the toe of Orwendel

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f. star; spec. polar star.

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u, f. [a word common to all Indo-Germ. languages], a star, Vsp. 5; heiðar stjörnur, 57, Rb. 110, Stj. 299, and passim. In olden and modern days in Icel., the time in the winter evenings was marked by the position of the Pleiades above the horizon (as that of the day by the sun, see dagr, dags-mark); that constellation is therefore κατ ἐξ. called ‘the Star,’ Þórðr reið Fimmta-daginn um hádegi af Þingvelli en kom til Helgafells Föstu-náttina er stjarna var í austri, on Friday night when the Star was in the east, i. e. was just risen, Sturl. iii. 25; sendi hann Einar djákna út at sjá hvar stjarna væri komin, he sent Einar out to see where the Star was (i. e. to see what the time was), Bs. i. 874; þegar er úthallaði á kveldum, skyldi hann halda til stjörnu, he ‘should keep to the Star,’ ‘keep to the time,’ Lv. 43; so also in the ditty, Sjö-stjörnu spyr enginn að | inn í bóndans garði | hún er komin í hádegis stað | hálfu fyrr enn varði, Eggert. But with sailors ‘the Star’ means the load-star (leiðar-s.), allt norðr undir Stjörnu, north under the Star, to the north pole, Fms. x. 112; þar (þaðan) er stjarna er Hafshvarf heitir á austan-verðu landi, A.A., cp. Symb. 31: ‘stjarna’ also may mean Arcturus; vagn-s. = the ‘wain-star,’ i. e. Arcturus; kveld-s., morgun-s., blá-s., leiðar-s. Northern mythical names of stars, Örvandils-tá, the toe of Orwendel = Rigel in Orion (?), Edda 59; Þjassa augu, the Eyes of Thiassi = Castor and Pollux (?), 47; Loka-brenna = ‘Sirius;’ Reið Rögnis = the ‘Wain of Odin’ = the Great Wain (?), Sdm.

2. a star on the forehead of a horse; such horses are called Stjarni, a, m., and Stjarna, u, f.

II. COMPDS: stjörnubók, stjörnufræði, stjörnufræðingr, stjörnugangr, stjörnuhrap, stjörnuíþrótt, stjörnulist, stjörnuljós, stjörnumark, stjörnumeistari, stjörnurím, stjörnuvegr.