the least share

* * *

1) stratum, layer;

2) due place, right position;

leggja stýri í lag, to ship the rudder;

ganga ór lagi, to go wrong;

fóru nú brýnn hans í lag, his brows became smooth and straight;

koma lagi á e-t, to put to rights, get a thing into order;

komast vel í lag, to fall into good order;

3) companionship, fellowship;

leggja (binda) saman lag sitt, to enter into fellowship;

4) living together (hann réðst til lags við Beru);

5) cohabitation;

eiga lag við konu, to cohabit;

6) market price, tax;

leggja lag á varning manna, to set or regulate the market price;

7) thrust, stab (with a knife, sword, or spear);

8) air, tune;

9) adverbial phrases:

í tvennu lagi, in two parts, double;

í öllu lagi, in every respect, quite;

í sumu (mörgu) lagi, in same (many) respects;

with compar. or superl., denoting degree;

í meira lagi, considerably, rather;

í fyrra lagi, rather early, among the earliest;

í verra lagi, among the worst;

í hljóðara lagi, rather silent;

í nærra lagi, rather close;

þann dag svaf Unnr í lengra lagi, U. slept that day longer than she was wont;

Helias var í fyrsta lagi spámanna, H. was one of the first of prophets;

í elzta lagi sona hans, among the oldest of his sons;

minnsta lag, the least share.

* * *

n. [leggja], a stratum, layer; vóru þá Varbelgir at taka af þau lög sem eptir vóru brúarinnar, Fms. ix. 512: freq. in mod. usage, e. g. lag í vegg, a layer or course of masonry.

II. metaph. shape, Lat. forma:

1. a laying in order, due place, right position; leggja stýri í lag, to ship the rudder in its place, hook it on, Fms. vii. 47; leggja stýri ór lagi, to unship the rudder, Al. 67; ganga ór lagi, to be displaced, get wrong, Fms. viii. 291; fóru nú brýnn hans í lag, his brows became smooth and straight, of a man frowning, Eg. 306; koma lagi á e-t, to make a thing right, get a thing into order, Fms. xi. 28; hann kvaðsk eigi lagi mundu á koma fyrir næstu vetrnætr, 67; fylkingar hans komask vel í lag, his ranks fell into good order, Al. 142; brugðit er nú lagi ór því sem vant er, i. e. matters go wrong, not as they were wont to go, Grett. 183 new Ed.; nærri lagi, pretty well.

2. companionship, fellowship, in an enterprise of peace or war; leggja saman lag sitt, to enter into fellowship, Orkn. 88; þeir áttu mikit lag við Þveræinga, Lv. 73; bundu þeir jarl lag sitt saman, Fms. i. 20; kom til lags við Sigurð jarl sá maðr er hét Rauðr, 194; þá réðsk til lags með honum Einarr þambarskelfir, v. 4; taka e-n til lags ok félagsskapar, x. 202; hann fór til lags með Sörkvi Karli ok herjaði, Nj. 183: of living together, hann réðsk til lags við Beru, Gullþ. 13; fé-lag, q. v.: cohabitation, eiga lag við konu, to cohabit, Karl. 47, Þiðr. 247, Ver. 27, H. E. i. 247, Fms. vi. 122; taka konu til lags, Bs. i. 852; fylgja e-m at lagi (i. e. not in wedlock), Sturl. i. 94, 97; fá lag konu, Þiðr. 299.

3. market price, tax, as e. g. in Icel. the godi of a district had to ‘lay,’ i. e. set or regulate the market price, Hænsaþ. S. ch. 2; gjalda allt at því lagi sem þar gengr, Grág. i. 213; leggja lag á mjöl, ii. 404; leggja lag á varning manna, Ísl. ii. 126; sagði þann vanda at hann legði lag á varning manna, id.; hundraðs-lag, B. K. 53; fjár-lag, tax, Grág. i. 500.

4. a thrust, stab, Nj. 97, 253, Eg. 231, 379, Orkn. 450, Fms. ii. 94, and passim; see leggja.

5. regular time; árar-lag (q. v.), a boating term, time, stroke; hafðu lagið, keep time! hafa seint, fljótt lagið, kunna ekki árarlagið: so in the saying, allt vill lagið hafa, all things require time and tact, or require to be done in a due manner; ó-lag, disorder; það er allt í ólagi, það er ólag á því:—naut., lag is the lull between the breakers, the nick of time for landing; but ólag, the wrong time, when the breakers are dashing against the shore; one of these waves is called dauða-lag, see the interesting passage in Ísl. Þjóðs. i. 660.

6. [Engl. lay], an air, tune; hétu þeir er bundnir vóru á hinn heilaga Thorlák biskup, at þeir skyldi lausir verða, lögum nokkrum (söngum, v. l.), Sturl. ii. 33: freq. in mod. usage, esp. of hymns, hymna-lag, a hymn-tune, of the Ambrosian hymns; sálma-lag, a psalm-tune; vísna-lag, a song-tune; rímna-lag, a ballad-air: also used of metres, in old metric, Haðar-lag, Edda (Ht.) 140; Togdrápu-lag, 137; tog-lag, 138; Fornyrða-lag, 142; Bálkar-lag, id.; Galdra-lag, 143; Flagða-lag, 245; it is possible that songs composed in these metres were a kind of ‘airs’ accompanied by singing.

II. adverb. in layers; í tvennu lagi, in two layers, double, Fms. i. 156; í öllu lagi, in every respect, in everything, quite, Band. 6 new Ed.; í mörgu lagi, in many respects, Fms. vi. 133, Fs. 123; í sumu lagi, in some respects, Fms. vi. 207.

2. with compar. or superl., denoting degree; í meira lagi, considerably, rather, Þiðr. 80; í fyrra lagi, rather early, among the earlier, Ísl. ii. 126; minnsta lag, the least share, Sturl. iii. 238; í verra lagi, among the worst, Hrafn. 9; í hljóðara lagi, rather silent, Sks. 370; í fastara lagi, Str. 9; í lengra lagi, þann dag svaf Unnr í lengra lagi, U. slept that day longer than she was wont, Ld. 14; í lægra lagi, Stj. 107; í hærra lagi, í fremra, síðara lagi, passim; í mesta lagi, very greatly; sá er í mesta lagi strauma þeirra er á Breiðafirði eru, Ld. 56, Stj. 156; í heldra lagi, Fms. ii. 72, Al. 92; Helias var í fyrsta lagi spámanna, H. was one of the first of prophets, Ver. 29; í elzta lagi sona hans, among the oldest of his sons, Fagrsk. 12; í nærra lagi, rather close, Konr. 3; í flesta lagi, very numerous, Gísl. 26:—sér í lagi, laid by itself, apart, D. N. ii. 93; meðallagi (q. v.), average.

COMPDS: lagskona, lagsmaðr.

B. Lög, only in plur., [prop. what is ‘laid,’ cp. Germ. gesetz, Gr. θεσμός; the Engl. law seems to be a Scandin. word, for Germ. and Saxon use other words; Dan. lov; Swed. lag]:—law; proverbs, með lögum skal land byggja en með ólögum eyða, Nj. 106; svo eru lög sem hafa tog, Kveldv. i. 45: various law phrases, segja lög, to say the law, tell what is law, esp. technically used of the law-speaker who had to read the law in public, and who, in cases of dispute, had to say what was the law; svá er mælt at sá maðr skal vera nokkorr ávallt á landi óru er skyldr sé til þess at segja lög mönnum, ok heitir sá lögsögu-maðr, Grág. i. 1; biskup skal lög segja en eigi leikmenn, Bs. i. 720; hlýðir þat hvergi at hafa eigi lög í landi, Nj. 149; sem ek veit sannast ok réttast ok helzt at lögum, in the oath formula, 232; leiða í lög, to introduce a law; eptir þat leiddi Skapti Þóroddsson í lög fimmtardóm ok allt þat er upp var talit, 151; þú hefir þó mest at gört, segir Gestr, þótt öðrum verði auðit í lög at leiða, 163; taka e-t í lög, id., Bs. i. 158; leggja lög á e-t, id.; dæma e-m lög, Eg. ch. 57; mæla lög, Fms. vii. 142; ræna e-n lögum, Ld. 102; bjóða, festa lög fyrir sik, N. G. L. passim; setja lög, Fms. xi. 75, Fb. ii. 48; halda vel log sín, 76.

II. law community, communion, as also a law-district; þyki mér sem málum várum sé komit í únýtt efni, ef eigi hafa ein lög allir, en ef sundr-skipt er lögunum þá mun sundr-skipt friðinum, Nj. 164; í hverri þessi deild landsins er sitt lögþing ok sín lög, yfir hverjum lögum er lögmaðr, Ó. H. 65; þrælar mínir eru ekki í lögum eðr landsrétt við aðra menn, id.; kaupeyri mun ek fá þér svá mikinn at þú megir ganga í hraustra manna lög, Ld. 254; þóat menn vildi þangat ráðask er eigi vóru í þessum lögum, Fms. xi. 76; sögðusk hvárir ór lögum við aðra, Nj. 164; leiða e-n í lög, to introduce a person as a lawful citizen, naturalise, Grág. i. 357; eru þeir nú leiddir í lög með þeim Jómsvíkingum, Fms. xi. 80; lendum mönnum ok sýslumönnum í hverjum lögum ( law community) sem þeir sjá at bezt ber ok hæfir, Gþl. 56; innan laga várra, N. G. L. i. 7; ef maðr kemr ór lögum várum í fylki annat með bú sitt, 98; en þat görðisk þar, at annarr maðr at öðrum nefndi sér vátta ok sögðusk hvárir ór lögum við aðra enir Kristnu menn ok enir heiðnu, Bs. i. 22: in a geographical sense, almost as a local name, Gulaþings-lög, Eiðsævis-lög, Þrænda-lög, passim:—in nicknames of great lawyers, Laga-Eiðr, Bárð. new Ed.; Laga-Ulfljótr, Þórð. (1860) 94.

COMPDS: lagaafbrigði, lagabeiðsla, lagaboð, lagaboðorð, lagabók, lagabrjótr, lagabrot, Lagabætir, lagadeilur, lagadómr, lagaeiðr, lagaflækjur, lagafrestr, lagafrétt, lagagipt, lagagrein, lagagæzla, lagahald, lagahellur, lagahlýðni, lagakaup, lagakefli, lagakvánfang, lagalauss, lagaleiga, lagalyriti, lagalöstr, lagamaðr, lagamál, lagaorð, lagapróf, lagarefsing, lagarétting, lagaréttr, lagaripting, lagasetning, lagaskilnaðr, lagaskilorð, lagaskipan, lagaskipti, lagasnápr, lagasókn, lagastefna, lagatak, Lagatíð, lagaundanfærsla, lagaúrskurðr, lagavápn, lagavegr.

* * *

1) stratum, layer;

2) due place, right position;

leggja stýri í lag, to ship the rudder;

ganga ór lagi, to go wrong;

fóru nú brýnn hans í lag, his brows became smooth and straight;

koma lagi á e-t, to put to rights, get a thing into order;

komast vel í lag, to fall into good order;

3) companionship, fellowship;

leggja (binda) saman lag sitt, to enter into fellowship;

4) living together (hann réðst til lags við Beru);

5) cohabitation;

eiga lag við konu, to cohabit;

6) market price, tax;

leggja lag á varning manna, to set or regulate the market price;

7) thrust, stab (with a knife, sword, or spear);

8) air, tune;

9) adverbial phrases:

í tvennu lagi, in two parts, double;

í öllu lagi, in every respect, quite;

í sumu (mörgu) lagi, in same (many) respects;

with compar. or superl., denoting degree;

í meira lagi, considerably, rather;

í fyrra lagi, rather early, among the earliest;

í verra lagi, among the worst;

í hljóðara lagi, rather silent;

í nærra lagi, rather close;

þann dag svaf Unnr í lengra lagi, U. slept that day longer than she was wont;

Helias var í fyrsta lagi spámanna, H. was one of the first of prophets;

í elzta lagi sona hans, among the oldest of his sons;

minnsta lag, the least share.

* * *

f., l́g in Edda 68, 85; [Swed. låga; Ivar Aasen log; Engl. log]:—a felled tree, log; l́g heitir ok tré þat er fellr í skógi, Edda 85; l́g, þat er tré, 68; vóru þar fen stór ok höggnar á lágir, Eg. 577; sátu þeir allir samt á einni lág, Fms. i. 179, xi. 64, 332; þá spurði Hávarðr, hverr fell af láginni? Hkr. i. 241; ok því næst koma þeir at lág nokkurri er liggr um þvera götuna, Fb. iii. 376: the word is now obsolete in Icel. or is only used in the sense of

II. pl. lágar, a deep, hollow place; lág and laut are synonymous: the phrase, láta e-ð liggja í láginni, to let a thing lie in the hole, i. e. hide, conceal it.

m. heathen priest; chief (in Iceland during the republic).

* * *

a, m. [Ulf, renders ἱερεύς by gudja (ufar-gudja, ahumista-gudja, etc.), ἱερατεία by gudjinassus, ἱερατεύειν by gudjinôn; an Icel. gyði, gen. gyðja, would answer better to the Goth. form, but it never occurs, except that the fem. gyðja = goddess and priestess points not to goði, but to a masc. with a suppressed final i, gyði; a word coting occurs in O. H. G. glossaries, prob. meaning the same; and the form guþi twice occurs on Danish-Runic stones in Nura-guþi and Saulva-guþi, explained as goði by P. G. Thorsen, Danske Runem.; (Rafn’s explanation and reading of Nura-guþi qs. norðr á Gauði, is scarcely right): with this exception this word is nowhere recorded till it appears in Icel., where it got a wide historical bearing]:—prop. a priest, sacerdos, and hence a liege-lord or chief of the Icel. Commonwealth.

A. HISTORICAL REMARKS.—The Norse chiefs who settled in Icel., finding the country uninhabited, solemnly took possession of the land (land-nám, q. v.); and in order to found a community they built a temple, and called themselves by the name of goði or hof-goði, ‘temple-priest;’ and thus the temple became the nucleus of the new community, which was called goðorð, n.:—hence hof-goði, temple-priest, and höfðingi, chief, became synonymous, vide Eb. passim. Many independent goðar and goðorð sprang up all through the country, until about the year 930 the alþingi (q. v.) was erected, where all the petty sovereign chiefs (goðar) entered into a kind of league, and laid the foundation of a general government for the whole island. In 964 A. D. the constitution was finally settled, the number of goðorð being fixed at three in each þing ( shire), and three þing in each of the three other quarters, (but four in the north); thus the number of goðar came to be nominally thirty-nine, really thirty-six, as the four in the north were only reckoned as three, vide Íb. ch. 5. On the introduction of Christianity the goðar lost their priestly character, but kept the name; and the new bishops obtained seats in the Lögrétta (vide biskup). About the year 1004 there were created new goðar (and goðorð), who had to elect judges to the Fifth Court, but they had no seats in the Lögrétta, and since that time the law distinguishes between forn ( old) and ný ( new) goðorð;—in Glúm. ch. 1 the word forn is an anachronism. It is curious that, especially in the 12th century, the goðar used to take the lesser Orders from political reasons, in order to resist the Romish clergy, who claimed the right of forbidding laymen to be lords of churches or to deal with church matters; thus the great chief Jón Loptsson was a sub-deacon; at last, about 1185, the archbishop of Norway forbade the bishops of Icel. to ordain any holder of a goðorð, unless they first gave up the goðorð, fyrir því bjóðum vér biskupum at vígja eigi þá menn er goðorð hafa, D. I. i. 291. In the middle of the 13th century the king of Norway induced the goðar to hand their power over to him, and thus the union with Norway was finally brought about in the year 1262; since that time, by the introduction of new codes (1272 and 1281), the name and dignity of goðar and goðorð disappeared altogether, so that the name begins and ends with the Commonwealth.

B. DUTIES.—In the alþingi the goðar were invested with the Lögrettu-skipan (q. v.), that is to say, they composed the Lögrétta (the Legislative consisting of forty-eight members—on the irregularity of the number vide Íb. ch. 5), and were the lawgivers of the country; secondly, they had the dómnefna (q. v.), or right of naming the men who were to sit in the courts, vide dómr:—as to their duties in the quarter-parliaments (vár-þing) vide Grág. Þ. Þ. and the Sagas. The authority of the goðar over their liegemen at home was in olden times somewhat patriarchal, vide e. g. the curious passage in Hænsaþ. S. ch. 2; though no section of law relating to this interesting part of the old history is on record, we can glean much information from the Sagas. It is to be borne in mind that the goðar of the Saga time (10th century) and those of the Grágás and Sturlunga time (12th and 13th centuries) were very different; the former were a kind of sovereign chiefs, who of free will entered into a league; the latter had become officials, who for neglecting their duties in parliament might be fined, and even forfeit the goðorð to their liegemen, vide Grág. Þ. Þ. Neither þing (q. v.) nor goðorð was ever strictly geographical (such is the opinion of Konrad Maurer), but changed from time to time; the very word goðorð is defined as ‘power’ (veldi), and was not subject to the payment of tithe, K. Þ. K. 142. The goðorð could be parcelled out by inheritance or by sale; or they might, as was the case in the latter years of the Commonwealth, accumulate in one hand, vide esp. Sturl. passim, and Grág. The liegemen (þingmenn) were fully free to change their lords (ganga í lög með goða, ganga ór lögum); every franklin (þingmaðr) had in parliament to declare his þingfesti, i. e. to name his liegeship, and say to what goði and þing he belonged, and the goði had to acknowledge him; so that a powerful or skilful chief might have liegemen scattered all over the country. But the nomination to the courts and the right of sitting in the legislative body were always bound to the old names, as fixed by the settlement of the year 964; and any one who sought the name or influence of a goði had first (by purchase, inheritance, or otherwise) to become possessor of a share of one of the old traditionary goðorð; see the interesting chapter in Nj. The three goðar in one þing ( shire) were called sam-goða, joint-goðar; for the sense of allsherjar-goði vide p. 17.

C. NAMES.—Sometimes a chief’s name referred to the god whom he especially worshipped, as Freys-Goði, Hrafn., Gísl., whence Freys-gyðlingar, q. v.; (the ör-goði is dubious); more frequently the name referred to the liegemen or county, e. g. Ljósvetninga-Goði, Tungu-Goði, etc.; but in the Saga time, goði was often added to the name almost as a cognomen, and with some, as Snorri, it became a part of their name (as Cato Censor in Latin); hann varðveitti þá hof, var hann þá kallaðr Snorri Goði, Eb. 42; seg, at sá sendi, er meiri vin var húsfreyjunnar at Fróðá en Goðans at Helgafelli, 332. Names on record in the Sagas:—men living from A. D. 874 to 964, Hallsteinn Goði, Landn., Eb.; Sturla Goði, Landn. 65; Jörundr Goði and Hróarr Tungu-Goði, id.; Ljótólfr Goði, Sd.; Hrafnkell Freys-Goði, Hrafn.; Oddr Tungu-Goði, Landn.; Þormóðr Karnár-Goði, Vd.; Áskell Goði, Rd.; Úlfr Ör-goði, Landn.; Grímkell Goði, Harð. S.; Þorgrímr Freys-goði, Gísl. 100, 110:—964 to 1030, Arnkell Goði, Landn., Eb.; Þorgrímr Goði, Eb.; Geirr Goði, Landn., Nj.; Runólfr Goði, id.; Þóroddr Goði, Kristni S.; Þormóðr Allsherjar-Goði, Landn.; Þorgeirr Goði, or Ljósvetninga-Goði, Nj., Landn.; (Þorkell Krafla) Vatnsdæla-Goði, Vd.; Helgi Hofgarða-Goði, Landn., Eb.; Snorri Hlíðarmanna-Goði, Lv.; Þórarinn Langdæla-Goði, Heiðarv. S.; and last, not least, Snorri Goði:—in the following period goði appears, though very rarely, as an appellative, e. g. Þormóðr Skeiðar-Goði (about 1100):—of the new goðar of 1004, Höskuldr Hvítaness-Goði, Nj.:—used ironically, Ingjaldr Sauðeyja-Goði, Ld.

2. goðorð mentioned by name,—in the south, Allsherjar-goðorð, Landn. (App.) 336; Dalverja-goðorð, Sturl. ii. 48; Lundarmanna-goðorð, i. 223; Reykhyltinga-goðorð, 104, iii. 166, 169; Bryndæla-goðorð, Kjaln. S. 402: in the north, Ljósvetninga-goðorð, Lv. ch. 30; Möðruvellinga-goðorð, Bs. i. 488; Vatnsdæla-goðorð, Fs. 68; Fljótamanna-goðorð, Sturl. i. 138: in the west, Snorrunga-goðorð, 55; Jöklamanna-goðorð, iii. 166; Rauðmelinga-goðorð, Eb. 288; Reyknesinga-goðorð, Sturl. i. 9, 19; Þórsnesinga-goðorð, 198: the new godords of the Fifth Court, Laufæsinga-goðorð, Nj. 151; Melamanna-goðorð, id., Band., Sturl. i. 227. Passages in the Sagas and Laws referring to goðar and goðorð are very numerous, e. g. Íb. ch. 5, Nj. ch. 98, Grág., Lögréttu-þáttr, and Þ. Þ. passim, esp. ch. 1–5, 17, 35, 37, 39, 44, 58, 60, 61, Lv. ch. 4 (interesting), Vd. ch. 27, 41 (in fine), and 42, Vápn., Hrafn. ch. 2, Eb. ch. 10, 56, Sturl. iii. 98, 104, passim; for the accumulation of godords, see i. 227 (3, 22), Bs. i. 54; for the handing over the godords to the king of Norway, D. I. i; and esp. article 3 of the Sáttmáli, D. I. i. 631, 632. The godords were tithe-free, ef maðr á goðorð, ok þarf eigi þat til tíundar at telja, vald er þat en eigi fé:, K. Þ. K. 142.

COMPDS: goðakviðr, goðalýrittr, goðaþáttr.

II. = goð, i. e. good genius, in the Icel. game at dice called goða-tafl, with the formula, heima ræð eg goða minn bæði vel og lengi, … og kasta eg svo fyrir þig, cp. also ást-goði.

(-s, -ar), m. poor-law district (in Iceland).

* * *

m.:—this word remains in ‘ the Rape of Bramber’ in Sussex, and is undoubtedly Scandinavian, being probably derived, as Pal Vídalín suggested, from hreppa, and thus originally meaning a share, allodium; it may be that the proper name Hrappr (Landn.) is akin (= a yeoman, master of a Rape?); for the bad sense of that name (= a traitor) is a metonyme, borrowed from the person of that name in the Njála. After the introduction of Christianity, all Icel. was, for the maintenance of the poor, divided into poor-law districts called hreppar, which still exist, being in most cases, though not always, identical with the sókn or parish; and it is remarkable that the district round the Bishop’s seat at Skalholt bears the local name Hreppar, indicating that this division had the Bishop’s house as its nucleus. The occurrence therefore of this name in the Landn. is an anachronism; as probably are also the few instances in which hreppr is used as an appellative in records of the heathen age, e. g. Lv. l. c. It is not known when the division into Rapes took place; perhaps it took place gradually during the 11th century; vera á hrepp, koma á hreppinn, to be or become a pauper. In the Grágás a special section (and as it seems one of the oldest) is called ‘um Hreppa-skil,’ Kb. ii. 171–180; ‘um Hreppa-lög,’ Sb. i. 443–458. Twenty franklins at least constituted a lawful Rape, Kb. ii. 171. (These remarks are partly due to Konrad Maurer.)

COMPDS: hreppadómr, hreppalög, Hreppamaðr, hreppamál, hreppamót, hreppaskil, hreppatal, hreppsfundr, hreppsmaðr, hreppssókn, hreppsóknarmenn, hreppsstjóri, hreppsúmagi.