on the other hand

n. [Scot. hansel; Dan. handsel], a law term, usually in pl. handsöl, ‘hand-selling’ or hanselling, i. e. the transference of a right, bargain, duty to another by joining hands;—hand-shaking was with the men of old the sign of a transaction, and is still used among farmers and the like, so that to shake hands is the same as to conclude a bargain, cp. Lat. mandare = manu-dare, mancipium from manu capere; jafnt þykkja mér þín heit sem handsöl annarra manna, thy word is as good as the h. of other men, Lv. 65: a trust, charge, Grág. i. 190; þetta handsal líkaði ílla Þorbrands sonum, Eb. 156; er hjá vóru gjöfinni ok handsalinu, Anal. 293; biskups handsöl, Vm. 66; taka við handsölum á e-u, to undertake the trust, charge of a thing, Nj. 257; ek vil gjarna at þú takir handsölum á öllu fénu, Ld. 50; taka við fé með handsölum, Fs. 125; eiga handsöl við e-n, to make a bargain with one, Hrafn. 21, Rd. 243, Fb. i. 109; gefa e-m handsöl yfir e-u, Bs. ii. 64; bjóða h. fyrir e-n, to offer bail for one, Fs. 87; ganga til handsala fyrir e-n, Eb. 128, 148, Grág. and Sagas passim.

COMPDS: handsalsband, handsalsmaðr, handsalsrof, handsalsslit.

* * *

(gen. handar, dat. hendi; pl. hendr), f.

1) hand;

taka hendi á e-u, to touch with the hand;

hafa e-t í hendi, to hold in the hand;

drepa hendi við e-u, to refuse;

halda hendi yfir e-m, to protect one;

taka e-n höndum, to seize, capture;

bera hönd fyrir höfuð sér, to defend oneself;

eiga hendr sínar at verja, to act in self defence;

láta e-t hendi firr, to let go out of one’s hands, to lose;

taka í hönd e-m, to join hands with one;

eiga e-t jöfnum höndum, to own in equal shares;

sverja sér af hendi, to forswear;

af hendi e-s, on one’s behalf, on the part of (af hendi landsmanna);

at hendi, as adv. in turn;

hverr at hendi, each in turn;

felast á hendi e-m, to be under one’s protection;

hvat er þér á höndum, what hast thou in hand?;

ef honum væri ekki á höndum, if he had nothing in hand, if his hands were free;

eiga e-t fyrir hendi (höndum), to have in hand (duty, business, engagement);

vera í hendi, to be at hand, at one’s disposal;

hafa vel (illa) í höndum, to behave well (badly);

hafa e-t með höndum, to have in hand, manage, discharge;

hljóta e-t undan hendi e-s, from one, at one’s hand;

á hönd, á hendr, against (lýsa vígi á hönd e-m);

snúa vanda á hendr e-m, to throw the responsibility on one;

fœrast e-t á hendr, to undertake;

ganga (drífa) á hönd e-m, to submit to one;

bjargast á sínar hendr, by one’s own handiwork;

selja, gefa, fá e-t í hönd (hendr) e-m, to give into one’s hands, hand over;

búa e-t í hendr e-m, to make it ready for one;

kalla til e-s í hendr e-m, to lay claim to a thing at the hands of another;

þá sömu nótt, er fór í hönd, the following night;

veðr óx í hönd, the wind rose higher and higher;

vera hœgt um hönd, to be easy in hand;

til handa e-m, into one’s hands;

ganga til handa e-m, to put oneself in another’s hands, submit to him;

ef þat berr þér til handa, if it befalls thee;

þá skömrn kýs ek mér eigi til handa, I will not have that shame at my door;

biðja konu til handa e-m, on one’s behalf, for him;

2) the arm and hand, the arm (höndin gekk af axlarliðnum; hann hefir á hœgri hendi hring fyrir ofan ölnboga);

var eigi djúpara en þeim tók undir hendr, the water just reached to their armpits;

3) hand, side;

á hœgri (vinstri) hönd, on the right (left) hand, side;

á hvára hönd, on either hand;

minnar (yðvarrar) handar, for my (your) part;

4) kind, sort;

allra handa árgœzka, great abundance of all things.

* * *

f., gen. handar, dat. hendi, acc. hönd, pl. hendr, mod. proncd. höndur, gen. handa; [Goth. handus; A. S. and Engl. hand; O. H. G. hant; Germ. hand; Dan. haand; Swed. hand]:—a hand; beit höndina þar er nú heitir úlfliðr, Edda 17; armleggir, handleggir ok hendr, Anecd. 6; kné eðr hendi, Grág. ii. 8; ganga á höndum, Fms. vi. 5; með hendi sinni, K. Þ. K. 5 new Ed.; taka hendi á e-u, to touch with the hand, Fms. x. 110; taka höndum um háls e-m, Nj. 10; hvítri hendi, Hallfred; hafa e-t í hendi, to hold in hand, wield, Eg. 297, Nj. 84, 97, 255; hrjóta ór hendi e-m, Fms. xi. 141; hafa fingrgull á hendi, Nj. 146; handar-högg, Fms. xi. 126, Fas. ii. 459; sjá ekki handa sinna skil (deili), not to be able to see one’s hands, of a dense fog.

2. the arm and hand, the arm, like Gr. χείρ, Nj. 160, 253; á hendi heitir alnbogi, Edda 110; hendr til axla, Fas. i. 160; leggir handa ok fóta, Magn. 532; hönd fyrir ofan úlnlið, Nj. 84; hafa hring á hendi, of an arm-ring, Nj. 131; hring á hægri hendi fyrir ofan ölnboga, Fms. iv. 383:—the arm and arm-pit, ná, taka undir hönd ( arm-pit) e-m, Gþl. 380; var eigi djúpara en þeim tók undir hendr, the water reached to their arm-pits, Ld. 78; taka undir hönd sér, to take hold under one’s arms, Eg. 237, Nj. 200; sjá undir hönd e-m, Fas. ii. 558; renna undir hendr e-m, to backspan one, Háv. 40, 41; þykkr undir hönd, stout, Ld. 272.

3. metaph. handwriting, hand; rita góða hönd, to write a good hand; snar-hönd, running hand, italics.

II. the hand, side; hægri hönd, the right hand; vinstri hönd, the left hand; á hvára hönd, on either hand, each side, Landn. 215; á vinstri hönd, Nj. 196; á hægri hönd; á tvær hendr, on both hands or sides, Ísl. ii. 368, Fas. i. 384; á báðar hendr, Grág.; hvat sem á aðra hönd ber, whatsoever may happen; á aðra hönd … en á aðra, Ld. 46; til hvárigrar handara, Fms. x. 313; til annarrar handar, Nj. 50, 97; til sinnar handar hvárr, 140; til beggja handa, Eg. 65; til ýmsa handa, Bs. i. 750; þver-hönd, a hand’s breadth; örv-hönd.

III. sayings and phrases referring to the hand:

1. sayings; sjálfs hönd er hollust, one’s own hand is best, i. e. if you want to have a thing well done, do it yourself, Glúm. 332, Ó. H. 157; blíð er bætandi hönd, blessed is the mending hand; gjörn er hönd á venju, Grett. 150, Nj. (in a verse), and Edda (Ht. 26); margar hendr vinna létt verk; fiplar hönd á feigu tafli; betri ein kráka í hendi en tvær á skógi, Ld. 96; skamma stund verðr hönd höggvi fegin, see högg.

2. phrases; drepa hendi við, to refuse, Nj. 71; halda hendi yfir e-m, to hold one’s hand over, protect, 266, Fbr. 22, Anecd. 14; taka e-n höndum, to take hold with the hands, seize, capture, Fms. x. 314, Nj. 265, passim; eiga hendr sínar at verja, to act in self-defence, 84, 223; hefja handa, to lift the hands, stir for action, 65, Ld. 262; bera hönd fyrir höfuð sér, to put one’s hand before one’s head, stand on one’s guard, defend oneself; vera í hers höndum, óvina höndum, to be in a state of war, exposed to rapine; vera í góðum höndum, vina-höndum, góðra manna höndum, to be in good hands, among friends.

β. læknis-hendr, ‘leech hands,’ healing hands; pains and sickness were believed to give way to the magical touch of a person gifted with such hands, Sdm. 4, Magn. S. Góða ch. 36 (Fms. vi. 73), cp. Rafns S. ch. 2; hönd full, a handful, Fms. ii. 302, vi. 38, viii. 306; fullar hendr fjár, hands full of gold:—kasta hendinni til e-s, to huddle a thing up; með harðri hendi, with hard hand, harshly, rudely; með hangandi hendi, with drooping hand, slothfully; fegins hendi, with glad hand, joyfully; sitja auðum höndum, to sit with empty hands, sit idle; but með tómar hendr, empty-handed, portionless, Thom.:—láta hendr standa fram úr ermum, to work briskly; víkja hendi til e-s (handar-vik), to move the hand to do a thing; það er ekki í tveim höndum að hafa við e-n, of double handed (i. e. faltering) half measures, when the one hand undoes what the other has done; kann ek þat sjá at ekki má í tveim höndum hafa við slíka menn, Band. 3; láta hönd selja hendi, of a ready bargain; láta e-t ganga hendi firr, to let go out of one’s hands, lose, Ld. 202; ok lét sér eigi hendi firr ganga, and never lost sight of him, 656 ii. 4; e-m fallask hendr, to be discomfited, lose one’s head (see falla); leggja görva hönd á allt, to be a ready hand, adept in everything, Thom. 300 (see göra F. 2); taka í hönd e-m, to join hands, Nj. 3; takask í hendr, to join, shake hands, Grág. ii. 80; leggja hendr saman, id., Gþl. 18,—of shaking hands as symbolical of a bargain, see the compds hand-lag, hand-festi, handa-band; eiga, taka, jöfnum höndum, to own, take with even hands, i. e. in equal shares, Grág. i. 171, ii. 66, Hkr. i. 318; vinna jöfnum höndum, to work even-handed, to help one another; e-m eru mislagðar hendr, one’s hands are amiss, when bad work is done by one from whom better was expected; honum hafa verið mislagðar hendr, etc.

B. Metaph. usages:

I. dat., sverja sér af hendi, to forswear, Fms. vii. 176; færa af höndum sér, to dismiss, Grág. i. 248; hefjask af höndum e-m, Fms. xi. 59:—af hendi e-s, on one’s behalf, part, Landn. 154; af hendi Hákonar, Fms. i. 20, iv. 118; af hendi landsmanna, ix. 359; af sinni hendi, of one’s own hand, for one’s own part, Grág. i. 392; reiða, greiða, gjalda, inna af hendi or höndum, to discharge, pay off, Fms. vii. 230, Nj. 146, 190, 232, 239, 257, 281, Grág. i. 82, ii. 374; selja, láta af hendi (höndum), to part with, dismiss, Nj. 186, 231, Fms. vii. 173, Rb. 12; líða af hendi, to pass, of time, Ísl. ii. 144, Fms. iv. 83: koma, bera at hendi, to happen, Nj. 71, 177: at hendi, as adv. in turn; hvern at hendi, each in turn, Fms. i. 150: þar næst Gunnarr, þá Loðinn, þá hverr at hendi, Nj. 140; hverr segir at hendi þat er frá honum hefir stolit verit, Mar.: felask á hendi e-m, to be under one’s charge, protection, Nj. 201, Bs. i. 167, 173. vera e-m á hendi, id., Fms. vii. 243; vera bundinn á hendi e-m, Sturl. i. 57: hafa e-t á höndum (hendi), to have a thing in hand, of duty, business to be done, Grág. i. 38; eiga ferð á höndum, Ld. 72; hvat er þér á höndum, what hast thou in hand? for what art thou concerned, distressed? Nj. 133, Ld. 270; ella eru þér stórir hlutir á höndum, Fms. vii. 30; ef honum væri ekki á höndum, if he had nothing in hand, if his hands were free, Ld. 42: eiga e-t fyrir hendi (höndum), to have in hand (duty, business, engagement), Fas. ii. 557; farvegr langr fyrir hendi, Fms. xi. 316; tveir kostir fyrir höndum, Nj. 264, Grág. i. 279; hafa sýslu fyrir höndum, Ísl. ii. 344; eiga vandræði fyrir höndum, Ld. 4; eiga gott fyrir höndum, Hkr. iii. 254: vera í hendi, to be at hand, within reach, at one’s disposal, in one’s power; hann er eigi í hendi, Fms. vi. 213; þat er eigi í hendi, ‘tis no easy matter, v. l.; hafa raun ( evidence) í hendi, Bs. i. 708; hafa ráð e-s í hendi sér, Ld. 174, Fas. i. 260; hafa vel, ílla í höndum, to behave well, badly, Ísl. ii. 387, Eg. 158; varð honum þat vel í höndum, 50: hafa e-t með höndum (fé, auðæfi, embætti, etc.), to have in hand, manage, discharge, Grág. ii. 389, Greg. 25, Stj. 248, Hkr. iii. 131; to design, hafa ráð, stórræði með höndum, 623. 51: hljóta undan hendi e-s, from one, at one’s hands, Fas. i. 365: undir höndum, eigi lítill undir höndum, not a small man to handle, Fms. vii. 17; vera undir höndum e-m, to be under or in one’s hands, under one’s protection, in one’s power, Sks. 337, Fms. i. 7, 13; sitja undir hendi e-m, Hkr. i. 166,—um hendr, Fms. iv. 71, is prob. an error = undir hendi.

2. absol., annarri hendi, on the other hand, Fms. vii. 158; en annarri hendi vildu þeir gjarna veita konungi hlýðni, ix. 258.

II. acc., with prepp.; á hönd, á hendr, against; höfða sök, lýsa vígi (etc.) á hönd e-m, to make a suit … against, Grág. i. 19, Nj. 86, 87, 98, 99, 101, 110, 120, 230; hyggja e-t á hendr e-m, to lay a thing to a person’s charge, Hom. 115; reynask á hendr e-m, to have a charge brought home to one, Fms. xi. 76; snúa vanda á hendr e-m, to throw the responsibility upon …, Nj. 215; færa, segja stríð á hendr e-m, to wage, declare war against one; fara geystr á hendr e-m, to rage against, Fms. vii. 230; færask e-t á hendr, to undertake, Nj. 126; ganga á hönd e-m, to vex one, 625. 33; sótt elnar á hendr e-m, Eg. 126; leggja e-t á hendr e-m, to lay ( a burden) on one’s hands, Fms. xi. 98; in a good sense, ganga á hönd, to pay homage to, submit, Ó. H. 184; dreif allt fólk á hönd honum, submitted to him, filled his ranks, Fms. i. 21; bjargask á sínar hendr, by one’s own handwork, Vápn. 28; (for at hönd, Grág. i. 135, read á hönd): selja, fá, gefa e-t í hönd, hendr e-m, to give into one’s hands, hand over; selja sök í hönd e-m (handsöl), Grág. ii. 80, Nj. 4, 98, 112, 186; so, halda e-u í hönd e-m, Ísl. ii. 232, Fms. vii. 274; búa í hendr e-m, to make it ready for one, Ld. 130; veiði berr í hendr e-m, Nj. 252; kalla til e-s í hendr e-m, to lay claim to a thing at the hands of another, Ld. 300, Eg. 350, Fms. iv. 222, ix. 424; þegar í hönd, offhand, immediately, Bs. i; þá sömu nótt er fór í hönd, the following night, Fms. viii. 397, Glúm. 341; gjalda í hönd, to pay in cash, Vm. 16; veðr óx í hönd, the wind rose higher and higher, Fb. i. 432: undir jafna hönd, equally, Sturl. iii. 243; standa óbrigðiliga undir jafna hönd, Dipl. v. 26: væra hægt um hönd, to be easy in hand, Nj. 25; þegar eg vil er hægt um hönd, heima á Fróni að vera, Núm. 1. 10; but mér er e-t um hönd, it is awkward, costs trouble: hafa við hönd sér, to keep at hand, Fms. x. 264; tóku konur manna ok dætr ok höfðu við hönd sér viku, Grett. 97; hafa e-t við höndina, to have it at hand.

III. gen., with prepp.; til handa e-m, into one’s hands; fara Guði til handa, to go into God’s hands, Blas. 51; ganga til handa e-m, to put oneself in another’s hands, submit to him, Rb. 404, Eg. 12, Fms. vii. 234, Fas. ii. 522; ef þat berr þér til handa, if it befalls thee, i. 135; þá skömm kýs ek mér eigi til handa, I will not have that shame at my door, Nj. 191: for one, on one’s behalf, biðja konu til handa e-m, 120, 180, Grág. i. 353; í þeirri bæn er hann orti oss til handa, for its, for our use, our sake, 655 i. 2; hann hélt fénu til handa Þrándi, Landn. 214, Nj. 151; safnar konungr liði (til) handa Oddi, Fas. ii. 553; til handa Þorkatli, Fs.

β. dropping the prep. til; mikit fé handa honum, Rd. 195 (late MSS.): whence, handa has become an adverb with dat., handa e-m, for one, Lat. alicui, which is freq. in mod. usage.

2. adverbial; allra handa, Dan. allehaande, of every kind; allra handa árgæzka, Edda (pref.); allra handa ganganda fé, Þórð. 51 new Ed.; fjögurra handa, of a fourfold kind, H. E. i. 525.

3. absol., minnar handar, for my part, Ísl. ii. 356; yðvarrar handar, for your part, Fms. ix. 498; hvárrar-tveggju handar, on either hand, Skálda 164; innan handar, within one’s hands, easy, Ld. 112; þótti þeim innan handar falla at taka land þetta hjá sér sjálfum, 210.

C. COMPDS:

I. plur., handa-afl, n., Edda, = handafl, p. 237. handa-band, n. a joining or shaking of hands, as a law term = handlag, Dipl. i. 11, iv. 2, Vígl. 23; in plur., Bs. (Laur. S.); heilsa, kveðja með handabandi. handa-festi, f. a hold for the hands, Fms. ii. 276. handa-gangr, m. grasping after a thing with all hands, Fas. iii. 345. handa-görvi, f. ‘hand-gear,’ gloves, Sd. 143, Fbr. 139. handa-hóf, n., in the phrase, af handahófi, at random. handa-kenning, f. hand touching, Eluc. 20. handa-klapp, n. a clapping of hands, Skálda 174. handa-læti, n. pl. gestures with the arms, Sks. 116. handar-mál, n., in the phrase, at handarmáli, in heaps; var þá drepit lið hans at handarmáli, Fas. i. 41. handa-saumr, m. tight gloves, Bs. ii. 10. handa-síðr, adj. = handsíðr. handa-skil, n. pl., in the phrase, sjá ekki h., not to see one’s own hands, as in the dark, in a dense fog. handa-skol, n. pl. maladroitness; það er allt í handaskolum. handa-skömm, f. shameful work, a scandal; það er mesta h.! handa-staðr, m. the print of the hands. Fas. i. 285. handa-tak, n., -tekt, f., -tekja, u, f. a taking of hands, as a bargain, Háv. 42, H. E. ii. 194, D. N. i. 398. handa-tæki, n. pl. a laying hold, a fight, Bs. i. (Laur. S.): a pledging of hands, Dipl. ii. 6, D. N. passim. handa-upphald, n. a lifting the arms, Stj. 296. handa-verk, n. pl. one’s handiwork, doings, N. G. L. i. 76, Fms. vii. 295, Stj. 198; í handaverkum eða bókfræði, 46; handaverk manna, men’s handiwork, Blas. 47; Guðs h.; ek em þín h., Sks. 610; hans h., Fms. viii. 406.

II. sing., handar-bak, n. the back of the hand, Sdm. 7. handar-gagn, n. a being ready to the hand; leggja e-t til handargagns, to lay it so as to be ready at hand, Hkr. ii, 158, 249. handar-grip, n. a measure, = spönn, Karl. 481. handar-hald, proncd. handarald, n. a handle, Fas. ii. 355. handar-jaðarr, m. the hand’s edge; in the phrase, vera undir handar-jaðri e-s, to be in one’s hands, in one’s power, Fær. 201. handar-kriki, a, m. ‘hand’s-creek,’ the arm-pit, Eg. 396, Fms. vi. 348, Sturl. ii. 37. handar-mein, n. a sore in the hand, Bs. i. 115, 187, Sturl. ii. 177. handar-stúfr, m. a ‘hand-stump,’ stump of the arm, the hand being hacked off, Fms. x. 258, xi. 119. handar-vani, a, m. maimed in hand, Hm. 70, Matth. xviii. 8. handar-veif, n., í handarveifi, in a ‘wave of the hand,’ in a moment. handar-vik, n. the hands’ reach, movement, work; lítið handarvik, a small work. handar-væni, a, m. want of hands (?), Hm. 72.

☞ For the compds in hand- see pp. 237, 238.

the negative prefix un-. See ‘ú-’.

* * *

or ú-, the negative prefix before nouns and verbs, [Goth., Engl., and Germ. un-; Dan. and Swed. û-, the nasal being absorbed.] The Icel. at a very early date changed this ú into ó, for the very oldest and best vellums use ó, not only the Greg., Eluc., Íb., the Miracle-book (Bs. i. 333 sqq.), but also the Grág., the Cod. Reg. of the Sæm. Edda, etc.; in later vellums of the better kind ú and ó are used promiscuously; till about the union with Norway the ú prevailed, and is chiefly used in vellums of the 14th century; but in the 15th the ó again took its old place, and has been retained ever since, agreeably with the usual pronunciation. The ó is therefore the proper Icel. form, e. g. ó-vitr = Engl. un-wise; that it was sounded thus even in the 12th century is also shewn by the treatise of the second grammarian (Gramm. p. i, col. 1),—ó eðr ú þat skiptir orðum, svá sem er satt eðr ó-satt (ú-satt), Skálda 171. This change of spelling in the MSS. about (or a little before) the union with Norway cannot have been owing to any change in pronunciation, but was simply a Norwegianism, as were many other cases, e. g. the dropping the h before liquids, contrary to the Icel. pronunciation. On the other hand, as for the rest of Scandinavia, the ú has been retained in Denmark and in the east of Norway; but ó in the west and north of Norway (see Ivar Aasen’s Dict.), as also in mod, Swed. (e. g. o-möjlig = Germ. un-möglich). In early Swed. (in the laws) u and o are used indifferently. The Orkneys seem to have followed the Icel., to judge from a rhyme in the poem Jd. composed by bishop Bjarni (died A. D. 1222), a native of the Orkneys,— ó-teitan mik sútar, the metre of which requires a half rhyme, a rule followed strictly throughout that poem.

B. Of the compds with ú- or ó-, all but a few words are from un-; these exceptional words appear to be contractions, either,

α. from ör-, where we have such double forms as ör-sekr and ó-sekr, N. G. L. i. 379; ör-viti and ó-viti, ó-verðr and ör-verðr, ó-vænn and ör-vænn, ör-hæfi and ú-hæfa, ör-keypis and ó-keypis, ú-dæmi qs. ör-dæmi (?), ó-bóta qs. ör-bóta (?), ó-birgr and ör-birgr; perh. also ú-helgi qs. ör-helgi, ú-heilagr qs. ör-heilagr; cp. also such words as ú-megin and ör-megna, ú-synja qs. ör-synja (?).

β. from of-, esp. before a labial or dental; thus, of-vægr and ó-vægr, ó-frýnn qs. of-frýnn, ó-sköp = of-sköp (?), ó-freskr qs. of-freskr, ó-fyrirsynju qs. of-fyrirsynju (?), ó-hljóð or ú-hljóð qs. of-hljóð (?), of-dæll and ó-dæll, of-ljóss and ó-ljóss. In some of these instances doubt may arise, for a double set of compds might have sprung up. On the other hand, the great number of compds with ur-, er- in German and Saxon, and the scarcity of such words in the Norse tongue, lead to the conclusion that many of these compds in the course of time have been lost or replaced by ú-; cp. also of-allt and á-valt, (of-saka and á-saka, of-brýði and á-brýði, of-munir and á-munr, af-vöxtr and á-vöxtr, af-burðr and of-burðr?). Since in most Editions the spelling with ú- has been adopted in these classes of words, they must be sought for under that head.

* * *

prep. w. dat.

I. Of place:

1) off, from;

G. hljóp af hesti sínum, G. jumped off his horse;

ganga af mótinu, to go away from the meeting;

Flosi kastaði af sér skikkjunni, threw off his cloak;

Gizzur gekk af útsuðri at gerðinu, from the south-west;

hann hafði leyst af sér skúa sína, he had taken off his shoes;

Steinarr vildi slíta hann af sér, throw him off;

tók Gísli þá af sér vápnin, took off his arms;

bréf af Magnúsi konungi, a letter from king Magnus;

land af landi, from one land to the other;

hverr af öðrum, one after another, in succession;

vil ek þú vinnir af þér skuldina, work off the debt;

muntu enga sætt af mér fá, no peace at my hand;

rísa af dauða, to rise from the dead;

vakna af draumi, to awaken from a dream;

lúka upp af hrossi, to open a gate from off a horse;

vindr stóð af landi, the wind blew from the land;

2) out of;

verða tekinn af heimi, to be taken out of the world;

gruflar hón af læknum, she scrambles out of the brook;

Otradalr var mjök af vegi, far out of the way.

Connected with út; föstudaginn fór út herrinn af borginni, marched out of the town.

II. Of time; past, beyond:

af ómagaaldri, able to support oneself, of age;

ek em nú af léttasta skeiði, no longer in the prime of life;

þá er sjau vikur eru af sumri, when seven weeks of summer are past;

var mikit af nótt, much of the night was past.

III. In various other relations:

1) þiggja lið af e-m, to receive help from one;

hafa umboð af e-m, to be another’s deputy;

vera góðs (ills) maklegr af e-m, to deserve good (bad) of one;

féll þar lið mart af Eyvindi, many of Eyvind’s men fell there;

þá eru þeir útlagir ok af goðorði sínu, have forfeited their goðorð;

þá skalt þú af allri fjárheimtunni, forfeit all the claim;

ek skal stefna þér af konunni, summon thee to give up;

2) off, of;

höggva fót, hönd, af e-m, to cut off one’s foot, hand;

vil ek, at þú takir slíkt sem þér líkar af varningi, whatever you like of the stores;

þar lá forkr einn ok brotit af endanum, with the point broken off;

absol., beit hann höndina af, bit the hand off;

fauk af höfuðit, the head flew off;

3) of, among;

hinn efniligasti maðr af ungum mönnum, the most promising of the young men;

4) with;

hláða, (ferma) skip af e-u, to load (freight) a ship with;

fylla heiminn af sínu kyni, to fill the world with his offspring;

5) of (= ór which is more frequent);

húsit var gert af timbr stokkum, was built of trunks of trees;

6) fig., eigi vita menn hvat af honum er orðit, what has become of him;

hvat hefir þú gert af Gunnari, what hast thou done with Gunnar?;

7) denoting parentage, descent, origin;

ok eru af þeim komnir Gilsbekkingar, are descended from them;

kominn af Trójumönnum, descended from the Trojans;

8) by, of (after passive);

ek em sendr hingat af Starkaði, sent hither by;

ástsæll af landsmónnum, beloved of;

9) on account of, by reason of, by;

úbygðr at frosti ok kulda, because of frost and cold;

ómáli af áverkum, speechless from wounds;

af ástæld hans, by his popularity;

af því, therefore;

af hví, wherefor why;

af því at, because;

10) by means of, by;

framfœra e-n af verkum sínum, by means of his own labour;

af sínu fé, by one’s own means;

absol., hann fekk af hina mestu sœmd, derived great honour from it;

11) with adjectives, in regard to;

mildr af fé, liberal of money;

góðr af griðum, merciful;

fastr af drykk, close (stingy) in regard to drink;

12) used absol. with a verb, off away;

hann bað hann þá róa af fjörðinn, to row the firth off;

ok er þeir höfðu af fjörðung, when they had covered one forth of the way;

sofa af nóttina, to sleep the night away.

* * *

prep. often used elliptically by dropping the case, or even merely adverbially, [Ulf. af; A. S. and Engl. of, off; Hel. ab; Germ. ab; Gr. άπό; Lat. a, ab.] With dat. denoting a motion a loco; one of the three prepp. af, ór, frá, corresponding to those in loco—á, í, við, and ad locum—á, í, at. It in general corresponds to the prepp. in loco—á, or in locum— til, whilst ór answers more to í; but it also frequently corresponds to yfir, um or í. It ranges between ór and frá, generally denoting the idea from the surface of, while ór means from the inner part, and frá from the outer part or border. The motion from a hill, plain, open place is thus denoted by af; by ór that from an enclosed space, depth, cavity, thus af fjalli, but ór of a valley, dale; af Englandi, but ór Danmörk, as mörk implies the notion of a deep wood, forest. The wind blows af landi, but a ship sets sail frá landi; frá landi also means a distance from: af hendi, of a glove, ring; ór hendi, of whatever has been kept in the hand (correl. to á hendi and í hendi). On the other hand af is more general, whilst frá and ór are of a more special character; frá denoting a departure, ór an impulse or force; a member goes home af þingi, whereas ór may denote an inmate of a district, or convey the notion of secession or exclusion from, Eb. 105 new Ed.; the traveller goes af landi, the exile ór landi: taka e-t af e-m is to take a thing out of one’s hand, that of taka frá e-m to remove out of one’s sight, etc. In general af answers to Engl. of, off, ór to out of, and frá to from: the Lat. prepp. ab, de, and ex do not exactly correspond to the Icelandic, yet as a rule ór may answer to ex, af sometimes to ab, sometimes to de. Of, off, from among; with, by; on account of by means of, because of concerning, in respect of.

A. Loc.

I. With motion, off, from:

1. prop. corresp. to á,

α. konungr dró gullhring af hendi sér (but á hendi), Ld. 32; Höskuldr lætr bera farm af skipi, unload the ship (but bera farm á skip), id.; var tekit af hestum þeirra, they were unsaddled, Nj. 4; Gunnarr hafði farit heiman af bæ sínum, he was away from home, 82; Gunnarr hljóp af hesti sínum, jumped off his horse (but hl. á hest), 83; hlaupa, stökkva af baki, id., 112, 264 ; Gunnarr skýtr til hans af boganum, from the bow, where af has a slight notion of instrumentality, 96; flýja af fundinum, to fly from off the battle-field, 102; ríða af Þríhyrningshálsum, 206; út af Langaholti, Eg. 744 ; sunnan ór Danmörk ok af Saxlandi, 560; ganga af mótinu, to go from the meeting, Fms. vii. 130; af þeirra fundi reis María upp ok fór, 625. 85 ; Flosi kastaði af ser skikkjunni, threw his cloak off him (but kasta á sik),Nj. 176; taka Hrungnis fót af honum, of a load, burden, Edda 58; land þat er hann fiskði af, from which he set off to fish, Grág. i. 151, is irregular, frá would suit better; slíta af baki e-s, from off one’s back, ii. 9 ; bera af borði, to clear the table, Nj. 75.

β. where it more nearly answers to í; þeir koma af hafi, of sailors coming in (but leggja í haf), Nj. 128 ; fara til Noregs af Orkneyjum (but í or til O.), 131; þeim Agli fórst vel ok komu af hafi i Borgarfjörð, Eg. 392 ; hann var útlagi ( outlawed) af Noregi, where ór would be more regular, 344; af Islandi, of a traveller, Fms. x. 3; búa her af báðum ríkjunum, to take a levy from, 51; hinir beztu bændr ór Norðlendingafjórðungi ok af Sunnlendingafjórðungi, the most eminent Southerners and Northerners, 113; Gizzurr gékk af útsuðri at gerðinu, from south-west, Sturl. ii. 219; prestar af hvárutveggja biskupsdæmi, from either diocess, Dipl. ii. 11; verða tekinn af heimi, to be taken out of the world, 623. 21; gruflar hon af læknum, scrambles out of the brook, Ísl. ii. 340; Egill kneyfði af horninu í einum drykk, drained off the horn at one draught, literally squeezed every drop out of it, Eg. 557; brottuaf herbúðunurn, Fms. x. 343.

γ. of things more or less surrounding the subject, corresp. to yfir or um; láta þeir þegar af sér tjöldin, break off, take down the tents in preparing for battle, Eg. 261; kyrtillinn rifnaði af honum, his coat burst, caused by the swollen body, 602; hann hafði leyst af sér skúa sína, he untied his shoes (but binda á sik), 716; Steinarr vildi slíta hann af sér, throw him off, of one clinging to one’s body, 747; tók Gísli þá af sér vápnin, took off his arms, Fms. vii. 39. Of putting off clothes; fara af kápu, Nj. 143; far þú eigi af brynjunni, Bs. i. 541; þá ætlaði Sigurðr at fara af brynjunni, id.; þá var Skarphéðinn flettr af klæðunum, Nj. 209: now more usually fara or klæðum, fötum, exuere, to undress.

δ. connected with út; föstudaginn for út herrinn af borginni, marched out of the town, Nj. 274; ganga út af kirkjunni, to go out of the church, now út úr, Fms. vii. 107: drekki hann af þeirri jörðunni, of something impregnated with the earth, Laekn. 402.

ε. more closely corresponding to frá, being in such cases a Latinism (now frá); bréf af páfa, a pope’s bull, Fms. x. 6; rit af hánum, letter from him, 623. 52; bréf af Magnúsi konungi, a letter from king Magnus, Bs. i. 712; farið þér á brautu af mér í eilífan eld, Hom. 143; brott af drottins augliti, Stj. 43.

ζ. denoting an uninterrupted continuity, in such phrases as land aflandi, from land to land, Eg. 343, Fas. ii. 539; skip af skipl. from ship to ship, Fms. v. 10; brann hvat af öðru, one after another, of an increasing fire, destroying everything, i. 128; brandr af brandi brenn, funi kveykist af funa, one from another, Hm. 56; hverr af öðrum, one after another, in succession, also hverr at öðrum, Eb. 272, 280 (where at in both passages).

2. metaph., at ganga af e-m dauðum, to go from, leave one dead on the spot, of two combatants; en hann segiz bani hins ef hann gekk af dauðum manni, Grág. ii. 88, Hkr. 1. 327; undr þykir mér er bróðir þinn vildi eigi taka af þér starf þetta, would not take this toil from thee, Nj. 77; þegnar hans glöddust af honum, were fain of him, Fms. x. 380; at koma þeim manni af sér er settr var á fé hans, to get rid of, Ld. 52; vil ek þú vinriir af þér skuldina, work off the debt, Njarð. 366; reka af sér, to repel, Sturl. ii. 219; hann á þá sonu er aldri munu af oss ganga, who will never leave us, whom we shall never get rid of, Fas. i. 280; leysa e-n af e-u, to relieve, 64; taka e-n af lífi, to kill, Eg. 48, 416, Nj. 126; af lífdögum, Fms. vii. 204; ek mun ná lögum af því máli, get the benefit of the law in this case, Eg. 468; muntu enga sætt af mér fá, no peace at my hand, 414; rísa af dauða, to rise from death, Fms. ii. 142; guð bætti honum þó af þessi sótt, healed him of this sickness, ix. 390; vakna af sýn, draumi, svefni, to awaken from a vision, dream, sleep, 655 xxxii. I, Gísl. 24, Eb. 192, Fas. i. 41. Rather with the notion out of, in the phrase af sér etc., e. g. sýna e-t af scr, to shew, exhibit a disposition for or against, Ld. 18; gera mikit af sér, to shew great prowess, Ísl. ii. 368; éf þú gerir eigi meira af þér um aðra leika, unless you make more of thyself, Edda 32; Svipdagr hafði mikit af sér gert, fought bravely, Fas. i. 41; góðr (illr) af sér, good ( bad) of oneself, by nature; mikill af sjálfum sér, proud, bold, stout, Nj. 15; ágætastr maðr af sjálfum sér, the greatest hero, Bret.: góðr af ser, excellent, Hrafn. 7; but, on the contrary, af sér kominn, ruinous, in decay; this phrase is used of old houses or buildings, as in Bs. i. 488 = Sturl. l. c.; af sér kominn af mæði can also be said of a man fallen off from what he used to be; kominn af fotum fram, off his legs from age, Sturl. i. 223, Korm. 154 (in a verse).

II. WITHOUT MOTION:

1. denoting direction from, but at the same time continuous connection with an object from which an act or thing proceeds, from; tengja skip hvárt fram af stafni annars, to tie the ships in a line, stem to stern, Fms. i. 157, xi. 111; svá at þeir tóku út af borðum, jutted out of the boards, of rafters or poles, iv. 49; stjarna ok af sem skaft, of a comet, ix. 482; lúka upp af hrossi, to open a gate from off a horse, Grág. ii. 264; hon svarar af sínu sæti sem álpt af baru, Fás. i. 186; þar er sjá mátti utau af firði, af þjóðleið, that might be seen from the fareway on the sea when sailing in the firth, Hkr. ii. 64; þá mun hringt af (better at) Burakirkju, of bells rung at the church, Fms. xi. 160; gengr þar af Meðalfellsströnd, projects from, juts out, of a promontory, Ld. 10.

2. denoting direction alone; upp af víkinni stóð borg mikil, a burg inland from the inlet, Eg. 161; lokrekkja innar af seti, a shut bed inward from the benches in the hall, Ísl. ii. 262; kapella upp af konungs herbergjum, upwards from, Fms. x. 153; vindr stóð af landi, the wind stood off the land, Bárð. 166.

β. metaph., stauda af e-u, vide VI. 4.

γ. ellipt., hallaði af norðr, of the channel, north of a spot, Boll. 348; also, austr af, suðr af, vestr af, etc.

3. denoting absence; þingheyendr skulu eigi vera um nótt af þingi ( away from the meeting), eðr lengr, þá eru þeir af þingi ( away from (be meeting) ef þeir eru or ( out of) þingmarki, Grág. i. 25; vera um nótt af várþingi, 115; meðan hann er af landi héðan, abroad, 150.

β. metaph., gud hvíldi af öllum verkum sínum á sjaunda degi, rested from his labours, Ver. 3.

4. denoting distance; þat er komit af þjóðleið, out of the high road, remote, Eg. 369; af þjóðbraut, Grág. ii. 264, i. 15; Otradalr (a farm) var mjök af vegi, far out of the way, Háv. 53.

B. TEMP, past, from, out of, beyond:

1. of a person’s age, in the sense of having past a period of life; af ómaga aldri, of age, able to support oneself, Grág. i. 243; af aeskualdri, stricken in years, having past the prime of life, Eg. 202; lítið af barnsaldri, still a child, Ld. 74; ek em nú af léttasia skeiði, no longer in the prime of life, Háv. 40.

2. of a part or period of time, past; eigi síðar en nótt er af þingi, a night of the session past, Grág. i. 101; þá er sjau vikur eru af sumri, seven weeks past of the summer, 182; tíu vikur af sumri, Íb. 10; var mikit af nótt, much of the night was past, Háv. 41; mikið af vetri, much of the winter was past, Fas. ii. 186; þriðjungr af nótt, a third of the night past, Fms. x. 160; stund af degi, etc.; tveir mánoðr af sumri, Gþl. 103.

3. in adverbial phrases such as, af stundu, soon; af bragði, at once; af tómi, at leisure, at ease; af nýju, again; af skyndingu, speedily; af bráðungu, in a hurry, etc.

C. In various other relations:

I. denoting the passage or transition of an object, concrete or abstract, of, from.

1. where a thing is received, derived from, conferred by a person or object; þiggja lið af e-m, to derive help from, Edda 26; taka traust af e-m, to receive support, comfort from, Fms. xi. 243; taka mála af e-m, to be in one’s pay, of a soldier, Eg. 266; halda land af e-m, to hold land of any one, 282; verða viss af e-m, to get information from, 57, Nj. 130; taka við sök af manni (a law term), to undertake a case, suit, Grág. i. 142; hafa umboð af e-m, to be another’s deputy, ii. 374; vera góðs (ills) maklegr af e-m, to deserve good (bad) of, Vd. 88 (old Ed., the new reads frá), Fs. 45; afla matar af eyjum, to derive supplies from, Eb. 12.

2. where an object is taken by force:

α. prop. out of a person’s hand; þú skalt hnykkja smíðit af honum, wrest it out of his hand, Nj. 32; cp. taka, þrífa, svipta e-u (e-t) af e-m, to wrest from.

β. metaph. of a person’s deprival of anything in general; hann tók af þér konuna, carried thy wife off, Nj. 33; tók Gunnarr af þér sáðland þitt, robbed thee of seedland, 103; taka af honum tignina, to depose, degrade him, Eg. 271; vinna e-t af e-m, to carry off by force of arms, conquer, Fms. iii. 29; drepa menn af e-m, for one, slay one’s man, Eg. 417; fell þar lið mart af Eyvindi, many of Eyvind’s people fell there, 261.

γ. in such phrases as, hyggja af e-u (v. afhuga), hugsa af e-u, to forget; hyggja af harmi; sjá af e-u, to lose, miss; var svá ástúðigt með þeim, at livargi þóttist mega af öðrum sjá, neither of them could take his eyes off the other, Sturl. i. 194; svá er mörg við ver sinn vær, at varla um sér hon af hoiuun nær, Skálda 163.

3. denoting forfeiture; þá eru þeir útlagir, ok af goðorði sínu, have forfeited their priesthood, Grág. i. 24; telja hann af ráðunum fjár síns alls, to oust one, on account of idiocy or madness, 176; verða af kaupi, to be off the bargain, Edda 26; þá skalt þú af allri fjárheimtunni, forfeit all the claim, Nj. 15; ek skal stefna þér af konunni, summon thee to forfeit, a case of divorce, id.; ella er hann af rettarfari um hana, has forfeited the suit, Grág. i. 381.

β. ellipt., af ferr eindagi ef, is forfeited, Grág. i. 140.

II. denoting relation of a part to a whole, off, of, Lat. de; höggva hönd, höfuð, fót af e-um, to cut one’s hand, head, foot off, Nj. 97, 92, Bs. i. 674; höggva spjót af skapti, to sever the blade from the shaft, 264; hann lét þá ekki hafa af föðurarfi sínum, nothing of their patrimony, Eg. 25; vil ek at þú takir slíkt sem þér líkar af varningi, take what you like of the stores, Nj. 4; at þú eignist slíkt af fé okkru sem þú vili, 94.

β. ellipt., en nú höfum vér kjörit, en þat er af krossinum, a slice of, Fms. vii. 89; Þórðr gaf Skólm frænda sínum af landnámi sínu, a part of, Landn. 211; hafði hann þat af hans eigu er hann vildi, Sturl. ii. 169; þar lá forkr einn ok brotið af endanum, the point broken off, Háv. 24, Sturl. i. 169.

γ. absol. off; beit hann höndina af, þar sem nú heitir úlfliðr, bit the hand off, Edda 17; fauk af höfuðit, the head flew off, Nj. 97; jafnt er sem þér synist, af er fótrinn, the foot is off, id.; af bæði eyru, both ears off, Vm. 29.

2. with the notion of—among; mestr skörungr af konum á Norðrlöndum, the greatest heroine in the North, Fms. i. 116; hinn efniligasti maðr af ungum mönnum í Austfjörðum, the most hopeful of youths in the Eastfirths, Njarð. 364; af ( among) öllurn hirðmönnuni virði konungr mest skáld sín, Eg. 27; ef hann vildi nokkura kaupa af þessum konum, Ld. 30; ör liggr þar útiá vegginum, ok er sú af þeirra örum, one of their own arrows, Nj. 115.

β. from, among, belonging to; guð kaus hana af ollum konum sér til móður, of the Virgin Mary, Mar. A. i. 27.

γ. metaph., kunna mikit (lítið) af e-u, to know much, little of, Bragi kann mest af skáldskap, is more cunning of poetry than any one else, Edda 17.

δ. absol. out of, before, in preference to all others; Gunnarr bauð þér góð boð, en þú vildir eingi af taka, you would choose none of them, Nj. 77; ráða e-t af, to decide; þó mun faðir minn mestu af ráða, all depends upon him, Ld. 22; konungr kveðst því mundu heldr af trúa, preferred believing that of the two, Eg. 55; var honum ekki vildara af ván, he could expect nothing better, 364.

3. with the additional sense of instrumentality, with; ferma skip af e-u, to freight a ship with, Eg. 364; hlaða mörg skip af korni, load many ships with corn, Fms. xi. 8; klyfja tvá hesta af mat, Nj. 74; var vágrinn skipaðr af herskipum, the bay was covered with war ships, 124; fylla ker af glóðum, fill it with embers, Stj. 319; fylla heiminn af sínu kyni, to fill the world with his offspring, Ver. 3.

III. denoting the substance of which a thing is made, of; used indifferently with ór, though ór be more frequent; þeir gerðu af honum jörðina, af blóði hans sæinn ok vötnin, of the creation of the world from the corpse of the giant Ymir; the poem Gm. 40, 41, constantly uses ór in this sense, just as in modern Icelandic, Edda 5; svá skildu þeir, at allir hlutir væri smíðaðir af nokkru efni, 147 (pref.); húsit var gert af timbrstokkum, built of trunks of timber, Eg. 233; hjöhin vóru af gulli, of gold, golden, Fms. i. 17; af osti, of cheese, but in the verse 1. c. ór osti, Fms. vi. 253; línklæði af lérepti, linen, Sks. 287.

2. metaph. in the phrases, göra e-t af e-n ( to dispose of), verða af ( become of), hvat hefir þú gört af Gunnari, what hast thou done with Gunnar? Njarð. 376; hvat af motrinuni er orðit, what has become of it? of a lost thing, Ld. 208; hverfr Óspakr á burt, svá eigi vita menn hvat af honum er orðit, what has become of him? Band. 5.

IV. denoting parentage, descent, origin, domicile, abode:

1. parentage, of, from, used indifferently with frá; ok eru af þeim komnir Gilsbekkingar, descend from them, but a little below—frá honum eru konmir Sturlungar, Eb. 338, cp. afkvæmi; af ætt Hörðakára, Fms. i. 287; kominn af Trojumönnum, xi. 416; af Ása-ætt (Kb. wrongly at), Edda I.

β. metaph., vera af Guði (theol.), of God, = righteous, 686 B. 9; illr ávöxtr af íllri rót, Fms. ii. 48; Asia er kölluð af nafni nokkurar konu, derives her name from, Stj. 67; af honum er bragr kallaðr skáldskapr, called after his name, Edda 17.

2. of domicile; af danskri tungu, of Danish or Scandinavian origin, speaking the Danish tongue, Grág. ii. 73; hvaðan af löndum, whence, native of what country? Ísl.

β. especially denoting a man’s abode, and answering to á and í, the name of the farm (or country) being added to proper names, (as in Scotland,) to distinguish persons of the same name; Hallr af Síðu, Nj. 189; Erlingr af Straumey, 273; Ástríðr af Djúpárbakka, 39; Gunnarr af Hlíðarenda (more usual frá); þorir haklangr konungr af Ögðum, king of Agdir, Eg. 35, etc.; cp. ór and frá.

V. denoting a person with whom an act, feeling, etc. originates, for the most part with a periphrastic passive:

1. by, the Old Engl. of; as, ek em sendr hingað af Starkaði ok sonum hans, sent hither by, Nj. 94; inna e-t af hendi, to perform, 257; þó at alþýða væri skírð af kennimönnum, baptized of, Fms. ii. 158; meira virðr af mönnum, higher esteemed, Ld. 158; ástsæll af landsmönnum, beloved, íb. 16; vinsæll af mönnum, Nj. 102; í allgóðu yfirlæti af þeim feðgum, hospitably treated by them, Eg. 170; var þá nokkut drukkið af alþjóð, there was somewhat hard drinking of the people, Sturl. iii. 229; mun þat ekki upp tekið af þeim sükudólgum mínum, they will not clutch at that, Nj. 257; ef svá væri í hendr þér búit af mér, if í had so made everything ready to thy hands, Ld. 130; þá varð fárætt um af föður hans, his father said little about it, Fms. ii. 154.

2. it is now also sometimes used as a periphrase of a nom., e. g. ritað, þýtt af e-m, written, translated, edited by, but such phrases scarcely occur in old writers.

VI. denoting cause, ground, reason:

1. originating from, on account of, by reason of; af frændsemis sökum, for kinship’s sake, Grág. ii. 72; ómáli af áverkum, speechless from wounds, 27; af manna völdum, by violence, not by natural accident, of a crime, Nj. 76; af fortölum Halls, through his pleading, 255; af ástsæld hans ok af tölum þeirra Sæmundar, by his popularity and the eloquence of S., Íb. 16; af ráðum Haralds konungs, by his contriving, Landn. 157; úbygðr af frosti ok kulda, because of frost and cold, Hkr. i. 5.

β. adverbially, af því, therefore, Nj. 78; af hví, why? 686 B. 9; þá verðr bóndi heiðinn af barni sínu, viz. if he does not cause his child to be christened, K. Þ. K. 20.

2. denoting instrumentality, by means of; af sinu fé, by one’s own means, Grág. i. 293; framfæra e-n af verkum sinum, by means of one’s own labour, K. Þ. K. 142; draga saman auð af sökum, ok vælum ok kaupum, make money by, 623. I; af sínum kostnaði, at hi s own expense, Hkr. i. 217.

β. absol., hún fellir á mik dropa svá heita at ek brenn af öll, Ld. 328; hann fékk af hina mestu sæmd, derived great honotur from it, Nj. 88; elli sótti á hendr honum svá at hann lagðist í rekkju af, he grew bedridden from age, Ld. 54; komast undan af hlaupi, escape by running, Fms. viii. 58; spinna garn af rokki, spin off a wheel (now, spinna á rokk), from a notion of instrumentality, or because of the thread being spun out (?), Eb. 92.

3. denoting proceeding, originating from; lýsti af höndum hennar, her hands spread beams of light, Edda 22; allir heimar lýstust ( were illuminated) af henni, id.; en er lýsti af degi, when the day broke forth, Fms. ii. 16; lítt var lýst af degi, the day was just beginning to break, Ld. 46; þá tók at myrkja af nótt, the ‘mirk-time’ of night began to set in, Eg. 230; tók þá brátt at myrkva af nótt, the night grew dark, Hkr. ii. 230.

4. metaph., standa, leiða, hljótast af, to be caused by, result from; opt hlýtst íllt af kvenna hjali, great mischief is wrought by women’s gossip (a proverb), Gísl. 15, 98; at af þeim mundi mikit mein ok úhapp standa, be caused by, Edda 18; kenna kulda af ráðum e-s, to feel sore from, Eb. 42; þó mun her hljótast af margs manns bani, Nj, 90.

5. in adverbial phrases, denoting state of mind; af mikilli æði, in fury, Nj. 116; af móð, in great emotion, Fms. xi. 221; af áhyggju, with concern, i. 186; af létta, frankly, iii. 91; af viti, collectedly, Grág. ii. 27; af heilu, sincerely, Eg. 46; áf fári, in rage; af æðru, timidly, Nj. (in a verse); af setning, composedly, in tune, Fms. iii. 187; af mikilli frægð, gallantly, Fas. i. 261; af öllu afli, with all might, Grág. ii. 41; af riki, violently, Fbr. (in a verse); af trúnaði, confidently, Grág. i. 400.

VII. denoting regard to, of, concerning, in respect of, as regards:

1. with verbs, denoting to tell of, be informed, inquire about, Lat. de; Dioscorides segir af grasi því, speaks of, 655 xxx. 5; er menn spurðu af landinu, inquired about it, Landn. 30; halda njósn af e-u, Nj. 104; er þat skjótast þar af at segja, Eg. 546, Band. 8.

β. absol., hann mun spyrja, hvárt þér sé nokkut af kunnigt hversu for með okkr, whether you know anything about, how, Nj. 33; halda skóla af, to hold a school in a science, 656 A. i. 19 (sounds like a Latinism); en ek gerða þik sera mestan mann af öllu, in respect of all, that you should get all the honour of it, Nj. 78.

2. with adjectives such as mildr, illr, góðrafe-u, denoting disposition or character in respect to; alira manna mildastr af fo, very liberal, often-banded, Fms. vii. 197; mildr af gulli, i. 33; góðr af griðum, merciful, Al. 33; íllr af mat en mildr af gulli, Fms. i. 53; fastr af drykk, close, stingy in regard to, Sturl. ii. 125; gat þess Hildigunnr at þú mundir góðr af hestinum, that you would be good about the horse, Nj. 90, cp. auðigr at, v. at, which corresponds to the above phrases; cp. also the phrase af sér above, p. 4, col. I, ll. 50 sqq.

VIII. periphrasis of a genitive (rare); provincialis af öllum Predikaraklaustrum, Fms. x. 76; vera af hinum mesta fjandskap, to breathe deep hatred to, be on bad terms with, ix. 220; af hendi, af hálfu e-s, on one’s behalf, v. those words.

IX. in adverbial phrases; as, af launungu, secretly; af hljóði, silently; v. those words.

β. also used absolutely with a verb, almost adverbially, nearly in the signification off, away; hann bað þá róa af fjörðinn, pass the firth swiftly by rowing, row the firth off, Fms. ix. 502; var pá af farit þat seni skerjóttast var, was past, sailed past, Ld. 142; ok er þeir höfðu af fjórðung, past one fourth of the way, Dropl. 10: skína af, to clear up, of the skv, Eb. 152; hence in common language, skína af sér, when the sun breaks forth: sofa af nóttina, to sleep it away, Fms. ii. 98; leið af nóttin, the night past away, Nj. 53; dvelja af stundir, to kill the time, Band. 8; drepa af, to kill; láta af, to slaughter, kill off;

γ. in exclamations; af tjöldin, off with the awnings, Bs. i. 420, Fins, ix. 49.

δ. in the phrases, þar af, thence; hér af, hence, Fms. ii. 102; af fram, straight on, Nj. 144; now, á fram, on, advance.

X. it often refers to a whole sentence or to an adverb, not only like other prepp. to hér, hvar, þar, but also redundantly to hvaðan, héðan, þaðan, whence, hence, thence.

2. the preposition may sometimes be repeated, once elliptically or adverbially, and once properly, e. g. en er af var borit at borðinu, the cloth was taken off from the table, Nj. 176; Guð þerrir af (off, away) hvert tár af ( from) augum heilagra manna, God wipes off every tear from the eyes of his saints, 655 xx. vii. 17; skal þó fyrst bætr af lúka af fé vegaiula, pay off, from, Gþl. 160, the last af may be omitted—var þá af borið borðinu—and the prep. thus be separated from its case, or it may refer to some of the indecl. relatives er or sem, the prep. hvar, hér, þar being placed behind them without a case, and referring to the preceding relative, e. g. oss er þar mikit af sagt auð þeim, we have been told much about these riches, Band. 24; er þat skjótast þar af at segja, in short, shortly. Eg. 546; þaðan af veit ek, thence í infer, know, Fms. i. 97.

XI. it is moreover connected with a great many verbs besides those mentioned above, e. g. bera af, to excel, whence afbragð, afbrigði; draga af, to detract, deduct, hence afdráttr; veita ekki af, to be hard with; ganga at, to be left, hence afgangr; standast af um e-t, to stand, how matters stand; sem af tekr, at a furious rate; vita af, to be conscious, know about (vide VII).

D. As a prefix to compounds distinction is to be made between:

I. af privativum, denoting diminution, want, deduction, loss, separation, negation of, etc., answering indifferently to Lat. ab-, de-, ex-, dis-, and rarely to re- and se-, v. the following COMPDS, such as segja, dicere, but afsegja, negare; rækja, colere, but afrækja, negligere; aflaga, contra legem; skapligr, normalis, afskapligr, deformis; afvik, recessus; afhús, afhellir, afdalr, etc.

II. af intensivum, etymologically different, and akin to of, afr-, e. g. afdrykkja = ofdrykkja, inebrietas; afbrýði, jealously; afbendi, tenesmus; afglapi, vir fatuus, etc. etc. Both the privative and the intensive af may be contracted into á, esp. before a labial f, m, v, e. g. á fram = af fram; ábrýði = afbrýði; ávöxtr = afvöxtr; áburðr = afburðr; ávíta = afvíta (?). In some cases dubious. With extenuated and changed vowel; auvirðiligr or övirðiligr, depreciated, = afv- etc., v. those words.

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prep. with gen.

1) to (ríða til skips, koma t. Noregs); leiða, stefna t. e-s, to lead, tend towards;

2) of; tala vel, illa t e-s, to speak well, ill of one; vita t. e-s, to know of, be conscious of; spyrja t. e-s, to hear tidings of; segja t. e-s, to tell of; ljúga t. e-s, to tell a falsehood about;

3) on; t. annarrar handar, on the other hand or side; t. vinstri, hœgri handar, on the left, right hand;

4) denoting reason, purpose, respect (svelta sik t. fjár; berjast t. ríkis; blóta t. árs; sverð ørugt t. vápns); liggja t. byrjar, to wait for a favourable wind; hross t. reiðar, a horse for riding;

5) e-m verðr gott, illt t. e-s, one is well or ill off for a thing, has much or little of it; þeim varð gott t. manna, they got together many men; land illt t. hafna, a land ill off for havens; henni féll þungt t. fjár, she was pressed for money;

6) with verbs, gera e-t t. skaps e-m, to do a thing to please one; jafna e-u t. e-s, to compare it with; gera vel, illa t. e-s, to treat one well, badly;

7) of time; t. elli, to old age; t. dauðadags, till one’s death day; liðr á sumarit t. átta vikna, the summer passed till eight weeks were left; t. þess er, þar t. er, until; allt t., all the time till;

8) ellipt. and adverbial usages; vera t., to exist; fala hey ok mat, ef t. væri, if there were any left; hvárttveggja er t., there is a stock of both; eiga t., hafa t., to possess; þat áð, sem helzt var t., ready to hand; vera t. neyddr, to be forced; skilja t., to reserve; verða fyrstr t., to be the first to do a thing;

9) too (t. ungr, t. gamall, eigi t. víðlendr); eigi t. mikit, not too much, not very much; æva t. snotr, not too wise; helzt t. (helzti), mikils t. (mikilsti), by far too much.

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prep. with gen. As to this particle, the two branches of the Teutonic family vary: all the South Teut., including the Goth., present the form without the final l; Goth. du (qs. tu) = πρός, εἰς; A. S., Hel., Old Fris. te, to; North. E. te; Engl. to; Dutch te, toe; O. H. G. zi, za, zuo; Germ. zu; Old Frank. to, te, ti; while the Northerners add the l, as Dan., Swed., North. E. and Scot. til; the Swedes double the l, till. That til is the truer form is seen from rhymes, til vilja, Vígl.: on the other hand, mod. provinc. Norse and Swedish drop the l, thus te, Ivar Aasen, Rietz. The Engl. uses both forms, to, of place, till, of time, of which the latter is no doubt borrowed from the Norse or Danish: til = to is quite common still in Cumberland and other North. E. counties, ‘to gang til Carlisle,’ etc.; a single instance of the form til is said to exist in an old Northumbrian vellum. Both forms, to and til, are, we believe, identical, the latter being a compound particle, ti-l, although the origin of the l has not as vet been made out. The uncompounded particle ti- is not entirely unknown in the Scandinavian, for it has been preserved in the compds mikils-ti, hölz-ti, unz-t, qq. v. ☞ Particles, even brief monosyllabic ones, often turn out to be compds, as e. g. ok(conj.), or the suffixed verbal negative; the prep. ‘til’ therefore is no more akin to the Germ. noun ziel than is ‘ok’ ( and) to ok ( a yoke); the apparent similarity in sense is in both cases merely accidental.

A. To, with gen., also used elliptically or as an adverb; bjóða e-m til sín, Eg. 140; til kirkju, Nj. 209; koma til boðs, 50; ganga til búðar, Grág. i. 31; ríða til skips, Ísl. ii. 192; leiða til skips, Ld. 74; til Íslands, Nj. 10; ríða til Norðrárdals, ok svá til Hrúta-fjarðar ok til Laxárdals, 32; koma til Noregs, 121; hann fór til Ólafs á Dröngum, til Gests í Haga, Landn. 154; sækja giptu til e-s, Fms. v. 154: adding direction, austr, vestr, suðr … út, inn, upp, fram, norðr til Þrandheims, austr til Danmerkr, vestr til England:, suðr til Björgynjar, etc., passim; út til, inn til, Landn. 140; heim til, Fms. xi. 382; upp til borgar; neðan til knjá, Nj. 209.

2. with verbs, to, towards; leiða, stefna … til, to lead, tend towards, Eg. 230, Nj. 4, 102; tala vel, ílla til e-s, to speak well or ill ‘towards,’ i. e. of; vita til e-s, to know of, be conscious of, Fms. i. 142, x. 377; íllorðr til e-s, Nj. 142; minna til e-s, to remember; minnask til e-s, to kiss, 282; drekka til e-s, to ‘drink towards’ (vulg. Engl.), i. e. drink to one, Eg. 552 (also ellipt. drekka e-m til); vísa til e-s (til-vísan), Landn. 192, Nj. 209; taka til e-s, 196, Fms. i. 151: with verbs denoting to look, see, hear, turn, sjá, gæta, hlýða, heyra, hugsa … til e-s, to look, listen, think, speak … to one, Eg. 380, Nj. 2, 10, 87, 91; þeir sá eyjar í haf til útsuðrs, Landn. 35; hann sá opt ljós til leiðis konungsins, Fms. xi. 286; þeir sá eld til Úlfars-fells, Eb. 156; heyra gný ok glam til hersins, Fms. vi. 156, viii. 125; til norðr-ættar, xi. 230; sá menn elda brenna til hafs, x. 157; vissi til lands, Eg. 389; þann veg er veit til Hlaða, Fms. x. 265; horfa aptr til hala; í þeim hlut húss er til vetfangs horfir, Grág. ii. 125; spyrja til e-s, to speer after, hear tidings of one, þetta spyrsk til skipa, Fas. i. 241, Nj. 7; spyrja gott til e-s, Hkr. i. 140: segja til e-s, to tell of(see segja), Nj. 46, Ld. 40, Hrafn. 5; ljúga til e-s, to tell a falsehood of, Finnb. 318.

3. til annarrar handar, on the other hand or side, Nj. 50, 97; til vinstri, hægri handar, til beggja handa, Hkr. i. 158, Eg. 65.

II. denoting business, reason, purpose, capacity, respect; leggjask til svefns, ÓH.; ganga til svefns, Eb. 156; halda barni til skirnar, K. Á. 146; ríða til dagverðar, Nj. 219; fara til vistar, 40; dómar fara út til sóknar, Eg. 725; falda sér til vélar við konu, Grág. i. 338; skipa mönnum til umráða, i. 5; svelta sik til fjár, Nj. 18; drepa e-n til fjár, göra e-t til fjár, Ld. 264; gefin ( married) til fjár, 26, Nj. 257; skora á e-n til landa, Landn. 80; Eg. 498; sækja til trausts, Ld. 26; sækja til landa, Nj. 103; sækja til faðernis, Grág. i. 140; leggja fé til höfuðs e-m, taka fé til höfuðs e-m, Ld. 50, Eg. 375; berjask til ríkis, Fms. vii. 283; blóta til árs, Hkr. i. 13; sverð öruggt til vápns, Ld. 244; hafa eðli til e-s, Skálda 171; selja e-t til silfrs, to convert it into silver, Landn. 293 (Hb.); ætla e-n til dráps, Nj. 163; hlaðinn til hafs, ready for use, Fms. x. 157; liggja til byrjar, i. 135, Eg. 183; taka til konungs, Fms. i. 21; taka til lögsögu-manns, Nj. 164; kjósa til veganda, 100; vinna til e-s (see vinna); gefa til bóta, 101; göra til saka, 80; taka til ráða, 75; hvat er til ráðs, 76; þat er til jartegna, Eg. 768; til merkja (til marks), 766; til gagns, til lítils, Nj. 52; til meins, 106; til sæmdar, 79; til tíðenda, Eg. 201; til næringar, til viðrværis, til fæðu, til matar, Stj. 87, Fms. i. 126, Eg. 221; hross til reiðar, Hrafn. 7; til skjóls, Grett. 169; til sóma, til eptirlætis, Nj. 89; til spotts, Korm. 232; til gamans, til hvárs, for what purpose; as also, til einskis, til góðs, til ílls, til nokkurs.

2. kaupa til tuttugu hundraða, to the amount of, Landn. 145; til fulls eyris, Grág.; fé til tveggja aura gulls, Fms. vii. 218; til fulls, fully; til jafns við, Nj. 46; til hálfs, Eg. 379; til loks, finally, to the end (see lok); vaxa meirr en til dæma, beyond example, unexampled, Stj. 87; draga til dæmis, to produce for the sake of example, Mar.; hence, til dæmis (as adverb), for instance (written abbreviated in mod. books, t.d. = e. g.)

3. e-m verðr gott, íllt til e-s, to be well or ill off for a thing, have little of it; þeim varð gott til manna, Nj. 20; land íllt til hafna, a land ill off for havens, Eg. 332; þar var íllt til vað-mála, short of, Bárð. 5 new Ed.; henni féll þungt til fjár, Nj. 31; góðr til ( open-handed as to) fjár ok metnaðar, Eg. 17; færr til e-s, able to do a thing, Nj. 97, Fms. ix. 530; vænn til framkvæmdar, 480; líkligr til e-s, likely to, Nj. 132; hafa verðleika til e-s, to deserve of, Eg. 226.

4. with verbs; göra e-t til skaps e-m, Nj. 198; göra til skaps vina minna, 80; jafna e-u til e-s, to compare it with, Ld. 60; vera til eptirmáls, Nj. 166; göra vel, ílla til e-s, Eg. 542, Ld. 62; vinna til e-s, 50, Ísl. ii. 253, Nj. 101, Eg. 519; hlutask til e-s, Nj. 101; beina til, búa til, afla til, efna til, fá til, göra til, hjálpa til, inna til, leggja til, reyna til, ráða til, segja til, skipa til, stilla til, stoða til, stofna til, taka til, vinna til, vísa til, vána til, e-s, all verbs of providing, doing, helping, disposing, and the like; as also kalla til.

5. vera til vers, to be fishing, Korm. 142, rare, but cp. the Dan. phrase, til sös = at sea.

III. temp., til miðs aptans, Hrafn. 7; til elli, Ld. 12; til dauða-dags, Nj. 109; allt til dauða-dags, Fms. i. 17, etc.

2. til skamrar stundar, i. e. till within a short time, a short time ago, Hom. 107; líðr á sumarit til átta vikna, the summer passed till eight weeks (were left), Nj. 93; vika til þings, a week to (i. e. before) the season of the þing, Grág.; þrír dagar til sumars, Edda 26; tíu vikur til vetrar, Ld. 106; stund til hádegis, stund til miðs morguns, dagmála, in measuring time, used in Icel. exactly as in Engl., ten minutes to eight, a quarter to eleven, (but mod. Dan. follows the Germ. mode of reckoning, for there ‘ti minutter til tolv’, ten minutes towards twelve, is = Engl. ‘ten minutes past eleven’); til þess, until, Nj. 153; allt til, all the time till, 272, Hrafn. 7; þar til er, until, Nj. 4.

IV. ellipt. and adverbial usages; vera til, to be ‘toward’ to exist; eiga til, hafa til, to possess; fala hey ok mat ef til væri … hvárt-tveggja er til, Nj. 73; ef þú kemr eigi til, if thou comest not to hand, 4; ef nökkut var til, Eg. 267; þat ráð sem helzt var til, ready on hand, 42; munu eigi tveir til, Nj. 261; kómu þeir þangat til, 80; ætla svá til, 86; vera til neyddr, to be forced, 98; þat er þú þarft til at taka, 105; gefa fé til, 75; væri mikit gefanda til, at, 98; telr hann þat til, at …, Fms. xi. 137; skilja til, to reserve, Nj. 54; spara til, 3, Hkr. i. 196; mæla til, 99; tala til, 216; eiga ætt til, Edda 7; hafa aldr til, Eg. 190; skorta til, Nj. 73; íllt þótti mér til móti at mæla, Fms. xi. 242; verða fyrstr til, to be the first to do a thing, v. 103; sem lög stóðu til, Ld. 32; hljótask af mér til, Nj. 113; sækja mál til laga, 86.

2. of direction; sunnan til, Sks. 216; norðan til, e. g. sunnan til við ána, on the south side of the river, Sks. 216.

B. Too, Lat. nimis; eigi til víðlendr, Fms. vi. 94; eigi til görla, 205; til ungr, til gamall, Grág. i. 192; verða til seinn, Bær. 15; honum þótti sinn hluti til lágr, Lv. 97; engi hefir til djarfligar risit, Mar.; helz til, mikils til, by far too much, as in mod. usage; but the ancients said hölzti (helzti) and mikilsti, thus mikilsti ( too much), Hm. 66, Bs. i. 775; hölzti, Nj. 191, Ld. 188, 216, Al. 37, 41, Fms. viii. 91, 133, Hkr. iii. 376; helzti, Eb. 154, etc., see heldr, B. III; unzt, see that word.

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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.

1) board, plank;

2) the side of a ship (hlóðu skipin sem borð báru);

borð á stjórn = stjórnborði;

hlaupa (steypast, detta) fyrir borð, overboard;

mikill borði, prop. = borðhár, borðmikill, of a ship floating high out of the sea, fig., proud of mind (= skapstórr);

bera e-n (hlut e-s, mál e-s) fyrir borð, to neglect, slight one;

verða (allr) fyrir borð borinn, verða allr fyrir borði, to be (quite) thrown overboard, i. e. slighted;

ganga at borði við e-n, to submit, yield to, to come to terms with one;

e-n brestr á borði, one fails, is beaten;

á annat borð, on the other hand; otherwise, else;

þykkir vera harðr á annat borð, a hard one to pull against;

3) the inner margin of a vessel between the rim and the liquid (er nú gott berandi borð á horninu);

4) board, table (used for meals);

fara, ganga, koma til borðs or undir borð, to go, come to table;

setjast yfir borð, undir borð, to sit down at table;

sitja yfir borð or borðum, to sit at table;

rísa (standa upp) frá borði, to rise from table;

ryðja borð, to clear the table;

þjóna fyrir borðum, to wait at table;

setja e-m borð, to set a table before one;

borð eru uppi or upp tekin, the tables are set up; but ‘borð eru upp tekin’ may also mean the tables are removed, = borð eru ofan;

5) board, food, maintenance at table (veita, halda e-m borð);

6) chessboard;

bjóða e-m undir borð, to invite one to play at chess.

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n. [Ulf. baurd, in fotubaurd = υποπόδιον; Hel. bord = margo; A. S. borð; Engl. board].

1. a board, plank, Lat. tabula; tók hann þá borð ok lausa viðu, ok rak um þvera stofuna, Grett. 140, N. G. L. i. 100.

β. of a ship, the side (cp. starboard, larboard); höggr hann þá tveim höndum borð ( sides) skútunnar, ok gengu í sundr borðin ( the planks) um tvau rúm, Nj. 19; þeir Erlingr hjuggu raufar í drómundinum, sumar í kafi niðri, en sumar uppi á borðunum, Fms. vii. 232, Nj. 42; hence the nautical phrases, á borð, on each side; á tvau borð, á bæði borð, on both sides, Eg. 171; með endilöngum borðum, Fms. ii. 273, Eg. 122; leggja borð við borð = síbyrða, to lay a ship alongside of another, so as to board, Fas. ii. 534; bera skip borði, to make the bulwarks rise, Fms. ii. 218; fyrir borð, overboard, Eg. 124, Fms. xi. 140; á borði, on land, Jb. 327; borð 4 stjórn = stjórn-borði, the starboard side, Gþl. 518. The planks in a ship’s side have different names, e. g. aur-borð, skaut-borð, sól-borð.

2. metaph. phrases, at vera mikill (lítill, nokkur) borði, to be of a high (or lowly) bearing, metaphor from a ship floating high out of, or deep in, the sea, Eg. 8, Sturl. iii. 196: verða (allr) fyrir borð borinn, to be (quite) thrown overboard, i. e. ill-used, Eb. 126, Fær. 234; verða allr fyrir borði, id., Ölk. 35; hans hlutr mundi eigi fyrir borð vera borinn, id., Rd. 239; e-n brestr á borði, to fail, be beaten (metaphor from rowing), Fms. ix. 507; taka skamt frá borði, to fall short, Lv. 45; ganga at borði við e-n, to come to terms, yield, submit, Bs. i. 889; gékk Egill tregt at borð um þetta mál, E. was hard, unyielding, 696; hverigum skyldi úhætt, nema þeir gengi at borði við hann, unless they came to terms with him, 727, 778; á annað borð, on the other hand; harðr maðr á annat borð, a hard one to pull against, Fms. xi. 39: but also on the other hand, otherwise, else; hann vildi með engu móti kalla á Þormóð sér til bjargar, þó at hann félli ofan á annað borð, though he was sure to tumble down otherwise (i. e. unless he called), Fbr. 88; hence freq. in mod. usage, e. g. ef eg á annað borð göri það, i. e. if I do it at all: navig., ganga til borðs, á borð, to go to one’s business, Fagrsk. 167, Bárð. 166.

3. [A. S. bord = labrum], the margin between the rim of a vessel and the liquid; er nú gott berandi borð á horninu, Edda 32; hence, fjöru-borð, the shore between high and low water, vide 33, 34; cp. the saying, fullt skal frömum bera, þó skal borð á vera, i. e. it is clownish to bring a cup full to the brim, and, fullt skal föntum bera og ekkert borð á vera.

II. a board, table, Lat. mensa; rísa frá borði, to rise from the board, from table, Rm. 17, or simply and ellipt. rísa, 30; borð is freq. used in pl., as in the old halls small tables were set at meal time, and removed after the meal; hence phrases, borð (pl.) ofan (upp) tekin, the tables being removed, cp. Virgil’s mensisque remotis, Nj. 176, Fms. i. 41, iv. 265, v. 126, Bs. i. 854, Eg. 408; til þess er borð fóru brott, 551; setjast undir borð (pl.), to sit down; sitja undir borðum, to be at table, Nj. 68, Eb. 306; ganga undir drykkju borð, Fms. iii. 93; koma undir borð (acc. pl.), 96; ganga til borða, iv. 114, 129; koma til borðs (sing.), 202, cp. Ó. H. 86, Fms. iv. 246; sitja yfir borðum, iii. 155, iv. 113; sitja yfir matborði, v. 126, viii. 212; sitja yfir borð (acc. pl.), id., Bs. i. 843: the rhyming phrase, vera þar at orði, sem hann er ekki at borði, vide Safn i. 91. It was the custom for kings or princes to give audience or receive poets whilst sitting at table, Fms. vi. 195, Eg. ch. 63.

β. maintenance at table (cp. Engl. board and lodging); vera á borði með e-m, B. K. 124, D. N. (Fr.): of a chess-board, Bs. i. 635.

COMPDS: borðamunr, borðavíti, borðstilgangr.

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1) but;

en heima mun ek sitja, but I will stay at home;

2) as a copulative, and, = ok;

ek kann ráðum, Gunnhildar, en kappsemd Egils, I know the devices of G. and (on the other hand) Egil’s eagerness;

3) = ‘an’, than (óbrigðra vin fær maðr aldregi en mannvit mikit).

in Norse MSS. = ef, er (rel. pron. and temp. conj.);

1) if;

sælar væri sálurnar, en þær vissi, if they knew;

2) as a rel. pron., = er;

mína dóttur, en (= er) allra meyja er fegrst, who is the fairest of all maidens;

3) when, = er, þá er ( þeir vóru í hjá, en upp var lesit).

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disjunctive conj.; in MSS. spelt either en or enn, [a particle peculiar to the Scandin.; in Danish men; in Swedish both men, än, and endast; Norse enn and also men, Ivar Aasen]:—but; en ef hann hefir, þá …, but if he has, then …, Grág. i. 261; en ef menn gefa þeim mat, id.; en heima mun ek sitja, but I will stay at home, Fms. vi. 100; en fjöldi féll, but a great many fell, Fas. ii. 514; eyrum hlýðir en augum skoðar, Hm. 7; en ekki eigu annarra manna orð, Grág. i. 84, 99, 171; en Skíðblaðnir skipa, en jóa Sleipnir, en hunda garmr, Gm. 44; en ór sveita sjár, en ór beinum björg, Vþm. 21; and passim. It is even used with a slight conjunctive sense; þykki mér sem því muni úhægt saman at koma, kappi þínu ok dirfð ‘en’ skaplyndi konungs, methinks it will be hard to make the two things go together, thy vehemence and rashness ‘and’ (on the other hand) the temper of the king, Eg. 521; ek kann ráðum Gunnhildar ‘en’ kappsemd Egils, I know the devices of Gunnhilda ‘and’ (on the other hand) Egil’s eagerness, 257: used in narratives to begin a sentence, merely denoting the progress of the tale, much the same as ‘and,’ cp. the use of auk III, p. 33; thus in Ýt. some verses begin with ‘en,’—En dagskjarr …, 2, 3, 14, 23; En Gunnlaugr grimman tamði, Hlt.; En Hróalds á höfuðbaðmi, Ad. 19, without any disjunctive notion.

temporal adv., better spelt enn, [prob. akin to endr and eðr, q. v.]:—yet, still; þú hefir enn eigi ( not yet) heyrða kenning Drottins, Mar. 656 A. ii. 14; vildi hann enn svá, Fms. i. II; at hann mundi enn svá göra, vi. 100; þá ríkir hann enn fyrir mik, Al. 29; til betri tíma en ( than) enn ( still) er kominn, Sks. 596 B.

2. before a comparative; enn síðarr, still later, N. G. L. i. 94; enn betr, still better; enn fyrr, still later; enn verri, still worse; enn æðri, still worthier; enn hærri, still higher; enn firr, still further off; enn nær, still nearer; enn heldr, still more, Sks. 304: separated from the comparative, enn vóru fleiri dætr Haralds, the daughters of H. were still more, i. e. H. had more daughters yet, Fms. i. 5.

β. curious is the use of en (usually spelt in or inn) in old poems, viz. before a comparative, where in prose the ‘en’ can be left out without impairing the sense; thus, hélt-a in lengr rúmi, be kept not his place longer, i. e. ran away, Am. 58; ráð en lengr dvelja, to delay no longer, 61; menn in sælli, a happier man, Skv. 3. 18; né in mætri mægð, worthier affinity, id.; mann in harðara = harðara mann, a hardier man, Hbl. 14; nema þú in snotrari sér, unless thou art wiser, Vþm. 7; drekka in meira mjöð, to drink more mead; bíta en breiðara, to bite broader, i. e. eat with better appetite, Þkv. 35; þars þætti skáld in verri, where poets were kept in less honour, Jomsv. S. (in a verse); né in heldr, neither; né hests in heldr, neither for his horse, Hm. 60; né in heldr hugðir sem var Högni, neither are ye minded as H., Gh. 3, Sdm. 36, Hkv. 1. 12, Skv. 1. 21: in prose, eigi in heldr ætla ek, þat …, neither do I think, that …, Nj. 219.

3. to boot, further, moreover; bolöxar ok enn amboð nokkur, pole-axes and some tools to boot, Dipl. v. 18; ok þat enn, at, and that still more, that, Róm. 302; Ingibjörg hét enn dóttir Haralds, Ingeburg was further Harold’s daughter, Fms. i. 5.

or enn, conj., written an in very old MSS., e. g. Hom., Greg., Eluc., but in the great bulk of MSS. en is the standing form, both ancient and modern; [formed by anacope, by dropping the initial þ; Ulf. þanuh; A. S. þanne; Engl. than; Hel. than; O. H. G. danna; Germ. dann, but here almost replaced by ‘als;’ Swed. änn; Dan. end; Norse enn, Ivar Aasen; the anacope is entirely Scandin.]:—than, Lat. quam; heldr faðir an móðir, more father than mother, Eluc. 5; bjartari an sól, brighter than the sun, 45, 52; meira an aðrir, more than others, Greg. 51; víðara an áðr, wider than before, id.; betr an þegja, better than being silent, 96; æðri an þetta, Eluc. 51; annat an annat, one thing rather than another, 50; ljósara an nú, 44; heldr an vér, 17; annat an dauðan, 15; meira an Guð, 13; fyr an, 6; annat an þú ert, 59; framarr an þeir hafa, id.; framar an vesa, 60; heldr an færi eðr fleiri, Hom. 45; heldr an, 63; betra er þagat an mælt, 96; helgari an annarra manna, 126; framar an sín, 135, etc.; cp. Frump. 158–163: ‘en’ however occurs in Hom. 126.

II. the form ‘en’ (or ‘enn’) occurs passim, Grág. i. 173, ii. 13, Al. 29, Sks. 596 B, N. G. L. i. 32, etc. etc.

☞ The particle en differs in sense when placed before or after the comparative; if before, it means still; if after, than; thus, fyrr enn, áðr enn, before, Lat. prinsquam, but enn fyrr, still earlier, sooner; enn heldr, still more, but heldr enn, rather than; enn betr, still better, but betr enn, better than; enn síðar, still later, but síðar enn, later than, etc. Again, there is a difference of sense, when neither en is a comparative; en ef, but if; ef enn, if still, etc.

is now and then in MSS., esp. Norse, used = er, ef, q. v., but this is a mere peculiarity or false spelling:

1. when; mér vórum í hjá en (= er) þeir, when they, D. N. i. 271; til þess en = til þess er, 81.

2. as a relat. particle, which; sú hin ríka frú en ( which), Str.; mína dóttur en allra meyja er fegrst, my daughter who is the fairest of all women, Þiðr. 249; af því en hann hefir fingit, Al. 145; sá ótti en, 107; en sungin er, which is sung, Hom. 41; but hvárt en er, whether, N. G. L. i. 349.

3. = ef, if, [cp. Old Engl. an]; sælar yæri sálurnar, en þær vissi, if they knew, Al. 114; en þeir vildi = ef þeir vildi, 118; en vér færim = ef vér færim, 120, esp. freq. in D. N. (vide Fr.) Very rare in Icel. writings or good MSS., e. g. en ek hefi með Guðs miskunn (i. e. er ek heti), as I have, because I have, Bs. i. 59, Hung. ch. 1; vide er.

1) with dat. and acc., over = yfir (fara of fjöll; sitja of borði); of time, = um; of haust or of haustum, in the autumn; of aptaninn, in the evening; of hríð, for a while; of allt, always;

2) with acc. of, about (bera vitni of e-t);

3) in a casual sense, poet.; of sanna sök, for a just cause, justly.

an enclitic particle, chiefly placed before verbs; ek drykk of gat ens dýra mjaðar, I got a draught of the precious mead.

1) great quantity, number; of fjár, immensity of wealth; of liðs, a vast host of men;

2) excess; við of, to excess; þótti hirðmönnum hans við of, they thought it was beyond measure;

3) pride, conceit (kirkjan verðr eigi svá mikil, at þar muni of þitt allt í liggja).

1) with adjectives and adverbs; too; of gamall, ungr, langr, stuttr, too old, young, long, short; of mjök, too much; of lengi, too long;

2) with the neuter of a past part. over-much, too much; hafa of drukkit, to have drunk too much; hafa of gört, to have transgressed; hafa of mælt, to have said too much; hafa of tekið við e-n, to have gone too far.

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prep. with dat. and acc., the form varies; umb is an obsolete and rare form, hence um, sounded umm, which is far the most common form in old writers, and has altogether superseded both umb and of: [the ‘of’ answers nearest to Ulf. uf; O. H. G. oba; Germ. ob; Gr. ὑπό; Lat. sub; Sansk. upa.] Most of the oldest vellums, as also the poets, prefer to use ‘of,’ yet not all, for the Cod. Reg. of Sæm. Edda in nine cases out of ten writes um, so also did the Cod. Acad. primus (the Kringla) of the Hkr.; and this is important, for these two vellums are our chief sources for old poetry; on the other hand, the Cod. Reg. of the Snorra Edda prefers ‘of.’ Among other vellums the old fragment of the Orkn. S. (Arna-Magn. No. 325) mostly uses ‘of’ as of nóttina, Orkn. 110; of hans daga, 178; of Jól, 180; of daga þeirra bræðra, 182; but also ‘um’ e. g. ofan um sik, ofan um hann, id. The word will be given in full under letter U, so that a few references may suffice here:

I. in the sense over, Lat. super, with dat. and acc.,

α. jörð grær of ágætum barma, Eg. (in a verse); brann of fylki, Ýt.; of svírum, Hornklofi; dík flæði of líkum, Fms. xi. 191; sjár þýtr of árum, vi. (in a verse); of bý breiðum, Lex. Poët.

β. with acc., of nýt regin, Vþm. 13; of dróttmögu, 11; of liðu, Sdm. 9; of sumar, Vsp. 40; of garð risa, Gs.; of lopt ok lög, Hkv.; úlfr gengr of ýnglings börn, Eg. (in a verse); vestr fór ek of ver, Höfuðl. 1; liggja of ungan Mörukára, Fms. vi. (in a verse).

II. in a causal sense = Lat. ob; of sanna sök, for a just sake, justly, Fms. ii. 322 (in a verse); of minna, for a less cause, Glúm, (in a verse); of litla sök, Lex. Poët.; of sannar deildir, id.; of minni sorgir, Korm. (in a verse).

and um, an enclytic particle, chiefly placed before verbs or participles, seldom before nouns; it is obsolete, and occurs only in old poetry and now and then in the oldest prose; the spelling varies, for here too the Cod. Reg. of Sæm. Edda, as also the Kringla, mostly prefer um, so as to take examples from the poem Hm., um skoðask, um skygnask, 1; um getr, 8; um á ( owns), 9; þylsk hann um, um getr, 17; um farit, 18; síns um máls, 21; um gelr, 29; um þörf, 38; um getr, 58, 65; um dvelr, 59; um viðrir, 74; um lagit, 84; um vakin, 100; um komin, um sofin, 101; um kominn, 104; um gaf, 105; um geta, 123; um heilli, 129; um reist, 145; um stendr, 154; um kann, 163: of gat, 140; of alinn, 72; of kom, 145; of vitaðr, 100; of blótið, 145: vf, vf boðit, 67; vf heimtir, 14: thus in this single poem ‘um’ occurs about twenty-four times, ‘of’ five times, and ‘vf’ twice: for the other poems see Bugge’s Edition: on the other hand, of traddi, Gh. 2; of þrumir, Gm. 8; of hyggi, 34; at ek öllum öl yðr of heita, Hým. 3; of geta, 4; of teknir, 14; of heitt, 32:—in prose, ef maðr má eigi of koma, Grág. ii. 209; of förlar, Kb. 14; of telrat, 178; er héðan of sér, Ísl. (Heiðarv. S.) ii. 387; en ér of sét eigi ljós, but you see not the light, 645. 81; at eigi of sá á miðli, Íb. 11; má of rannsaka, 677. 6; þó at báðum of göri, 2; ok af því of eykr eigi atkvæði, Skálda (Thorodd) 165; sem menn of bera megu, Hom. (St.); at hann megi jafnfúss of vera, id., and passim in that old vellum, see Fritzner’s Dict. s. v.; ef því um náir, Grág. (Kb.) 209; ef þeir um sitja, 74; um ves, 76; um taki, 89; um göra (twice), 109; um telrat, 194; urn býðr, 230; um komi, 234; ef sól um sæi, if the sun was to be seen, ch. 29.

II. seldom before nouns; síns um máls, Hm. (see above); um þörf, 38; as hans of dólgr, Skv.; Baldrs of barmi, Haustl.; öll of rök, Alm. 9; of sköpt, kinsmen, Edda (Gl.), Lex. Poët.; of tregi, Gkv. 1. 3 (thus Bugge in two words); Þórs of rúni, Haustl.; of kúgi, an oppressor, Fms. vii. (in a verse); with adjectives, of reiðr, Skm.: it remains in some old sayings or phrases, án er íllt um gengi; um seinan, Nj. 91.

adv. [this particle is closely akin to the prep. of; the extended form ofr- (q. v.) is mostly used in compds, not singly, and answers to Gr. ὑπέρ, Lat. super, Engl. above]:

1. as subst. excess, pride, conceit; því at hón verðr eigi svá mikil, at þar muni of þitt allt í liggja, Ld. 318; við of, to excess, Ísl. ii. 154; þótti hirðmönnum hans við of, hversu mikit, they thought it was beyond measure, Vígl. 17; um of, to excess: the phrase, of sem van, too much or too little; það er of sem van.

2. with gen., of fjár, immensity of wealth, Nj. 9, 27, Eg. 68, Ó. H. 198; of liðs, a vast host of men, Hkr. ii. 265; of manna, Fms. vi. 146.

B. Adv. too, Lat. nimis, and may be used with any adjective; when with adjectives it is better written separately, of gamall, too old; of ungr, too young, Ld. 262; of langr, of stuttr, Art. 96; of stórr, of lítill, Eg. 50; of harðr, of linr, of góðr, of vándr, of kaldr, of heitr, of magr, of feitr, of digr, of breiðr, of mjór, of hár, of lágr, of víðr, of þröngr, of margr, of fár, of mart, Njarð. 372; of þögull, of heimskr, of máligr, Art. 30, 82.

2. with adverbs; of mjök, too much, Eg. 226, Ísl. ii. 391; of fjarri, Fms. ii. 181; of lengi, too long, x. 379; of seint, too late. Art. 96; of snemma, of árla, too early; cp. um of viða, of sjaldan, of opt, etc.

II. with the neut. of a past part., overmuch, too much, with the notion of having overdone or sometimes wishing not to have done it; hafa of drukkit, to have drunk too much, Gm. 51; hafa of aukit, Eg. 202, Hkr. ii. 209; hafa of gefit, to have given more than one likes, Ld. 318; hafa of gört, to have transgressed, Nj. 221, Fms. xi. 333; eigi of hefnt, Grett. 124; hafa of keypt, bought too dear, Jb. 372; hafa of mælt, Fms. i. 163; þykjast hafa of talað, wish one had not said it; sé mér þetta of mælt, Mar.; hafa of tekið við e-n, to have gone too far, Fms. viii. 258; hafa of seinat, too late, Ld. 144, Fas. i. 196; um seinat, Fms. viii. 162:—‘of’ is opp. to ‘van-,’ too much, too little, hafa van-dæmt, of-dæmt, of-mælt, Gþl. 378; van-refst of-refst, 272; of-talt van-talt, 477; of-alnir, van-alnir, Grág. i. 455.

III. rarely with verbs; of-tala, to talk too much.

(-ar, -ir), m.

1) lot;

bera (leggja) hluti í skaut, to throw the lots into a cloth (lap of a garment);

skera (marka) hluti, to mark the lots;

2) amukt, talisman (hlutr er horfinn or pússi þínum);

3) share, allotment, portion (hann fœrði Ølvi skip sin ok kallar þat vera hans hlut);

4) part (of a whole);

höggva í tvá hluti, to cut in two parts;

mestr hlutr liðs, the most part of the company;

meiri hlutr dómanda, the majority of the judges;

tveim hlutum dýrra, twice as dear;

5) participation;

eiga hlut í e-u or at e-u, to have part in, be concerned in (mér uggir, at hér muni eigi gæfumenn hlut í eiga);

þar er þú ættir hlut at, wherein thou wast concerned;

6) condition, position, lot;

eiga hlut e-s, to be in one’s place (position);

ef þú ættir minn hlut, if thou wert in my place;

láta hlut sinn, to be worsted;

sitja yfir hlut e-s, to oppress, weigh a person down;

leggja hlut sinn við e-t, to cast in one’s lot with, to espouse a cause;

hafa (fá) hærra, meira (lægra) hlut, to get the best (worst) of it;

7) thing;

allir hlutir, all things;

kynligr hlutr, a strange thing;

um alla hluti, in all things, in all respects.

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m., the original form was diphthongal, hlautr, like the Gothic, as is borne out by the kindred and derivative words hlaut, hleyti, q. v.; the acc. was weakened into o, hlotr, Fms. xi. 128; and lastly into u, hlutr; old nom. pl. hlotar, Jómsv. S. l. c., but commonly hlutir; gen. sing. hlutar: [Goth. hlauts = κληρος, Mark xv. 24, Col. i. 12, Ephes. i. 11, Luke i. 9; A. S. and Hel. hlot; Engl. lot; Germ. loos; Dan. lod; Swed. lott; the Goth., Germ., and earliest Scandin. have a long vowel, and prob. also A. S. and O. H. G. (hlôt, not hlot); the Ormul. spells lott with a short vowel, as is the case also in Icel., Dan., Swed., and Engl.]

A. A lot; the ceremony of drawing lots was like that described in Homer; each party marked his lot (skera or marka hluti), which was then thrown into a sheet (lap of a garment, bera or leggja hluti í skaut), and a third person came and drew a lot out; (it was not thrown out by shaking.) This drawing of lots was originally a sacred ceremony; it was used in sacrifices (by way of augury, see below), in sharing booty or an inheritance; in law the order in which suits came on was decided by lot, in banquets the seats of honour were so assigned (e. g. who was to sit next to the daughter of the house), etc. Many words in the language refer to this old rite, and the ceremony is thus described: en hluti skyldi skera ok í skaut bera, Fms. vii. 140; kom þat ásamt með þeim at hluti skyldi bera í skaut, … skyldi því hvárir-tveggju una sem hlutr segði, vóru þá hlutir markaðir; þá mælti Norðbrikt til Gyrgis: ‘lát mik sjá hversu þú markar þinn hlut at vit markim eigi báðir einn veg;’ hann gerði svá; síðan markaði Norðbrikt sinn hlut, ok kastaði í skaut ok svá báðir þeir; síðan gékk sá maðr at er til (upp, v. l.) skyldi taka, ok tók upp annan hlutinn milli fingra sér …; síðan var at hugat þeim hlutinum ok kenndu þar allir mark Gyrgis, vi. 136, 137: hverr maðr er sök hefir með at fara í dóm, þá skal hlut bera í skaut, einn, þótt hann hafi fleiri sakar í dóm þann, hverr maðr skal merkja hlut sinn ok bera alla saman í skaut, ok skal maðr taka fjóra hluti senn upp, Grág. i. 37; bjóða til hlutfalla ok bera þar hluti í skaut, 74; menn báru þá hluti sína í skaut ok tók jarlinn upp; … svá sagði hlutr til, at Egill skyldi sitja hjá jarls-dóttur um kveldit, Eg. 247; en þá er tólfmenningr var skipaðr til at sitja ok settir hlutir til hverr næst skyldi sitja Ástríði, dóttur Vigfúss hersis, ok hlaut Eyjólfr ávalt at sitja hjá henni, Glúm. 331: nú ræða þeir um goðorðit ok verða eigi ásáttir, vildi hverr sinn hlut ( case) fram draga; þá leggja þeir hluti í skaut, ok kom jafnan upp hlutr Silfra, Fs. 68; þeir lögðu hluti á, ok hlaut Þrándr, Fær.

2. of sacrifice; vóru þá görvir hlutir af vísinda-mönnum ( soothsayers), ok feldr blótspánn til, en svá gékk fréttin, at …, Fas. i. 452; cp. hristu teina ok á hlaut sá, Hym. 1; and, þá kná Hænir hlautvið kjósa (= taka upp hluti), Vsp. l. c.; see also hlaut, hlauttein, p. 270.

II. the hlutir were talismans or little images, which people used to wear on their persons; síðan tekr jarl skálar ( scales) góðar … ok fylgðu tvau met ( weights), annat af gulli en annat af silfri; þar var á líkneskja manns, ok hétu þat hlutar (hlotar sem fornmönnum var títt at hafa, add. in v. l.), ok fylgði sú náttúra, at þá er jarl lagði þá í skálarnar, ok kvað á hvat hvárr skyldi merkja, ok ef sá kom upp ( turned up) er hann vildi, þá breylti sá í skálinni svá at varð glamm af. Jarl gaf Einari skálarnar ok varð hann glaðr við ok síðan kallaðr Einarr Skálarglam, Jómsv. S. (1824) 37, 38; hlutr er horfinn ór pússi þínum sá er Haraldr konungr gaf þér í Hafrsfirði, ok er hann nú kominn í holt þat er þú munt byggja, ok er á hlutnum markaðr Freyr af silfri, Fs. 19; ok vili Freyr þar láta sinn hlut niðr koma er hann vill sitt sæmdar-sæti setja, 22; cp. Landn., hann sendi Finna tvá í hamförum til Íslands eptir hlut sínum, 174; hann hefir líkneski Þórs í pungi sínum af tönn gört …; nú fannsk engi sá ‘hlutr’ í hans valdi, Fs. 97: the ‘gumna heillir’ or talismans, mentioned in Sdm., were prob. hlutir.

B. Metaph., without the actual drawing of lots:

I. a share, allotment, portion; skal þat þeirra er biskup lofar skilnað, hafa slíkan hlut fjár ( portion) við annat, Grág. i. 329: of booty, hann færði Ölvi skip sín ok kallar þat vera hlut hans, Nj. 46: of a finder’s share, heimtir hlut af sauðunum, Háv. 40; halda til hlutar, id.

β. esp. of a fisherman’s share of the catch, Band. 4, cp. Höfuðl. 1; a fishing boat has one or two hundred … í hlut, each of the crew (hásetar) taking his ‘hlutr,’ and besides this there was a færis-hlutr ( line share) or netja-hlutr ( net share), skips-hlutr (ship’s share), and lastly for-manns-hlutr (foreman’s share, he getting double); see the remarks on aflausn.

γ. a share, lot, portion, of inheritance, often in early Dan. law, where the daughter received a half, the brother a whole portion, sun til ful lot, oc dotær til half lot, Wald. Sjæll. Lov., p. 1;—whence in Dan. broder-lod, söster-lod, = a brother’s, sister’s portion; en komi jafnmikit fé á hlut hvers þeirra, Grág. (Kb.) i. 220: of duty, kom þat á hlut Andreas postula, 625. 64.

2. metaph. phrases; láta hlut sinn, to let go one’s share, be worsted, Fms. i. 74, Fb. ii. 62; þeirra h. brann við, got singed, Hkr. ii. 178; þinn hlutr má ekki verða betri en góðr, thy case cannot be better than good, is as good as it can be, Nj. 256; ella muntú finna á þínum hlut, thou shalt find it to thy cost, Ld. 98; þeirra h. varð æ minni ok minni, their lot grew ever worse and worse, Fms. x. 250; eigi skyldi hennar h. batna við þat, her case should not mend with that, Nj. 52; sitja yfir hlut e-s, to oppress, weigh a person down, Eg. 512, Nj. 89, Fb. iii. 450; mínka sinn hlut, to yield one’s lot ( right), 451; láta sinn (hlut) undir liggja, to let one’s lot be the nethermost, Bárð.; leggja hlut sinn við e-t, to throw in one’s lot with a thing, to espouse a cause, run a risk, Lv. 45 (twice), Fb. iii. 166, Sturl. i. 162 C; eigi mundi svá Sverrir gera, ef hann ætti várn hlut, S. would not do so if he had our lot, our cards in his hand, Fms. viii. 392; eigi mundir þú svá renna frá þínum manni, ef þú ættir minn hlut, xi. 72; hafa (fá) hærra (meira, lægra) hlut, to get the better ( less) share, to get the best ( worst) of it, to win or lose, Eb. 194, Fs. 32, 113, Nj. 90, 224, Fas. i. 252, Fms. vi. 412, viii. 284, Hkv. 2. 19; hafa allan hlut mála, Bs. i. 82; eiga hlut at e-u, to own a share in, take part ( interest) in, interfere ( meddle) in a thing, be concerned about, Eb. 124, Nj. 27, 101, 119, Fms. xi. 83; þar er þú ættir hlut at, wherein thou wast concerned, Nj. 54; nú mun eigi mega sitjanda hlut í eiga, to take a sitter’s part in it, i. e. not stir in the matter, 110; hér munu eigi gæfu-menn í hlut eiga, 179; hafa inn vesta hlut af, to behave meanly, Eg. 271.

II. a part, Lat. pars; enn efra hlut Hrunamanna-hrepps, Landn. 312: mestr h. liðs, the most part of the body, Eg. 275; meiri hlutr, búa, dómanda …, the majority of the neighbours, judges …, Nj. 237, Grág. i. 79; tíundi h. eyrir, a tenth part of an ounce, 357: byggja jörð til hlutar, to lease an estate in shares, N. G. L. i. 137: sjau hlutum ljósari, seven times brighter, Eluc. 44; tveim hlutum dýrra, twice as dear, Landn. 243; eins hlutar ( on the one hand) … annars hlutar ( on the other hand), 625. 172.

III. a case, thing, Lat. res; hvern hlut, everything, Nj. 53; á engum hlut, in nothing, Fms. ii. 27; í öllum hlutum, in everything, passim; allir hlutir, all things, Edda 147 (pref.); aðra hluti, other things, Fms. i. 213; alla hluti þá er …, all things whatsoever, Ld. 18; allir þeirra hlutir, all their things, Fms. x. 250; fjórir eru þeir hlutir ( cases) er menn ber í átt, Grág. i. 361; hverngi hlut ( reason) er maðr vill til þess færa, 179; fyrir tengda sakir ok annarra stórra hluta er hér hvarfla í milli, Nj. 147; undarlegr, kynlegr h., a strange thing, Ld. 200, Fms. x. 169; iðna slíka hluti, Grág. i. 149; eru þér stórir hlutir á höndum, Fms. vii. 30: a deed, fact, orðinn h., a bygone thing, Fr. fait accompli, Nj. 20; einn lítill h., a little thing, small matter, Fms. ix. 448.

β. with neg. adv. = Engl. naught; görðit hlut þiggja, Am. 94; ekki lyt (lyf MS.), Skv. 1. 9; engi hluta(r), noways, 656 C. 25.

(gen. -ar), m. the sum which the bridegroom had to pay for his bride, and which after the wedding became her own property.

* * *

m., gen. mundar, dat. mundi; [cp. O. H. G. munt, whence low Lat. mundium = tutelage in the old Teut. laws; women are said to live ‘sub mundio’ of their parents and husbands, Du Cange, s. v.; cp. also Germ. vor-mund = a guardian, and mündling = a minor or a person living under tutelage; perh. akin to mund ( hand), as hand and authority are kindred notions. So in Lat. phrases, in manu parentis, manumissio, etc., used of minors, slaves. In Norse the word is used in a special sense.]

B. In the ancient laws and customs matrimony was a bargain (brúð-kaup), hence the phrase to buy a wife, kaupa konu; the wooing was often performed by a deputy, and at the espousals (festar) a sum was agreed on, which the bridegroom was to pay for his bride. This sum was called mundr; and this transaction between the damsel’s father or guardian and the other party was called mundar-mál or mund-mál, e. g. Nj. ch. 2, Mörðr (the father) svarar, hugsað hefi ek kostinn, hón (i. e. my daughter, the damsel) skal hafa sextigi hundraða, ok skal aukask þriðjungi í þínum garði: hence the phrases, kaupa mey mundi, to buy a maid by mund; mey mundi keypt; gjalda mund, Skv. 1. 30, Fm. 41, N. G. L. i. 27, 48, Am. 93, and passim. No marriage was lawful without the payment of mund, for even if the wedding had been lawfully performed, without such previous payment of mund the sons of such a wedlock were illegitimate, and were called hornung (q. v.),—hann kallaði ykkr frillu-sonu,—Hárekr sagði at þeir mundi vitni til fá at móðir þeirra var mundi keypt, Eg. 40; the least amount of mund in Norway was twelve ounces, called the poor man’s mund (öreiga mundr), N. G. L. i. 27, 54; in Iceland it was a mark, sá maðr er eigi arfgengr er móðir hans er eigi mundi keypt, mörk eða meira fé, Grág. (Kb.) i. 222. On the wedding night the stipulated mund became the wife’s personal property, and thus bears some resemblance to the ‘morning-gift’ (morgun-gjöf) of the later legislation; þá er hjú koma í eina sæing, at þá er konu heimill mundr sinn ok svá vextir af fé því öllu er henni er mælt í mundar-málum, Grág. i. 370. The wife herself or her parents might, in case of divorce after misconduct, call on the husband to pay up the mund and the heiman-fylgja (q. v.) of which he had the charge, Grág. Festaþ. ch. 51; ella mun ek láta nefna mér vátta nú þegar, ok segja skilit við þik, ok mun ek láta föður minn heimta mund minn ok heiman-fylgju, Gísl. 16 (p. 32 in Mr. Dasent’s Gisli the Outlaw), cp. also Yngl. S. ch. 17; nefndi Mörðr (the father) sér vátta, ok lýsti fésök á hendr Rúti (the husband) um fémál dóttur sinnar ok taldi níutigi hundraða fjár, lýsti hann til gjalda ok útgreiðslu, Nj. 15 and Dasent’s Burnt Njal (l. c.), the Sagas passim, at abo Grág., esp. the section Festaþ. ch. vii. sqq. The mundr therefore was different to the dowry (heiman-fylgja), and has nothing answering to it in the modern law, nor perhaps in the old Greek or Roman customs; hence Tacitus speaks of it as something strange, dotem non uxor marito, sed maritus uxori affert. Germ. ch. 18. On the other hand, the Teutonic rites of marriage call to mind the ancient patriarchal times as described in Gen. xxiv and xxix. The etymological connection between mundium = tutelage and the Norse word is not altogether clear. In modern Icelandic usage heiman-mundr is erroneouslv used instead of heiman-fylgja, q. v.

a, m. [perh. akin to lokka], the evil giant-god of the Northern mythol., see Edda passim, Vsp. 39. Loka-senna, u, f. the banter of Loki, the name of an old poem: as a nickname, Landn. The name of Loki is preserved in a few words, Loka-sjóðr, m., botan. rhinanthus crista galli, Loki’s purse, the name for cockscomb or yellow rattle; and Loka-sjóðs-bróðir, m. bartsia alpina, Maurer’s Volks. 1: Loka-brenna, u, f. fire, the ‘blazing’ of Loki = Sirius, according to a statement of Finn Magnusson: Loka-ráð and Loka-heilræði, n. pl. Loki’s advice, i. e. ironical, misanthropic advice, see Snot 192; cp. the Ditmarscher-lügen in Grimm’s Märchen: Loka-lykt, f. a close smell, as from an evil spirit haunting the room, Ísl. Þjóðs. ii. 556.

II. as an appellative, a loop on a thread, Dan. ‘kurre paa traaden;’ opt er loki á nálþræði, Hallgr.

the name of the terrible fire-demon, half god, half giant, the friend and companion of the gods, and yet their most fearful foe. We have a new suggestion to make as to the origin of this name. The old Northern Loki and the old Italic Volcanus are, we believe, identical; as thus,—the old Teutonic form of Loki, we suppose, was Wloka, whence, by dropping the w before l, according to the rules of the Scandinavian tongue, Loki. A complete analogy is presented in Lat. voltus, vultus, A. S. wlits, but Icel. lit (in and -lit, a face); and, in point of the character of the two demons, the resemblance is no less striking, as we have on the one hand Vulcanus with Etna for his workshop (cp. the mod. volcano), and on the other hand the Northern legends of the fettered fire-giant, Loki, by whose struggles the earthquakes are caused. Of all the personages of the Northern heathen religion, the three, Oðinn, Þórr, and Loki, were by far the most prominent; but not even the name of Loki is preserved in the records of any other Teutonic people. Can the words of Caesar B.G. vi, x. xi, Solem ‘Vulcanum’ et Lunam. refer to our Loki? probably not, although in Caesar’s time the form would have been Wlokan in acc., a form which a Roman ear might well have identified with their own Vulcanus. The old derivation from loka, to shut, is inadmissible in the present state of philological science: a Wôdan from vaða, or Loki from loka, is no better than a ‘Juno a juvando,’ or a ‘Neptunus a nando.’ May not Loki (Wloka) be a relation to the Sansk. vrika, Slav. vluku, Lith. vilkas, Icel. vargr, álfr, meaning a destroyer, a wolf? it is very significant that in the Norse mythology Loki is the father of the world-destroying monsters,—the wolf Fenrir, the World-serpent, and the ogress Hel; and, if the etymology suggested be true, he was himself originally represented as a wolf.

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prep. with dat.

1) out of, from; tekinn ór jörðu, taken out of the earth; vakna ór svefni, to wake out of sleep; Ísland bygðist ór Noregi, from Norway; ór Mön, from the Isle of Man; er þá bar ór hafi, from the sea; spyrja ór kaupstefnu, to ask news from the market; hús ór húsi, from house to house; ráðast ór hernaði, to leave off freebooting;

2) denoting the substance of which a thing is made, of, out of; ór Ymis holdi var jörð um sköpuð, out of Y.’s flesh the earth was made, hjölt ór gulli, a golden hilt;

3) out of, from among (þessir féllu ór liði Haralds);

4) denoting cause; deyja ór sárum, sótt, to die of wounds, sickness;

5) beyond; svá mikill snjór, at þat var ór dœnum, beyond exaniple, unexampled; ór hófi, beyond measure; þurru mjök vinsældir hans ór því sem vóru, his popularily dwindled from what it had been;

6) ór því, after (nú skal segja, hvat gørðist ór því F. var í burtu farinn);

7) absol., hann skar ór spjótit, he cut the spear clean through.

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or or, written with o in older vellums, or now and then even with y, yr; in later MSS. with u, ur, which in mod. Icel. is sounded long, úr. In other Teut. languages this prep. has been lost as an independent word; only the Goth. has us = ἐκ, ἀπό, and the O. H. G. ar, ir, ur, which in mid. H. G. was lost and replaced by the adverb aus, O. H. G. uz, answering to Icel. út. Engl. out, a word altogether different from ór, see Grimm’s Dict. s. v. er; ur, however, survived as a prefixed particle in a countless number of compds, in A. S. â-, in O. H. G. ar-, ir-, in mid. H. G. and Germ. er-; causal verbs are formed by means of this prefixed particle, e. g. Goth. us-wakjan, A. S. â-weccan, Engl. to awaken, O. H. G. ar-wechan, Germ. er-wecken. In the Scandin. languages, on the other hand, the independent prep. has been preserved in its fullest extent, whereas the prefixed particle is rare, mostly wiih adjectives, and is sounded and spelt ör-, e. g. ör-endr = exanimis; seldom er-, for erlendr (q. v.) is different; ór- or úr- seems to belong only to words of later formation, as ór-lausn, ór-skurðr, úr-kast, úr-þvætti, refuse; úr-hættis, out of time (from skera ór, kasta úr). These compds will be given under the head of ör- and úr-. The quantity of the root-vowel in the particle or, ur is an unsettled question; the German and Saxon forms er-, ar-, as also the Icel. prefixed ör-, seem to indicate a short, the present Icel. pronunciation úr- a long, vowel. The MSS. in these cases give no help; in this Dictionary it has been assumed as long (ór) in deference to the majority of Editions and the present Icel. spelling and pronunciation.

A. Out of, from; as remarked in the introduction to the prep. af, the prep. ór (p. 3, col. 2) denotes from the inside of a thing ( out of which), and in most cases corresponds to í, so that the same case which goes with ór would also go with í, (and thus it answers to í with dat., see í A. I-III); tekinn ór jörðu, taken out of the earth (answering to í jörðu, of anything lying in the earth), Fms. i. 51; ór skóginum, vi. 225; yr afrétt, Grág. ii. 233; yr héraði, Ísl. ii. 322, 333; fara ór landi, to leave the country, Fms. vi. 284; ór Þrándheimi, Eg. 32 (opp. to í Þrándheimi); ór Tungu, Nj. 95, 192; Ísland bygðisk ór Noregi. from Norway, Íb. 4; austan ór Smálöndum, Nj. 122; ór Breiðafirði, Ísl. ii. 368; ór Eyjum (all names compounded from Ey), Landn. passim; ór Mön, from the Isle of Man, Nj. 138; ór Hrafnistu (an island), 164; ór Þjóttu (a Norse island), Fms. iv. 275; ór Skógi, Skógum, Nj. 89; ór Gili, 113; ór Mörk, 192; ór Þórólfsfelli, 39; ór Saurbæ, 164; ór Garði, Landn., Nj. 164; cp. i, p. 315, col. 2 (A. loc. II); er þá bar ór hafi, Fms. ii. 64; ór lopti, passim; úr eldi, Nj. 132; ór vötnum, Fms. i. 226; ór höll, xi. 16; ór Valhöllu, Nj. 132; ór tjaldi, Fms. ii. 268; ór garði, Nj. 54; ór kirkju, Fms. ix. 471; ór poka, Ld. 202; hús ór húsi, from house to house, Bs. i. 386; flokk ór flokki, Karl. 244; ór gólfinu, Ld. 53; ór húsum, Grág. ii. 336; ór norðri, suðri, vestri, austri, Eg. 133: ór hendi, out of one’s hand, Greg. 62, Nj. 84: the phrase, bíða ór stað, to bide ‘out of’ one’s place, i. e. to bide without moving, Ó. H. (in a verse).

2. with adverbs; ofan ór fjalli, Eg. 766: niðr ór, Fms. iii 94; fram ór, out of; út úr, out of, (Goth. ût-;us, whence arose the mod Germ. aus); út ór hringinum, Ld. 276.

3. ok ræðr lækr ór henni til sævar, Dipl. ii. 2; festina er ór var fjötrinum, Edda 20; þit skulut spyrja ór kaupstefnu, to ask news from the meeting, Ísl. ii. 346; ráðask ór hernaði, to leave off freebooting, Eg. 2; komask ór barnæsku, Sturl. i. 226; vakna ór svefni, to wake out of sleep, 623. 14; rísa upp ór dauða, 655 ix. C. 1; segjask ór lögum, to secede, Íb. 11; vera ór sögunni, to be out of the story, Nj. 22, 120; falla ór minni, Bs. i. 39.

B. Metaph., denoting forfeiture; þá er hann útlagr ok ór goðorði sínu, Grág. i. 33; ok ór öllum skrúðanum, and stripped off all their ornaments, Nj. 132.

2. of a part of the whole; þessir téllu ór liði Haralds, Eg. 11; kveðja fimm búa yr sóknar kvið, Grág ii. 208; ryðja búa ór kviði, kvöð, Nj. 110; menn sakna Skeggja ór flokkinum, Grett. 30 new Ed.; maðr andask ór kvöðinni, Band. 14 new Ed.; Joseph var ór kyni Davíðs, Post.; þriðjungr ór feti, Rb. 482.

3. denoting cause; andask, deyja ór sárum, sótt, to die of wounds, sickness. Eg. 36, Landn. 217, Fms. ii. 164, Sks. 594.

4. of the substance of which a thing is made (see af C. III); ór járni, of iron, Nj. 272; ór gulli, silfri, Akv. 7; þat er ór jörðu, Eluc. 9; ór Ymis holdi var jörð of sköpuð, en ór sveita siár, björg or beinum, baðinr ór hari, en or hausi himin, en or hans heila, etc., Vþm.; úr hári, ullu, etc.; ór osti, Fms. vi. 253.

5. of changing from one state to another, from; ek veil ekki hvat ór honum er orðit, 623. 53; verða at ösku ór miklu mannvirki, Al. 48; görir heimska ór herskum, Hm. 93; auka ór því sem áðr hafði verit, beyond what it was, Al. 145, Nj. 192; hefir þú nokkut samit þik ór því sem var, Ísl. ii. 211: þurru mjök vinsældir hans ór því sem vóru, they dwindled from what they had been, Fms. x. 160; ór hófi (cp. öróf, öræfi), exceeding, out of measure; allt ór hófi, Al. 54; fégjarn ór hófi, Rb. 370; ganga ór dæmum, beyond example, unexampled. Fms. i. 214, viii. 52.

II. ellipt. and adverb. usages; annarra brjóstum ór, Hm.; skar ór spjótið, to cut through, Hkr. i. 37; ok skar út ór, Fms. i. 217.

III. with verbs; fara ór, to take off a garment, Nj. 279; ganga ýr, to withdraw, 86, 113; fyrr en ór sliti (ór-slit), till it was all over, 105; skera ór, to decide; leysa ór, to read a riddle, answer, Fms. ii. 283; ráða ór (ór-ræði), to solve a difficulty, Nj. 177, 243; ok hefir þú ílla ór haft við mik, thou hast behaved badly towards me, Fs. 140.

IV. ór því, since; nú er at segja hvat görðisk í Noregs ór því hann var í burtu farinn, Fas. ii. 84: causal, since, úr því þú vilt það, since thou wishest it, mod.

V. double prepp. as adv. ellipt. and as prep.; tók ór verk allan yr augum hans, Bs. i. 336; at ór sé grátraust ór skapi hans, Nj. 82.

(-ar, ir), m.

1) ‘stead’, place, spot;

fimmtán í hvárum stað, fifteen in each place;

í einum stað í Englandi, somewhere in England;

skipta í tvá, fjóra staði, to divide into two, four parts;

fara af stað, to go away, leave;

hafa sik af stað, to absent oneself;

bíða e-s ór stað, to wait on the spot, wait till one is attacked (Baglar biðu eigi högganna ór stað, ok flýðu þeir upp fyrir norðan bœinn);

ráða e-u til staðar, to settle;

gefa e-u stað, to stop;

þeir gefa eigi stað ferðinni, they stopped not on their journey;

gefa staðar, to stop, halt;

þá er sá íss gaf staðar ok rann eigi, when that ice stopped and flowed no more;

nema stað or staðar, to stop (hér munum vér stað nema);

leita staðar, to seek a place to ease oneself;

2) adverbially, í stað, þegar í stað, on the spot, at once;

rétt í stað, just now;

í marga staði, in many respects;

í alla staði, in every respect;

í engan stað, no-ways;

í annan stað, on the other hand, secondly;

í staðinn, instead;

alls staðar, everywhere;

annars staðar, elsewhere;

nökkurs staðar, anywhere;

3) end, result;

vil ek vita, hvern stað eiga skal málit, I wish to know how the matter is to stand;

koma í einn stað niðr, to turn out the same way;

4) stop, pause, hesitation (þeim varð staðr á um andsvörin);

5) springness, elasticity, of steel, etc.;

ok dregr ór allan ataðinn ór boganum, the bow lost all its spring;

6) strength of mind, courage;

mun hann ekki eiga stað við sjónum hans, he will not be able to stand his looks;

gøra stað í hestinn, to make the horse firm

7) mark, print, traces (þeir sá þar engan stað þeira tíðinda, er þar höfðu orðit);

8) church establishment, church, convent (staðrinn í Skálaholti, á Hólum);

9) town (marga staði vann hann í þessu landi í vald Girkjakonungi).

a. restive, of a horse;

verða staðr at, to stop, start, from surprise.

* * *

m., gen. staðar, dat. stað, and older staði, pl. staðir: [from standa; Ulf. staþs = τόπος; A. S. stæð; Engl. stead in home-stead; Dan. stæd; Germ. statt]:—a ‘stead,’ place, abode; stjörnur þat né vissu hvar þær staði áttu, Vsp. 5; sessa ok staði, Ls. 7; fá mönnum stað ok mála, Grág. i. 473; nú hefir maðr eigi stað þeim mönnum, 465; færa úmaga til staðar, 256; færa varnað til staðar, Eg. 535; koma í þann stað, Grág. i. 485; í einn stað, in one place; í annan stað, in another place, 656 C. 11; fimmtán í hvárum stað, fifteen in each place, Eg. 577; í einhverjum stað, in some place, somewhere, Sks. 94; í einum stað í England, somewhere in England, Fms. x. 392; ek hefi í einum stað á stofnat, Nj. 3; í öllum stöðum, in all places, altogether, Grág. ii. 178; í öllum stöðum þeim, er…, in every case, where …, i. 153.

2. skipta í tvá, fjóra, sextán … staði, to divide into two, four, sixteen … parts, 656 C. 16; skiptask í tvá staði, Fb. ii. 437:—fara af stað (mod. á stað), to go away, leave, Gþl. 177; hafa sik af stað, to absent oneself, Fb. i. 565; bíða e-s ór stað, to wait in one’s place, wait till one is attacked, Fms. iv. 268, viii. 48, 318, 355; ráða e-u til staðar, to settle, ii. 78, Ld. 178; gefa e-u stað, or gefa staðar, to stop, halt, Edda (pref.) 3, 40, Fms. vi. 384 (gefa A. V. 3), viii. 400; nema stað or staðar, to stop, Nj. 18, 54, 132, Dropl, 29, Fms. i. 167, 206, Fas. ii. 535, Ld. 104, Bs. i. 144, Edda 40 (nema A. 5); leita staðar, to seek a place (privy), Hm. 113. Hkr. i. 16, Fær. 197 (leita I): to seek an outlet, Fas. ii. 528; ganga at staðar, cacare, N. G. L. i. 127.

3. adverbially, í stað, on the spot, at once, presently, Dropl. 9, Fas. ii. 508, Stj. 263, 505, Fms. iv. 249; rétt í stað, just now, Flóv. 7; í marga staði, in many respects, Fms. vii. 221; í engan stað, noways, i. 80; í alla staði, in every respect, Nj. 213, 224, 237, Fms. vi. 59, xi. 58; í staðinn. instead, Grág. i. 61, Fms. i. 24, Nj. 73, Fb. i. 285; í annan stað, on the other hand, secondly. Fms. vi. 191, Nj. 210, 216:—gen. as adverb, alls staðar, everywhere; annars s., elsewhere; einhvers-staðar, nökkurs-s., somewhere; marg-staðar, fás staðar, in many places, in few places; né eins staðar, nowhere; sums-staðar, somewhere; see allr, annarr, einn, nekkverr, margr, sumr.

4. metaph. a goal, aim; hvern stað á sættar-umleitan þessi, Fms. ix. 51; ef þann stað tæki vizka þeirra, H. E. i. 249; vil ek vita hvern stað eiga skal málit, I wish to know the final answer, Ísl. ii. 216: hann spyrr hvern skal eiga hans mál, Eb. 132; koma í einn stað niðr, to turn out the same way, Fb. ii. 168.

II. spec. usages, a stop, pause, hesitation; þeim varð staðr á um andsvörin. Fms. ix. 461; nú drepr ór hljóð, ok verðr honum staðr á, ok mælti þó vánu bráðara, xi. 115.

2. elasticity, of steel or the like; ok dregr ór allan staðinn ór honum, it (the bow) lost all its elasticity, 623. 19; var þá ór sverðinu allr staðrinn, Sd. 118, 132; staðr í sverði, Kormak, freq. in mod. usage:—strength of mind, courage, þann úhreinan anda er hann átti eigi stað við at sjá, Sturl. iii. 246; mun hann ekki eiga stað við sjónum haus, he will not be able to stand his looks, Fms. iv. 242; ef þú þykkisk mega göra stað í hestinn ( make the horse firm), þá far til, Bs. i. 633.

3. a mark, print; sýndi hann oss á sínum limum járna stað ok banda, Hom. 121; sá þar öngan stað (no marks, traces were seen) þeirra tíðenda er þar hofðu orðit, Fb. i. 283.

III. a church-establishment (church, see, convent); höfuð-kirkja á staðinum, Fms. ix. 369; staðrinn í Skálaholti, s. á Hólum, or Hóla-staðr, á staðnum á Hólum, Bs. i. passim; staðr í Lundi, Ann. 1234; klaustr eða aðrir stórir staðir, Fms. xi. 202; Brandr er setti stað ( a benefice) at Húsa-felli, Ld. 332; staðr í Viðey ( a convent), D. I. i. 512 stað hér at Helgafelli, 282: a town, staðr í Lybiku, Fms. x. 48; s. í Óðinsvé, xi. 267; þann inn dýrliga stað (Konunga-hella), vii. 187; stað eða borg, K. Á. 222: staðar-ábúð, staðar-bót, staðar-spjöll; staðar-bú, a rectory; staðar-eign, church-possession; staðar-fé, church-property; staðar-forráð, administration of church-establishments; staðar-jörð, a glebe; staðar-prestr, a parish-priest; staðar-setning, an establishment, Sturl. i. 113, 143, iii. 229, Vm. 6, Ám. 28, Dipl. iii. 4, v. 18, Bs. i. 546; staða-mál, the church contest, the name given to the struggle between clergy and laity about the ownership and administration of the churches and glebes (staða-forráð), which took place in Icel. at the end of the 13th century, and was partly settled by the agreement of A. D. 1296, Bs., Arna S., Ann. passim; staða-menn, the lay proprietors of the church estates, Arna S.; staða-gjafir, the yielding up of staðir, Ann.

2. ‘staðr’ was hence (but always in sing.) added to several local names where such an establishment had been erected, e. g. Staðr, Staðar-fell, Staðar-hraun, Staðar-hóll, as also Mel-staðr, Reyni-staðr, the old names in the heathen age of these places being Fell, Hraun, Hóll, Melr, see Sturl., Band., Bjarn.

3. again, the plur. - staðir is freq. in local names of the heathen age; Grani bjó at Grana-stöðum, Grímarr á Grímars-stöðum, Höskulds-staðir, Alreks-staðir …, Landn., Fms. passim, see also map of lcel.

adj. restive, of a horse; hross skjart eða statt, Gþl. 504; verða staðr at, to stop, start, from surprise, Korm. 76; þá varð þeim staðara at höggva, Fms. ix. 225.

* * *

(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.).

* * *

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.

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1) stuff, material (svá skildu þeir, at allir hlutir væri smíðaðir af nökkuru efni); ek em görr af ústyrku efni, I am made of frail stuff; cf. biskups-, brúðar-, fægðar-, konu-, konungs-, mágs-, manns-, mungáts-, smíðar-efni;

2) matter of discourse, subject, theme (þryti mér fyrr stundin til frásagnar en efnit til umrœðu) eigi með sönnu e., with untrue statement, falsely; nú er úti mitt e., now my story is at an end;

3) matter, affair (segir konungr frá öllu þessu e.); fátt er betr látit en e. eru tíl, few things are reported better than they really are;

4) cause, reason; látast báðir af því e., both die from this cause; fyrir þat e. (for that reason) keypti hann landit

5) state, condition, affair; sagði, hver e. í vóru, he told how matters stood; ek veit eigi görla e. Gunnlaugs, how G.’s affairs stand; kominn í úvænt e., into a critical condition; óttalauss í öllu e., in every respect; er þessi hlutr kom til efnis, when this came aboitt; berr þat til efnis, at, it happens that;

6) pl., means; ok bjuggust um eptir þeim efnum, sem þeir höfðu til, according to their means; engi vóru e. annars, þar vóru engi e. önnur, there was no other chance or choice.

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n. [Swed. ämne = stuff, materia, and Dan. ævne = achievement]:—a stuff, originally like Lat. materia, timber; and so the stuff or material out of which a thing is wrought; auðskæf mærðar e., Ad. 16; at allir hlutir væri smíðaðir af nokkru efni, that all things were wrought ( created) of some stuff, Edda 147 (pref.); skapa af engu efni, to create from nothing (of God), Fms. i. 304; efni ( materials) til garðbóta, Grág. ii. 263, Sks. 287 (of a cloth); ek em görr af ústyrku efni, I am made of frail stuff, 543, Barl. 140, Stj. 17, 67; smíðar-efni, materials; efni-tré, a block, tree; efni í ljá, orf, etc., or of any piece fitted as materials.

β. in a personal sense; manns-efni, a promising young man: karls-efni, a thorough man, a nickname, Landn.: the proverb, engi veit hvar sæls manns efni sitr, of youths of whom no one can tell what may be hidden in them; þegns e. = manns-efni, Stor. 11: gott manns-e., gott bónda-e., promising to be an able man; and on the other hand, ónýtt, illt manns-e., in whom there is nothing.

γ. merely in temp. sense, applied to persons designate or elect; konungs-e., a crown prince; biskups-e., a bishop-elect; brúðar-e., a bride-elect; konu-e., one’s future wife.

δ. a subject, of a story, book, or the like, Lat. argumentum, plot; yrkis e., Íd. 11; e. kvæða, a plot, subject for poetry; sögu-e., a subject for tales or history; in old writers it rarely occurs exactly in this sense: the contents of a written thing, bréfs-e., efni í bók; hence efnis-laust, adj. void, empty writing; efnis-leysa, u, f. emptiness in writing; Björn hafði ort flim um Þórð, en þau vóru þar efni í, at …, but that was the subject of the poem, that …, Bjarn. 42; þótti mönnum þar mikit um, hversu mikil efni þar vóru til seld, i. e. people thought the tale interesting, Ld. 200; eigi með sönnu efni, falsely, with untrue statements, Sturl. iii. 305: hvárt efni þeir höfðu í um rógit, how they had made ( mixed) their lies up, Eg. 59; meir en efni sé til seld, i. e. ( related) more than what was true, the tale was overdone, Bs. i. 137; talar af sama efni ( subject) sem fyrrum, Fms. ix. 252.

2. metaph. a matter, affair; til sanninda um sagt e., Dipl. i. 8; segir konungi frá öllu þessu e., Sturl. i. 3; er þat merkjanda í þessu e., Rb. 250; fátt er betr látið enn efni eru til (a proverb), few things are reported better than they really are, Band. 2; fyrir hvert efni, for this reason.

β. a cause, reason; látask báðir af því e., both died from this cause, Ísl. ii. 197; með hverju e. Sturla hefði þessa för gört, what was the reason of S.’s doing so? Sturl. ii. 132; gleði e., sorgar e., matter of joy, sorrow, etc.: the proverb, en hvert mál, er maðr skal dæma, verðr at líta á tilgörð með efnum ( causes), Eg. 417; fyrir þat efni ( for that reason) keypti hann landit, Hrafn. 22, H. E. i. 471; en þetta efni ( cause) fundu þeir til, Sks. 311.

γ. a state, condition, affair; Rútr sagði allt e. sitt, Nj. 4; í úvænt efni, a hopeless state, Band. (MS.) 13, Ísl. ii. 225; ek veit eigi görla efni Gunnlaugs, I know not how Gunlaug’s matters stand, 240; Helgi kvað eigi þat efni í, at láta lausan þjóf fjölkunnigan, H. said that it would never do, to let a thief and wizard go, Sturl. i. 62; ef þess eru efni, if that be so, Grág. i. 76; sér, hvers efni í eru, he saw how matters stood, Band. (MS.) 11; sagði hver efni í voru, said how matters stood, Nj. 99; mér þykir sem málum várum sé komið í únýtt efni, ef …, 150; munu ill efni í, some mischief may have happened, Fs. 144; gott, þungt e., Karl. 402, Bs. i. 815; e-t gengr, kemr svá til efnis, happens so and so, Mar. (Fr.); skipta sitt líf í betra e., to repent, id.; bera til efnis, to happen, Pr. 410.

3. plur. means, ability; minni nytjamenn af meirum efnum en hann, Sturl. i. 126; eptir sínum efnum, to the best of their ability, Hom. 123; ok bjoggusk um eptir þeim efnum sem þeir höfðu til, Orkn. 360; sjái þér nökkuð ráð ( possibility) eðr efni vár ( means), 358; grunar mik, at Þórólfr muni eigi görr kunna at sjá efni sín, i. e. I fear that Th. will overrate his own means, power, Eg. 76; þá væri þat efni nú í vóru máli, it would be a chance for us, Fms. ix. 239; þar vóru engi efni önnur, there was no other chance, xi. 144; nú eru þess eigi efni, if that be impossible, Grág. ii. 140; hér eru engin efni til þess at ek muna svíkja hann, i. e. I will by no means deceive him, it is out of the question that I should do so, Eg. 60.

β. in mod. usage, means, property, riches.

COMPDS: efnafæð, efnalauss, efnaleysi, efnalítill, efnaskortr.

(-s, -ar), m. fire; taka eld, drepa (upp) eld, to strike fire: kveikja (upp) eld, to light a fire; bregða (koma, skjóta) eldi í e-t, láta (leggja) eld í e-t, to set fire to, to set on fire; e. varð lauss ok lék skjótt, a fire broke out and spread rapidly; e. hraut af sverðum þeirra, sparks of fire flew from their swords.

pp. grown old, worn by age; kvazt e. vera mjök frá úfriði, said that he was too old for fighting.

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m., gen. ellds, also spelt ellz, [a word that may be taken as a test of Scandin. races; Dan. ild; Swed. äld; for the Teut. nations use the word feuer, fire, which is wanting in Scandin., though used by old Icel. poets, who probably borrowed it from A. S.; on the other hand, Ulf. constantly renders πυρ by fon, Icel. funi, q. v.; in A. S. poetry and in Hel. äled = incendiary occurs a few times, and älan = Lat. urere (Grein and Schmeller); Rask suggests a Finn. origin]:—fire. In cold climates fire and life go together; hence the proverb, eldr er beztr með ýta sonum, ok sólar sýn, fire is best among the sons of men, and the sight of the sun, Hm. 67: in reference to the healing power of fire, eldr tekr við sóttum, fire consumes ( cures) fevers, 138; sá er eldrinn heitastr er á sjálfum brennr, Grett. 136 new Ed.: allit., e. né járn, fire nor iron, Edda 82; hvárki egg né eld, 162; eldr ( sparks of fire) hraut or sverðum þeirra, Flóv. 29; e. þótti af hrjóta er vápnin kómu saman, Sturl. iii. 187, vide Fms. i. 292, vi. 153, vii. 338 (MS. ell), viii. 74, 202, x. 29. Nj. 74, Eluc. 19, 625. 178.

β. the eruption of a volcano, Bs. i. 803, 804; jarð-eldr, ‘earth-fire,’ subterranean fire.

COMPDS: eldsbruni, eldsdaunn, eldsgangr, eldsglór, eldsgneisti, eldsgólf, eldsgögn, eldshiti, eldskveykja, eldslitr, eldslíki, eldsljós, eldslogi, eldsmatr, eldsneyti, eldsstólpi, eldsuppkváma, eldsvélar, eldsvimr, eldsvirki.

II. esp. in plur. a fire on the hearth; the proverbs, við eld skal öl drekka, by the fireside shalt thou drink ale, Hm. 82; allir eldar brenna út um síðir, all fires (beacons) burn out at last (of the death of an aged man): allit., eldr á arni (vide arinn). In the old halls in Scandinavia an oblong hearth was built in the middle of the hall, and the fires kindled were called langeldar, long fires, with an opening in the thatch called ljóri for a chimney; the benches in the hall were ranged on both sides of the langeldar, vide Edda 82 (the hall of king Adils); hence the phrase, bera öl um eld, to hand the ale round the fire, viz. to one’s cup fellow on the opposite bench, Fagrsk. ch. 219, Grett. ch. 10, new Ed. p. 23; elda-skálar vóru stórir á bæjuni, sátu menn við langelda á öptnum, þá voru borð sett fyrir menn fyrir (innan MS. Holm.), sváfu menn upp (út MS. Holm.) frá eldunum, Kristni S. ch. 2; þá vóru görvir eldar stórir eptir endilöngum skálanum, sem í þann tíma var títt, at drekka öl við eld, Bs. i. 42; cp. Orkn., eldar vóru á gólfinu, on the floor, ch. 18, where the fire seems to have been made in a pit (vide eldgróf) in the middle of the floor, cp. also kipti honum upp at pallinum, vide bakeldr: again, at the evening and morning meals people gathered round the ‘meal-fires’ (mál-eldar), hence the phrases, sitja við elda, to sit at the fire; vóru görfir máleldar hvert kveld í elda-skála sem siðr var til, sátu menn löngum við eldana áðr menn gengu til matar, Eb. ch. 52: máleldr, the ‘meal-fire’ or the small fire, is distinguished from langeldr, the great fire, 276; þat var í þann tíma er þeir Snorri sátu við málelda (yfir málborði, v. 1.), ch. 26; höfðu menn orðit vátir ok vóru görvir máleldar (langeldar, v. 1.), Nj. ch. 8; ok er skálabúinn var mettr sat hann við eld, Fs. 6; snýr at dyrum, er menn sátu við langelda ( in the evening), Korm. ch. 15; um kveldit er menn sátu við elda, Orkn. 448: the phrase, sitja milli elda, to sit between two fires, to be in a strait, vide Gm.

COMPDS: eldahús, eldaskáli, eldaskára, eldsgörð.

III. a beacon, bale-fire, Gs. 18.

IV. in old poetry the fire of wounds or of Odin = weapons, the fire of the sea = gold; hauga-eldar, magical fire in old cairns; maur-ildi, a glow-worm; hrævar-eldr, a Will o’ the wisp, ignis fatuus.

V. as a prefix to pr. names, Eld-grímr, Eld-járn, Eld-ríð, etc.: in names of places it denotes volcanic ground, Eld-borg, eld-fjall, eld-gjá, etc.

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(gen. vatris or vatz), n.

1) water, fresh water (spratt þar vatn upp); sól gengr at vatni, the sun sets in the sea;

2) fears (vatnit for niðr eptir kjálkanum á honum); halda vatni, to forbear weeping;

3) lake (Mjörs er svá mikit vatn, at líkara er sjó);

4) pl., vötn, large rivers (hnigu heilög vötn af Himin-fjöllum).

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n., pl. vötn; vant occurs in N. G. L. i. 363: the gen. sing. is, agreeably with the pronunciation, in old vellums invariably spelt vatz or vaz, vazt, Clem. 148, l. 32; the mod. sound is vass; in the Editions, however, the etymological form vatns has mostly been restored; all the South Teut. languages use a form with an r. The form vatr only occurs in two instances, perhaps used only for the rhyme’s sake, in hvatr vátri, a poem of the beginning of the 12th century; and hélt und vatr enn vitri, Sighvat; but vatn vitni in another verse cf the same poet: [A. S. wæter; Engl. and Dutch water; Hel. watar; O. H. G. wazar; Germ. wasser; cp. Gr. υδατ-ος; Lat. udus: on the other hand, Icel. vatn; Swed. vatten; Dan. vand, qs. vadn.]

A. Water, fresh water; jörð, vatn, lopt, eldr, Eluc. 19; spratt þar vatn upp, Edda (pref.); blóð ok vatn, Rb. 334; grafa til vatz, Edda (pref.); taka vatn upp at sínum hluta, Vm. 168; þá er vötnin vóru sköpuð, 655. 1; drepa í vatn eða hella á vatni, K. Þ. K.; ef vatn er svá mikit at þar má barn í hylja, N. G. L. i. 363.

2. phrases; ausa vatni, to besprinkle infants with water, see ausa I. 2. β; to which add, þar stendr þú, Özorr, kvað Helgi, ok mun ek ekki við þér sjá, þvíat þú jóst mik vatni, Dropl. 25; mærin var vatni ausin ok þetta nafn gefit, Nj. 25: ganga til vatns, to go to the water, to go to the ‘trapiza,’ q. v., of washing before meals, Ld. 296: þá er sól gengr at vatni. when the sun goes into the water, sets in the sea, K. Þ. K. 96; sér ekki högg á vatni, a blow in the water is not seen, of a useless effort: á vatni, afloat, Fas. ii. 532; svá skjótt, at ekki tók á vatni, Fms. vii. 344.

3. of tears; halda ekki vatni, could not forbear weeping, Fms. vi. 236 (in a verse), viii. 232.

II. a lake; [cp. North. E. Derwent-water, etc.]; uppí vatnið Væni, Fms. vi. 333; lét flytja sik út í vatn eitt, ok leyndisk þar í hólma nökkurum, i. 66; er í norðanverðum flóanum vatn þat er nes liggr í, Ísl. ii. 345; til vatz þess er Á en Helga fellr ór, Ó. H. 163; sjór eða vatn, a sea or lake, Edda.

III. streams, waters, esp. in plur. of large streams; hnigu heilög vötn af Himin-fjöllum, Hkv. 1. 1; þaðan eigu vötn öll vega, Gm.; þar er djúpt vatn ( deep water) er umhverfis, Grág. ii. 131; geysask vötn at þeim með forsfalli … vötnin flutu um völluna alla, Ó. H. 164; brúar um ár eða vötn, Grág. i. 149; vötn þau er ór jöklum höfðu fallit, Eg. 133; fjörðr sá er flóir allr af vötnum, Fs. 26; en nú falla vötn öll til Dýrafjarðar, Gísl. 20; fóru þar til er vötn hnigu til vestr-ættar af fjöllum, Orkn. 4.

IV. in local names, Vatn, Vatna-hverfi, Vatns-lausa, Vatns-á, Vatns-dalr, Vatns-endi, Vatns-fell, Vatns-fjörðr, Vatns-nes, Vatns-horn, Vatns-skarð, etc., Landn.; Vatns-dælir, Vatns-firðingar, the men from Vatnsfjörðr, Vatnsdalr, id., Sturl.: of lakes, Gríms-vötn, Fiski-vötn, Elliða-vatn, Mý-vatn, Ólvus-vatn, Landn., map of Icel.; more seldom of rivers, as Héraðsvötn in north of Icel.: Vatns-dælskr, adj. from Vatnsdalr, Finnb. 334, Ísl. ii. 335; Vatnsfirðinga-kyn, -búð, Nj. 248, Ld. 120 (see búð).

B. COMPDS, with gen. vatna-, vatns-, in vellums vatz-, vaz-: vatns-agi, a, m. dampness. vatns-bakki, a, m. a bank, shore of a water or lake, Grág. ii. 355, Jb. 315, Fms. viii. 32, Fas. i. 360. vatns-beri, a, m. the water-bearer, Aquarius in the zodiac, Rb. vatns-blandaðr, part. mixed with water. vatns-bolli, a, m. a water-jug, Am. 35. vatns-borinn, part. mixed with water. vatns-botn, m. the foot of a lake, Hrafn, 11, Fms. ix. 367. vatns-ból, n. a watering-place, well, where drinking-water is drawn. vatns-bóla, u, f. a water-bubble, vatns-bragð, n. a taste of water. vatns-burðr, m. carrying water, Bs. i. vatns-dauði, a, m. water-death, death by drowning in fresh water. vatna-djúp, n. a water-deep, abyss, Skálda 209. vatns-dropi, a, m. a drop of water, Stj. 154. vatns-drykkr, m. a drink of water, Stj. 150, 581, Edda 24. vatns-dæld, f. a watery hollow. vatns-endi, a, m. the end of a lake, Fms. ix. 406. vatns-fall, n. a stream, river; lítið vatnsfall, a small river, Eg. 134, v. l.: of rain, vindr ok vatnsfall, Art. 85. vatns-farvegr, m. a ‘water’s fairway,’ the bed of a river, Grág. ii. 291. vatns-fata, u, f. a water-pail, Fb. i. 258, O. H. L. ch. 96. vatna-flaumr, m. [Norse vand-flom], a water-flood, swell of water, D. N. vi. 148. vatns-flóð, n. water-flood. vatna-gangr, m. a flood, Stj. 59, Grág. i. 219, Landn. 251: a fall of rain, = vatnfall, veðrátta ok v., Grett. 24 new Ed. vatns-heldr, adj. water-tight. vatns-hestr, m. = nykr, q. v., Landn. 93, v. l.; but vatna-hestr, m. a good horse to cross rivers. vatna-hlaup, n. floods, a rushing forth of waters, Landn. 250. vatns-horn, n. a water-horn, a vessel for holy water in church, Pm. 6: the end or angle of a lake, and as a local name, Ld., Landn. vatns-hríð, f. a storm, Ann. 1336 C. vatns-íss, m. ice on a lake, Stj. 510, Fms. viii. 398, ix. 367. vatns-kanna, u, f. a water-can, Vm. 86. vatns-karl, m. a water-can shaped like a man; vatnskarl til vígðs vatns, Vm. 21; vatnskarl ok munnlaug, Fb. i. 359, D. N. iv. 457. vatns-ker, n. a water-jug, Stj. vatns-kerald, n. = vatnsker, Fms. i. 127, Vm. 21, Jb. 409, vatns-ketill, m. a water-kettle, Vm. 21, 114, B. K. 83. vatns-kottr, m. a water-insect, in foul pools. vatns-lauss, adj. waterless, without water, Barl. 196. vatns-leysi, n. lack of water. vatns-litr, m. water-colour, Rb. 336. vatns-megin, n. fulness of water. vatns-mikill, adj. swelling with water, of a river. vatns-minni, n. the inlet of a lake, Fms. ix. 394. vatns-munnlaug, f. a water hand-basin, Pm. 60. vatns-ósa, adj. soaked with water. vatns-óss, m. the mouth of a lake connected with the sea, Landn. 207. vatns-rás, f. a trench, water-course, Bs. i. 148, Stj. 593. vatns-sár, m. a font, Vm. 110, N. G. L. i. 327. vatns-skál, f. a water-jug, D. N. vatns-skírn, f. baptism in water, Barl. 116, 144 (vatnz-skírn). vatns-skortr, m. lack of water, Barl. 196. vatns-sótt, f water-sickness, dropsy, medic., Post. vatns-steinn, m. a font of stone, Vm. 110. vatns-strönd, f. the bank of a lake, Fms. viii. 32, MS. 623. 33, Vkv. (prose, vaz-strouds). vatns-stökkull, m. a watering-pot, a vessel or brush for sprinkling water, Bs. i. 464. vatns-tjörn, f. a ‘water-tarn,’ pool, Sks. 682. vatna-tunna, u, f. a water-tub. vatns-uppspretta, u, f. a jet of water, Stj. 646. vatns-veita, u, f. a drain, trench, aqueduct, Grág. ii. 289. vatns-veiting, f. a draining. vatns-vetr, m. a winter of floods, Ann. 1191 C. vatns-vígsla, u, f. consecration of water, Bs. i. 97. vatns-vík, f. a creek in a lake, Fms. viii. 67. vatna-vöxtr, m. ‘water-growth,’ a flood, Bs. i. 138, Grett. 133 A, D. N. ii. 35, passim. vatna-þytr, m. the thud, sound of falling waters, Skálda. vatns-æðr, f. a vein of water, Stj. 29, 205.

C. REAL COMPDS, with the root word vatn- prefixed: vatn-bátr, m. a lake-boat, Jb. 410 B. vatn-beri, a, m. = vatnsberi, Rb. (1812) 65, 66. vatn-dauðr, adj. drowned in fresh water, Grág. i. 223. vatn-dragari, a, m. a drawer of water, Stj. 358. vatn-dragi, a, m. id., Fas. iii. 21 (in a verse). vatn-dýr, n. water-animals, Al. 167. vatn-fall, n. a waterfall, stream; vatnföll deilir: a torrent, stream, í bráða-þeyjum var þar vatnfall mikit, a great torrent, Eg. 766; lítið v., 134; var v. þat fullt af fiskum, Fms. i. 253; svá mikit v. sem áin Níð er, v. 182; deilir norðr vatnföllum til héraða, Ísl. ii. 345; er vatnföll deila til sjóvar, Eg. 131, Grág. i. 440; með öllum vatnföllum, Nj. 265: of rain, fyrir vatnfalli ok regni, Gullþ. 8; vatnfall fylgði hér svá mikit ór lopti, torrents of rain, Gísl. 105, Fms. x. 250. vatn-fátt, n. adj. short of water, Landn. 34, Fms. ix. 45. vatn-fiskr, m. a fresh-water fish, Fs. 165. vatn-gangr, m. a swelling of water, Vápn. 24. vatn-horn, n. a water-horn, as church inventory, Vm. 110. vatn-kakki, a, m. = trapiza, q. v.; gékk hann til vatnkakka ok þó sér, Korm. 24. vatn-karl, m. a jug, Stj. 153, D. I. i. 597, Dipl. v. 18; vatnkarlar fjórir, könnur sextán, iii. 4, Rb. (of the zodiacal Aquarius). vatn-kálfr, m. dropsy; þá sótt er heitir idropicus, þat köllu vér vatnkálf, Hom. 25, 150; hann er góðr við vatnkálfi, Hb. 544. 39. vatn-ker, vatn-kerald, vatn-ketill, n. a water-jug …, Grág. ii. 397, Stj. 311, Nj. 134, Ísl. ii. 410, Fms. xi. 34, Ám. 29, Vm. 35. vatn-lauss, adj. = vatnslauss, Al. 172, Stj. 194. vatn-legill, m. a water-jug, Stj. 128. vatn-leysi, n. lack of water, Al. 173. vatn-ormr, m. a water-serpent, Al. 168; Hercules sigraði v. (the Hydra), MS. 732. 17: a pr. name, Mork. vatn-rás, f. = vatnsrás, Stj. 58, 642. Ísl. ii. 92. vatn-skjóla, u, f. a water-skeel, pail, D. I. i. 225. vatn-staðr, m. a water-place, 655 xxviii. 2. vatn-torf, n. soaked turf, Ísl. ii. 412. vatn-trumba, u, f. a water-pipe, Hom. 131. vatn-veita, u, f. = vatnsveita, a drain, water-trench, Grág. ii. 289, Stj. 498. vatn-viðri, n. = vátviðri, Bs. i. 245. vatn-vígsla, u, f. the consecrating streams and wells, of bishop Gudmund, Bs. i. vatn-ærinn, adj. plentiful as water, abundant; vatnærin hef ek vitni, Sighvat.

I) pers. pron. I;

in poetry and old prose a pronominal k is suffixed to the verb, emk = em ek, vask = vas ek; sák = sá ek; mundak = munda ek; even if preceded by ek: ek sék, ek sitk; a preceding g becomes by assimilation k, hykk = hygg ek; the pronominal k is inserted between the suffixed negative, -a or -at, and the verb, sáka = sá ek-a, I saw not; veitka = veit ek-a, I know not.

II) from aka.

* * *

pers. pron., mod. eg, proncd. ég or jeg; eg occurs as early as in MSS. of the 15th century, Arna-Magn. 556 A; jak, Fms. x. 287, cp. the mod. Swed. form and the mod. Icel. jeg; old poets make it rhyme with ek, as, Halldórr ok ek | höfum engi þrek, Korm. 154 (in a verse), cp. Ld. 108: [Ulf. ïk, but ek on the Golden horn and on the stone in Tune; A. S. ic; Engl. I; Germ. ich; old Swed. jak, mod. jag; Dan. jeg; cp. Lat. ego, Gr. ἐγώ]:—I, Nj. 10, 30, 132, etc.

2. in poetry and old prose a pronominal ‘k or ‘g is suffixed to the verb; em’k búinn annan í at nefna, Grág. i. 103; ek em’k, 623. 56, Blas. 41, Mork. 89, 94, 99, 104, Vþm. 8, Ls. 14, Ad. 1, Post. 645. 33; jók’k, ‘I eked’ ( added), Íb. (pref.); vas’k þar fjórtán vetr, ch. 9; þá er ek var’k á bænum, Blas. 40, Hm. 12; ek bað’k, Post. 645. 54; ek kom’k, Skm. 18; ek sit’k, Mork. 168; ek finn’k, 141; ek nam’k, 73; sá’k, 75; ek sé’k ( video), 103, 168, Fms. xi. 110; mun’k-at ek, Mork. 50; svá ek vind’k, Hm. 156; ok rít’k á þessa lund, Skálda (Thorodd) 166; sjá’k ( sim), Mork. 183: g before k becomes by assimilation k, e. g. hyk’k = hygg’k, Skm. 5: the pronominal k is inserted between the suffixed negative and the verb, ek skal’k-a, hef’k-a, mon’k-a, sa’k-a, ma’k-a, veit’k-a, or skal’k-a ek, hef’k-a ek, etc.: even a double k after a diphthong, siá’kk ( sim), Mork. 89, 134, but chiefly in poetry with the suffixed negative, e. g. ek sé’kk-a: this form is obsolete, whereas the suffixed g (or k) in bisyllables or after a vowel is more freq.; svá at ek fæ’k eigi leyzt mik, Edda 20; er ek vilda’g helzt, Fms. xi. 146; eigi munda’k trúa, Edda 32; ef ek lifi ok mega’k ráða, 34; þá hafða’k bundit með gresjarni, id.; sem önga frægð muna’k af hljóta, 20; sýnda’k bæði þeim ok Sæmundi, Íb. (pref.); þá er ek var heima heyrða’k sagt, Edda 81; er ek aeva kenni’g, Hm. 164; draums ætli’g þér, Hdl. 7; þorða’g, Ad. 1; ræka’g, mætta’g, Stor. 8; sky’t ek ok ræ’k (ræ’g, v. l.), Fms. vi. 170 (in a verse); líkara at ek vitja’g hingat þessa heita, Eg. 319; næða’k (or næða’g), if I could reach, Eb. 70 (in a verse); at ek nemni þá menn alla ok beiði’g, Grág. ii. 317; vilja’k, I will, Ht. 1; þvíat ek ætla’g, Ó. H. 59; ok náða’k svá öllu ríki þeirra, 74; þvíat ek trúi’k yðr bezt, 88; ek setta’k, Mork. 62; flytta’k, 94; geri’k, heyrða’k, 36; mæli’g, 39; ek vetti’g, 175; tefli’g, 186; setta’g, lagða’g, id.; vilda’g, 193; vide Lex. Poët. and the word ‘-at’ [p. 2]: sometimes a double pronoun occurs, g and k, mátti’g-a’k, Og. 32; bjargi’g-a’k, Hm. 153; stöðvi’g-a’k, 151; hversu ek má’k, Fms. vi. 102; vide Lex. Poët. and Frump. 228 sqq.