saddle thy black steed

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f. bait, esp. for fish.

(-tta, -ttr), v.

1) to ‘cause to bite’, graze, with the animals in dat. (beita nautum), the pasture in acc. (beita haga, land, engi);

absol. to pasture cattle (beita í skógi);

beita upp land, to exhaust by grazing;

beita upp ( to consume) engjum ok heyjum;

2) to handle, use a weapon (beita sverði);

3) to hunt or chase (with dogs or hawks);

beita e-n hundum, to set dogs on one;

4) fig., beita e-n brögðum, úlögum, illu, to deal cunningly, unlawfully, badly with one;

recipr., við höfum opt brögðum beizt, schemed against each other;

5) to harness (a horse, &c.) to a vehicle (beita hest fyrir vagn);

beittu enn blakka mar, saddle thy black steed;

fig., beita e-n fyrir e-t, to put one at the head of;

refl., beitast fyrir e-t or e-u, to lead the cause;

6) to furnish (a vehicle) with horses (vagn at beita);

7) to steer or sail near the wind, to cruise (beita þeir í brot, frá landinu);

fengu þeir beitt fyrir Skotland, they weathered S.

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tt, [v. bita, beit, mordere], prop. mordere facere.

I. to graze, feed sheep and cattle; the animals in dat., b. svínum, Grág. ii. 231; nautum, Eg. 721: the pasture in acc., b. haga, Grág. ii. 224, 225; engi, 228; afrétt, 302, 329; land, 329, Eg. 721: absol., Grág. ii. 249: with ‘í’ and dat., b. í skógi, 299: ‘í’ with acc., b. svínum í land annars manns, 231: b. upp land (acc.), to spoil the pasture by grazing, lay it bare; beittust þá upp allar engjar, Eg. 712: with dat., b. upp ( to consume) engjum ok heyjum, Fms. vi. 104.

II. to handle, manage a (cutting) instrument; with dat., b. skutli, a harpoon, Fbr. 144; sverði, a sword, Fms. viii. 96, xi. 270; vápnum, 289.

III. a nautical term, to cruise, prop. to let the ship ‘bite’ the wind; undu þeir segl sin ok beittu út at Njcirvasundum allfagran byr, Orkn. 356; beita þeir í brott frá landinu, Ld. 76; fengu þeir beitt fyrir Skotland, they sailed round, weathered S., Eg. 405; beittu þá sem þverast austr fyrir landit, 161; b. undir veðrit, to tack, Vb. i. 511; b. í haf út, Orkn. 402: metaph., varð jafnan þeirra hlutr betri, er til hans hnigu, en hinna, er frá beittu, who steered away from him, Fms. viii. 47.

IV. a hunting term, to hunt (cp. beiða), the deer in acc., the dogs or hawks in dat.; b. e-n hundum, to set hounds on him; konungr sagði at hann skyldi afklæða, ok b. hundum til bana, Fms. ii. 173, x. 326; beita haukum, to chase with hawks, Fas. 1. 175: to chase, svá beitum vér björnuna, Hkr. ii. 369 MS. B, vide bauta; hann … hafði beitt fimm trönur, he had caught five cranes, Fagrsk. 77, where Hkr. l. c. has ‘veitt;’ svá beitu vér bjarnuna á mörkinni norðr, sagði hann, O. H. L. 70, cp. above; verðr Salomon konungr varr at dýr hans eru beitt, biðr. 231; þeir beita bar mart dýr, hjörtu ok björnu ok hindr, 232: metaph. and reflex., b. e-m, sögðu þeir mundu eigi þeim birni bcitast, at deila um mál hans við ofreflismenn slíka, they said they would not hunt that bear, Ölk. 34: metaph., b. e-n brögðum, vélum, vélræðum…, to hunt one down with tricks or schemes; þykist þér nú allmjök hafa komizt fyrir mik í viti, ok beittan brögðum í þessu, Ísl. ii. 164; vélum, 623; úlögum, Sks. 22; illu, Fas. i. 208: recipr., við höfum opt brögðum beizt, … schemed against each other, Fms. xi. 263; stundum beittust þau velræðum, i. 57.

β. to bait; the bait in dat., the angle in acc.

V. to yoke to, of horse or cattle for a vehicle, the cattle almost always in acc.; þá vóru yxn fyrir sleða beittir, Eb. 172; bjó sér vagn ok beitti hest, Fms. x. 373, Gkv. 2. 18; ok beittu fyrir tvá sterka yxn, Eb. 176, Grett. 112, Stj. 206: with dat., b. hestum, vagni, to drive; but acc., beittu, Sigurðr, hinn blakka mar, S. saddle thy black steed, Ghv. 18: metaph., b. e-n fyrir e-t, to put one at the head of it, Sks. 710: reflex., beitast fyrir e-t, to lead a cause, to manage it, Ld. 196, Fms. viii. 22, Hkr. ii. 168.

VI. to hammer iron or metal into plates, v. beit, f.

* * *

f. bait, esp. for fish.

(-tta, -ttr), v.

1) to ‘cause to bite’, graze, with the animals in dat. (beita nautum), the pasture in acc. (beita haga, land, engi);

absol. to pasture cattle (beita í skógi);

beita upp land, to exhaust by grazing;

beita upp ( to consume) engjum ok heyjum;

2) to handle, use a weapon (beita sverði);

3) to hunt or chase (with dogs or hawks);

beita e-n hundum, to set dogs on one;

4) fig., beita e-n brögðum, úlögum, illu, to deal cunningly, unlawfully, badly with one;

recipr., við höfum opt brögðum beizt, schemed against each other;

5) to harness (a horse, &c.) to a vehicle (beita hest fyrir vagn);

beittu enn blakka mar, saddle thy black steed;

fig., beita e-n fyrir e-t, to put one at the head of;

refl., beitast fyrir e-t or e-u, to lead the cause;

6) to furnish (a vehicle) with horses (vagn at beita);

7) to steer or sail near the wind, to cruise (beita þeir í brot, frá landinu);

fengu þeir beitt fyrir Skotland, they weathered S.

* * *

u, f. bait, Bs. ii. 179, Hým. 17, Edda 38; now esp. for fish, and used in many compds, e. g. beitu-fjara, u, f. the shore where shell-fish for bait are gathered; beitu-lauss, adj.; beitu-leysi, n., etc.