supposed that

* * *

(older form if), conj.

1) if, in case (aldri hefðir þú í borgina komit, ef ek hefða vitat); in poetry generally with subj.; vega þú gakk, ef vreiðr séir (sér), if thou be wroth;

2) = hvárt, if, whether (Egill spurði, ef hann vildi upp ór gröfinni);

3) as a relat. part., sá ef = sá er (rare).

n. doubt; ef er á e-u, it is doubtful; ekki er til efs, at, it cannot be doubted that; útan ef, without doubt.

* * *

A. neut. subst., older form if, Barl. 114, 124, Hkv. l. c., Vellekla l. c., Hkv. Hjörv. 33:—doubt, used in plur., hver sé if, what doubt can there be? Vellekla: it still remains in the phrase, mér er til efs, I doubt; en þar sem ef er á, wherever it is doubtful, K. Á. 28; hvervetna þar sem ef er á nokkuru máli, 204; ekki er til efs, at þeir menn ríða at grindhliði, it cannot be doubted, that…, Lv. 19; sæmilig til efs, dubiously good, rather had, Vm. 55; utan ef, without doubt, Fms. vii. 37, Stj. 421; fyrir utan allt ef, H. E. i. 519, Barl. l. c.

B. conj. [Goth. ibai; A. S. and Scot. gif; Engl. if; O. H. G. ipu; Germ. ob; lost in Swed. and Dan.]:—if, in case; en ef þit eigit erfingja, Nj. 3; ef eigi ( unless) væri jafnhugaðr sem ek em, 264; ef þú átt þrjár orrostur við Magnús konung, Fms. vi. 178; ef hann er varmr, if he is warm, 655 xxx. 1: very freq. as a law term = in case that, Grág., N. G. L.; en ef þeir gjalda eigi, þá, i. 127; en ef (MS. en) þeir vilja eigi festa, id.

β. in poetry often with subj. (as in Engl.); inn þú bjóð, ef Eiríkr sé, if it be Eric, bid him come in, Em. I: nálgastu mik, ef þú megir, if thou may’st, Gm. 53; vega þú gakk, ef þú reiðr sér, if thou be wroth, Ls. 15; ef Gunnars missi, Akv. 11; ef hann at yðr lygi, Am. 31; ef sér geta mætti, Hm. 4; heilindi sitt ef maðr hafa nái (better than nair), 67: ellipt. passages where ‘if’ is omitted, but the subj. retained, v. Lex. Poët.; skór er skapaðr illa eðr skapt sé rangt (= ef skapt sé rangt), Hm. 127; but indic. sometimes occurs, ef hann freginn erat, 30; ef þitt æði dugir (indic.) ok þú Vafþrúðnir vitir (subj.), Vþm. 20: in prose the subj. is rare, and only in peculiar cases, e. g. nú munu vér á þá hættu leggja, ef (if, i. e. granted, supposed that) ek ráða ok binda ek við hann vináttu, Fms. iv. 82; ok bæta um þat, ef konunginum hafi yfirgefizt, xi. 283; þat var háttr Erlings, ef úvinir hans kæmi fyrir hann, vii. 319; en skotið á þá, ef þeir færi nær meginlandi, viii. 419; ef ek lifi ok mega’k ráða, Edda 34.

II. if, whether, Germ. ob, with indic. or subj.; sjá nú, ef Jakob leysir hann af þessum böndum, 655 xxx. 3; þá spyrr Frigg, ef sú kona vissi, then Frigg asks, if the woman knew, Edda 37; hann kom opt á mál við konung, ef hann mundi vilja bæta Þórólf, Eg. 106; Egill spurði, ef hann vildi upp ór gröfinni, 234; at Bölverki þeir spurðu, ef hann væri með böndum kominn, Hm. 109; hitt vil ek fyrst vita, ef þú fróðr sér, Vþm. 6; vittu ef þú hjálpir, see if thou canst help, Og. 5:—this sense is now obsolete, and ‘hvárt’ (hvort) is used

adv. and prep. with dat.

1) near, in the vicinity (of);

nær eða fjarri, near or far;

nær staddr, present;

brautu nær, near the road;

nær því sem, neara the place where (þar í nesinu, nær því sem þingit hafði verit);

þar nær, in the vicinity (sveinarnir hlaupa til skógar, er þar var nær);

2) towards, of time (nær aptni, morni);

3) nearly;

nær átta tigir manna or nær átta tigum manna, nearly eighty men;

þar kómu menn af nær öllum löndum, almost from all countries;

nær viku munu við dveljast, we shall stay nearly a week;

4) in accordance with, in conformity to (nær ætla ek þat lögum Íra);

5) near the truth (máttu nú nær gæta, hvar beina okkarra er at leita);

6) compar., nearer = nærr( ver eigi nær honum en mál nemi); fitter (væri nær miklu, at);

7) adv., when, = hve nær (nær skal mér þat ömbuna? sagði B.);

B. spurði, nær þeir mundu aptr koma, when they would be coming back.

* * *

adv. used both as positive and comparative of ná-, q. v.; superl. næst; mod. usage makes nær the comparative, nærri the positive, cp. fjar, fjarri, firr, which are analogous: [A. S. and Engl. near; Scot. nar; Dan. nær]:—near:

I. as positive, with dat., brautu nær, near the road, Hm. 71; hjarta nær, 94; borgum nær, Sighvat; nær Heiðabý, Fms. vi. 64 (in a verse); vera nær e-u, to be present at; hvergi nær, nowhere near; vóru þá búendr hvergi nær komnir, Ó. H. 210, Eg. 111, Grág. i. 69; nær eða fjarri, nigh or far, Fms. viii. 346:—nær aptni, near night, towards night, Hm. 97; nær morni, 100:—near, according to, nær ætla ek þat lögum Íra, Ld. 76; er þat nær þínu skapi, Nj. 24.

2. metaph. near, close, sharp; sem þú mátt vánu nær ( probably) vita, Sks. 183 B; geta þess sumir til, at þú munir þér þetta eigi nær ætla, folks say that it comes not from thy heart, Fms. xi. 280; Sigurðr þótti nær sér taka þetta bragð, it was cleverly done, vii. 219; cp. taka e-ð nærri sér, to overstrain one’s powers; hann hefir tekið nærri sér, … ok var nær hverjum vænna horfði, it was a drawn game, Nj. 45; e-m verðr nær stýrt, to have a narrow escape, Fms. v. 266; nær meir, more near to, Hom. 159; engi skal nær meir göra en, Gþl. 456.

3. adv. nearly, almost; nær þrjátigi manna, Grett. 95 B; nær tuttugu, Eg. 37; níu hundruð eðr nær því, Fms. i. 109, Rb. 466; nær hundraði vetra, Landn. 322; nær tveggja manns-vaxta, Fas. ii. 508; siðaðr nær betr en, almost better than, Fms. i. 242; nær af öllum löndum, Ld. 28.

II. compar. nearer; nær kirkju eða firr, K. Þ. K.; nær vetfangi, Grág. ii. 43; ver eigi nær honum en mál nemi, Fms. iv. 28: temp., eigi nær vár-þingi en …, Grág. i. 100; eigi nær páskum en …, 324: metaph. nearer to, þess firr var er þeir gengu nær, Ld. 322.

2. fitter; væri nær miklu, at …, Valla L. 218; miklu er þetta nær, en …, Þórð. 49, Nj. 37; nær er nú aptr at hverfa en fyrr, Fms. vi. 155: in mod. usage, iron., þér er nær at þegja, it will be better for thee to hold thy tongue; þér var nær að vera kyr!

B. Adv. and conj. [Dan. naar], when; hafðú njósn af nær þeir koma, Nj. 5; halda vörð á nær tími mundi vera at hitta konung, Eg. 420; göra orð nær líkast væri at veita atför jarli, Fms. i. 54; kveða á nær hón varð léttari, Grág. i. 349; nær þeir ( supposed that) auka jömnu, ii. 257.

* * *

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.

a. pleasant (frýnlooking), inviting (only with negative, cf. úfrýnn).

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or frýniligr, adj.; this word is never used but as compounded with the prefix ú- (except Fas. ii. 351 in a bad and late Saga), viz. ú-frýnn or ú-frýniligr = frowning. The sense as well as the etymology of frýnn is somewhat dubious; there is the Germ. fron or frohn or fran; but that word seems purely German and is by Grimm supposed to be qs. fro min = my lord (vide Hel.); neither does Icel. frýnn or Germ. frohn correspond properly as to the root vowel (cp. e. g. Germ. lohn = Icel. laun): on the other hand there is the Engl. frown, which in form answers to the simple frýnn, but in sense to the compd ú-frýnn; as no similar word is found in A. S. (nor in Germ. nor in Hel.), frown is most likely a Scandin. word; and we suppose that the Icel. prefix syllable ú- is not in this instance = un-, that is to say, negative, but = of-, that is to say, intensive (= too, very, greatly); the original forms of-frýnn, of-frýniligr were contr. and assimilated into ófrýnn, ófrýniligr, meaning very frowning, and these compds then superseded the primitive simple word: this is confirmed by the freq. spelling in MSS. with ‘ of-’ e. g. ofrynn, Ó. H. 144; all-ofrynn, Eg. Cod. Wolph.; heldr ofrynn, Ó. H. 167; but yet more freq. with ‘ú-’ e. g. Orkn. 440, Boll. 358, Fær. 50, Fms. i. 40, Fb. i. 73; the ekki frýnn, Fas. l. c., is again a variation of úfrýnn: the statement by Björn that frýnn is = bland, affable, is a mere guess by inference from the compd.

(dat. Óðni), m. Odin.

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m., dat. Óðni; [A. S. Wodan; O. H. G. Wodan, in the Old High German song Phol ende Wodan vuoron zi holza; in the Norse the w is dropped, whence Odinn]:—Odin, Wodan, the name of the founder of the ancient Northern and Teutonic religion, who was afterwards worshipped as the supreme god, the fountain-head of wisdom, the founder of culture, writing, and poetry, the progenitor of kings, the lord of battle and victory; so that his name and that of Allföðr (Allfather, the father of gods and men) were blended together. For Odin as an historical person see esp. Yngl. S., the first chapters of which were originally written by Ari the historian, who himself traced his pedigree back to Odin. For the various tales of Odin as a deity see the Edda and the old poems; for the legends explaining how Odin came by his wisdom, how he was inspired, how he pawned his eye in the well of Mimir, see Vsp. 22; how he hung in the world-tree Yggdrasil, Hm. 139 sqq.; and the most popular account, how he carried away the poetical mead from the giant Suptung, etc., see Hm. 104–110. and Edda 47–49; for his travelling in disguise in search of wisdom among giants and Norns, Vþm., Gm., Vsp. For Odin’s many names and attributes see Edda (Gl.) The greatest families, the Ynglings in Sweden, Skjöldungs in Denmark, and the Háleygir in Norway, traced their pedigrees back to Odin, see the poems Ýt., Ht., Langfeðgatal. In translations from the Latin, Odin was, strangely enough, taken to represent Mercury; thus, kölluðu þeir Pál Óðin, en Barnabas Þór, they called Paul Odin, but Barnabas they called Thor, is an ancient rendering of Acts xiv. 12, cp. Clem., Bret., and passim. This seems to have originated with the Romans themselves; for Tacitus says, ‘deorum maxime Mercurium colunt,’ by which he can only mean Wodan; the Romans may have heard the German tales of Wodan’s wonderful travels, his many assumed names and disguises, his changes of shape, his eloquence, his magical power,—tales such as abound in the Edda,—and these might make the Romans think of the Greek legends of Hermes: accordingly, when the planetary week days were adopted from the Lat., ‘dies Mercurii’ was rendered into A. S. by Wodansdäg, in Engl. Wednesday, in Dan. Onsdag, in Norse Óðins-dagr, Orkn. 386, Fms. ix. 282: Óðins-nótt, f. Wednesday night, N. G. L. i. 17. Óðins-hani, a, m. a bird, tringa hyperborea, or the phalaropus cinereus, or the red phalarope, see Fjölnir viii, Faber, Edda (Gl.)

II. Northern local names, Óðins-vé, n. the sanctuary of Odin = Odense in Fünen in Denmark, Knytl. S.: Óðins-salr, m. in Norway. Munch’s Norg. Beskr. 79: Óðins-lundr, m. Odin’s grove. In a single instance Athens is rendered by Óðins-borg, and the Athenians by Óðins-borgar-menn, Post. 645. 90; the name can only have been formed from the Greek name pronounced with the th sound, perhaps by the Northmen at Constantinople, who may have associated the name, thus sounded, with Odin’s supposed travels from the east to Sweden, and his halts at various places, which were afterwards called after him, as recorded in Yngl. S. As a pr. name, Othen villicus, Dipl. Arna-Magn. (Thorkelin) i. 23; Oden Throndsson, D. N. iv. 756, 764; Ódin-dís, f., Baut., but very rare. It is noteworthy that the name of Odin is, in the old poets, hardly ever used as appellative in poët. circumlocutions of a ‘man;’ málm-Óðinn is a απ. λεγ. = warrior.

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(veg; vá, vágum; veginn), v.

1) to lift (hann vegr heyit upp á herðar sé); v. e-n á bál, to lift one on the funeral fire; v. e-n ór skógi, to inlaw one;

2) to weigh (verðum vér at leita at skálum, ok v. hringinn); fig., skal yðr engi vera traustari vin, þott þér vegit þat lífit, though ye esteem it little;

3) to weigh, be of weikht (hvert haglkorn vá eyri);

4) to fence, fight (smite) with a weapon (hann vá svá skjótt með sverði, at þrú þóttu á lopti at sjá);

5) v. at e-m, to attack one, fight against one (ungr skal at ungum vega);

6) to gain by fighting; v. sigr, to gain the victory; v. sigr á e-m, to overcome, beat, vanquish; v. til landa, to win land weapon in hand;

7) to smite, slay, kill; v. mann, v. víg, to slay a man;

8) refl., þat sverð, er sjálft mun vegast, the sword that will fight of itseff; vást meirr á hlut Grikkja, the Greeks lost more men; recipr., vegast, to slay one another.

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pres. veg; pret. vá, vátt, vá (later vó); subj. vægi; part. veginn; with neg. suff. vegr-a, Hm. 10. In N. G. L. it is often spelt with i, viga, vigr, viginn: [Goth. wigan is supposed from ga-wigan = σαλεύειν, Luke vi. 38; O. H. G. wegan; Germ. wägen; cp. Lat. vehere; Goth. and A. S. wagjan, and Engl. wag and weigh, in the phrase ‘to weigh anchor,’ are derivatives]:—prop. to move, carry, lift, as by a lever; hann vegr heyit upp á herðar sér, Fb. i. 523; vágu þeir upp með (forkinum) bálit, Fms. vi. 405; hann vegr hann upp (á atgeirinum), Nj. 84; þeir höfðu til vegr (i. e. vögur) ok vágu skútuna fram af berginu, Fms. viii. 430; þerra hey sín en eigi á brott at vega eðr færa, Grág. (Kb.) ii. 107; öngullinn vá í góminn, Edda 36; en er lokit var at sjóða vá Narfi upp mörbjúga, Korm. 34: vega á bál, to lift on the bale fire, Vtkv.; vágum ór skógi þanns vildum syknan, Am. 97; var ek þrimr verum vegin at húsi, Gh. 10; vegnest verra vegra hann velli at, Hm. 10.

II. to weigh; vega þeir haglkomin … ok vágu þeir í skálum, Fms. xi. 143; vá Halli sér þá þrjár merkr, vi. 372; þat er vegit sem reitt er, Sd. 155; eyrir veginn, Grág.; sex merkr vegnar, Orkn.; þrjá penninga silfrs vegna, Hkr. i. 185; mörk vegin brends silfrs, and so passim; virðr ok veginn, Grág. ii. 369; hann lét vega allan borðbúnað sinn, Fms. x. 147: metaph., skal yðr engi vera traustari vin, þótt þér vegið þat lítið, though ye find it light, ix. 297, passim.

III. neut. to weigh, be of weight; sjám hvat vegi sjóðr sá, Ld. 30; hvert haglkorn vá eyri, Fms. i. 175; vega hálfa mörk, ii. 80; er sagt at eyri vægi hvert haglkorn, xi. 142; þótt þat vegi meirr enn hálfa vætt, Grág. (Kb.) i. 24, Bs. i. 874: metaph., skal ek allan hug á leggja ef þat vegr nökkut, Ó. H. 53; nema yðr þykki minna vega mín reiði, Fms. vii. 141; mér vegr þat lítið, Mag. 11.

IV. reflex., í öllu sem vegask má með stórum vágum ok smám, K. Á. 204, freq.

2. to yield in weight; það vegst vel, or það hefir vegist so and so, it has been of such and such weight.

B. [The Goth. has here a separate strong verb, but in the Icel. both verbs have been amalgamated into one; Ulf. weigan, waih, wigun, = μαχειν; A. S. wigan; cp. víg]. to fence, fight with a weapon; tók sverðit ok atgeirinn ok vegr með báðum höndum, Nj. 96; hana vá svá skjótt með sverði, at þrjú þóttu á lopti at sjá, 29; eiga þeir at vega upp yfir höfuð sér, Fms. x. 360; vega með vápnum, to report to arms, Nj. 139; vega at e-m, to fight against; Þjálfi vá at Mökkur-kálfa ok féll hann, Edda 58.

2. to attack with a weapon, Nj. 63, Grág. ii. 156; hann vaknaði fyrst er menn vágn at honum, Fms. vii. 333; ungr skal at ungum vega, Ísl. ii. 309; vega at flugdreka, Nj. 183.

II. to fight; vega sigr, to gain the day, Fms. viii. 133, Bret. 66; með vápnum má sigr vega, Al. 83; hamingju at vega sigr a sínum úvinum. Fms. i. 218; ást Guðs vá sigr á ( overcame) líkams píslum ok hræzlu, Greg. 21; vega til landa, to win land weapon in hand, Korm.; slíkt sem vér höfum til vegit, gained, Fms. viii. 92.

2. with dat. to forfeit, = fyrir vega, vega landi ok lausum eyri, Hkr. ii. 384; ef hann félli á hólmi þá hefði hann vegit allri eigu sinni, Eg. 495.

III. to smite, slay, slaughter; ef maðr vegr mann, ok varðar þat skóggang, Grág. (Kb.) i. 145; vega á veittar trygðir, Ísl. ii. 491; vega víg, ek hefi vegit víg eitt, Nj. 128, passim; vega í enn sama knérunn, 85; víg þá er þat er vegit, Grág. ii. 89; vegin sök. = víg sök, 20, 41; vega mann or menn, passim; í Hólmgarði var svá mikil friðhelgi, at drepa skyldi hvern er mann údæmdan vá, Fms. i. 80; Kolskeggr vá drúgum menn, … vegr Gunnarr drjúgum menn, Nj. 96, 108; Þorsteinn vá hann þar, Eg. 713; ek vá hann, Nj. 28; þú sitr hjá, en nú er veginn Egill húsbóndi þinn, 97; ef hann er með vápum veginn, 146; hræðisk eigi þá sem líkamann vega, Blas. 48 (Mark x. 28); þú skalt ekki mann vega, the Sixth Commandment.

IV. reflex., ok þat sverð er sjálft vegizk, a sword that fences of itself, Skm. 8, 9; þat [sverðit] vásk sjálft, Edda; vásk meirr á hlut Grikkja. the battle went against the Greeks, they lost the more men, Bret. 74; þá verðr um rætt at mjök hefði á vegizk þeirra lið Sunnan-manna, Ísl. ii. 389 (á-víga); at þegar hafi vegizk á þinn her, Stj. 531.

2. recipr., vegask or vegask at, to fight, slay one another; nú vegask menn at, N. G. L. i. 64; ef þrælar manna vegask, Grág. (Kb.) i. 191; þá vágusk skógar-menn sjálfir, Landn. 323 (App.); miklu eru þrælar atgörða-meiri enn fyrr hafa verit, þeir flugusk þá á, en nú vilja þeir vegask, Nj. 56; nú eru konur þær sjau, er maðr má vegask um sektalaust við konung, N. G. L. i. 169.

1) rugged ground, wilderness;

2) lava field, lava.

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n. [akin to hruni, hrjóna, and hrynja (q. v.), and thus from a lost strong verb jó, au, u; hrjúfr, hrúðr, hreysi, hrjóstr (q. v.) seem all to be akin]:—prop. a rough place, a wilderness, and is used so esp. by Norse writers and in the oldest poems: in Norse local names, Raunen, bare rocks in the sea, as opp. to hólmr, a grassy islet, Fritzner s. v.: a giant is in poetry called hraun-búi, -drengr, -hvalr, -skjöldungr, = the dweller, hero, whale, king of the wilderness, Hým., Hkv. Hjörv., Haustl., Fas. ii. 306.

B. In volcanic Iceland the word came to mean a lava field when cold, a burnt place (not the fresh glowing lava), freq. in the Sagas as well as in mod. usage, Bjarn. 36, 52, Nj. 248, Grág. ii. 282, Landn. 280, Hrafn. 26, Eb. 132–138, Bs. i. 540; um hvat reiddusk goðin, er hér brann hraunit er nú stöndum vér á (Bs. i. 22), the famous words of Snorri in the parliament of A. D. 1000; the place of the alþingi being a burnt out lava field.

II. in Icel. local names freq., Hraun, Hraun-dalr, -fjörðr, -gerði, -holt, -höfn, etc., Landn.: esp. in relation to fields of lava, Borgar-hraun, id.; Berserkja-hraun, Eb.; Beruvíkr-hraun, Bjarn.; Staðar-hraun in Mýra-sýsla; Garða-hraun near Reykjavík, etc.: Ódáða-hraun, the wilderness in the inner part of Icel. (see Ísl. Þjóðs.), which was supposed to be peopled by miscreants and outlaws.

COMPDS: Hraundælir, Hraunfirðingr, Hraungerðingr, Hraunsverjar.

2. as appell., hraun-gata, u, f. a path through a hraun, Bjarn. 36, Pr. 411. hraun-gjóta, u, f. a lava pit or hole. hraun-grýti, n. lava rocks. hraun-klettr, m. a lava crag, Sks. 127. hraun-skeggi, a, m. a hraun dweller, Fs. 155; cp. eyjarskeggi.

☞ The whole of Icel. may be said to be a burnt out lava field, from eruptions previous to the peopling of the country. The following eruptions which have happened since the settlement, beside those of Hekla (q. v.), are mentioned in writers previous to A. D. 1430:—an eruption in Borgar-hraun in Mýra-sýsla about the beginning of the 10th century, Landn. 2. ch. 5; in Ölfus A. D. 1000, Kristni S. ch. 11; in the sea about Reykjanes A. D. 1211, 1226, 1238, 1240, 1422, Ann. s.a.: but esp. in the southern glaciers in Trölla-dingjur A. D. 1151, 1188; in Sólheima-jökull A. D. 1245, 1262; in Síða A. D. 1332; in Hnappafells-jökull A. D. 1332, 1350; in Herðubreið etc. A. D. 1340; in three places in Skaptafells-sýsla A. D. 1362,—the great eruption which destroyed the church in Rauðilækr; in Höfðár-jökull A. D. 1416, see Ísl. Ann. In later centuries the greatest eruptions are those of the Kötlu-gjá in 1755, and esp. the terrible eruption of Skaptár-jökull on the 20th of June, 1783. In this century that of Eyjafjalla-jökull, 1821.

a. red;

jarl setti þá rauðan (= varð rauðr) sem blóð, the earl turned red as blood;

snýta rauðu, to bleed at the nose;

rauðr víkingr = rauðavíkingr.

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adj., rauð, rautt, compar. rauðari, rauðastr, [common to all Teut. languages, although it appears not in Ulf. himself, but in the Skeirings]:—red; rautt klæði, Nj. 35; rauðr hestr, Fs. 67: rautt skegg, Fb. iii. 246; blátt eða rautt, Grág. ii. 13; rauðr sem blóð, Ísl. ii. 220; rautt gull, Þiðr. 187; rautt berg, a red quarry, Bs. i. 830:—phrases, rautt brennr fyrir, ‘red burns afar,’ i. e. there is some hope yet; taldi enn nokkut rautt mundu fyrir brenna, Fms. viii. 34, Fs. 68; snýta rauðu, to spout blood, Fb. i. 412, Karl. 149; falda rauðu, to wear a red hood, to die a bloody death, Landn. (in a verse):—neut., et rauða, the yolk of an egg, Pr. 472:—metaph. bloody. fierce, arch, rauðr víkingr = rauða-víkingr, Fms. xi. 121; see rauðahaf, rauðarán, rauðkinni:—various shades of red, fagr-r. fair-red, Vsp.: dreyr-r., crimson; dumb-r., chestnut-red: dökk-r., dark-red; mó-r., coffee-coloured.

2. in local names, Rauða-mýrr, Rauð-á, Rauði-gnúpr, Rauða-fell, Rauði-melr, Rauði-lækr, Rauði-sandr, Rauða-skriða, Rauða-vatn, Landn., from the reddish colour of bogs and moorlands, which was supposed to be a sign that there was iron in the soil; whence Rauðæ-ingar, Rauð-melingar, Rauð-lækingar, Rauð-sendir, the men from R., Landn., Sturl.: in pr. names, Rauðr, Rauð-úlfr, Landn.

B. COMPDS: rauðbleikr, rauðbrúnaðr, rauðbrúnn, rauðbúinn, rauðdropóttr, rauðeygðr, rauðflekkóttr, rauðfreknóttr, rauðgulr, rauðhárr, rauðklæddr, rauðleitr, rauðlita, rauðlitaðr, rauðlitr, rauðmengjaðr, rauðsíðóttr, rauðskeggjaðr, rauðskjöldóttr, rauðumskjaldi.

f., pl. rúnar: [rún, raun, reyna are all kindred words, and a lost strong verb, rúna, raun, meaning to enquire, may be presumed; the original notion is scrutiny, mystery, secret conversation; Gotb. runa, by which Ulf. several times renders the Gr. μυστήριον and συμβούλιον (once, Matth. xxvii. 1), βουλή (twice, Luke vii. 30, 1 Cor. iv. 5); A. S. rún = a ‘rowning’ mystery, but also = writing, charter; Hel. rûna = colloquium, and geruni = loquela (Schmeller); cp. Old Engl. to rown, Germ. raunen; Gr. ἐ-ρευνάω is also supposed to be a kindred word (Bugge). In Scandin. writers and poets rún is chiefly used of magical characters, then of writing, whereas the derivative word raun means trial, enquiry, and rúni and rúna = a friend or counsellor.]

B. A secret, hidden lore, mystery; frá jötna rúnum ok allra goða segðú it sannasta, Vþm. 42, 43; kenna rúnar, to teach wisdom, Rm. 33; dæma um rúnar ok regin-dóma, Hm. 112; minnask á fornar rúnar, Vsp. 59: saws, segja sannar rúnir, to tell true saws, Fas. ii. 302 (in a verse): a ‘rowning’ speech, vifs rúnir, a woman’s whispering, Bm.; heita e-n at rúnum, to consult one, Gh. 12, Skv. 3. 14, 43; hniga at rúnum, Gkv. 3. 4.

II. a Rune or written character; the earliest Runes were not writing in proper sense, but fanciful signs possessing a magical power; such Runes have, through vulgar superstition, been handed down even to the present time, for a specimen of them see Ísl. Þjóðs. i.435, 436, and Arna-Magn. Nos. 687. 4 to, and 434. 12 mo (Ísl. Þjóðs.pref. ix); the classical passages for these spell-Runes are, Hm. 133 sqq., Sdm. 5 sqq., Skm. 29, 36, Eg. ch. 44, 61, 75, Yngl. S. ch. 7, Grett. ch. 85, N. G. L. iii. 286, 300, Vsp. 59; cp. also the phrase, rísta trénið, Grág., Fs. 56. The phrase in the old Danish Ballads, kaste runer, to throw Rúnes, i. e. chips (see hlaut, hlautviðr), may be compared to the Lat. sortes, Mommsen’s Hist, of Rome, vol. i. p. 187, foot-note (Engl. Ed.), or the Sibylline leaves in the Aeneid.

2. Runes as writing;the word was first applied to the original Northern alphabet, which at an early time was derived from the common Phœnician, probably through Greek or Roman coins in the first centuries of our era. From these Runes were subsequently formed two alphabets, the old Scandinavian (whence again the Anglo-Saxon), as found on the Golden horn and the stone in Tune, and the later Scandinavian, in which the inscriptions in the greater number of the Swedish and Danish stone monuments are written, most being of the 10th (9th?) and following centuries.—A curious instance of the employment of Runes is their being written on a kefli (a round piece of wood) as messages (cp. the Gr. σκυτάλη), as is freq. recorded in the Sagas, e. g. Gísl. 45, 67, Fms. ix. 390, 490, Grett. 154 new Ed., Fb. i. 251 (of the deaf and dumb Oddny). It is doubtful whether poems were ever written in this way, for almost the only authority for such a statement is Eg. 605, where we read that the Sonatorrek was taken down on a Runic stick, the other instances being mostly from romances or fabulous Sagas, Grett. 144, Örvar Odds S.(fine). This writing on a kefli is mentioned in the Latin line, Barbara ‘fraxineis’ sculpatur runa ‘tabellis,’ Capella (5th century). In later times (from the 13th century) Runic writing was practised as a sort of curiosity; thus calendars used to be written on sticks, of which there is a specimen in the Bodl. Library in Oxford; they were also used for inscriptions on tombstones, spoons, chairs, and the like: there even exists in the Arna-Magn. Library a Runic MS. of an old Danish law, and there is a Runic letter in Sturl. (of the year 1241); Runes carved on an oar occur in Fs. 177: a hidden treasure in a chest is labelled with Runes, Fms. vi. 271, Sd. 146, cp. also the interesting record in Bs. i. 435 (sex manna bein vóru þar hjá honum ok vax ok rúnar þær er sögðu atburð lifláts þeirra).

3. the word rún is also, though rarely, applied to the Latin alphabet; ef hann er á þingi þá skal hann rísta nafn hans ef hann kann rúnar, N. G. L. i. 171; or generally, ræki ek eigi hvárt þú rítr ø þitt eðr o,  eða a, ę eða e, y eða u, en ek svara svá, eigi er þat rúnanna kostr þó at þú lesir vel eða ráðir vel at líkindum, þar sem rúnar visa óskírt, heldr er þat þinn kostr, Thorodd 162; þessi er upphaf allra hátta svá sem málrúnar eru fyrir öðrum minum, Edda (Ht.) 121.

III. in pr. names, Rún-ólfr: as the latter part in pr. names of women, Guð-rún, Sig-rún, Öl-rún, Landn., Nj., Bs., Sturl., Sæm.

COMPDS: rúnakefli, rúnamál, Rúnameistari, rúnastafr.