serk-

[from Fre cercle]: circle

Earthenware, potsherd

Earthenware, potsherd

(pl. -ir), m.

1) sark, shirt (þú skalt fara í serk minn); hafa dreng í serk, to have a man inside one’s shirt, to be bold and courageous; hamarrinn var svá lítill, at hafa mátti í serk sér, that one could conceal it in one’s bosom;

2) a certain number of skins.

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m., pl. serkir, [Old Engl. and Scot. sark; Dan. sœrk], a sark, shirt; þú skalt fara í serk minn, Fms. iii. 190; s. af sauðar-ullu, 180; serkr eða skyrta, Edda; tók ek hamar ór serk mér, Fms. x. 329; síðar slæðr, serk bláfán, Rm. 26; blóðgan hugðak mæki borinn ór serk þínum, Am. 23; serki valrauða, Akv. 4; hón tekr ór serk sér steina-sörvi mikit, Ísl. ii. 343; hann var svá, lítill af hafa mátti í serk sér, Edda; Gísli vermir höndina í serk sér, Gísl. 29; hafa dreng í serk sér, to have a man inside one’s sark, to be a bold true-hearted man, Fms. ix. 381: messu-s., a priest’s cope, Vm. 156: poët. of a shirt of mail, hring-s., járn-s., Lex. Poët.

II. a ‘timber,’ a certain number, of skins; fjóra tigi serkja grárra skinna, Fms. xi. 325.

(-s, pl. -ir, gen. -ja), m.

1) a bold, valiant, chivalrous man; drengr góðr, a goodhearted, nobleminded man (auðigr at fé ok drengr góðr); ekki þykki mér þú sterkr, en drengr ertu g., but thou art a good fellow; drengir, en eigi dáðleysingjar, gallant men, and no fainthearts; at þú mættir drengrinn af verða sem beztr, that you might get the greatest credit from it; hafa dreng í serk, to have a stout heart in one’s breast;

2) a young unmarried man (drengir heita ungir menn búlausir, meðan þeir afla sér fjár eða orðstírs);

3) attendant (þeir heita konungs drengir, er höfðingjum þjóna);

4) fellow (lætr síðan sverðit ríða á hálsinn á þeim leiða dreng);

5) pole cf. ásdrengr.

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m., pl. ir, gen. drengs, pl. drengir, on Runic stones drengjar; this is a most curious word, and exclusively Scandinavian; it occurs in the A. S. poem Byrnoth, but is there undoubtedly borrowed from the Danes, as this poem is not very old.

1. the earliest form was probably drangr, q. v., a rock or pillar, which sense still remains in Edda (Gl.) and in the compds ás-drengr, stýris-drengr, cp. Ivar Aasen; it also remains in the verb drengja.

2. it then metaphorically came to denote a young unmarried man, a bachelor, A. S. hagestald, N. H. G. hagestolz; drengir heita ungir menn ok búlausir, Edda 107; ungr d., a youth, 623. 22, Post. 656 C. 32, Edda 35; drengr, a youth, Stj. 409; hverrar ættar ertú d., 465; (hence the mod. Dan. sense of a boy); far-d., a sailor.

3. hence came the usual sense, a bold, valiant, worthy man, and in this sense it is most freq. in all periods of the language. Drengr is a standing word in the Swed. and Dan. Runic monuments, góðr drengr, drengr harða góðr, denoting a good, brave, gallant man, a bold and gentle heart; lagði þá hverr fram sitt skip sem d. var ok skap hafði til, Fms. vi. 315; drengir heita vaskir menn ok batnandi, Edda 107; hraustr d., a gallant d., Ld. 50; d. fullr, a bluff, out-spoken man, Ísl. ii. 363; göfuligr d., Bær. 12; d. góðr, noble-minded; auðigr at fé ok d. góðr, Fms. vi. 356; hann var enn bezti d. ok hófsmaðr um allt, Ld. loo; drengr góðr ok öriggr í öllu, Nj. 30; ekki þyki mér þú sterkr, en drengr ertú góðr, thou art not strong, but thou art a good fellow, Lv. 109; drengs dáð, a ‘derring do,’ the deed of a drengr, Fbr. 90 (in a verse): also used of a lady, kvennskörungr mikill ok d. góðr ok nokkut skaphörð, Nj. 30 (of Bergthora); allra kvenna grimmust ok skaphörðust ok ( but) d. góðr þar sem vel skyldi vera, 147 (of Hildigunna): the phrases, lítill d., a small dreng, or d. at verri, denoting a disgraced man, Nj. 68; at kalla þik ekki at verra dreng, to call thee a dreng none the less for that, Ld. 42; drengir en eigi dáðleysingjar, ‘drengs’ and no lubbers, Sturl. iii. 135; drengr and níðingr are opposed, N. G. L. ii. 420: at Hallgerðr yrði þeim mestr drengr, greatest helper, prop, Nj. 76; at þú mættir drengrinn af verða sem beztr, that thou couldst get the greatest credit from it, Gísl. 48: the phrase, hafa dreng í serk, to have a man (i. e. a stout, bold heart) in one’s sark, in one’s breast, Fms. ix. 381: in addressing, góðr d., my dear fellow, Eg. 407: cp. ‘et quod ipsi in posterurn vocarentur Drenges,’ Du Cange (in a letter of William the Conqueror).

COMPDS: drengjamóðir, drengjaval, drengsaðal, drengsbót, drengsbragð.

(gen. Serkja), m. pl. the Saracens; Assyrians, Persians, etc.

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m. pl. [said to be derived from Arabic sharkeyn = Easterlings], the Saracens, the people of Serk-land; used of northern Africa, southern Spain, Fms. vi, vii, ix, Orkn., also in translations of ancient Lat. writers, of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Stj., Al. passim: Serkja-konungr, Serkja-ríki, the king, kingdom of the S., Al., Stj. Serk-neskr, adj. to render the Lat. Punicus, Róm. 324.

(acc. hösvan), a. grey, of a wolf (úlfr hinn hösvi).

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adj., acc. hösvan, with a characteristic v; [A. S. hasu, gen. hasweg and haswig; Engl. hazy; Lat. caesius]:—gray, of a wolf; úlfr enn hösvi, Em. 6; hösvan serk hrísgrisnis, a gray wolf’s coat, Hl., Edda 86; höss örn, a gray eagle, Fms. vi. 159 (in a verse); and höss sverð, a dusky sword blade (or = hvöss?), Lex. Poët.: in pr. names, Hös-kollr, in common pronunciation Höskuldr, the gray Coll; the old form is freq. presented in good MSS., e. g. Arna-Magn. 468, as also in the old ditty, trautt man ek trúa þér | troll kvað Hös kollr, Sturl. ii. 136; but that even in the 13th century the name was pronounced as at the present day is shewn by the pun in the words Höskuld and haustskuld, Sturl. iii. 216. The word is quite obsolete, and does not occur elsewhere in prose.

pl. sörvar, for the root see the preceding word, a lady’s necklace of stones; sörva gefn, sörva Rindr, the goddess of the s., i. e. a woman, Kormak; in prose, in the compd steina-sörvi (seyrvi), a stone necklace; höggr á hálsinn ok brast við furðu hátt ok koni á stein þann í sörvinu, er þokask hafði, Ísl. ii. 364; þat var í forneskju kvenna-búnaðr er kallat var steina-sörvi er þær höfðu á hálsi sér, Edda 68; hón tekr ór serk sér steina-seyrvi mikit er hón átti ok dregr á háls honum, Ísl. ii. 343; hón tók eitt steina-sörvi ok batt um háls honum, Fas. iii. 443, cp. Worsaac, Nos. 90, 397: armour, sörva hyrr, the armour-fire, i. e. the sword, Vellekla.

II. a band of men, sörvar; seven men make a sörvar, Edda 108.

(að), v. to soil;

refl., vergast, to be soiled (kleði hans verguðust).

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að, [A. S. wæreg], to soil; ek hafða hreinan serk, en hennar var vergaðr, Trist. 11; hleypti þrællinn hjá Þórarni, svá klæði hans verguðusk (vörguðust Ed. less correct), Lv. 112.

(-s, -ar), m.

1) thorn (þornar ok þistlar);

2) spike, esp. the tongue of a buckle, pin of a brooch (þorni n í belti);

3) the letter þ.

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m. [Ulf. þaurnus = ἄκανθα; A. S. þorn; Engl. thorn; O. H. G. and Germ. dorn; Dan. torn]:—a thorn; þorna ok þistla, Eluc. 45; með þornum, Greg. 31; þorn ok klungr, Stj. 38, 47, passim; hag-þorn, cp. þyrnir.

II. metaph. a spike; með hvössum þornum, Sks. 419: esp. the tongue of a buckle, pin of a brooch, hón þóttisk taka þorn einn or serk sínum, Hkr. i; þorninn gekk í sundr í sverðfetlinum, Sturl. iii. 163; þorninn í belti þiuu, Pr. 431; poët., þorns þöll, þorna Freyja, Þ;rúðr …, the fairy of the fibula, i. e. a lady, Lex. Poët., and in mod. usage; þorn-reið, þorn-grund, poët. = a lady, Lex. Poët.

2. the letter þorn (see Þ), Skálda 168, Edda ii. 365.

Grammatical information: n.

Meaning: `fence, enclosure, court-yard; fence, net' (Il.).

Compounds: As 2. member e. g. in εὑ-ερκής `well fenced' (Il.); as 1. member in ἑρκο-θηρ-ικός `belonging to the hunt with a net' (Pl. Sph. 220c).

Derivatives: ἑρκίον `fence' (Il., cf. τειχίον: τεῖχος a. o.); ἕρκειος, ἑρκεῖος (after οἰκεῖος a. o.) `belonging to the ἕρκος, court-yard', esp. as surname of Zeus protecting the house, whose altar is in the court (χ 935); ἑρκίτης `a slave belonging to the place' (Amer. ap. Ath. 6, 267c, H.). - ἑρκάνη `fence' (late) from cross with ὁρκάνη `id.' (A., E.), which has o-vocalism like ὅρκος (s. v.); cf. Chantraine Formation 198. Further ἕρκατος φραγμός, ἑρκάτη φυλακή H., Ο῝ρκατος locality in Kalymna (inscr. II^a; cf. Fraenkel Nom. ag. 1, 147); on the suffix cf. ὄρχατος; s. also ἔρχατος.

Origin: IE [Indo-European]X [probably] [912]* serk- `twine'

Etymology: Seems a verbal noun (like τέλος, γένος etc.), but there is no agreeing form. Acc. to Meringer IF 17, 157f. as *`wicker-work' to Lat. sarciō, - īre `twine, restore', prop. *`sew together'; cf. sartum tectum `unviolated, complete', prop. *`twined and covered', sarcina f. `bundle'; to sarciō Hitt. šar-nin-k- (nasalinfix) `restore damage, correct'. - An orig. meaning `twine, wicker-work' is quite possible. Ernout-Meillet s. v. Pok. 912, W.-Hofmann s. sarciō. - On ἕρκος ὀδόντων s. Humbach, MSS. 21 (1967) 24ff. (lips, not teeth).

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