plain and artificial

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(-tta, -ttr), v.

1) to change, alter (breyta átrúnaði);

refl., breytast; hafa þau eigi breyzt síðan, they have not changed since;

2) to vary; breyta háttum, to vary the metre; breyta hári sínu, to dress one’s hair; réttr ok breyttr, plain and artificial;

3) absol. to condiuct oneself, do, act; munum við báðir í brott komast, ef við breytum svá, if we do so; breyta eptir em, to imitate; breyta til es, to attempt.

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tt, [braut, via], to alter, change: bregða implies the notion of breach, breyta simply denotes change: with dat.; b. farveg (of a river), to form a new channel, Grág. i. 350, Nj. 4, Ld. 158, Fms. ii. 158, Fb. i. 292; flestar Þjóðir þurfa at b. ( transform) nafni hans til sinnar tungu, Edda 14; þá vóru snjóvar miklir ok breyttir (changed, become impassable) vegir allir, Eg. 543, Rb. 262 (where the acc. is wrong;).

β. reflex., hafa þau ekki breyzk síðan, they have not changed since, Fms. viii. 5.

γ. to vary; b. háttum, to vary the metre, Edda 121; b. hári sínu, to dress the hair, Greg. 45; b. málum, to speak rhetorically, dress one’s words, Fms. vi. 392; réttr ok b., plain and artificial, Edda 120; úbreyttr, plain.

II. metaph., absol. without case, to conduct oneself, act, do, behave; ef við breytum svá, if we do so, Nj. 202, Ísl. ii. 181, Fms. i. 150; b. eptir e-m, to imitate, Symb. 15; b. til e-s, to attempt, Grág. ii. 94.

2. in mod. use chiefly in moral sense, to behave, conduct oneself; b. vel, illa, kristilega, cp. breytni, N. T., Vidal., Pass.

1) great-grandmother;

2) the name of the book Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson, c. 1220.

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u, f. a great-grandmother, Rm. 2. 4; móðir ( mother) heitir ok amma (grandmother), þriðja edda (the third is edda), Edda 108: this sense is obsolete.

II. metaph. the name of the book Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson, and containing old mythological lore and the old artificial rules for verse making. The ancients only applied this name to the work of Snorri; it is uncertain whether he himself called it so; it occurs for the first time in the inscription to one of the MSS. of Edda, viz. the Ub., written about fifty or sixty years after Snorri’s death: Bók þessi heitir Edda, hann hefir saman setta Snorri Sturlusonr eptir þeim hætti sem hér er skipat (viz. consisting of three parts, Gylfagynning, Skáldskaparmál, and Háttatal), Edda ii. 250 (Ed. Arna-Magn.); sva segir í bók þeirri er Edda heitir, at sá maðr sem Ægir hét spurði Braga …, 532 (MS. of the 14th century); hann (viz. Snorri) samansetti Eddu, he put together the Edda, Ann. 1241 (in a paper MS., but probably genuine). As the Skáldskaparmál ( Ars Poëtica) forms the chief part of the Edda, teaching the old artificial poetical circumlocutions (kenningar), poetical terms and diction, and the mythical tales on which they were founded, the Edda became a sort of handbook of poets, and therefore came gradually to mean the ancient artificial poetry as opposed to the modern plain poetry contained in hymns and sacred poems; it, however, never applies to alliteration or other principles of Icel. poetry: reglur Eddu, the rules of Edda, Gd. (by Arngrim) verse 2, Lil. 96, Nikulas d. 4; Eddu list, the art of Edda, Gd. (by Arni) 79;—all poems of the 14th century. The poets of the 15th century frequently mention the Edda in the introduction to their Rímur or Rhapsodies, a favourite kind of poetry of this and the following time, Reinalds R. I. 1, Áns R. 7. 2, Sturlaugs R., Sigurðar þögla R. 5. 4, Rimur af Ill Verra og Vest, 4, 3, Jarlmanns R. 7. 1, 5, II. 3, Dímis R. 2. 4, Konraðs R. 7. 5;—all these in vellum and the greater part of them belonging to the 15th century. Poets of the 16th century (before 1612), Rollants R. 9. 6, 12. 1, Pontus R. (by Magnus Gamli, died 1591), Valdimars R., Ester R. 2. 2, 6. 3, Sýraks R. 1. 2, 6. 2, Tobias R. I. 2; from the first half of the 17th century, Grett. R., Flores R. 6. 3, 9. 2, Króka Refs R. 1. 7, Lykla Pétrs R. 4. 2, 12. 1, Apollonius R. 1. 5, Flovents R. 6. 3, Sjö Meistara R. 1. 7, 2. 1, 3. 8;—all in MS. In these and many other references, the poets speak of the art, skill, rules, or, if they are in that mood, the obscure puerilities and empty phrases of the Edda, the artificial phraseology as taught and expounded by Snorri; and wherever the name occurs (previous to the year 1643) it only refers to Snorri’s book, and such is still the use of the word in Icel.; hence compd words such as Eddu-lauss, adj. void of Eddic art; Eddu-borinn, part. poetry full of Eddic phrases; Eddu-kenningar, f. pl. Eddic circumlocutions, Kötlu Draumr 85, e. g. when the head is called the ‘sword of Heimdal,’ the sword the ‘fire or torch of Odin,’ etc.; Eddu-kendr = Edduborinn; Eddu-bagr, adj. a bungler in the Eddic art, etc. The Icel. bishop Brynjolf Sveinsson in the year 1643 discovered the old mythological poems, and, led by a fanciful and erroneous suggestion, he gave to that book the name of Sæmundar Edda, the Edda of Sæmund; hence originate the modern terms the Old or Poetical and New or Prose Edda; in foreign writers Eddic has been ever since used in the sense of plain and artless poetry, such as is contained in these poems, opposed to the artificial, which they call Scaldic (Skald being Icel. for a poet); but this has no foundation in old writers or tradition. Further explanation of this subject may be seen in Ersch and Gruber’s Encyclopedia, s. v. Graagaas.

(gen. dura), f. pl. door opening, doorway (Oddr hljóp út or durunum).

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adj., compar. dýrri, superl. dýrstr, mod. more freq. dýrari, dýrastr; dyröztum, Fb. i. 211: [Ulf. does not use this word, but renders εντιμος etc. by reiks or svêrs; A. S. deore; Engl. dear; Dan. and Swed. dyr; O. H. G. tiuri; Germ. theuer]:—dear:

1. of price, of such and such a price: referring to the weregild, at sá maðr sé vel dýrr, Hrafn. 9; fésætt svá mikla, at engi maðr hafi dýrri verit hér á landi enn Höskuldr, i. e. that there has never before been paid so high a weregild as for Hoskuld, Nj. 189; munu þat margir ætla at hann muni dýrstr gerr af þeim mönnum er hér hafa látizt, 250; dýrr mundi Hafliði allr, Sturl. i. 47: of other things, ek met hana dýrra en aðrar, I put her at a higher price than the rest, Ld. 30; hversu dýr skal sjá kona, how much is she to cost? id.; kaupa dýru verði, to buy dearly, at a high price; þér eruð dýru verði keyptir, 1 Cor. vi. 20.

2. precious, costly; bókina dýru, Fms. vii. 156; skjöldinn þann inn dýra, Eg. 698: enn Dýri dagr, vide dagr, Ann. 1373, Mar. 96; eigi var annarr (gripr) dýrri í Noregi, Fas. ii. 65; því betr sem gull er dýrra en silfr, Ld. 126; dýrar hallir, lordly halls, Rm. 45; enn dýri mjöðr, the nectar, the godly mead, viz. the poetical mead of the gods, Hm. 106; hence dýr-gripr, a jewel.

β. as a metrical term; enn Dýri háttr, the artificial metre, Edda 131: hence the phrase, kveða dýrt, to write in an artificial metre; dýrr bragr, bragar-háttr, an artificial air, tune, opp. to a plain one.

γ. ó-dýrr, common, Lex. Poët., mod. cheap: fjöl-d., glorious, and many other poët. compds: the proverb, dýrt er drottins orð, vide dróttinn.

δ. of high worth, worthy; en dýra drottning María, Mar. 18; Abraham er kallaðr dýrstr ( the worthiest) allra höfuðfeðra, Ver. 12; skatna dýrstr, the best of men, Edda, Ht. 82; Jón Loptsson, er dýrstr maðr er á landi þessu, Sturl. i. 105; at því er at gæta við hversu dýran mann (noble, worthy man) þú átt málaferli, 33; af hinum dýrustum höfðingjum, Fb. l. c.: dýrr is not used in Icel. in the exact Engl. sense of beloved.