aldir við tóku, Bm.; alda vinr, a friend of men; Norræn öld, Norse people. Lex. Poët.; Ensk öld, English people, id.

COMPDS: aldareðli, aldafaðir, aldarfar, aldagautr, aldarháttr, aldarmál, aldamót, aldarrof, aldarróg, aldaskipti, aldartal, aldartrygðir, aldavinr, aldaþopti.

Old Norse (древнескандинавский язык)

Old Norse

Old Norse

1) a hedged plot, enclosure, court-yard, homestead; gullu gæss í túni, the geese screamed in the yard;

2) home field, home meadow (bleikir akrar, en slegin tún);

3) town.

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n. [a word widely applied and common to all Teut. languages; the Goth. is not on record; A. S. tûn; Engl. town; O. H. G. zûn; Germ. zaun; Norse tûn]:—prop. a hedge; this sense is still used in the Germ. zaun; but in Scandin. the only remnant seems to be the compd tun-riða (see B).

II. a hedged or fenced plot, enclosure, within which a house is built; then the farm-house with its buildings, the homestead; and lastly, a single house or dwelling: in Norway tun is = Dan. gaards-plads, the quadrangle or premises annexed to the buildings; whereas ‘bö’ answers to the mod. Icel. ‘tún:’ in Norse deeds each single farm is called tún, í efsta túni í Ulfalda-stöðum, D. N. ii. 534: the same usage of the word town remains in Scotland, see Scott’s Waverley, ch. ix, sub fin.: many of the following examples run from one of these senses into the other; tefldu í túni teitir vóru, Vsp.; allir Einherjar Oðins-túnum í, Gm.; ok gullu við gæss í túni, Skv. 3. 29, Gkv. 1. 15; hér í túni, 2. 39; ok er þeir koma heim þá er Úlfr fóstri þeirra heima í túni fyrir, Fb. i. 133; jarls menn tóku skeið ór túninu, galloped out of the tún, Orkn. 416: this sense still remains in phrases as, ríða í tún, to arrive at a house, Nj. 23; cp. skal hann ei bráðum bruna í tún, bóndann dreymdi mig segir hún, Bb.; fara um tún, to pass by a house; þeir fóru um tún í Saurbæ, Bs. i. 647; þá fara þeir Ingi hér í tún, 648; í túni fyrir karldyrum, K. Þ. K.; tún frá túni, from house to house, Karl. 129, 138; þeir fá brotið skjaldþilit, ok komask út fram í túnit, ok þar út á riðit, Grett. 99 (Cod. Ub.); ok er þeir kómu á Ré, gengu þeir ór túni á veginn, fylktu þeir fyrir útan skíð-garðinn, Fms. vii. 324; borgir eða héruð eða tún, x. 237; borgir ok kastala, héruð ok tún, Karl. 444; fór ek um þorp ok um tún ok um héraðs-bygðir, Sks. 631.

2. in Icel. a special sense has prevailed, viz. the ‘enclosed’ in-field, a green manured spot of some score of acres lying around the dwellings; bleikir akrar, slegin tún, Nj. 112; skal hann ganga út í tún at sín, Grág. (Kb.) ii. 209; var þá fluttr farmr af skipinu upp í tún at Borg, Eg. 163; um einn völl svá til at jafna sem eitt tún vítt vel ok kringlótt, Fms. vii. 97; látið hesta vára vera nærri túni, Lv. 44; í túninu í Mávahlíð, Eb. 58; í túninu í Odda mun finnask hóll nokkurr, Bs. i. 228, and so passim in old and mod. Icel. usage; thus tún and engiar are opposed.

III. metaph. in poets; snáka tún, ‘snake-town,’ i. e. gold; reikar-tún, ‘hair-town’ i. e. the head, Lex. Poët.; bragar tún, the ‘town of song,’ i. e. the mind, the memory of men, Ad. (fine); mun-tún, the ‘mind’s town,’ i. e. the breast, Fas. i. (in a verse); mælsku tún, hyggju tún, the ‘speech town,’ ‘mind’s town,’ i. e. the breast. Lex. Poët.: in local names, but rare, Túnir: Túns-berg, in Norway; Sig-túnir, a place of victory, in Sweden; Tún-garðr, in Icel., Landn.

B. COMPDS: túnannir, túnbarð, túnbrekka, túnfótr, túngarðr, túngöltr, túnhlið, túnkrepja, túnriða, túnasláttr, túnsvið, túnsvín, túnsækinn, túnvöllr.

☞ The ancient Scandinavians, like other old Teutonic people, had no towns; Tacitus says, ‘nullas Germanorum populis urbes habitari satis notum est… colunt discreti ac diversi, ut fons, ut campus, ut nemus placuit,’ Germ. ch. 16. In Norway the first town, Níðarós, was founded by the two Olaves (Olave Tryggvason and Saint Olave, 994–1030), and this town was hence par excellence called Kaupang, q. v. But the real founder of towns in Norway was king Olave the Quiet (1067–1093); as to Iceland, the words of Tacitus, ‘colunt diversi ut fons, etc., placuit,’ still apply; 120 years ago (in 1752), the only town or village of the country (Reykjavík) was a single isolated farm. In the old Norse law, the ‘Town-law’ is the new law attached as an appendix to the old ‘Land-law.’

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(er; var, várum or vórum; verit), v.

1) to be, exist; þeir menn vóru, er, there were men who;

2) to be, happen; þat var, at hón fór brott, so it was that she went away; en er váraði, var þar búskortr, there was scarcity in the household; hvat er henni, what is the matter with her! þat var einn dag, at, it happened one day that; kann (má) v., at, it is possible, it may be that;

3) to last; meðan þingit væri, while the Thing lasted;

4) láta e-n v., to leave one alone (lát mik v. ok ger mér ekki illt); bað hann láta v., begged him to leave it undone, not to do it;

5) to dwell, stay; hann bað hana vera í búð sinni, he asked her to stay in his booth; hann var á Höskuldsstöðum um nótt, he passed a night at H.;

6) with infin., hlymr var at heyra, a clattering was to be heard; þar var at sjá, there was to be seen; v. at gera e-t, to be doing a thing; kvað hann v. at telja silfr, said he was counting the money; denoting necessity, a thing about to happen, or to be done; nú er þeim út at ganga öllum, er leyft er, now all those must go out to whom leave is given; er nú eigi Kára at varast, now there is no need to beware of K.; nú er þar til máls at taka, at, now it is to be told that; nú er at segja frá Skamkatli, now we must tell of S.;

7) with a predicate (noun, a., or adv.); v. konungr, Jarl, biskup, to be king, earl, bishop; v. glaðr, sæll, hryggr, ungr, gamall, to be glad, happy, sad, young, old; v. vel, illa til e-s, to be well, ill-disposed towards one; þat er illa, it is sad; vera spakliga í heraði, to behave gently; orð kvað þá Vingi þats án veri, words which he had better not have said;

8) impers., e-m er varmt, heitt, kalt, one is warm, cold;

9) with past participles in passive sense; v. kallaðr, sagðr, tekinn, to be called, said, taken;

10) with preps., v. af e-u, to be off, out of (v. af klæðum); v. at e-u, to be busy at; verkmenn váru at arningu, they were ploughing; to be present (þar varstu at); ek var at ok vafk, I was about weaving; þeir höfðu verit at þrjú sumur, they had been busy at it for three summers; v. eptir, to be left, remain (A. kvazt vilja v. eptir ok hvílast); v. fyrir, to lead ( see fyrir); v. til, to exist; v. um, undir, see um, undir.

1) stay, sojourn; ef hann á sér í vá veru, if he has a corner to stay in;

2) comfort (slíkt er válaðs v.).

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older form vesa, the verb substantive; pres. em, ert, er, pl. erum, eruð, eru: pret. var, vart (mod. varst), var, pl. váru or vóru; a obsolete óru occurs, Sæm. (once), Orkn. 426. l. 11, Nj. 81, Thom. 28, 90, 102, 116, 150, 196, Ísl. ii. 482: pres. subj. sé, sér (Vþm. 4, 7), sé; the older form is sjá, en ek sjá, Clem. 138. l. 14; at ek sjá, … ok sé mér eigi reiðr, 145, Fms. viii. 299, x. 384, xi. 124, Eg. 127; for the forms sják, sjákk, see below: the mod. forms are sé, sért, sér (eg sé, þú sért; s ert and ert make a rhyme in Pass. 34. 5): imperat. ver, vertú; see Gramm. p. xxiii: there also occurs a subj. pres. verir, veri, Sdm. 22, Ls. 54; þatz án veri, Am. 36; skósmiðr þú verir, Hm. 126, but rarely.

A. CHANGES AND FORMS.—Vera is an anomalous verb, which has undergone several changes:

I. by changing s to r; of the older form there occur, the infin. vesa, pres. es, pret. vas, vast (vastu), vas; pres. subj. vesi; imperat. ves, MS. 623. 25. l. 14, 645. 6l. l. 33, 677. 40. l. 38; vestu, 623. 25, Post. (Unger) 129. l. 27, 229. l. 12; vesum, Hom. (Arna-Magn. 237) p. 214. l. 8; pres. indic. 2nd pers. est, Glúm. 372; 3rd pers. es: but no traces remain of the older form in pret. plur. indic. and subj. (váru væri, never vásu væsi). Rhymes in poets and the spelling of the oldest extant poems shew that the s form alone existed in Icel. down to about the end of the 12th century, the time of Snorri Sturluson, when the modern forms crept in probably from Norway, for there the change seems to have taken place a century or so earlier; the old Norse vellums (written in Norway or by Norsemen) are distinguished from the Icel. by their constant use of the r: the phrase ‘at upp vesandi sólu’, in N. G. L. i. 4, being the only instance of the s form in all the Norse vellums. The earliest instances extant of a rhyme to the r form are, the Ht. of Rögnvald, earl of the Orkneys; he was a native of Norway, born about A. D. 1100, and the poem was composed about A. D. 1145; another instance is ‘vara, fara’ in Fms. vii. 185, in a poem about A. D. 1140, written by an Icelander who had lived in Norway the greater part of his life, the rhyme is therefore a Norwegianism. The first instance in an Icel. poem is in the Ht. of Snorri, A. D. 1222. Instances from poets, Hallfred, Sighvat, Arnórr, and coeval poets; vesa, vísi; sás með Sygna ræsi; þági vas sem þessum; vask til Róms í háska; vastu, kosta; vas fyrir Mikkjals- messu; nú es um verk þau er vísi; bráskat þat dægr háski: from A. D. 1100–1150, Geisli, Pd., etc., svás, ræsir; esat, risnu; vasa, tysvar; vestu. freistni; vestu, traustla: on the other hand, in the poem of earl Rögvald, vera, skera; gera, vera; var, skar (twice): from later Icel. poems it is sufficient to note, erðu, fyrðum; ertú, h jarta; verðú, f orðast, Leiðarv. etc. This may sometimes serve as a test, e. g. var ek nær viðr-eign þ eirra, Grett., and skap-kers saman vera, Gísl., are impossible in the mouth of poets of the early Saga time; the verses of both these Sagas are a later composition.

2. as to the spelling of the MSS.,—the oldest (the Arna-Magn. 677, the Eluc. 674, the Íb. etc.) use the s throughout: vellums of the next period, about A. D. 1200 (e. g. Arna-Magn. 623 and 645), use the later form sparingly, even the second hand in the Reykholts máldagi gives ‘es,’ not ‘er.’ Again, in the vellums of the middle of the 13th century, such as the Cod. Reg. of the Sæm., the Grág., and the Mork., the mod. spelling has entirely got the better of the old, and an ‘es’ only creeps in, as if unawares, from an older copy. Of the poetical literature, the Pd. alone has been preserved in a copy old enough to retain the s; all the rest have the modernised spelling, even in the rhymed syllables quoted above; such too is the case with the Cod. Reg. of the Sæm. Edda; but had that vellum been but fifty or sixty years older, the forms vesa, es, vas, etc. would now be the established spelling in Editions of these poems.

3. on Danish and Swedish Runic stones, the 3rd pers. pret. sing. is a word of frequent occurrence; the best Danish monuments have vas, e. g. ias vas farinn vestr, Thorsen 93 and 101 (on a stone of the reign of Sweyn, died A. D. 1014). In Sweden the great majority present the later form: the so-called Ingvar stones are chronologically certain, being of the middle of the 11th century (Ingvar died A. D. 1039); there we read, ‘vas’ (twice), ‘varinn’ (once), ‘var’ (thrice, being twice spelt with ᛦ, once with ᚱ): this shews that about this time in Sweden the later or more modern form had begun to be used, but that the old was still remembered.

II. suffixed personal pronoun or suffixed negation; em’k (tautologically ek em’k = I-am-I), emk, Ad. 1, Vþm. 8, Fms. xi. 91; ek emk, Mork. 89. l. 13, 104. l. 23, Clem. 136. l. 20, 138. l. 13; vask, I was, 133. l. 25, Mork. 89. l. 16; vark, Post. 225, v. l. 15; ek vark, Ls. 35; vestu, be thou, Clem. 129. l. 27; es þú, art thou, l. 30, 130. l. 11; sjá’k ( may I be), ek sják, Mork. 134; at sják, 189. l. 29; ek sják, Hbl. 9, Hkv. 1. 20; at ek gjarn sják, Stor.; with double kk, þó at ek sjákk, Mork. 89.

2. a medial form, erumk, erumz, or apocopated erum, Stor. 1, Ad. 16, Hkv. 1. 25, Korm. ch. 5. 2, Ls. 35, Bragi (see senna); leið erum-k fjöll, Edda (in a verse); várumk, were to me, Am. 78.

3. suff. neg. eru-mk-a, it is not to me, Stor. 17, Eg. (in a verse); emkat-ek, am I not I, i. e. I am not, Hbl. 34, Skm. 18, Ó. H. 192 (in a verse): er-at, es-at, or er-a, es-a, is not, passim; eru-ð, are not, Skv. 1. 42; ert-attu, thou art not, Vtkv.; vart-attu, thou wast not, Gs., Eg. (in a verse); veri-a, be not, Mork. 37. l. 8.

4. sá’s = sá es, that is, Hallfred (Fs. 95); svá’s = svá es, so is, Fms. vii. (in a verse).

III. the plur. eru when suffixed to words ending in r drops the initial e, and is suffixed; this spelling, which agrees with mod. Icel. pronunciation, was afterwards disused; þeir-ro, they are, Gm. 34; margir-ro, many are, Hkv. 2. 11; Æsir-ro, the Ases are, Vsp. 49; skildir-ro, shields are, 44; torogætir-ro, rare are, Korm. (in a verse); hverjar-ro, which are, Vþm. 48; langir-ro, long are, Gg.; tveir-ro, þrír-ro, fjórir-ro, two, three, four are, Edda 108; báðir-ro, both are, Mork. 169; hér-ro, here are, 234; þér-ro, ye are, MS. 686 B. 1; hryggvir-ro, id.; hver-ro, who are, Mork. 96; úvar-ro, wroth are, Gm. 53; værrom, vérrom, we are, Edda i. 526, Fms. x. 421; hverrtu [cp. North. E. wh’art’ou, lad] (hverrtú karl, who art thou, carle?), Frissb. 256. l. 8; ir-rot, ye are, Ó. H. 151.

IV. the pres. 1st pers. em [Engl. am] has changed into er (eg er, þú ert, hann er), making the 1st and 3rd pers. uniform; this new form appears in vellums about the end of the 13th century, but the word being usually abbreviated (ē = em, eͬ = er), it is often hard to distinguish. In the Icel. N. T. and in hymns the old ‘em’ still remains in solemn language, em eg, Matth. xxvii. 24; eigi em eg, John xviii. 17; eg em hann, 5, 8, xi. 25, xv. 1, 5, Matth. xiv. 27; em eg eigi postuli, em eg eigi frjáls, 1 Cor. ix. 1; em eg orðinn, 20, 22, and passim.

B. USAGE.—To be:

I. to be, exist; þær sakir skal fyrst dæma, ef þær eru, if such there are, Grág. (Kb.) i. 73; eigi vóru hans jafningjar, Eg. 1; Rachel grét sonu sína, … þvi at þeir eru eigi, Hom. 49; þeir menn vóru, er þess gátu, there were men who, Nj. 90.

2. to be, happen; þat var, at hón for brott, Nj. 51; él eitt mun vera, 198; þess sem vera vill, that which is to be, 186; ok er (is) Vagn þá fimtán vetra gamall, er þetta er, when this came to pass, Fms. xi. 97; at þessi orrosta hafi verit á öðrum degi viku, iii. 11; í þann tið var úfriðr Kristnum mönnum, Ver. 43; hvat er henni, what is the matter with her? Fms. ii. 290; hvat er þér, Atli? er þér hryggt í hug, Gkv. 3.

3. to last; meðan þingit væri, Nj. 12; hirðit eigi at óttask píslir þeirra—þvíat stund eina eru, 623. 32; meðan líf hans var, Bret. 100; þykkir eigi vera mega svá búit, Fms. xi. 62: to remain, leave alone, láttu það vera, let that be, Flóv.

4. to be, dwell, stay, sojourn; vask til Róms, I was at Rome, Sighvat; hann bað hana vera í búð sinni, Nj. 12; Gunnarr var á Höskuld-stöðum um nótt, passed a night there, 34, N. G. L. i. 347: so the phrase, biðja að lofa sér að vera, to ask for night-quarters, of a stranger or traveller; lofa honum að vera, to take a stranger in; honum var boðit at vera, Vápn. 23; hefi ek hér verit síðan, Nj. 45; Hallkell var þar með Otkatli, 73; þeir vildu eigi vesa hér við heiðna menn, Íb. 4; vera samvistum við e-n, Grág. ii. 80; vera við e-t, to be present at, Hom. 129: vera at, to be present; vark at þar, Glúm.: vera brottu, to be away, absent, Nj. 113; meðan ek em í brautu, 52: sagðisk eigi vita hvar þau væri, were to be found, Dipl. ii. 20; hvar ertu? slá ein var um þvert skipit, Nj. 44; hygg ek at þar hafi verit Bolli, Ld. 274; er þér hér nú minja-griprinn, Nj. 203: as with the notion of ‘towards’ a place, an irregular construction, vartú á land upp, Fas. ii. 174; meðan þeir vóru til Danmerkr, Fms. x. 104; Ribbungar höfðu ekki verit út í landit, ix. 359; verit eigi til orrostu, vii. 263, v. l.; vera á fund hans, Eg. 26.

5. with prepp.; vera at, to be busy at (see ‘at’ A. II, p. 26, col. 2): vera fyrir, to lead (see fyrir): vera til, to exist (see til IV); eiga fjölskyldi, vandræði, um at vera, to be in straits (see um C. VII); e-m er mikit, lítið, ekki um e-t (see um C. I. 3); vera við (see við B. VIII).

II. with a predicate:

1. with a noun, to be so and so; vera bróðir, systir, faðir, sonr, dóttir … e-s, vera konungr, jarl, biskup …, passim; hvers son ertú?—Ek emk Kattarson, Mork. 104; ek skal þer Mörðr vera, Nj. 15: followed by a gen. ellípt., er þat ekki karla, that is not men’s (affair), 75; er þat ekki margra, ‘that is not for many,’ few are equal to that (cp. Lat. ‘non cuivis homini,’ etc.), 48.

2. with adjectives, to be so and so, of a state or condition; vera kunnigr, Fms. x. 370; vera glaðr, sæll, hryggr, dauðr, lifandi, … ungr, gamall, to be glad …, young, old, passim; þó at ek sjákk ótignari, Mork. 89; nema ek dauðr sják, Hbl. 9; þótt ek sják einn, Mork. 134; vera kominn, to be come: so too with adverbs, vera vel, ílla … til e-s, er við e-n, to be, behave well, ill … to one, passim; or also, þat er ílla, it is sad, Nj. 70, 71; ílla er þá, fyrr væri ílla, 75, 260; drengr góðr, þar sem vel skyldi vera, when it was to be, i. e. when she wished, 147; vera spakliga í heraði, to behave gently, Sturl. iii. 143; at þú frændr þína vammalaust verir, to behave blamelessly, Sdm. 22; orð kvað hann þats án veri, words which he had better not have said, Am. 36.

3. impers., e-t er skylt, it is incumbent, Grág.; e-m er varmt, heitt, kalt, one is warm, cold, Nj. 95; er auðit, q. v.

4. with participles, in a passive sense; vera kallaðr, vera sagðr, tekinn, elskaðr, etc., to be called, said, taken, loved.

5. with infin.; hlymr var at heyra, was to hear, i. e. to be heard, Am.; þar var at sjá, there was to be seen, passim.

6. ellipt., dropping a noun or the like, denoting futurity, necessity, a thing at hand, about to happen, or to be done; ok er hér at þiggja, Hrafn, þann greiða sem þú vill, and it is now for thee, Rafn, to partake of what food thou wilt, Ísl. ii. 262; nú er þeim út at ganga öllum, er leyft er, now it is for them to go out, Nj. 200; nú er at verja sik, 83; er nú eigi Kára at varask, now there is no need to beware of K., 259; nú er at segja frá, now is to be told, 75, 259; er nú ekki fyrr frá at segja en þeir koma …, 21; er ekki um hans ferðir at tala fyrr en …, 215.

III. irregular usages:

1. ellipse of the infin. vera; ek skal þér Hrútr, I will [be] Hrútr to thee, Nj. 15; Gunnarr segir sér þat alvöru, G. says it [ is to be] his earnestness, 49; vil ek þá lauss máls þessa, 76; bað hann alla metta at miðri nótt, he begged all eating [ to be over] at midnight, Fms. ix. 353; þá þótti hverjum gott þar sem sat, Nj. 50; at skamt skyli okkar í meðal, 114; mun þín skömm lengi uppi, mun hans vörn uppi meðan landit er bygt, 116, 117: or also ‘var,’ ‘er’ may be understood, hann hafði hjálm á höfði, og gyrðr sverði, 70; sá ek glöggt hvat títt var,—barn at aldri, en vegit slíka hetju, a bairn in age, and to have slain such a champion! Glúm. 382: the dropping of the infin. vera is esp. freq. after the reflex. forms kveðsk, segjask, látask, þykkjask, virðask, sýnask when followed by a part. pret. or by an adjective, as also after the verbs munu, skulu,—thus, hann sagðisk kominn, he said he was come; hann lezt búinn, he made as if he was ready; hann þóttisk staddr, he thought that he was …; skal þat á þínu umdæmi, Fms. xi. 89; þess eins er mér þykkir betr, … til hvers þykkjast þessir menn færir, Hrafn. 17; mun þat harðla lítið, 21; at fátt muni manna á fótum, 20; þú virðisk okkr vaskr maðr, 23; þessi hestr sýnisk mér eigi betri en aðrir, id.

2. an irregularity, occurring now and then, is the use of the sing. ‘er’ for plur. eru; mannföll þessi er sögð, Gullþ. 71; nú er fram komin sóknar-gögn, Nj. 242.

IV. recipr., erusk, vórusk; viðr-gefendr ok endr-gefendr erosk lengst vinir, Hm. 40; þeir er í nánd erusk, those who are neighbours, 655 xxi. 3; þótt þau sésk eigi hjóna, though they be not man and wife, K. Þ. K. 158; ok városk góðir vinir, were good friends, Fms. xi. 39, 89; ok várusk þeir fóstbræðr, 55.

V. as to the poët. medial form, erumk, várumk (see ek C), the following instances are from the poems of Egil: grimmt várumk hlið, the breach was cruel to me, Stor.; erumk-a leitt, it is not to me, Eg. (in a verse); erumka þokkt þjóða sinni, see sinni II; mærðar-efni erumk auð-skæf, Ad.; mjök erum(k) tregt tungu at hræra, it is hard for me to move the tongue, Stor. 1; (hence one might correct the end verse of that poem into nú ‘erumk’ torvelt, for the modernised nú ‘er mér’ torvelt); blautr erumk bergi-fótar borr, Eg. (at the end); to which add, þat erumk sennt, it is told us, Bragi; lyst várumk þess, I had a longing to, Am. 74; ván erumk, ‘a hope is to me,’ I hope, Fagrsk. 122; the phrase, títt erumk, ‘tis ready to me, Eb. (in a verse).

VI. part., allir menn verandi ok eptir komandi, Dipl. i. 3; æ-verandi, everlasting, Hom. 107; hjá-verandi, being present, Vm. 47; nær-verandis, present; engi nær-verandis maðr, öllum lýð nær-verandis, Th. 77; klerkar ok nær-verandi leikmenn, Mar.; at upp-vesandi sólu, at sunrise, N. G. L. i. 4; verandi eigi úminnigr, being not unmindful, Fms. v. 230.

(-is, -ar), m. a local chief lord (in Norway).

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m. [akin to hérað and herr], a chief, lord, the political name of the Norse chiefs of the earliest age, esp. before the time of Harold Fairhair and the settlement of Iceland: respecting the office and authority of the old hersar the records are scanty, as they chiefly belonged to the prehistorical time; they were probably not liegemen, but resembled the goðar (vide goði) of the old Icel. Commonwealth, being a kind of patriarchal and hereditary chiefs: in this matter the old Landnáma is our chief source of information;—Björn Buna hét hersir ágætr í Noregi, son Veðrar-Gríms hersis í Sogni, móðir Gríms var Hervör dóttir Þorgerðar Eylaugs-dóttur hersis ór Sogni, Landn. 39; Arinbjörn h. ór Fjörðum, 66; Ási h., 76, 303, and another of the same name, 109; Ketill Veðr h. af Hringaríki, 94; Hrólfr h. af Ögðum, 48, 126; Ketill Raumr hét h. ágætr í Raumsdal, 173; Gormr h. ágætr í Svíþjóð, 195; Grímr h., 204; Þorsteinn Höfði h. á Hörðalandi, 228; Þórir Hauknefr h., 237; Úlfr Gildir h. á Þelamörk, 292; Veðr-Ormr h., 314; Arinbjörn h., Eg., Ad. 3; Vigfúss h. af Vörs, Glúm.; Klyppr h. á Hörðalandi, Fb. i. 19; Dala-Guðbrandr h., Ó. H. 106; Björn h. á Örlandi, Eg. 154; Þórir h. í Fjörðum, 155, cp. Rm. 36; hann var sem konungr væri yfir Dölunum, ok var þó h. at nafni, Ó. H. l. c., cp. Fb. i. 23; hersar hafa verit fyrri frændr mínir, ok vil ek ekki bera hærra nafn en þeir, Fms. i. 299: it is also prob. that by ágætr and göfugr (q. v.) the Landnáma means a hersir. At the time of Harold Fairhair the old hersar gradually became liegemen (lendir menn) and were ranked below a jarl ( earl), but above a höldr ( yeoman), the scale being konungr, jarl, hersir, höldr, búandi, see the record in Hkr. i. 80 (Har. S. Hárf. ch. 6), as also Edda 93; the name then becomes rare, except that hersir and lendr maðr are now and then used indiscriminately, heita þeir hersar eða lendir menn, Edda l. c. The old Norse hersar were no doubt the prototype of the barons of Normandy and Norman England.

COMPDS: hersisheiti, hersisnafn.

(-ða, -ðr), v. to make soft, to weaken.

f. servantmaid, dairymaid (deigja eðr önnur hjún).

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u, f. a dairy-maid; this word is the humble mother of the Engl. lady, qs. la-dy (vide p. 76. s. v. brauð). A. S. hlæf-dige = bread-maid; cp. Norse bú-deigja (q. v.). Chaucer’s dey (a maner dey), and West Engl. day- (or dey-) house, a dairy. The deigja in old Norse farms was the chief maid, but still a bondwoman, N. G. L. i. 70, H. E. i. 510; öll ertú d. dritin. Ls. 56, where it is curiously enough addressed to the daughter of Byggvir (bygg = barley), a handmaid of the gods; deigja seems to mean a baker-woman, and the word no doubt is akin to deig, dough, and Goth. deigan, to knead, the same person being originally both dairy-woman and baker to the farm: in Icel. the word is never used, but it survives in the Norse bu-deia, sæter-deia, agtar-deia, reid-deia (Ivar Aasen), and Swed. deja, = a dairy-maid.

u, f. wetness, dump.

(-ta, -tr), v.

1) to perceive, espy, notice (ok er konungr þekkir, at sveinninn er heill);

þás bani Fáfnis borg of þátti (old pret. = þekti), when Fafnir’s slayer espied the burg;

2) to comprehend (mátt þú nú þat þekkja, er fyrr sagða ek þér);

3) to know, recognize (þóttist hón þekkja barnit);

4) refl., þekkjast e-t, to comply with, consent to, accept of (þeir þektust þetta boð gjarna);

þekkjast e-m, to please;

megi þér (dat.) mitt líf þekkja, may it please thee.

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ð, and later t; an older pret. þátti answers to Goth. þagkjan, þahta, and occurs in old poems in four instances, which see below: [Goth. þagkjan = λογίζεσθαι; A. S. þencan, þôhte; Engl. think, pret. thought; Hel. þenkjan, pret. þahta; O. H. G. dankjan; Germ. denken, pret. dachte; whence mod. Dan. tænke; Swed. tänka; whence mod. Icel. þenkja. In the old Norse the sense of ‘to think’ is still undeveloped, and only appears in the borrowed mod. form þenkja; cp. þykkja.]

A. To perceive, know:

I. to perceive, espy, notice, of the senses; þóttuð mér, er ek þátta, Þorkcls liðar dvelja, when I espied them, O. H. L. (in a poem of A. D. 1012); þá er vígligan vögna vátt, sinn bana þátti, Haustl. (middle of the 10th century); þátti liggja á sléttri grundu sér fjarri, he espied (his sword) lying far off on the ground, Geisli (Cod. Holm., in a poem of A. D. 1154); þá er bani Fáfnis borg um þátti, when the slayer of F. espied (or visited) the burg, Og. 18; er harðhugaðr hamar um þekði, when he espied his hammer, Þkv.; er ek höll Hálfs háfa þekða’k, Gkv. 2. 13; ok er konungr þekkir at sveinninn er heill, Fb. iii. 366; þá þekði hann at tré flaut í lánni, he espied a tree floating in the surf, Mar. (pref. xl); heyra þeir vápna-brakit ok þekkja jóreykina, Al. 31; kann vera at þeir þekki eigi hvárt þar eru karlar eða konur, Ld. 276; mátt þú nú þat þ. ( comprehend) er fyrr sagða ek þér, at …, Sks. 476. This sense is now obsolete.

II. to know; þóttisk hón þekkja barnit, Finnb. 214; engi maðr var sá innan-borðs at þetta land þekti, Fms. iii. 181; svá vóru þeir líkir at hvárngan mátti þekkja frá öðrum, Bev.; fá þekt þá hluti, Sks. 119 new Ed.; þekki ek þik görla, segir hann, Fas. ii. 239. This sense is not of very frequent occurrence in old writers, but more so in mod. usage, as it has almost displaced the old kenna, q. v.

III. recipr. to know one another, Fas. iii. 535.

B. Dep. [þökk], þekkjask, to comply with; en konungrinn þekðisk meirr með einvilja sínum en með vitra manna ráði, the king followed more his own will than good men’s counsel, Fms. x. 418.

2. to be pleased; þá þektisk mér at leita hans ráða-görðar, I was pleased, I wished, Sks. 3; megi þér mitt líf þekkjask, may it please thee, Barl. 148.

II. to accept of, consent to; bauð honum þar at vera, en hann þekðisk þat, Eg. 23; þeir þökkuðu Úlfi þetta boð sitt ok þektusk þetta boð gjarna, Fær. 46; ek mun fela yðr hér.—þeir þekkjask þetta, Fms. i. 8; Eiríkr konungr þektisk þann kost, 22; þá eggjuðu höfðingjar aptr-hvarfs, en hann þekðisk eigi þat, he refused, would not, x. 413; ef þú vill mína umsjá þekkjask, vi. 104.

2. part., fám var þekkt í þeirra liði at fara seint, few of them liked to go slowly, Lv. 95.

n. trouble, toil, labor; höfum erfiði ok ekki erendi, we have the toil, but no result.

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or erviði (ærfaði, N. G. L. i. 391; ærfuð, id. I. 10), n. [Ulf. arbaiþs = κόπος; A. S. earfoð; O. H. G. arapeit; mod. Germ. arbeit, which shews that mod. Dan. arbeide and Swed. arbete are borrowed from the Germ.; lost in Engl. The etymology of this word is uncertain; the Icel. notion is to derive it from er- priv. and viða = vinna, to work, but it is scarcely right; Grimm, s. v. arbeit, suggests it to be akin to Lat. labor; Max Müller refers it to the root AR, to plough, Science of Language, p. 258, 3rd Ed.; but arfiði (Björn, p. 41) instead of erviði is a fictitious form, and the statement that in old Norse or Icel. it means ploughing rests only on a fancy of old Björn (Dict. l. c.), to which he was probably led by the similarity between Lat. arvum to Germ. and mod. Dan. arbeit, arbeide: in fact the Icel., ancient or modern, conveys no such notion; even in the old heathen poems the word is used exactly in the present sense, which again is the same as in Ulf.]:—toil, labour, and metaph. toil, trouble; in the allit. phrase, e. en eigi eyrendi, toil but no errand, i. e. lost labour, Þkv. 10, 11, Hkv. Hjörv. 5; víl ok e., toil and trouble (of travelling), Hbl. 58, Skálda 163; kváðusk hafa haft mikit e. ok öngu á leið komið, Fms. v. 21, Post. 645. 58, Sks. 235, v. l., N. G. L. l. c.

2. metaph. distress, suffering; drýgja e., to ‘dree’ distress, Gm. 35 (heathen poem),—in N. G. L. i. 391 this phrase is used of a priest officiating; hungr, þorsti, e., Hom. 160: in pl., meðr mörgum erfiðum er á hana leggjask, Stj. 51: an old poet (Arnor) calls the heaven the erfiði of the dwarfs, vide dvergr. In the Icel. N. T. erfiði is often used in the very same passages as in Ulf., thus—yðvart e. er eigi ónýtt í Drottni, 1 Cor. xv. 58; í erfiði, í vökum, í föstu, 2 Cor. vi. 5; og hrósum oss eigi tram yfir mælingu í annarlegu erfiði, x. 15; og vort e. yrði til ónýtis, 1 Thess. iii. 5, cp. Ulf. l. c.

β. medic. asthma, difficulty in breathing; brjóst-erfiði, heavy breathing.

COMPDS: erfiðisdauði, erfiðislaun, erfiðisléttir, erfiðismunir, erfiðisnauð, erfiðissamr, erfiðissemi, erviðisverk.

Linguistics: Norse, Old Norse

norrois ⇒ Les langues nm Norse; le vieux norrois Old Norse.