to use obscure phrases (in poetry)

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(fel; fal, fálum; fólginn), v.

1) to hide, conceal (fálu þeir gullit í Rín; þær austr ok vestr enda fálu);

fel sverð þitt, sheathe thy sword;

yrkja fólgit, to use obscure phrases (in poetry);

impers., fal þá sýn (acc.) milli þeirra, they lost sight of one another;

2) fela e-m e-t, to make over, to give in trust or charge to one;

hann fal Óðni allan þann val, he gave all the slain to Odin;

mey frumunga fal hann (entrusted to) megi Gjúka;

fela e-m e-t á hendi, to commit a thing to one’s charge, to commend;

fálu sik ok sálir sínar guði almáttkum á hendi, they commended themselves and their souls to God Almighty;

fela e-t undir eið sinn (þegnskap sinn), to vouch upon one’s oath (upon one’s honour);

fela e-t undir e-m, to put under one’s charge;

er und einum mér öll um fólgin hodd Niflunga, the whole hoard of the Niflungs is in my hands alone;

man hér öll vár vinátta undir felast, all our friendship will depend upon this;

fela e-n á brott, to put one out for alimentation;

fela e-n inni = fela e-n á brott;

sá bóandi, er hann felr sik inni, the man with whom he boards and lodges;

fela búfé inni at e-m, to put out (cattle, sheep) to one to keep;

3) refl. felast, to hide oneself (mörg leyni þau, er felast mátti í);

felast í faðmi e-m, to be locked in one’s arms;

felast á hendi e-m, to put oneself in another’s hands, enter his service (Kolskeggr falst á hendi Sveini Dana-konungi).

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pret. fal, 2nd pers. falt, pl. fálu; pres. fel; pret. subj. fæli; part. fólginn: in mod. usage, pret. faldi, part. falinn, and sup. falið, with weak declension, if in the sense to hide; but fól, pl. fólu, part. fólginn, if in the sense to commend; thus, undir trjánum sig faldi, Pass. 33. 6; einn fyrir engum faldist, 33. 7; but, þá Frelsarinn í Föðurs hönd fól nú blessaðr sína önd, 45. 1; fól and falinn, however, never occur in old MSS.:—[Ulf. filhan = κρύπτειν, θάπτειν; Hel. bi-felhan; O. H. G. felahan; Germ. be-fehlen and emp-fehlen; Lat. se-pēlio contains the same root, properly meaning to hide, shut up: cp. Engl. bury, which really means to hide.]

I. to hide, conceal; allt veit ek Óðin, hvar þú auga falt, Vsp. 22; þú falt fé þitt í svá mikilli þoku, Band. 12; hrís-kjarrit þat er Vaði risi fal sverðit, Þiðr. 69, Gm. 37; fálu þeir gullit í Rín, Edda 76; tóku likit ok fálu þar, Ó. H. 225 (fólu, Hkr. ii. 380, wrongly); ek mun fela yðr her í gamma mínum, Fms. i. 9: barnit var fólgit, Fs. 60, Gullþ. 26; fel sverð þitt, sheathe thy sword, Fms. xi. 348; felðu (= fel þú) sverð þitt í umgörð, 656 C. 4; þær austr ok vestr enda fálu, Hkv. 1. 2; fólgit, hidden, preserved, Vsp. 31; fólginn, hid, Þkv. 7, 8; örlög fólgin e-m, fate hidden, in store for one, Vsp. 36, Akv. 16; fólginn endi lífs, poët. the hidden thrum of life, i. e. death, Ýt. 17.

β. to bury, Ýt. 24; liggja fulginn, to lie buried (in a cairn), on a Runic stone, Rath 178.

2. metaph., hefir þú fólgit nafn hennar í vísu þessi, Eg. 325; fólgit í rúnum, Edda 47; yrkja fólgit, to use obscure phrases (in poetry), 110.

3. impers., fal þá sýn (acc.) milli þeirra, they lost sight of one another, with the notion of a hill or object coming between, Ó. H. 182; þegar er sýn fal í milli þeirra Egils, Eg. 545.

4. the phrase, fela e-n á brott (= in mod. usage koma e-m fyrir), to put one out (for alimentation), of one sick or old, a child, etc., Grág. i. 155; or, fela e-n inni, id.; sá bóandi er hann felr sik inni, the husbandman with whom he boards and lodges, 158; ef sá maðr andask er fólginn var inni, 155: of cattle, to put out to keep, nú felr maðr búfé inni at manni at fúlgu-mála réttum, N. G. L. i. 25; hence fúlga, q. v. = meðgjöf.

II. to give into one’s keeping, entrust; hann fal Óðni allan þann val, he gave all the slain to Odin, Fas. i. 454; mey frumunga fal hann ( entrusted to) megi Gjúka, Skv. 3. 4: to invest, auð hefi ek minn ílla fólginn, Fms. vii. 49 (in a verse).

β. in the phrase, fela e-m e-t á hendi (mod. á hendr); þér fel ek á hendi, Skarphéðinn, at hefna bróður þíns, Nj. 154; fal hón sik ok allt sitt föruneyti á hendr lifanda Guði, Fms. i. 226; Kristi á hendi fólgin, 655 xxiii; fel’k þér á hendi ábyrgð hans at öllu, Grág. i. 245; fálu sik ok sálur sínar Guði Almáttkum á hendi, Bs. i. 139; at Jón Loptsson fæli Petri postula á hendi þá hjörð … en Jesus Kristr fal sína hjörð á hendr Föður sínum, 145; fela undir e-m, to put under one’s charge; er und einum mér öll um fólgin hodd Niflunga, i. e. all the hoard of Niflung is kept by me only, Akv. 26; fela ván sína alla undir Guði, 686 B. 2; mun hér öll vár vinátta undir felask, all our friendship will depend upon this, Eb. 130: a law term, skulu þeir fela undir eið sinn, they shall avouch it on their oath, Grág. i. 9; fela undir þegnskap sinn, to vouch upon one’s honour; þó rangt sé undir þegnskap fólgit, 33.

III. reflex. to hide oneself; ek mun felask, Fs. 48: hann falsk í Kröflu-helli, Landn. 183; mörg leyni þau er felask mátti í, Fms. x. 218; í skógi þar er þeir höfðu fólgizk, Ó. H. 152; en fálusk at degi, id.; felask í faðmi e-m, to be shut in one’s arms, Hkv. 2. 27.

2. felask á hendi e-m, to put oneself in another’s hands, enter his service; Kolskeggr falsk á hendi Sveini Dana-konungi, Nj. 121.

1) great-grandmother;

2) the name of the book Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson, c. 1220.

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u, f. a great-grandmother, Rm. 2. 4; móðir ( mother) heitir ok amma (grandmother), þriðja edda (the third is edda), Edda 108: this sense is obsolete.

II. metaph. the name of the book Edda, written by Snorri Sturluson, and containing old mythological lore and the old artificial rules for verse making. The ancients only applied this name to the work of Snorri; it is uncertain whether he himself called it so; it occurs for the first time in the inscription to one of the MSS. of Edda, viz. the Ub., written about fifty or sixty years after Snorri’s death: Bók þessi heitir Edda, hann hefir saman setta Snorri Sturlusonr eptir þeim hætti sem hér er skipat (viz. consisting of three parts, Gylfagynning, Skáldskaparmál, and Háttatal), Edda ii. 250 (Ed. Arna-Magn.); sva segir í bók þeirri er Edda heitir, at sá maðr sem Ægir hét spurði Braga …, 532 (MS. of the 14th century); hann (viz. Snorri) samansetti Eddu, he put together the Edda, Ann. 1241 (in a paper MS., but probably genuine). As the Skáldskaparmál ( Ars Poëtica) forms the chief part of the Edda, teaching the old artificial poetical circumlocutions (kenningar), poetical terms and diction, and the mythical tales on which they were founded, the Edda became a sort of handbook of poets, and therefore came gradually to mean the ancient artificial poetry as opposed to the modern plain poetry contained in hymns and sacred poems; it, however, never applies to alliteration or other principles of Icel. poetry: reglur Eddu, the rules of Edda, Gd. (by Arngrim) verse 2, Lil. 96, Nikulas d. 4; Eddu list, the art of Edda, Gd. (by Arni) 79;—all poems of the 14th century. The poets of the 15th century frequently mention the Edda in the introduction to their Rímur or Rhapsodies, a favourite kind of poetry of this and the following time, Reinalds R. I. 1, Áns R. 7. 2, Sturlaugs R., Sigurðar þögla R. 5. 4, Rimur af Ill Verra og Vest, 4, 3, Jarlmanns R. 7. 1, 5, II. 3, Dímis R. 2. 4, Konraðs R. 7. 5;—all these in vellum and the greater part of them belonging to the 15th century. Poets of the 16th century (before 1612), Rollants R. 9. 6, 12. 1, Pontus R. (by Magnus Gamli, died 1591), Valdimars R., Ester R. 2. 2, 6. 3, Sýraks R. 1. 2, 6. 2, Tobias R. I. 2; from the first half of the 17th century, Grett. R., Flores R. 6. 3, 9. 2, Króka Refs R. 1. 7, Lykla Pétrs R. 4. 2, 12. 1, Apollonius R. 1. 5, Flovents R. 6. 3, Sjö Meistara R. 1. 7, 2. 1, 3. 8;—all in MS. In these and many other references, the poets speak of the art, skill, rules, or, if they are in that mood, the obscure puerilities and empty phrases of the Edda, the artificial phraseology as taught and expounded by Snorri; and wherever the name occurs (previous to the year 1643) it only refers to Snorri’s book, and such is still the use of the word in Icel.; hence compd words such as Eddu-lauss, adj. void of Eddic art; Eddu-borinn, part. poetry full of Eddic phrases; Eddu-kenningar, f. pl. Eddic circumlocutions, Kötlu Draumr 85, e. g. when the head is called the ‘sword of Heimdal,’ the sword the ‘fire or torch of Odin,’ etc.; Eddu-kendr = Edduborinn; Eddu-bagr, adj. a bungler in the Eddic art, etc. The Icel. bishop Brynjolf Sveinsson in the year 1643 discovered the old mythological poems, and, led by a fanciful and erroneous suggestion, he gave to that book the name of Sæmundar Edda, the Edda of Sæmund; hence originate the modern terms the Old or Poetical and New or Prose Edda; in foreign writers Eddic has been ever since used in the sense of plain and artless poetry, such as is contained in these poems, opposed to the artificial, which they call Scaldic (Skald being Icel. for a poet); but this has no foundation in old writers or tradition. Further explanation of this subject may be seen in Ersch and Gruber’s Encyclopedia, s. v. Graagaas.