to+see+double

( see syngja), v. to chant double, of two-voiced music.

(gen. skjaldar, dat. skildi; pl. skildir, acc. skjöldu), m. shield;

hafa e-n at skildi fyrir sér, to have another as a shield before one;

bera efra (hærra) skjöld, to have the best of it, to gain the day;

þjóna undir þann skjöld, to serve under that standard;

leika tveim skjöldum, to play a double game;

koma í opna skjöldu, to attack in flank (from the left);

skjóta skildi yfir e-n, to protect one.

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m., gen. skjaldar, dat. skildi; an old dat. in poets skjaldi,—hj aldrs á mínum skj aldi, Eb. 27 new Ed. (in a verse); h aldorð í bug skj aldi, Fms. vi. (in a verse); h aldir fast ok skj aldi, Kormak: plur. skildir; acc. skjöldu, mod. skildi: [Ulf. skildus = θυρεός, Ephes. vi. 16; Dan. skjold; Swed. sköld; common to all Teut. languages: it is commonly derived from skjól, shelter, although the short root vowel and the final d of skild speak against this: ‘skillingr’ or ‘skildingr’ ( a shilling) may be a derivative from ‘skildus,’ from the shape, and from the painted or scratched ‘ring’ on the shields; see below: in fact, an old poet (Bragi) calls the shield ‘the penny of the hall of Odin.’]

A. A shield, the generic name; the special names are, rönd, rít, baugr, targa, lind; þeir höfðu ekki langa skjöldu, Fas. i. 379; góðan skjöld ok þjökkan á hálsi, Sks. 407; skjöld á hlið, Bjarn. 62, and so in countless instances.

II. special phrases; halda skildi fyrir e-m (e-n), to hold one’s shield, as a second in a holmganga, Glúm. 332, Korm. 88; or, fyrir e-n, Ísl. ii. 257; era héra at borgnara þótt hæna beri skjöld, Fms. vii. 116: hafa e-n at skildi, to have another as one’s shield, i. e. seek shelter behind him, Nj. 8; bera efra skjöld, to carry the highest shield, gain the day, Fas. i. 383, Fms. x. 394: þjóna undir þann skjöld, to serve under that shield, that standard, vii. 293; þjóna undir sama skjöld, viii. 109: binda öllum jafnan skjöld, to tie the same shield to all, treat all in one fashion (metaphor from a withy-shield?), Clem. 44: leika tveim skjöldum, to play with two shields, play a double game (metaphor from the red and white shields, see B), Am. 70, Hkr. i. (in a verse): koma í opna skjöldu, to fall into the open (hollow) shield, to attack in flank ( from the left), Fms. vi. 408, Stj. 365, Eg. 295, Fb. ii. 123; rennir sá maðr í kirkjugarð, ok sækir þingat skjöld, and seeks protection there, N. G. L. i. 352; múrr ok skjöldr, Mar.

III. of any shield-formed thing; tólgar-s., a round piece of tallow; also of shield-like spots on cattle or whales: of a white tablet in churches, Vm. 142, 162, 168, Ám. 55, Pm. 17: brjóst-skjöldr, a round brooch.

IV. a pr. name, Nj., Hkr. (of the son of Odin, the ancestor of the Danish kings); Skjöldungar, Edda; Skjöldr Skánunga goð, Fb. iii. 246.

COMPDS: skjaldarband, skjaldarbukl, skjaldarfetill, skjaldarjötunn, skjaldarrönd, skjaldarskirfl, skjaldarsporðr.

B. Remarks on the shield.—A shield was raised as a signal in time of war; a red shield betokened war (rauðr skjöldr, her-skjöldr), a white shield peace (hvítr skjöldr, friðar-skjöldr, a peace-shield); in a battle the red shield was hoisted, Hkv. 1. 33; but, bregða upp friðar skildi, to hoist the (white) shield of peace, was a sign that the battle was to cease; hann lét skjóta upp skildi hvítum, Fagrsk. 6l, Fms. vii. 23; hence also the phrase, bera herskjöld, or, fara herskildi, to harry, overrun a land with the ‘war shield,’ see frið-skjöldr and her-skjöldr (s. v. herr). War ships were lined from stem to stern with a wall of shields,—skip skarat skjöldum, or skjaldat skip; hann kom í Bjarnar-fjörð með al-skjölduðu skipi, síðan var hann Skjaldar-Björn kallaðr, Landn. 156. The halls of the ancients were hung all round with a row of shields, Gm. 9, Edda 2, Eg. 43, see the curious story in Fas. iii. 42. For the shield-wall in battles see skjald-borg. Ancient sayings; nú er skarð fyrir skildi, now there is a gap for a shield, a breach in the fence, of a heavy loss, such as the death of a person, nú er skarð fyrir skildi, nú er svanrinn nár á Tjörn, Jón Þorl.; höggva skarð í skildi e-s, to cut a notch in one’s shield, inflict a severe blow, Orkn. (in a verse). Shields were furnished with a painted or carved ‘ring’ representing mythological or heroic subjects; these rings are the earliest works of Northern art on record, hence come the names rít, baugr, rönd, of which rít points to scratching (whereas Bragi used ‘fá’ = to paint); rauðum skildi, rönd var ór gulli, Hkv. 1. 33. Such shields were a lordly gift, and gave rise to several ancient poems treating of the subjects carved or painted on the shield, such as the famous Haust-löng by Thjodolf, the Ragnars-kviða by Bragi, the two Beru-drápur (Shield-songs) by Egill; these ‘shield-lays’ were afterwards the sources of the writer of the Edda, but only a few fragments are preserved; (cp. the Greek lay on ‘the shield of Heracles,’ and the lay on Achilles’ shield in the Iliad.)

(pl. hundruð), n. hundred; tírœtt h. = 100; tólfrœtt h. = 120; hundruðum, by (in) hundreds; as value, one hundred and twenty ells of the stuff wadmal; h. frítt, a hundred paid in cattle; tólf hundruð mórend, twelve hundred in dark-striped wadmal; hundrað silfrs, ? the silver value of 120 ells (= 20 ounces).

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n. pl. hundruð; the form hund- (q. v.) only occurs in a few old compd words: [Goth. hunda, pl.; A. S. hund; O. H. G. hunt; the extended form in Hel. and old Frank, hundered; Germ. hundert; Dan. hundrede; Swed. hundra; the inflexive syllable is prob. akin to - ræðr in átt-ræðr]:—a hundred; the Scandinavians of the heathen time (and perhaps also all Teutonic people) seem to have known only a duo-decimal hundred (= 12 × 10 or 120); at that time 100 was expressed by tíu-tíu, cp. Ulf. taihun-taihund = ten-teen; Pal Vídalín says,—hundrað tólfrætt er sannlega frá heiðni til vor komið, en hið tíræða er líkast að Norðrlönd hafi ekki vitað af fyrr en Kristni kom hér og með henni lærdómr þeirrar aldar, Skýr. s. v. Hundrað (fine): but with the introduction of Christianity came in the decimal hundred, the two being distinguished by adjectives,—tólfrætt hundrað = 120, and tírætt hundrað = 100. But still the old popular duodecimal system continued in almost all matters concerned with economical or civil life, in all law phrases, in trade, exchange, property, value, or the like, and the decimal only in ecclesiastical or scholastic matters (chronology, e. g. Íb. ch. 1, 10). At the same time the word in speech and writing was commonly used without any specification of tírætt or tólfrætt, for, as Pal Vídalín remarks, every one acquainted with the language knew which was meant in each case; even at the present time an Icel. farmer counts his flocks and a fisherman his share (hlutr) by the duodecimal system; and everybody knows that a herd or share of one hundred and a half means 120 + 60 = 180. In old writers the popular way of counting is now and then used even in chronology and in computation, e. g. when Ari Frode (Íb. ch. 4) states that the year consists of three hundred and four days (meaning 364); the census of franklins given by the same writer (where the phrase is hundruð heil = whole or full hundreds) is doubtless reckoned by duodecimal, not decimal hundreds, Íb. ch. 10; and in the census of priests and churches taken by bishop Paul (about A. D. 1200) ‘tíræð’ is expressively added, lest duodecimal hundreds should be understood, Bs. i. 136. The Landn. (at end) contains a statement (from Ari?) that Iceland continued pagan for about a hundred years, i. e. from about 874–997 A. D. In the preface to Ólafs S., Snorri states that two duodecimal hundreds (tvau hundruð tólfræð) elapsed from the first colonisation of Iceland before historical writing began (i. e. from about A. D. 874–1115): levies of ships and troops are in the laws and Sagas counted by duodecimal hundreds, e. g. the body-guard of king Olave consisted of a hundred hirð-men, sixty house-carles and sixty guests, in all ‘two hundred’ men, i. e. 240, Mork. 126; the sons of earl Strút-Harald had a hundred men, of whom eighty were billetted out and forty returned, Fms. xi. 88, 89; hálft hundrað, a half hundred = sixty, Mork. l. c.

2. a division of troops = 120; hundraðs-flokkr, Fms. vi. (in a verse).

II. in indef. sense, hundreds, a host, countless number, see hund-, as also in the adverb, phrase, hundruðum, by hundreds (indefinitely), Fms. vi. 407, Þiðr. 275, 524: in mod. usage as adjective and indecl., except the pl. in -uð, thus hundruð ásauðum, Dipl. iv. 10.

B. As value, a hundred, i. e. a hundred and twenty ells of the stuff wadmal, and then simply value to that amount (as a pound sterling in English). All property, real as well as personal, is even at present in Icel. taxed by hundreds; thus an estate is a ‘twenty, sixty, hundred’ estate; a franklin gives his tithable property as amounting to so and so many hundreds. As for the absolute value of a hundred, a few statements are sufficient, thus e. g. a milch cow, or six ewes with lambs, counts for a hundred, and a hundrað and a kúgildi (cow’s value) are equal: the charge for the alimentation of a pauper for twelve months was in the law (Jb. 165) fixed to four hundred and a half for a male person, but three hundred and a half for a female; cp. also the phrase, það er ekki hundrað í hættunni, there is no hundred at stake, no great risk! In olden times a double standard was used,—the wool or wadmal standard, called hundrað talið = a hundred by tale, i. e. a hundred and twenty ells as stated above, and a silver standard, called hundrað vegit, a hundred by weight, or hundrað silfrs, a hundred in silver, amounting to two marks and a half = twenty ounces = sixty örtugar; but how the name hundred came to be applied to it is not certain, unless half an örtug was taken as the unit. It is probable that originally both standards were identical, which is denoted by the phrase, sex álna eyrir, six ells to an ounce, or a hundred and twenty ells equal to twenty ounces (i. e. wadmal and silver at par); but according as the silver coinage was debased, the phrases varied between nine, ten, eleven, twelve ells to an ounce (N. G. L. i. 80, 81, 387, 390, passim), which denote bad silver; whereas the phrase ‘three ells to an ounce’ (þriggja álna eyrir, Sturl. i. 163, passim, or a hundred in wadmal equal to half a hundred in silver) must refer either to a double ell or to silver twice as pure: the passage in Grág. i. 500 is somewhat obscure, as also Rd. 233: the words vegin, silfrs, or talin are often added, but in most cases no specification is given, and the context must shew which of the two standards is there meant; the wool standard is the usual one, but in cases of weregild the silver standard seems always to be understood; thus a single weregild (the fine for a man’s life) was one hundred, Njála passim.

2. the phrases, hundrað frítt, a hundred paid in cattle, Finnb. 236; tólf hundruð mórend, twelve hundred in dark striped wadmal, Nj. 225; hundrað í búsgögnum ok í húsbúningi, Vm. 65; hundraðs-gripr, hestr, hross, kapall, hvíla, sæng, rekkja, psaltari, etc., a beast, a horse, a bed, etc., of a hundred’s value, Am. 2, 10, Vm. 25, 39, 60, 153, Jm. 3, 30; hundraðs-úmagi, a person whose maintenance costs a hundred, Vm. 156; hundraðs virði, a hundred’s value, 68. For references see the Sagas and laws passim, and for more information see Mr. Dasent’s Essay in Burnt Njal.

C. A hundred, a political division which in olden times was common to all Teut. nations, but is most freq. in old Swedish laws, where several hundreds made a hérað or shire; cp. the A. S. and Engl. hundred, Du Cange hundredum; old Germ. hunderti, see Grimm’s Rechts Alterthümer; the centum pagi of Caesar, Bell. Gall. iv. ch. 1, is probably the Roman writer’s misconception of the Teut. division of land into hundreds; this is also the case with Tacit. Germ. ch. 12: cp. the Swed. local names Fjaðrunda-land, Áttundaland, and Tíunda-land, qs. Fjaðr-hunda land, Átthunda land, Tíhunda land, i. e. a combination of four, eight, ten hundreds. The original meaning was probably a community of a hundred and twenty franklins or captains. This division is not found in Icel.

pron. any (í nekkhverjum hlut), = nakkvarr, nökkurr.

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indef. pron.; this word is a compound of the negative particle né (q. v.) and the pronoun hverr, qs. nih-hverr, ne-hverr, nekkverr; the double k (in the oldest MSS. often represented by cq) may be due to the final h of the particle, as the compd was formed at a time when the final h had not been absorbed into né: [Dan. nogen; Swed. någon. Mr. Uppström, and since Bugge, derive this word from ne-veit-hverr, instead of Grimm’s ne-hverr, cp. A. S. nâthwæt = ne-wât-hwæt = Icel. nakkvat; this would better account for the double k, but otherwise it has no influence on the inflexive changes of the word.]

A. THE FORMS: this pronoun has undergone great changes. The earliest declension is the same as that of hverr, see Gramm. p. xxi; nekkverr, nekkver, Bs. i. 353, Greg. 13, 26, 33, Grág. ii. 205, 206, 304, Fms. x. 389, 393: gen. nekkvers, nekkverrar, passim: dat. nekkverjum, nekkverju, nekkverri, Greg. 16, 79, Eluc. 27, Bs. i. 352: acc. nekkvern, nekkverja, Grág. i. 41, ii. 251, 270, 313, Fms. x. 381, 390, 391, Greg. 15, Bs. i. 337, 344 (line 14), 352: nom. pl. masc. and fem. nekkverir, nekkverjar, Grág. ii. 205, Bs. i. 355: gen. nekkverra, Greg. 23, 28, and so on. The word then underwent further changes,

α. by dropping the j; nekkveru, Grág. ii. 281; nekkverar, Fms. x. 381; nekkverum, 382; nekkvera, 393, 415.

β. by change of the vowels; nakkverr or nekkvarr, or even nakkvarr, nakkvat, see below; nakkvert, Bs. i. 342 (line 12); nakkvara, Ó. H. 62, 116; nakkvars, Fms. vii. 388, xi. 29, Edda 48; nakkvarir, Fms. vii. 337, Mork. 169; nakkvarar, Fms. vii. 328, Greg. 9; nakkvarra (gen. pl.), D. I. i. 185; nakkvarrar, Ó. H. 116; nakkverrar (gen. fem. sing.), Bs. i. 393.

γ. the a of nakk through the influence of the v was changed into ö (nökk), and then into o, and the final va into vo, and in this way the word became a regular adjective, nökkvorr or nokkvorr, nokkvor, Mork. 57, Fms. x. 261; nokkvot, Bs. i. 393; nökkvoð, Mork. 62, Fms. x. 383, 391; nokkvors, passim; nokkvoru, Nj. 34, Fms. x. 393, 394; nokkvorum, 305; nokkvorrar, Edda i. 214; nokkvorn, 210; nokkvorir, Fms. vi. 5, x. 294.

δ. the v dropped out; nökkorr, nokkurr, nokkorr, nokkor, Vsp. 33 (Bugge), Greg. 9, Grág. (Kb.) i. 66, 75, 208, ii. 3, Mork. 168, Ó. H. 224, Grág. i. 1, ii. 366, Nj. 267, Fms. ix. 276, x. 135; nokkoð, Hkv. 2. 5; nokkort, Grág. i. 460; nokkorum, Skv. 3. 58 (Bugge), Grág. i. 45, 361, Fms. ix. 370, Nj. 7; nokkoru, Fms. i. 1, x. 420, Grág. ii. 129, Nj. 41, Eg. 394, Hkr. iii. 160; nökkorn, Fms. x. 409; nokkorn, xi. 6, Nj. 6, Mork. 205, Ld. 30; nokkorir, Mork. 205; nokkorar, Nj. 252, Fms. x. 388; see Gramm. p. xxi.

ε. finally in mod. usage we have contracted forms before a vowel, thus nokkrir, nokkrum, nokkrar, except that the gen. pl. and gen. fem. sing. are still pronounced as trisyllables, nokkurrar, nokkurra; these contracted forms have erroneously crept into Editions from paper MSS. (as Vd. in the Fs.), where nokkrir etc. should be restored to nokkurir etc. ☞ All the above forms occur confusedly even in very old MSS., and even the latest form nokkorr occurs in vellums as old as Cod. Reg. of the elder Edda, in the Mork., Greg., Grág. (Kb.) In addition to the above, there are mixed forms, nekkurr, 623. 41; nekkorar, Fms. x. 388; nekkers, Grág. (Kb.) 22; nökkurja, 623. 50; nakkor, B. K. 124; nokkverja, Fms. xi. 6; nauccverjar, navcqveriom, Mork. 62, 64, 65.

II. nakkvat, n. subst., answering to hvat (q. v.), Ó. H. 72, Bs. i. 344, 348, 350, 353, Am. 32, Bugge. 2. nökkvi (Lat. aliquanto), an obsolete dat. (subst.) answering to hví; svá nökkvi, Hallfred (Fs. 89); í nökkvi, in aught, Hom. 43; af nökkvi, for aught, Fs. 94 (v. l.), Fms. iii. 27; noqvi, Hkv. 2. 26 (Bugge); nökkvi ofarr, Fms. vii. 304 (in a verse); nökkvi síðarr, ix. 533 (in a verse): in prose, nökkvi yngri, xi. 96; neykvi nær sanni, Hkr. iii. 360; nekkvi réttligar, 677. 11; nökkvi helst, Fms. xi. 78, MS. 677. 6; véla e-n í nökkvi, Grág. ii. 22, 367; því nökkvi, 129; nær sanni nökkvi, Fms. x. 420; neykvi, Am. 26 (Bugge); framast nekkvi.

III. the neut. sing. is thus distinguished; nakkvat, nokkvoð, nokkuð (answering to hvat), are often used as a substantive, but nekkvert, nokkvort, nokkurt (answering to hvert), as an adjective. ☞ The primitive hverr has partly undergone the same metamorphosis as the compd nehverr, and in western Icel. is sounded kvur, and in mod. Norse dialect kor, shewing the complete change.

B. THE SENSE: the negative particle, the first part of the compound, has quite lost its force, as is the case with neinn, q. v.; but the word is used in negative sentences = any; á öngum bæ fannsk nökkurr maðr, Fms. ix. 355, and so freq. in mod. usage.

2. single and without a preceding negative; ef nökkurr maðr veit eigi, if anybody know not, Grág. ii. 209; er nökkverr Guð sem várr Guð, 623. 35; ef hann vissi nökkurn hest jafnskjótan, Fms. vii. 169.

3. as subst., nokkut = anything, nokkur = anybody; ef þér segit nokkurum, if you tell it to anybody, Nj. 7; ef nokkurr hefir, Grág. ii. 366; eldi eða því nokkuru, fire or any such thing, 129; styrkja e-n at nokkuru, Nj. 41; ef hann meiðir í nökkuru lönd manna, Grág. ii. 281; kanntú nokkut í lögum, Nj. 33: with gen., nekkverr yðar, any of you, 677. 13; nokkort þessarra húsa, Grág. i. 460; nakkverr þeirra manna, 232: with prep., nokkura af þessum konum, any of these women, Ld. 30; nökkut manna, Fms. vi. 121.

II. some, a certain …, Lat. quidam; maðr nokkurr, kona nokkur, konur nokkurar, Nj. 252, passim; nokkora hríð, for some time, 2, Fms. xi. 6; nekkverja lund, Grág. ii. 251; nakkvorir stórir höfðingjar, Fms. vii. 338; nokkvorir Íslenzkir menn, x. 294; nokkor góð verk, nekkver íll verk, 677. 9, 25, 26; um dag nekkvern, a certain day, Fms. x. 391; þann bjargkvið nekkvern ( some such), Grág. i. 41; at þeim hlut nokkorum, 361; nokkvot þorp, Fms. x. 294; ráð nakkvað, xi. 16; fé nökkvart, Grág. ii. 262: as subst., nokkuru fyrir vetr, a while before winter, Eg. 394; nokkuru meir, somewhat more, Fms. i. 1:—of some importance, þeim er nokkorir eru í skapi, iv. 80; þeir einir menn ef nokkut var til, of any weight, Eg. 267, and so in countless instances.

III. spec. usages, added to a numeral, about; þrjú nokkur, Nj. 267; nokkur sex skip eða sjau, Fms. ix. 276; braut nokkur tíu skip, x. 135; með nokkur fimm hundrað manna, ix. 276; til nokkurra fjórtán hundraða, H. E. i. 418; nokkurum tveim sinnum eða þrim, Fms. ix. 370.

2. svá nokkut, thereabouts; lið svá nokkuru mart, Fms. xi. 48; svá nokkoru mikit, x. 4; svá nokkuru mjök, Nj. 228; svá nokkvoru mun yðar leita farit, 34; svá nakkvarn, Fms. v. 319; nokkurs til þungr, Ld. 128; nokkurs til seinir, Fms. xi. 29; slíkt nökkut, iv. 283; svá nokkuru, í nökkvi öðru, Hom. 25; svá nökki, about so, Hallfred; stórt nokkuð, somewhat great, Ld. 104:—about, var kveðit á viku stef nokkut, a notice of about a week was given, Eg. 394.

IV. adverbial usages, the neuter being used as adverb; something, a deal, marka nakkvat skaplyndi hans, Fms. xi. 78; breytask nökkvat, 99; henni var skapþungt nokkut, Nj. 11: in some way, somehow, at hann skyldi nokkot benda hvat sveinninn skyldi heita, 625. 86: nökkut svá, a bit, somewhat; hann gékk um teiginn uokkut svá, Ísl. ii. 354; stóð höfuð gneipt af bolnum nakkvat svá, Eb. 244; sefask konungr n. svá, Fms. xi. 11, 129:—neykvi nær sanni, somewhat nearer the truth, Hkr. iii. 360; var þat nær sanni nökkvi, Fms. x. 420, see the references above (A).

2. perhaps, may be; vilt þú nökkut taka við fjárfari mínu? Nj. 40; viltú n. sonu þína við láta vera, 65; ef hann hefði nokkut siglt til annarra landa, 41; ef Gunnarr hefði n. þess leitað, 47.

C. COMPDS: nokkurnig, nokkurskonar, nokkursstaðar.

I) prep.

A. with dative.

I. Of motion;

1) towards, against;

Otkell laut at Skamkatli, bowed down to S.;

hann sneri egginni at Ásgrími, turned the edge against A.;

2) close atup to;

Brynjólfr gengr alit at honum, quite up to him;

þeir kómust aldri at honum, they could never get near him, to close quarters with him;

3) to, at;

koma at landi, to come to land;

ganga at dómi, to go into court;

4) along (= eptir);

ganga at stræti, to walk along the street;

dreki er niðr fór at ánni (went down the river) fyrir strauminum;

refr dró hörpu at ísi, on the ice;

5) denoting hostility;

renna (sœkja) at e-m, to rush at, assault;

gerði þá at þeim þoku mikla, they were overtaken by a thick fog;

6) around;

vefja motri at höfði sér, to wrap a veil round one’s head;

bera grjót at e-m, to heap stones upon the body;

7) denoting business, engagement;

ríða at hrossum, at sauðum, to go looking after horses, watching sheep;

fara at landskuldum, to go collecting rents.

II. Of position, &c.;

1) denoting presence at, near, by, upon;

at kirkju, at church;

at dómi, in court;

at lögbergi, at the hill of laws;

2) denoting participation in;

vera at veizlu, brullaupi, to be at a banquet, wedding;

vera at vígi, to be an accessory in man-slaying;

3) ellipt., vera at, to be about, to be busy at;

kvalararnir, er at vóru at pína hann, who were tormenting him;

var þar at kona nökkur at binda (was there busy dressing) sár manna;

4) with proper names of places (farms);

konungr at Danmörku ok Noregi, king of;

biskup at Hólum, bishop of Holar;

at Helgafelli, at Bergþórshváli;

5) used ellipt. with a genitive, at (a person’s) house;

at hans (at his house) gisti fjölmenni mikit;

at Marðar, at Mara’s home;

at hins beilaga Ólafs konungs, at St. Olave’s church;

at Ránar, at Ran’s (abode).

III. Of time;

1) at, in;

at upphafi, at first, in the beginning;

at skilnaði, at parting, when they parted;

at páskum, at Easter;

at kveldi, at eventide;

at þinglausnum, at the close of the Assembly;

at fjöru, at the ebb;

at flœðum, at the floodtide;

2) adding ‘komanda’ or ‘er kemr’;

at ári komanda, next year;

at vári, er kemr, next spring;

generally with ‘komanda’ understood;

at sumri, hausti, vetri, vári, next summer, &c.;

3) used with an absolute dative and present or past part.;

at sér lifanda, duing his lifetime;

at öllum ásjándum, in the sight of all;

at áheyranda höfðingjanum, in the hearing of the chief;

at upprennandi sólu, at sunrise;

at liðnum sex vikum, after six weeks are past;

at honum önduðum, after his death;

4) denoting uninterrupted succession, after;

hverr at öðrum, annarr at öðrum, one after another;

skildu menn at þessu, thereupon, after this;

at því (thereafter) kómu aðrar meyjar.

IV. fig. and in various uses;

1) to, into, with the notion of destruction or change;

brenna (borgina) at ösku, to burn to ashes;

verða at ormi, to become a snake;

2) for, as;

gefa e-t at gjöf, as a present;

eiga e-n at vin, to have one as friend;

3) by;

taka sverð at hjöltum, by the hilt;

draga út björninn at hlustunum, by the ears;

kjósa at afli, álitum, by strength, appearrance;

4) as regards as to;

auðigr at fé, wealthy in goods;

vænn (fagr) at áliti, fair of face;

5) as a law term, on the grounds of, by reason of;

ryðja ( to challenge) dóm at mægðum, kvið at frændsemi;

6) as a paraphrase of a genitive;

faðir, móðir at barni (= barns, of a child);

aðili at sök = aðili sakar;

7) with adjectives denoting colour, size, age, of;

hvítr, svartr, rauðr at lit, while, black, red of colour;

mikill, lítill at stœrð, vexti, tall, small of stature;

tvítugr at aldri, twenty years of age;

kýr at fyrsta, öðrum kálfi, a cow that has calved once, twice;

8) determining the source from which anything comes, of, from;

Ari nam ok marga frœði at Þuríði (from her);

þiggja, kaupa, geta, leigja e-t at e-m, to receive, buy, obtain, borrow a thing from one;

hafa veg (virðing) styrk at e-m, to derive honour, power, from one;

9) according, to, after (heygðr at fornum sið);

at ráði allra vitrustu manna, by the advice of;

at landslögum, by the law of the land;

at vánum, as was to be expected;

at leyfi e-s, by one’s leave;

10) in adverbial phrases;

gróa (vera grœddr) at heilu, to be quite healed;

bíta af allt gras at snøggu, quite bare;

at fullu, fully;

at vísu, surely;

at frjálsu, freely;

at eilífu, for ever and ever;

at röngu, at réttu, wrongly, rightly;

at líku, at sömu, equally, all the same;

at mun, at ráði, at marki, to a great extent.

B. with acc., after, upon (= eptir);

sonr á at taka arf at föður sinn, to take the inheritance after his father;

eiga féránsdóm at e-n, to hold a court of execution upon a person;

at þat (= eptir þat), after that, thereafter;

connected with a past part. or a., at Gamla fallinn, after the fall of Gamli;

at Hrungni dauðan, upon the death of Hrungnir.

1) as the simple mark of the infinitive, to;

at ganga, at ríða, at hlaupa, to walk, to ride, to run;

2) in an objective sense;

hann bauð þeim at fara, sitja, he bade (ordered) them to go, sit;

gefa e-m at eta, at drekka, to give one to eat, to drink;

3) denoting design or purpose, in order to (hann gekk í borg at kaupa silfr).

1) demonstrative particle before a comparative, the, all the, so much the;

hón grét at meir, she wept the more;

þykkir oss at líkara, all the more likely;

þú ert maðr at verri (so much the worse), er þú hefir þetta mælt;

2) rel. pron., who, which, that (= er);

þeir allir, at þau tíðindi heyrðu, all those who heard;

sem þeim er títt, at ( as is the custom of those who) kaupferðir reka.

conj., that;

1) introducing a subjective or objective clause;

þat var einhverju sinni, at Höskuldr hafði vinaboð, it happened once that H.;

vilda ek, at þú réðist austr í fjörðu, I should like you to go;

2) relative to svá, denoting proportion, degree;

svá mikill lagamaðr, at, so great a lawyer, that;

3) with subj., denoting end or purpose, in order that (skáru þeir fyrir þá (viz. hestana) melinn, at þeir dœi eigi af sulti);

4) since, because, as (= því at);

5) connected with þó, því, svá;

þó at (with subj.), though, although;

því at, because, for;

svá at, so that;

6) temp., þá at (= þá er), when;

þegar at (= þegar er), as soon as;

þar til at (= þar til er), until, till;

áðr at (= á. en), before;

7) used superfluously after an int. pron. or adv.;

Ólafr spurði, hvern styrk at hann mundi fá honum, what help he was likely to give him;

in a relative sense; með fullkomnum ávexti, hverr at (which) þekkr ok þægiligr mun verða.

negative verbal suffix, = ata; var-at, was not.

n. an incited conflict or fight ( see etja);

odda at, Yggs at, battle.

* * *

and að, prep., often used ellipt. dropping the case and even merely as an adverb, [Lat. ad; Ulf. at = πρός and παρά, A. S. ät; Engl. at; Hel. ad = apud; O. H. G. az; lost in mod. Germ., and rare in Swed. and Dan.; in more freq. use in Engl. than any other kindred language, Icel. only excepted]:—the mod. pronunciation and spelling is að (aþ); this form is very old, and is found in Icel. vellum MSS. of the 12th century, e. g. aþ, 623. 60; yet in earlier times it was sounded with a tenuis, as we may infer from rhymes, e. g. jöfurr hyggi at | hve ek yrkja fat, Egill: Sighvat also makes it rhyme with a t. The verse by Thorodd—þar vastu at er fjáðr klæðið þvat (Skálda 162)—is hardly intelligible unless we accept the spelling with an aspirate (að), and say that þvað is = þvá = þváði, lavabat; it may be that by the time of Thorodd and Ari the pure old pronunciation was lost, or is ‘þvat’ simply the A. S. þvât, secuit? The Icelanders still, however, keep the tenuis in compounds before a vowel, or before h, v, or the liquids l, r, thus—atyrða, atorka, athöfn, athugi, athvarf, athlægi; atvinna, atvik; atlaga, atlíðanði ( slope), atriði, atreið, atróðr: but aðdjúpr, aðfinsla (critic), aðferð, aðkoma, aðsókn, aðsúgr (crowding), aðgæzla. In some words the pronunciation is irregular, e. g. atkvæði not aðkv-; atburðr, but aðbúnaðr; aðhjúkran not athjúkran; atgörvi not aðgörfi. At, to, towards; into; against; along, by; in regard to; after.

Mostly with dat.; rarely with acc.; and sometimes ellipt.—by dropping the words ‘home,’ ‘house,’ or the like—with gen.

WITH DAT.

A. LOC.

I. WITH MOTION; gener. the motion to the borders, limits of an object, and thus opp. to frá:

1. towards, against, with or without the notion of arrival, esp. connected with verbs denoting motion (verba movendi et eundi), e. g. fara, ganga, koma, lúta, snúa, rétta at…; Otkell laut at Skamkatli, O. louted (i. e. bowed down) towards S., Nj. 77, Fms. xi. 102; sendimaðrinn sneri ( turned) hjöltum sverðsins at konungi, towards the king, i. 15; hann sneri egginni at Ásgrími, turned the edge towards A., Nj. 220; rétta e-t at e-m, to reach, hand over, Ld. 132; ganga at, to step towards, Ísl. ii. 259.

2. denoting proximity, close up to, up to; Brynjólfr gengr … allt at honum, B. goes quite up to him, Nj. 58; Gunnarr kom þangat at þeim örunum, G. reached them even there with his arrows, 115; þeir kómust aldri at honum, they could never get near him, to close quarters, id.; reið maðr at þeim (up to them), 274; þeir höfðu rakit sporin allt at ( right up to) gammanum, Fms. i. 9; komu þeir at sjó fram, came down to the sea, Bárð. 180.

3. without reference to the space traversed, to or at; koma at landi, to land, Ld. 38, Fms. viii. 358; ríða at dyrum, Boll. 344; hlaupa at e-m, to run up to, run at, Fms. vii. 218, viii. 358; af sjáfarganginum er hann gekk at landinu, of the surf dashing against the shore, xi. 6; vísa ólmum hundi at manni, to set a fierce hound at a man, Grág. ii. 118; leggja e-n at velli, to lay low, Eg. 426, Nj. 117; hníga at jörðu, at grasi, at moldu, to bite the dust, to die, Njarð. 378; ganga at dómi, a law term, to go into court, of a plaintiff, defendant, or bystander, Nj. 87 (freq.)

4. denoting a motion along, into, upon; ganga at stræti, to walk along the street, Korm. 228, Fms. vii. 39; at ísi, on the ice, Skálda 198, Fms. vii. 19, 246, viii. 168, Eb. 112 new Ed. (á is perh. wrong); máttu menn ganga bar yfir at skipum einum, of ships alone used as a bridge, Fas. i. 378; at höfðum, at nám, to trample on the slain on the battle-field, Lex. Poët.; at ám, along the rivers; at merkiósum, at the river’s mouth, Grág. ii. 355; at endilöngu baki, all along its back, Sks. 100.

5. denoting hostility, to rush at, assault; renna at, hlaupa at, ganga, fara, ríða, sækja, at e-m, (v. those words), whence the nouns atrenna, athlaup, atgangr, atför, atreið, atsókn, etc.

β. metaph., kom at þeim svefnhöfgi, deep sleep fell on them, Nj. 104. Esp. of weather, in the impers. phrase, hríð, veðr, vind, storm görir at e-m, to be overtaken by a snow storm, gale, or the like; görði þá at þeim þoku mikla, they were overtaken by a thick fog, Bárð. 171.

6. denoting around, of clothing or the like; bregða skikkju at höfði sér, to wrap his cloak over his head, Ld. 62; vefja motri at höfði sér, to wrap a snood round her head, 188; sauma at, to stick, cling close, as though sewn on; sauma at höndum sér, of tight gloves, Bs. i. 453; kyrtill svá þröngr sem saumaðr væri at honum, as though it were stitched to him, Nj. 214; vafit at vándum dreglum, tight laced with sorry tags, id.; hosa strengd fast at beini, of tight hose, Eg. 602; hann sveipar at sér iðrunum ok skyrtunni, he gathers up the entrails close to him and the skirt too, Gísl. 71; laz at síðu, a lace on the side, to keep the clothes tight, Eg. 602.

β. of burying; bera grjót at einum, to heap stones upon the body, Eg. 719; var gör at þeim dys or grjóti, Ld. 152; gora kistu at líki, to make a coffin for a body, Eb. 264, Landn. 56, Ld. 142.

γ. of summoning troops or followers; stefna at sér mönnum, to summon men to him, Nj. 104; stefna at sér liði, Eg. 270; kippa mönnum at sér, to gather men in haste, Ld. 64.

7. denoting a business, engagement; ríða at hrossum, at sauðum, to go looking after after horses, watching sheep, Glúm. 362, Nj. 75; fara at fé, to go to seek for sheep, Ld. 240; fara at heyi, to go a-haymaking, Dropl. 10; at veiðum, a-hunting; at fuglum, a-fowling; at dýrum, a-sbooting; at fiski, a-fishing; at veiðiskap, Landn. 154, Orkn. 416 (in a verse), Nj. 25; fara at landskuldum, to go a-collecling rents, Eg. 516; at Finnkaupum, a-marketing with Finns, 41; at féföngum, a-plundering, Fms. vii. 78; ganga at beina, to wait on guests, Nj. 50; starfa at matseld, to serve at table, Eb. 266; hitta e-n at nauðsynjum, on matters of business; at máli, to speak with one, etc., Fms. xi. 101; rekast at e-m, to pursue one, ix. 404; ganga at liði sér, to go suing for help, Grág. ii. 384.

β. of festivals; snúa, fá at blóti, veizlu, brullaupi, to prepare for a sacrificial banquet, wedding, or the like, hence at-fangadagr, Eb. 6, Ld. 70; koma at hendi, to happen, befall; ganga at sínu, to come by one’s own, to take it, Ld. 208; Egill drakk hvert full er at honum kom, drained every horn that came to him, Eg. 210; komast at keyptu, to purchase dearly, Húv. 46.

8. denoting imaginary motion, esp. of places, cp. Lat. spectare, vergere ad…, to look or lie towards; horfði botninn at höfðanum, the bight of the bay looked toward the headland, Fms. i. 340, Landn. 35; also, skeiðgata liggr at læknum, leads to the brook, Ísl. ii. 339; á þann arminn er vissi at sjánum, on that wing which looked toward the sea, Fms. viii. 115; sár þau er horft höfðu at Knúti konungi, xi. 309.

β. even connected with verbs denoting motion; Gilsáreyrr gengr austan at Fljótinu, G. extends, projects to F. from the east, Hrafh. 25; hjá sundi því, er at gengr þingstöðinni, Fms. xi. 85.

II. WITHOUT MOTION; denoting presence at, near, by, at the side of, in, upon; connected with verbs like sitja, standa, vera…; at kirkju, at church, Fms. vii. 251, K. f). K. 16, Ld. 328, Ísl. ii. 270, Sks. 36; vera at skála, at húsi, to be in, at home, Landn. 154; at landi, Fms. i. 82; at skipi, on shipboard, Grág. i. 209, 215; at oldri, at a banquet, inter pocula; at áti, at dinner, at a feast, inter edendum, ii. 169, 170; at samförum ok samvistum, at public meetings, id.; at dómi, in a court; standa (to take one’s stand) norðan, sunnan, austan, vestan at dómi, freq. in the proceedings at trials in lawsuits, Nj.; at þingi, present at the parliament, Grág. i. 142; at lögbergi, o n the hill of laws, 17, Nj.; at baki e-m, at the back of.

2. denoting presence, partaking in; sitja at mat, to sit at meat, Fms. i. 241; vera at veizlu, brullaupi, to be at a banquet, nuptials, Nj. 51, Ld. 70: a law term, vera at vígi, to be an accessory in manslaying, Nj. 89, 100; vera at e-u simply means to be about, be busy in, Fms. iv. 237; standa at máli, to stand by one in a case, Grág. ii. 165, Nj. 214; vera at fóstri, to be fostered, Fms. i. 2; sitja at hégóma, to listen to nonsense, Ld. 322; vera at smíð, to be at one’s work, Þórð. 62: now absol., vera at, to go on with, be busy at.

3. the law term vinna eið at e-u has a double meaning:

α. vinna eið at bók, at baugi, to make an oath upon the book by laying the band upon it, Landn. 258, Grág., Nj.; cp. Vkv. 31, Gkv. 3. 3, Hkv. 2. 29, etc.: ‘við’ is now used in this sense.

β. to confirm a fact (or the like) by an oath, to swear to, Grág. i. 9, 327.

γ. the law phrase, nefna vátta at e-u, of summoning witnesses to a deed, fact, or the like; nefna vátta at benjum, to produce evidence, witnesses as to the wounds, Nj., Grág.; at görð, Eg. 738; at svörum, Grág. i. 19: this summoning of witnesses served in old lawsuits the same purpose as modern pleadings and depositions; every step in a suit to be lawful must be followed by such a summoning or declaration.

4. used ellipt., vera at, to be about, to be busy at; kvalararnir er at vóru at pína hann, who were tormenting him; þar varstu at, you were there present, Skálda 162; at várum þar, Gísl. (in a verse): as a law term ‘vera at’ means to be guilty, Glúm. 388; vartattu at þar, Eg. (in a verse); hence the ambiguity of Glum’s oath, vask at þar, I was there present: var þar at kona nokkur ( was there busy) at binda sár manna, Fms. v. 91; hann var at ok smíðaði skot, Rd. 313; voru Varbelgir at ( about) at taka af, þau lög …, Fms. ix. 512; ek var at ok vafk, I was about weaving, xi. 49; þeir höfðu verit at þrjú sumur, they had been busy at it for three summers, x. 186 (now very freq.); koma at, come in, to arrive unexpectedly; Gunnarr kom at í því, G. came in at that moment; hvaðan komtú nú at, whence did you come? Nj. 68, Fms. iii. 200.

5. denoting the kingdom or residence of a king or princely person; konungr at Danmörk ok Noregi, king of…, Fms. i. 119, xi. 281; konungr, jarl, at öllum Noregi, king, earl, over all N., íb. 3, 13, Landn. 25; konungr at Dyflinni, king of Dublin, 25; but í or yfir England!, Eg. 263: cp. the phrase, sitja at landi, to reside, of a king when at home, Hkr. i. 34; at Joini, Fms. xi. 74: used of a bishop; biskup at Hólum, bishop of Hólar, Íb. 18, 19; but biskup í Skálaholti, 19: at Rómi, at Rome, Fbr. 198.

6. in denoting a man’s abode (vide p. 5, col. 1, l. 27), the prep. ‘at’ is used where the local name implies the notion of by the side of, and is therefore esp. applied to words denoting a river, brook, rock, mountain, grove, or the like, and in some other instances, by, at, e. g. at Hofi (a temple), Landn. 198; at Borg ( a castle), 57; at Helgafelli (a mountain), Eb. constantly so; at Mosfelli, Landn. 190; at Hálsi (a hill), Fms. xi. 22; at Bjargi, Grett. 90; Hálsum, Landn. 143; at Á ( river), 296, 268; at Bægisá, 212; Giljá, 332; Myrká, 211; Vatnsá, id.; þverá, Glúm. 323; at Fossi (a ‘force’ or waterfall), Landn. 73; at Lækjamoti (waters-meeting), 332; at Hlíðarenda ( end of the lithe or hill), at Bergþórshváli, Nj.; at Lundi (a grove), at Melum (sandhill), Landn. 70: the prep. ‘á’ is now used in most of these cases, e. g. á Á, á Hofi, Helgafelli, Felli, Hálsi, etc.

β. particularly, and without any regard to etymology, used of the abode of kings or princes, to reside at; at Uppsölum, at Haugi, Alreksstöðum, at Hlöðum, Landn., Fms.

γ. konungr lét kalla at stofudyrum, the king made a call at the hall door, Eg. 88; þeir kölluðu at herberginu, they called at the inn, Fms. ix. 475.

7. used ellipt. with a gen., esp. if connected with such words as gista, to be a guest, lodge, dine, sup (of festivals or the like) at one’s home; at Marðar, Nj. 4; at hans, 74; þingfesti at þess bóanda, Grág. i. 152; at sín, at one’s own home, Eg. 371, K. Þ. K. 62; hafa náttstað at Freyju, at the abode of goddess Freyja, Eg. 603; at Ránar, at Ran’s, i. e. at Ran’s house, of drowned men who belong to the queen of the sea, Ran, Eb. 274; at hins heilaga Ólafs konungs, at St. Olave’s church, Fms. vi. 63: cp. ad Veneris, εις Κίμωνος.

B. TEMP.

I. at, denoting a point or period of time; at upphafi, at first, in the beginning, Ld. 104; at lyktum, at síðustu, at lokum, at last; at lesti, at last, Lex. Poët., more freq. á lesti; at skilnaði, at parting, at last, Band. 3; at fornu, in times of yore, formerly, Eg. 267, D. I. i. 635; at sinni, as yet, at present; at nýju, anew, of present time; at eilífu, for ever and ever; at skömmu, soon, shortly, Ísl. ii. 272, v. l.

II. of the very moment when anything happens, the beginning of a term; denoting the seasons of the year, months, weeks, the hours of the day; at Jólum, at Yule, Nj. 46; at Pálmadegi, on Palm Sunday, 273; at Páskum, at Easter; at Ólafsvöku, on St. Olave’s eve, 29th of July, Fms.; at vetri, at the beginning of the winter, on the day when winter sets in, Grág. 1. 151; at sumarmálum, at vetrnáttum; at Tvímánaði, when the Double month (August) begins, Ld. 256, Grág. i. 152; at kveldi, at eventide, Eg. 3; at því meli, at that time; at eindaga, at the term, 395; at eykð, at 4 o’clock p. m., 198; at öndverðri æfi Abra hams, Ver. II; at sinni, now at once, Fms. vi. 71; at öðruhverju, every now and then.

β. where the point of time is marked by some event; at þingi, at the meeting of parliament (18th to the 24th of June), Ld. 182; at féránsdómi, at the court of execution, Grág. i. 132, 133; at þinglausnum, at the close of the parliament (beginning of July), 140; at festarmálum, eðr at eiginorði, at betrothal or nuptials, 174; at skilnaði, when they parted, Nj. 106 (above); at öllum minnum, at the general drinking of the toasts, Eg. 253; at fjöru, at the ebb; at flæðum, at flood tide, Fms. viii. 306, Orkn. 428; at hrörum, at an inquest, Grág. i. 50 (cp. ii. 141, 389); at sökum, at prosecutions, 30; at sinni, now, as yet, v. that word.

III. ellipt., or adding ‘komanda’ or ‘er kemr,’ of the future time:

1. ellipt., komanda or the like being understood, with reference to the seasons of the year; at sumri, at vetri, at hausti, at vári, next summer, winter…, Ísl. ii. 242; at miðju sumri, at ári, at Midsummer, next year, Fas. i. 516; at miðjum vetri, Fms. iv. 237,

2. adding ‘komanda’ or ‘er kemr;’ at ári komanda, Bárð. 177; at vári er kemr, Dipl. iii. 6.

IV. used with an absolute dat. and with a pres. part.:

1. with pres. part.; at morni komanda, on the coming morrow, Fms. i. 263; at sér lifanda, in vivo, in his life time, Grág. ii. 202; at þeim sofundum, illis dormientibus, Hkr. i. 234; at öllum ásjándum, in the sight of all, Fms. x. 329; at úvitanda konungi, illo nesciente, without his knowledge, 227; at áheyranda höfðingjanum, in the chief’s bearing, 235.

2. of past time with a past part. (Lat. abl. absol.); at hræjum fundnum, on the bodies being found, Grág. ii. 87; at háðum dómum ok föstu þingi, during the session, the courts being set, i. 484; at liðnum sex vikum, after six weeks past, Band. 13; at svá búnu, so goru, svá komnu, svá mæltu (Lat. quibus rebus gestis, dictis, quo facto, dicto, etc.), v. those words; at úreyndu, without trial, without put ting one to the test, Ld. 76; at honum önduðum, illo mortuo.

3. ellipt. without ‘at;’ en þessum hlutum fram komnum, when all this has been done, Eb. 132.

V. in some phrases with a slight temp, notion; at görðum gildum, the fences being strong, Gþl. 387; at vörmu spori, at once, whilst the trail is warm; at úvörum, unawares, suddenly, Nj. 95, Ld. 132; at þessu, at this cost, on that condition, Eb. 38, Nj. 55; at illum leiki, to have a narrow escape, now við illan leik, Fms. ix. 473; at því, that granted, Grág. ii. 33: at því, at pessu, thereafter, thereupon, Nj. 76.

2. denoting succession, without interruption, one after another; hverr at öðrum, annarr maðr at öðrum, aðrir at öðrum; eina konu at annarri, Eg. 91, Fms. ii. 236, vi. 25, Bs. i. 22, 625. 80, H. E. i. 522.

C. METAPH. and in various cases:

I. denoting a transformation or change into, to, with the notion of destruction; brenna at ösku, at köldum kolum, to burn to ashes, to be quite destroyed, Fms. i. 105, Edda 3, Sturl. ii. 51: with the notion of transformation or transfiguration, in such phrases as, verða at e-u, göra e-t at e-u, to turn it into:

α. by a spell; verða at ormi, to become a snake, Fms. xi. 158; at flugdrekum, Gullþ. 7; urðu þau bönd at járni, Edda 40.

β. by a natural process it can often be translated by an acc. or by as; göra e-n at urðarmanni, to make him an outlaw, Eg. 728; græða e-n at orkumlamanni, to heal him so as to maim him for life, of bad treatment by a leech, Eb. 244: in the law terms, sár görist at ben, a wound turning into a ben, proving to be mortal, Grág., Nj.; verða at ljúgvætti, to prove to be a false evidence, Grág. i. 44; verða at sætt, to turn into reconciliation, Fms. i. 13; göra e-t at reiði málum, to take offence at, Fs. 20; at nýjum tíðindum, to tell as news, Nj. 14; verða fátt at orðum, to be sparing of words, 18; kveðr (svá) at orði, to speak, utter, 10; verða at þrifnaði, to geton well, Fms. vii. 196: at liði, at skaða, to be a help or hurt to one; at bana, to cause one’s death, Nj. 223, Eg. 21, Grág. ii. 29: at undrum, at hlátri, to become a wonder, a laughing-stock, 623. 35, Eg. 553.

II. denoting capacity, where it may be translated merely by as or for; gefa at Jólagjöf, to give for a Christmas-box, Eg. 516; at gjöf, for a present; at erfð, at láni, launum, as an inheritance, a loan; at kaupum ok sökum, for buying and selling, Ísl. ii. 223, Grág. i. 423; at solum, ii. 204; at herfangi, as spoil or plunder; at sakbótum, at niðgjöldum, as a compensation, weregeld, i. 339, ii. 171, Hkr. ii. 168; taka at gíslingu, to take as an hostage, Edda 15; eiga e-n at vin, at óvin, to have one as friend or foe, illt er at eiga þræl at eingavin, ‘tis ill to have a thrall for one’s bosom friend (a proverb), Nj. 77; fæða, eiga, at sonum (syni), to beget a son, Edda 8, Bs. i. 60 (but eiga at dóttur cannot be said); hafa möttul at yfirhöfn, Fms. vii. 201; verða nökkut at manni (mönnum), to turn out to be a worthy man; verða ekki at manni, to turn out a worthless person, xi. 79, 268.

2. in such phrases as, verða at orðum, to come towards, Nj. 26; var þat at erindum, Eg. 148; hafa at veizlum, to draw veizlur ( dues) from, Fms. iv. 275, Eg. 647; gora e-t at álitum, to take it into consideration, Nj. 3.

III. denoting belonging to, fitting, of parts of the whole or the like; vóru at honum (viz. the sword) hjölt gullbúin, the sword was ornamented with a hilt of gold, Ld. 330; umgörð at ( belonging to) sverði, Fs. 97 (Hs.) in a verse; en ef mór er eigi at landinu, if there be no turf moor belonging to the land, Grág. ii. 338; svá at eigi brotnaði nokkuð at Orminum, so that no harm happened to the ship Worm, Fms. x. 356; hvatki er meiðir at skipinu eðr at reiðinu eðr at viðum, damage done t o …, Grág. ii. 403; lesta ( to injure) hús at lásum, við eðr torfi, 110; ef land hefir batnað at húsum, if the land has been bettered as to its buildings, 210; cp. the phrase, göra at e-u, to repair: hamlaðr at höndum eðr fótum, maimed as to hands or feet, Eg. 14; heill at höndum en hrumr at fótum, sound in band, palsied in foot, Fms. vii. 12; lykill at skrá, a key belonging, fitting, to the latch; hurð at húsi; a key ‘gengr at’ ( fits) skrá; and many other phrases. 2. denoting the part by which a thing is held or to which it belongs, by; fá, taka at…, to grasp by …; þú tókt við sverði hans at hjöltunum, you took it by the bill, Fms. i. 15; draga út björninn at hlustum, to pull out the bear by the ears, Fas. ii. 237; at fótum, by the feet, Fms. viii. 363; mæla ( to measure) at hrygg ok at jaðri, by the edge or middle of the stuff, Grág. i. 498; kasta e-m at höfði, head foremost, Nj. 84; kjósa e-n at fótum, by the feet alone, Edda 46; hefja frændsemi at bræðrum, eða at systkynum, to reckon kinship by the brother’s or the sister’s side, Grág. i. 28; kjósa at afli, at álitum, by strength, sight, Gs. 8, belongs rather to the following.

IV. in respect of, as regards, in regard to, as to; auðigr at fé, wealthy of goods, Nj. 16, 30, 51; beztir hestar at reið, the best racehorses, 186; spekingr at viti, a man of great intellect, Ld. 124; vænn (fagr) at áliti, fair of face, Nj. 30, Bs. i. 61; kvenna vænst at ásjónu ok vits munum, of surpassing beauty and intellect, Ld. 122; fullkominn at hyggju, 18; um fram aðra menn at vinsældum ok harðfengi, of surpassing popularity and hardihood, Eb. 30.

2. a law term, of challenging jurors, judges, or the like, on account of, by reason of; ryðja ( to challenge) at mægðum, guðsifjum, frændsemi, hrörum …; at leiðarlengd, on account of distance, Grág. i. 30, 50, Nj. (freq.)

3. in arithm. denoting proportion; at helmingi, þriðjungi, fjórðungi, tíunda hluta, cp. Lat. ex asse, quadrante, for the half, third… part; máttr skal at magni (a proverb), might and main go together, Hkr. ii. 236; þú munt vera at því mikill fræðimaðr á kvæði, in the same proportion, as great, Fms. vi. 391, iii. 41; at e-s hluta, at… leiti, for one’s part, in turn, as far as one is con cerned, Grág. i. 322, Eg. 309, Fms. iii. 26 (freq.): at öðrum kosti, in the other case, otherwise (freq.) More gener., at öllu, öngu, in all (no) respects; at sumu, einhverju, nokkru, partly; at flestu, mestu, chiefly.

4. as a paraphrase of a genitive; faðir, móðir at barni (= barns); aðili at sök (= sakar a.); morðingi at barni (= barns), faðerni at barni (barns); illvirki at fé manna (cp. Lat. felo de se), niðrfall at sökum (saka), land gangr at fiskum (fiska), Fms. iv. 274, Grág. i. 277, 416, N. G. L. i. 340, K. Þ. K. 112, Nj. 21.

5. the phrase ‘at sér,’ of himself or in himself, either ellipt. or by adding the participle görr, and with the adverbs vel, ilia, or the like; denoting breeding, bearing, endowments, character …; væn kona, kurteis ok vel at sér, an accomplished, well-bred, gifted lady, Nj. I; vitr maðr ok vel at sér, a wise man and thoroughly good in feeling and bearing, 5; þú ert maðr vaskr ok vel at þér, 49; gerr at sér, accomplished, 51; bezt at sér görr, the finest, best bred man, 39, Ld. 124; en þó er hann svá vel at sér, so generous, Nj. 77; þeir höfðingjar er svá vóru vel at sér, so noble-minded, 198, Fms. i. 160: the phrase ‘at sér’ is now only used of knowledge, thus maðr vel að sér means clever, a man of great knowledge; illa að sér, a blockhead.

6. denoting relations to colour, size, value, age, and the like; hvitr, svartr, grár, rauðr … at lit, white, swarthy, gray, red … of colour, Bjarn. 55, 28, Ísl. ii. 213, etc.; mikill, lítill, at stærð, vexti, tall, small of size, etc.; ungr, gamall, barn, at aldri, young, old, a child of age; tvítugr, þrítugr … at aldri, twenty, thirty … years of age (freq.): of animals; kyr at fyrsta, öðrum … kálfi, a cow having calved once, twice…, Jb. 346: value, amount, currency of money, kaupa e-t at mörk, at a mark, N. G. L. 1. 352; ok er eyririnn at mörk, amounts to a mark, of the value of money, Grág. i. 392; verðr þá at hálfri murk vaðmála eyrir, amounts to a half a mark, 500.

β. metaph. of value, connected with verbs denoting to esteem, hold; meta, hafa, halda at miklu, litlu, vettugi, engu, or the like, to hold in high or low esteem, to care or not to care for (freq.): geta e-s at góðu, illu, öngu, to mention one favourably, unfavourably, indifferently … (freq.), prop. in connection with. In many cases it may be translated by in; ekki er mark at draumum, there is no meaning in dreams, no heed is to be paid to dreams, Sturl. ii. 217; bragð er at þá barnið finnr, it goes too far, when even a child takes offence (a proverb): hvat er at því, what does it mean? Nj. 11; hvert þat skip er vöxtr er at, any ship of mark, i. e. however small, Fms. xi. 20.

V. denoting the source of a thing:

1. source of infor mation, to learn, perceive, get information from; Ari nam ok marga fræði at Þuríði, learnt as her pupil, at her hands, as St. Paul at the feet of Gamaliel, (just as the Scotch say to speer or ask at a person); Ari nam at Þorgeiri afraðskoll, Hkr. (pref.); nema kunnáttu at e-m, used of a pupil, Fms. i. 8; nema fræði at e-m, xi. 396.

2. of receiving, acquiring, buying, from; þiggja e-t at e-m, to receive a thing at his hands, Nj. 51; líf, to be pardoned, Fms. x. 173; kaupa land at e-m, to buy it from, Landn. 72, Íb. II, (now af is more freq. in this sense); geta e-t at e-m, to obtain, procure at one’s hands, impetrare; þeirra manna er þeir megu þat geta at, who are willing to do that, Grág. i. I; heimta e-t at e-m (now af), to call in, demand (a debt, money), 279; fala e-t at e-m (now af), to chaffer for or cheapen anything, Nj. 73; sækja e-t at e-m, to ask, seek for; sækja heilræði ok traust at e-m, 98; leiga e-t at e-m (now af), to borrow, Grág. ii. 334; eiga e-t (fé, skuld) at e-m, to be owed money by any one, i. 399: metaph. to deserve of one, Nj. 113; eiga mikit at e-m, to have much to do with, 138; hafa veg, virðing, styrk, at, to derive honour, power from, Fms. vi. 71, Eg. 44, Bárð. 174; gagn, to be of use, Ld. 216; mein, tálma, mischief, disadvantage, 158, 216, cp. Eg. 546; ótta, awe, Nj. 68.

VI. denoting conformity, according to, Lat. secundum, ex, after; at fornum sið, Fms. i. 112; at sögn Ara prests, as Ari relates, on his authority, 55; at ráði allra vitrustu manna, at the advice of, Ísl. ii. 259, Ld. 62; at lögum, at landslögum, by the law of the land, Grág., Nj.; at líkindum, in all likelihood, Ld. 272; at sköpum, in due course (poet.); at hinum sama hætti, in the very same manner, Grág. i. 90; at vánum, as was to be expected, Nj. 255; at leyfi e-s, by one’s leave, Eg. 35; úlofi, Grág. ii. 215; at ósk, vilja e-s, as one likes…; at mun, id. (poet.); at sólu, happily (following the course of the sun), Bs. i. 70, 137; at því sem …, as to infer from …, Nj. 124: ‘fara, láta, ganga at’ denotes to yield, agree to, to comply with, give in, Ld. 168, Eg. 18, Fms. x. 368.

VII. in phrases nearly or quite adverbial; gróa, vera græddr, at heilu, to be quite healed, Bárð. 167, Eb. 148; bíta at snöggu, to bite it bare, Fms. xi. 6; at þurru, till it becomes dry, Eb. 276; at endilöngu, all along, Fas. ii; vinnast at litlu, to avail little, 655 x. 14; at fullu, fully, Nj. 257, Hkr. i. 171; at vísu, of a surety, surely, Ld. 40; at frjálsu, freely, 308; at líku, at sömu, equally, all the same, Hom. 80, Nj. 267; at röngu, wrongly, 686 B. 2; at hófi, temperately, Lex. Poët.; at mun, at ráði, at marki, to a great extent; at hringum, utterly, all round, (rare), Fms. x. 389; at einu, yet, Orkn. 358; svá at einu, því at einu, allt at einu, yet, however, nevertheless.

VIII. connected with comparatives of adverbs and adjectives, and strengthening the sense, as in Engl. ‘the,’ so much the more, all the more; ‘at’ heldr tveimr, at ek munda gjarna veita yðr öllum, where it may be translated by so much the more to two, as I would willingly grant it to all of you; hon grét at meir, she grat (wept) the more, Eg. 483; þykir oss at líkara, all the more likely, Fms. viii. 6; þess at harðari, all the harder, Sturl. iii. 202 C; svá at hinn sé bana at nær, Grág. ii. 117; at auðnara, at hólpnara, the more happy, Al. 19, Grett. 116 B; þess at meiri, Fms. v. 64; auvirðismaðr at meiri, Sturl. ii. 139; maðr at vaskari, id.; at feigri, any the more fey, Km. 22; maðr at verri, all the worse, Nj. 168; ok er ‘at’ firr…, at ek vil miklu heldr, cp. Lat. tantum abest… ut, Eg. 60.

β. following after a negation; eigi at síðr, no less, Nj. 160, Ld. 146; eigi… at meiri maðr, any better, Eg. 425, 489; erat héra at borgnara, any the better off for that, Fms. vii. 116; eigi at minni, no less for that, Edda (pref.) 146; eigi at minna, Ld. 216, Fms. ix. 50; ekki at verri drengr, not a bit worse for that, Ld. 42; er mér ekki son minn at bættari, þótt…, 216; at eigi vissi at nær, any more, Fas. iii. 74.

IX. following many words:

1. verbs, esp. those denoting, a. to ask, enquire, attend, seek, e. g. spyrja at, to speer (ask) for; leita at, to seek for; gæta, geyma at, to pay attention to; huga, hyggja at; hence atspurn, to enquire, aðgæzla, athugi, attention, etc.

β. verbs denoting laughter, play, joy, game, cp. the Engl. to play at …, to laugh at …; hlæja, brosa at e-u, to laugh, smile at it; leika (sér) at e-u, to play at; þykja gaman at, to enjoy; hæða, göra gys at …, to make sport at …

γ. verbs denoting assistance, help; standa, veita, vinna, hjálpa at; hence atstoð, atvinna, atverk:—mode, proceeding; fara at, to proceed, hence atför and atferli:—compliance; láta, fara at e-u, v. above:— fault; e-t er at e-u, there is some fault in it, Fms. x. 418; skorta at e-u, to fall short of, xi. 98:—care, attendance; hjúkra at, hlýja at, v. these words:—gathering, collecting; draga, reiða, flytja, fá at, congerere:—engagement, arrival, etc.; sækja at, to attack; ganga at, vera at, to be about; koma at, ellipt. to arrive: göra at, to repair: lesta at, to impair (v. above); finna at, to criticise (mod.); telja at, id.: bera at, to happen; kveða at e-m, to address one, 625. 15, (kveða at (ellipt.) now means to pronounce, and of a child to utter (read) whole syllables); falla at, of the flood-tide (ellipt.): metaph. of pains or straits surrounding one; þreyngja, herða at, to press hard: of frost and cold, with regard to the seasons; frjósa at, kólna at, to get really cold (SI. 44), as it were from the cold stiffening all things: also of the seasons themselves; hausta, vetra að, when the season really sets in; esp. the cold seasons, ‘sumra at’ cannot be used, yet we may say ‘vára að’ when the spring sets in, and the air gets mild.

δ. in numberless other cases which may partly be seen below.

2. connected ellipt. with adverbs denoting motion from a place; norðan, austan, sunnan, vestan at, those from the north, east…; utan at, innan at, from the outside or inside.

3. with adjectives (but rarely), e. g. kærr, elskr, virkr (affectionate), vandr (zealous), at e-m; v. these words.

WITH ACC.

TEMP.: Lat. post, after, upon, esp. freq. in poetry, but rare in prose writers, who use eptir; nema reisi niðr at nið (= maðr eptir mann), in succession, of erecting a monument, Hm. 71; in prose, at þat. posthac, deinde, Fms. x. 323, cp. Rm., where it occurs several times, 2, 6, 9, 14, 18, 24, 28, 30, 35; sonr á at taka arf at föður sinn, has to take the inheritance after his father, Grág. i. 170 new Ed.; eiga féránsdóm at e-n, Grág. i. 89; at Gamla fallinn, after the death of G., Fms. x. 382; in Edda (Gl.) 113 ought to be restored, grét ok at Oð, gulli Freyja, she grat (wept) tears of gold for her lost husband Od. It is doubtful if it is ever used in a purely loc. sense; at land, Grág. (Sb.)ii. 211, is probably corrupt; at hönd = á hönd, Grág. (Sb.) i. 135; at mót = at móti, v. this word.

☞ In compounds (v. below) at- or að- answers in turn to Lat. ad- or in- or con-; atdráttr e. g. denotes collecting; atkoma is adventus: it may also answer to Lat. ob-, in atburðr = accidence, but might also be compared with Lat. occurrere.

and að, the mark of the infinitive [cp. Goth. du; A. S. and Engl. to; Germ. zu]. Except in the case of a few verbs ‘at’ is always placed immediately before the infinitive, so as to be almost an inseparable part of the verb.

I. it is used either,

1. as, a simple mark of the infinitive, only denoting an action and independent of the subject, e. g. at ganga, at hlaupa, at vita, to go, to run, to know; or,

2. in an objective sense when following such verbs as bjóða segja…, to invite, command …; hann bauð þeim at ganga, at sitja, be bade, ordered them to go, sit, or the like; or as gefa and fá; gefa e-m at drekka, at eta, to give one to drink or to eat, etc. etc.

β. with the additional notion of intention, esp. when following verba cogitandi; hann ætlaði, hafði í hyggju at fara, he had it in his mind to go (where ‘to go’ is the real object to ætlaði and hafði í hyggju).

3. answering to the Gr. ινα, denoting intention, design, in order to; hann gékk í borg at kaupa silfr, in order to buy, Nj. 280; hann sendi riddara sína með þeim at varðveita þær, 623. 45: in order to make the phrase more plain, ‘svá’ and ‘til’ are frequently added, esp. in mod. writers, ‘svá at’ and contr. ‘svát’ (the last however is rare), ‘til at’ and ‘til þess at,’ etc.

II. in the earlier times the infin., as in Greek and Lat., had no such mark; and some verbs remain that cannot be followed by ‘at;’ these verbs are almost the same in Icel. as in Engl.:

α. the auxiliary verbs vil, mun ( μέλλω), skal; as in Engl. to is never used after the auxiliaries shall, will, must; ek vil ganga, I will go; ek mun fara, (as in North. E.) I mun go; ek skal göra þat, I shall do that, etc.

β. the verbs kunna, mega, as in Engl. I can or may do, I dare say; svá hygginn at hann kunni fyrir sökum ráða, Grág. ii. 75; í öllu er prýða má góðan höfðingja, Nj. 90; vera má, it may be; vera kann þat, id.: kunnu, however, takes ‘at’ whenever it means to know, and esp. in common language in phrases such as, það kann að vera, but vera kann þat, v. above.

γ. lata, biðja, as in Engl. to let, to bid; hann lét (bað) þá fara, he let (bade) them go.

δ. þykkja, þykjast, to seem; hann þykir vera, he is thought to be: reflex., hann þykist vera, sibi videtur: impers., mér þykir vera, mibi videtur, in all cases without ‘at.’ So also freq. the verbs hugsa, hyggja, ætla, halda, to think, when denoting merely the act of thinking; but if there be any notion of intention or purpose, they assume the ‘at;’ thus hann ætlaði, hugði, þá vera góða menn, he thought them to be, acc. c. inf.; but ætlaði at fara, meant to go, etc.

ε. the verbs denoting to see, bear; sjá, líta, horfa á … ( videre); heyra, audire, as in Engl. I saw them come, I heard him tell, ek sá þá koma, ek heyrði hann tala.

ζ. sometimes after the verbs eiga and ganga; hann gékk steikja, be went to roast, Vkv. 9; eiga, esp. when a mere periphrasis instead of skal, móður sína á maðr fyrst fram færa (better at færa), Grág. i. 232; á þann kvið einskis meta, 59; but at meta, id. l. 24; ráða, nema, göra …, freq. in poetry, when they are used as simple auxiliary verbs, e. g. nam hann sér Högna hvetja at rúnum, Skv. 3. 43.

η. hljóta and verða, when used in the sense of must (as in Engl. he must go), and when placed after the infin.of another verb; hér muntu vera hljóta, Nj. 129; but hljóta at vera: fara hlýtr þú, Fms. 1. 159; but þú hlýtr at fara: verða vita, ii. 146; but verða at vita: hann man verða sækja, þó verðr (= skal) maðr eptir mann lifa, Fms. viii. 19, Fas. ii. 552, are exceptional cases.

θ. in poetry, verbs with the verbal neg. suffix ‘-at,’ freq. for the case of euphony, take no mark of the infinitive, where it would be indispensable with the simple verb, vide Lex. Poët. Exceptional cases; hvárt sem hann vill ‘at’ verja þá sök, eða, whatever he chooses, either, Grág. i. 64; fyrr viljum vér enga kórónu at bera, en nokkut ófrelsi á oss at taka, we would rather bear no crown than …, Fms. x. 12; the context is peculiar, and the ‘at’ purposely added. It may be left out ellipt.; e. g. þá er guð gefr oss finnast (= at finnast), Dipl. ii. 14; gef honum drekka (= at drekka), Pr. 470; but mostly in unclassical writers, in deeds, or the like, written nastily and in an abrupt style.

and að, conj. [Goth. þatei = οτι; A. S. þät; Engl. that; Germ, dass; the Ormul. and Scot. at, see the quotations sub voce in Jamieson; in all South-Teutonic idioms with an initial dental: the Scandinavian idioms form an exception, having all dropped this consonant; Swed. åt, Dan. at]. In Icel. the Bible translation (of the 16th century) was chiefly based upon that of Luther; the hymns and the great bulk of theol. translations of that time were also derived from Germany; therefore the germanised form það frequently appears in the Bible, and was often employed by theol. authors in sermons since the time of the Reformation. Jón Vidalin, the greatest modern Icel. preacher, who died in 1720, in spite of his thoroughly classical style, abounds in the use of this form; but it never took root in the language, and has never passed into the spoken dialect. After a relative or demonstr. pronoun, it freq. in mod. writers assumes the form eð, hver eð, hverir eð, hvað eð, þar eð. Before the prep. þú (tu), þ changes into t, and is spelt in a single word attú, which is freq. in some MS.;—now, however, pronounced aððú, aððeir, aððið …, = að þú…, with the soft Engl. th sound. It gener. answers to Lat. ut, or to the relat. pron. qui.

I. that, relative to svá, to denote proportion, degree, so…, that, Lat. tam, tantus, tot…, ut; svá mikill lagamaðr, at…, so great a lawyer, that…, Nj. 1; hárið svá mikit, at þat…, 2; svá kom um síðir því máli, at Sigvaldi, it came so far, that…, Fms. xi. 95, Edda 33. Rarely and unclass., ellipt. without svá; Bæringr var til seinn eptir honum, at hann … (= svá at), Bær. 15; hlífði honum, at hann sakaði ekki, Fas. iii. 441.

II. it is used,

1. with indic, in a narrative sense, answering partly to Gr. οτι, Lat. quod, ut, in such phrases as, it came to pass, happened that …; þat var einhverju sinni, at Höskuldr hafði vinaboð, Nj. 2; þat var á palmdrottinsdag, at Ólafr konungr gékk út um stræti, Fms. ii. 244.

2. with subj. answering to Lat. acc. with infin., to mark the relation of an object to the chief verb, e. g. vilda ek at þú réðist, I wished that you would, Nj. 57.

β. or in an oblique sentence, answering to ita ut…; ef svá kann verða at þeir láti…, if it may be so that they might…, Fms. xi. 94.

γ. with a subj. denoting design, answering to ϊνα or Lat. ut with subj., in order that; at öll veraldar bygðin viti, ut sciat totus orbis, Stj.; þeir skáru fyrir þá melinn, at þeir dæi eigi af sulti, ut ne fame perirent, Nj. 265; fyrsti hlutr bókarinnar er Kristindómsbálkr, at menn skili, in order that men may understand, Gþl. p. viii.

III. used in connection with conjunctions,

1. esp. þó, því, svá; þó at freq. contr. þótt; svát is rare and obsolete.

α. þóat, þótt (North. E. ‘thof’), followed by a subjunctive, though, although, Lat. etsi, quamquam (very freq.); þóat nokkurum mönnum sýnist þetta með freku sett… þá viljum vér, Fms. vi. 21: phrases as, gef þú mér þó at úverðugri, etsi indignae (dat.), Stj. MS. col. 315, are unclass., and influenced by the Latin: sometimes ellipt. without ‘þó,’ eigi mundi hón þá meir hvata göngu sinni, at (= þóat) hon hraeddist bana sinn, Edda 7, Nj. 64: ‘þó’ and ‘at’ separated, svarar hann þó rétt, at hann svari svá, Grág. i. 23; þó er rétt at nýta, at hann sé fyrr skorinn, answering to Engl. yet—though, Lat. attamen —etsi, K. Þ. K.

β. því at, because, Lat. nam, quia, with indic.; því at allir vóru gerfiligir synir hans, Ld. 68; því at af íþróttum verðr maðr fróðr, Sks. 16: separated, því þegi ek, at ek undrumst, Fms. iii. 201; því er þessa getið, at þat þótti, it i s mentioned because …, Ld. 68.

γ. svá at, so that, Lat. ut, ita ut; grátrinn kom upp, svá at eingi mátti öðrum segja, Edda 37: separated, so … that, svá úsvúst at …, so bad weather, that, Bs. i. 339, etc.

2. it is freq. used superfluously, esp. after relatives; hver at = hverr, quis; því at = því, igitur; hverr at þekkr ok þægiligr mun verða, Fms. v. 159; hvern stvrk at hann mundi fá, 44; ek undrumst hvé mikil ógnarraust at liggr í þér, iii. 201; því at ek mátti eigi þar vera elligar, því at þar var kristni vel haldin, Fas. i. 340.

IV. as a relat. conj.:

1. temp, when, Lat. quum; jafnan er ( est) mér þá verra er ( quum) ek fer á braut þaðan, en þá at ( quum) ek kem, Grett. 150 A; þar til at vér vitum, till we know, Fms. v. 52; þá at ek lýsta (= þá er), when, Nj. 233.

2. since, because; ek færi yðr (hann), at þér eruð í einum hrepp allir, because of your being all of the same Rape, Grág. i. 260; eigi er kynlegt at ( though) Skarphéðinn sé hraustr, at þat er mælt at…, because (since) it is a saying that…, Nj. 64.

V. in mod. writers it is also freq. superfluously joined to the conjunctions, ef að = ef, si, (Lv. 45 is from a paper MS.), meðan að = meðan, dum; nema að, nisi; fyrst að = fyrst, quoniam; eptir að, síðan að, postquam; hvárt að = hvárt, Lat. an. In the law we find passages such as, þá er um er dæmt eina sök, at þá eigu þeir aptr at ganga í dóminn, Grág. i. 79; ef þing ber á hina helgu viku, at þat á eigi fyrir þeim málum at standa, 106; þat er ok, at þeir skulu reifa mál manna, 64; at þeir skulu með váttorð þá sök sækja, 65: in all these cases ‘at’ is either superfluous or, which is more likely, of an ellipt. nature, ‘the law decrees’ or ‘it is decreed’ being understood. The passages Sks. 551, 552, 568, 718 B, at lokit (= at ek hefi lokit), at hugleitt (= at ek hefi h.), at sent (= at ek hefi sent) are quite exceptional.

and að, an indecl. relat. pronoun [Ulf. þatei = ος, ος αν, οστις, οσπερ, οιος, etc.; Engl. that, Ormul. at], with the initial letter dropped, as in the conj. at, (cp. also the Old Engl. at, which is both a conj. and a pronoun, e. g. Barbour vi. 24 in Jamieson: ‘I drede that his gret wassalage, | And his travail may bring till end, | That at men quhilc full litil wend.’ | ‘His mestyr speryt quhat tithings a t he saw.’—Wyntoun v. 3. 89.) In Icel. ‘er’ (the relat. pronoun) and ‘at’ are used indifferently, so that where one MS. reads ‘er,’ another reads ‘at,’ and vice versâ; this may easily be seen by looking at the MSS.; yet as a rule ‘er’ is much more freq. used. In mod. writers ‘at’ is freq. turned into ‘eð,’ esp. as a superfluous particle after the relative pron. hverr (hver eð, hvað eð, hverir eð, etc.), or the demonstr. sá (sá eð, þeir eð, hinir eð, etc.):—who, which, that, enn bezta grip at ( which) hafði til Íslands komið, Ld. 202; en engi mun sá at ( cui) minnisamara mun vera, 242; sem blótnaut at ( quae) stærst verða, Fms. iii. 214; þau tiðendi, at mér þætti verri, Nj. 64, etc. etc.

n. collision (poët.); odda at, crossing of spears, crash of spears, Höfuðl. 8.

β. a fight or bait of wild animals, esp. of horses, v. hesta-at and etja.

the negative verbal suffix, v. -a.

* * *

(segi, sagða, sagðr), v.

1) to say, tell (seg þú mér þat, er ek spyr þik);

þeir sögðu, at þeir skyldu aldri upp gefast, they said they would never yield;

segja e-m leið, to tell the way, esp. on the sea, to pilot;

segja tíðendi, to tell news;

impers. it is told (hér segir frá Birni bunu);

sem áðr sagði, as was told before;

segjanda er allt vin sínum, all can be told to a friend;

2) to say, declare, in an oath;

ek segi þat guði (Æsi), I declare to God (to the ‘Áss’);

3) law phrases;

segja sik í þing, lög, to declare oneself member of a community;

segja sik ór þingi, lögum, to declare oneself out of, withdraw from, a community;

segja skilit við konu, to declare oneself separated from, divorce, one’s wife;

segja fram sök, to declare one’s case;

segja lög, to recite the law, of the lögsögumaðr;

4) to signify, mean (þetta segir svá);

5) with preps., segja e-n af e-u, to declare one off a thing, take it from him;

segja e-t á e-n, to impose on (bœta at þeim hluta, sem lög segði á hann); to announce (segja á reiði, úsátt sína);

segja eptir e-m, to tell tales of one;

segja frá e-u, to tell, relate;

Unnr, er ek sagða þér frá, U. of whom I told thee;

segja fyrir e-u, to prescribe (svá var með öllu farit, sem hann hafði fyrir sagt);

segja fyrir skipi, to bid God-speed to a ship;

segja e-t fyrir, to predict, foretell (segja fyrir úorðna hluti);

segja e-u sundr, í sundr, to break up, dissolve (segja sundr friði, frændsemi, hjúskap);

segja til e-s, to tell, inform of (segit honum ekki til, hvat þér hafit gört við hrossit);

segja til nafns síns, segja til sín, to tell (give) one’s name;

segja upp e-t, to pronounce (segja upp dóm, gørð);

segja upp lög, to proclaim the law (from the law-hill);

segja e-n upp, to give one up;

segja upp e-u, to declare at an end (segja upp friði, griðum);

segja upp þjónustu við e-n, to leave one’s service;

6) refl., segjast, to declare of oneself;

hann sagðist þá vaka, he said that he was awake;

kristnir menn ok heiðnir sögðust hvárir ór lögum annarra, they declared themselves each out of the other’s laws;

láta (sér) segjast, to let oneself be spoken to, listen to reason;

impers., e-m segist svá, one’s tale runs so.

* * *

pres. segi, segir, segi, pl. segjum, segit, segja; pret. sagði, pl. sögðu; pres. subj. segja; pret. segða, segðir, segði; imperat. seg, segðú; part. sagðr: doubtful forms are sagat, sagaðr, Merl. 2. 4: a pres. indic. seg, segr, ek seg, Grág. i. 64, 134; segr hann, Fms. x. 421; segsk, Grág.i. 159, ii. 57: with a neg. suff. segr-at, Grág. ii. 214; sagðit, Hým. 14; segit-a, tell ye not! Vkv. 21: an older form seggja with a double g is suggested in Lex. Poët. in two or three passages, cp. A. S. secgan, as also seggr; but in Haustl. l. c. the g in ‘sagna’ is soft, and not hard (gg) as in mod. Icel. pronunciation, and sagna would fairly rhyme with segjaandum: [a word common to all Teut. languages, except that, strangely enough, no Goth. form is recorded, for Ulf. renders λαλειν, λέγειν, εἰπειν, by maþljan, quiþan, rodjan; so it may be that the earliest sense was not to say = Lat. dicere, but a limited one, to tell, proclaim; A. S. secgan; Engl. say; Dan. sige; Swed. segja.]

A. To say, in the oldest poems chiefly,

I. to tell, report, Lat. narrare, dicere; segðu, imperat. tell thou me! say! Vþm. 11, 13, 15. 17, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, Alm. 10, 12, 14, 16. etc., Skm. 3; segðu mér ór helju ek man ór heimi, Vtkv. 6; atgeirinn sagði ( foretold) manns bana, eins eðr fleiri, Nj. 119; mér segir svá hugr um, my mind tells me, I have a foreboding; eigi segir mér vel hugr um þessa ferð, Ld. 366; sagði honum mjök úvænt hugr um hennar hag, Fms. x. 215; sagðit honum hugr vel þá, Hým. 14; seg oss draum þinn, Nj. 95; hann segir honum greiniliga slíkt er hann spurði, Fms. ii. 99; þessi saga er nú ætlu vér at segja, viii. 1 (see saga); hann spurði hvers synir þeir væri,—þeir sögðu, Nj. 125; fór sveinninn ok sagði til Haralds, Fms. vii. 167; hvat hark var þat?—Honum var sagt, 168; svá hafa spakir menn sagt, Ib. 6; svá sagði Þorkell oss, 5; svá sagði Teitr oss, id.; svá sagði oss Úlfhéðinn Gunnarsson, 9; þenna atburð sagði Teitr oss, at því es Kristni kom á Ísland, 13; en Hallr sagði oss svá, 15; svá sagði hann oss, id.; en honum sagði Þórarinn bróðir hans, 16; es sannliga es sagt, at fyrst færi til Íslands, 4; hvatki er missagt es í fræðum þessum (pref.); þar sagði hann eigi koma dag á vetr, Landn. (pref.); svá segja vitrir menn, … en svá er sagt, 25; svá sagði Sæmundr prestr enn fróði, 27; er svá sagt, at honum hafi flestir hlutir höfðingligast gefnir verit, Nj. 254: of inscriptions, writing, segja þær (the Runes) formála þenna allan, Eg. 390; segja bækr, at …, 625. 88; skal sú skrá hafa sitt mál, er lengra segir, Grág. i. 7: segja leið, to tell the way, to guide, esp. on the sea, to pilot, Fms. xi. 123, Eg. 359 (leið-sögn, leiðsögu-maðr):—to tell, bid, far þú ok seg Agli, at þeir búisk þaðan fimmtán, Nj. 94; hann sendi húskarl at segja Steinari, at hann færði bústað sinn, to tell S. to change his abode, Eg. 749; segðu honum að koma, tell him to come!

2. with prepp.; segja eptir e-m, to tell tales of one, inform against, Al. 125; hann sagði eptir mér, segðu ekki eptir mér!—s. frá e-u (frá-sögn), to tell, relate, Nj. 96; þar er hón nú, Unnr, er ek sagða þér frá, U., of whom I told thee, 3; eigi má ofsögum segja frá vitsmunum þínum, Ld. 132: s. fyrir, to dictate, Fms. vii. 226, Fb. iii. 533, Nj. 256: to foretel, Rb. 332; s. fyrir úorðna hluti, Fms. i. 76, viii. 5: segja fyrir skipi, to bid Godspeed to a ship (on her first voyage), ix. 480: to prescribe, Ld. 54; þeir sigldu um nóttina, en hann sagði fyrir ( piloted) með viti ok gæfu, Bs. i. 562: s. manni fyrir jörðu, to give notice as to the redemption of an estate, Gþl. 295–297, 301 sqq.:—segja til, to give up; s. til nafns sins, to give one’s name (on being asked), Hbl.; hvat er nafn höfðingja yðvars? Rútr segir til sin. R. told his name (said, my name is R.) Nj. 8; sagði Örnólfr til svá-felldra itaka, Dipl. i. 1; skal ek hér fá þér sæmd ok virðing, þá er þú kannt mér sjálfr til s., Eg. 312.

3. impers. it is told: hér hefsk Landnáma-bok, ok segir í hinum fyrsta kapitula, hversn, Landn. 24: hér segir frá Birni bunu, 39; segir nokkut af hans orrostum, Fms. viii. 3; sem segir í sögu hans, i. 4 (see saga); sem áðr sagði, … sem sagði fyrr, as was told before, x. 382, 410.

II. to say, pronounce, declare; eg seg þat Guði, I declare to God (in an oath, cp. Engl. ‘so help me, God’), Grág. i. 64, 134; ok segi ek þat Æsi, Glúm. 388.

2. so in the law phrases, segja sik í þing, lög, and the like, to declare oneself in a community, to enter a community under the law; as also, segja sik ór þingi, lögum, to declare oneself out of, to withdraw from, a community, Grág. and the Sagas passim; segja skilit við konu, to declare oneself separated from, to divorce one’s wife, Nj. 50; segja þing laust, to declare a meeting at an end, Grág, i. 116:—segja lög, to say the law, used of the speaker’s (lögsögu-maðr) decisions; syni Erlings segi ek engi lög, i. e. I give no sentence for him, Fms. ix. 331: iron., sögðu sverð þeirra ein lög öllum Svíum, ii. 315; s. prófan (á) málum, K. Á. 216; s. dóm, to give sentence.

3. with prepp.; s. e-n af e-n, to ‘declare a person off a thing,’ i. e. take it from him; hann sagði Vastes af drottningar-dómi ok öllu því ríki, Sks. 462; þá er hann þegar sagðr af lærðra manna tign, 694; skipta svá miklum ríkdómi, ok segja hann af einhverjum ok til annars, i. e. to take it from one and give it to another, Fms. ix. 330; þann dag segja lög mann at aptni af griði, Grág. i. 146; s. e-n afhendan, to declare a person off one’s hands, give him up, Fs. 34:—s. e-t á, to announce:þú skalt segja á reiði mína, Nj. 216; s. á úsátt sína, 256; bæta at þeim hluta sem lög segði á hann, as the law declared, imposed, Fms. x. 152:—s. aptr, to break up, dissolve; s. friði aptr, N. G. L. i. 103:—segja sundr = segja aptr, s. sundr griðum, frændsemi, Fms. ix. 276, x. 133, Fas. ii. 136:—s. fram, to say, pronounce, esp. of pleading, to read; s. fram sök and the like, Grág., Nj. passim:—s. fyrir, see l. 2:—s. upp, to pronounce; er hann hafði þenna kost upp sagðan, Fms. xi. 284: segja upp görð, dóm, sætt, to pronounce sentence, as a judge or umpire, Grág., Nj. Band. 12, passim; s. upp lög, to proclaim the law from the law-hill (the act was called upp-saga), Ib. 17, Bs. i. 25; at hann segði upp lögin, Nj. 164: s. e-n upp, to give one up, Sturl. iii. 181 C: segja e-u upp, to declare at an end; segja upp friði, griðum, Fms. x. 133; segja upp þjónustu við e-n, to leave one’s service, Hkr. iii. 68. to speak, talk; skaut konungr á erendi, talaði hátt ok hvellt ok segir svá—þat er …, Fms. i. 215; ‘þenna kost viljum vér,’ segir Skapti, Nj. 150; ‘frauva,’ segir hann, ‘þat er satt er þú mælir,’ Fms. x. 421. 2. in a dialogue: segir hann, segir hón, says he, says she, etc.; ‘Kenni ek víst,’ segir Otkell,—‘Hverr á,’ segir Skamkell; ‘Melkólfr þræll,’ segir Otkell,—‘Kenna skulu þá fleiri,’ segir Skamkell, ‘en vit tveir,’ 75; Gunnarr mælti—‘Veiztú hvat þér mun verða at bana?’—‘Veit ek,’ segir Njáll,—‘Hvat?’ segir Gunnarr;—‘Þat sem allir munn sízt ætla,’ segir Njáll, 85; and so in countless instances.

IV. to signify, mean; þetta segir svá, Fms. viii. 239; ‘fiat voluntas tua,’ þat segir svá, ‘verði þinn vili,’ Hom. 157.

B. Reflex. to declare of oneself; hann sagðisk þá vaka, he said that he was awake, Nj. 153; sagðisk Haraldr vilja leggja við hann vináttu, Fms. i. 53; þeir sem sögðusk segja fyrir úvorðna hluti, 76; at þú sér annarr en þú segisk, Fas. ii. 544, freq. esp. in mod. usage, for the old writers in this case prefer kveðsk, káðusk (from kveða).

II. as a law phrase, þú segsk í þing með Áskatli goða, Nj. 231; maðr skal segjask í þing með goða þeim er hann vill, Grág. i. 159; nefndu hvárir vátta, Kristnir menn ok heiðnir, ok sögðusk hvárir ór lögum annarra, Nj. 164 (Id. 11, Bs. i. 22); hón sagðisk í ætt sína, she told her origin, i. e. she was exactly like her parents, Njarð. 382: impers. phrase, e-m segisk svá, one’s tale runs so; honum sagðisk svá til, his story runs; or, honum segist vel, he speaks well; honum sagðist vél í dag, he preached well to-day! það segist á e-u, there is a penalty on it, ‘tis not allowed; láta sér segjask. to let oneself be spoken to, be reasonable, Am. 29, and in mod. usage.

III. part., sönnu sagðr, convicted of, Sdm. 25; Jupiter vill vita hvárt hann er sönnu sagðr, if the charge is true, Bret. 12: gerund., in the saying, segjanda er allt vin sínum, all can be said to a friend, one can open one’s, heart to him. Eg. 330.

IV. pass. it is said; svá segisk, at …, Fms. i. 98; þessi kvikendi segjask augnafull umhverfis, Hom. 48; hann segisk ( is said to be, Lat. dicitur) skapaðr ór jörðn, Eluc. 21; segist í hverri viku sálu-messa, Dipl. i. 8; Zabulon, þat má hér segjast bygging, Stj.; ef nokkut riptist eðr af segðist, Dipl. iii. 11; segist þetta með öngu móti aptr, cannot be refuted, Fms. ix. 476, Hom. 154; af sögðum bæjum, aforesaid, Vm. 84; fyrr-sagðr, aforesaid; but this passive is unclassical, being taken from the Latin, and rare even in mod. usage.

V. segendr, part. pl. (seggendr, with a double g. Haustl.), sayers, reporters; sjáendr eða segendr, Grág. ii. 88. segjands-saga, u, f. a hearsay tale; skoluð ér hér vera ok sjá þau tíðendi er hér görask, er yðr þá eigi segjanz-saga til, þvíat ér skolut frá segja ok yrkja um síðan, Ó. H. 206; hence the mod. það er segin saga, a told tale, a thing of course [cp. Fr. ca va sans dire].

(pl. -ir), f. thousand.

* * *

f.; sérhverja þúsund, Stj. 298; á þúsund (dat.), Sks. 705; tvær, þrjár … þúsundir, 623. 53: in mod. usage it is mostly neut. (influenced by Latin?), but also fem. It is spelt þús-hund, Barl. 53; þús-hundum, Fms. vi. 409 (v. l.), Geisli 49; another form þús-hundrað (q. v.) is freq., esp. in Stj., Barl.; this double form -hund and -hundrað answers to the equally double form of ‘hundred,’ see p. 292, and is a proof that þúsund is a compound word, the latter part of which is ‘hund’ or ‘hundred;’ the etymology of the former part ‘þús’ is less certain; it is, we believe, akin to þysja, þyss, þaus-nir (a lost strong verb þúsa, þaus, þusu); þúsund would thus literally mean a swarm of hundreds: [in Goth. the gender varies, þûsundi, pl. þusundjos = χίλιοι, or þusundja, neut.; A. S. þûsend; Engl. thousand; O. H. G. dusunta; Germ. tausend, qs. dausend; Swed. tusende and tusen; Dan. tusinde; Dutch tuysend: this word is also common to the Slavon. languages: again, the Lapp, duhat and Finn. tuhat are no doubt borrowed from the Slavon. or Scandin.; the Gr., Lat., and Sansk. use other words]—a thousand.

B. There is little doubt that with the ancient heathen Scandinavians (and perhaps all Teutons), before their contact with the civilised southern people, the notion of numbers was limited, and that their thousand was not a definite number, but a vague term, denoting a swarm, crowd, host (cp. the Gr. μυρίοι): in ancient lays it occurs thrice (Hkv., Em., Fas. i. 502), but indefinitely; hvat þrym er þar sem þúsund bifisk eðr mengi til mikit, what a din is there as if a thousand were shaking, or an over-mickle multitude, Em. 2; sjau þúsundir, Hkv. 1. 49, literally = seven thousands, but in fact meaning seven hosts of men.

2. the dat. pl. þúsundum is, like huudruðum, used adverbially = by thousands, in countless numbers, Fms. vi. 409 (in a verse), Geisli 49.

3. in the ancient popular literature, uninfluenced by southern writers, ‘þúsund,’ as a definite number, occurs, we think, not half-a-dozen times. As the multiple of ten duodecimal hundreds, ere the decimal hundred was adopted, ‘þnsund’ would mean twelve decimal hundreds; and such is its use in the Sverris Saga, Fms. viii. 40, where one vellum says ‘tvær þúsundir,’ whilst the others, by a more idiomatic phrase, call it ‘twenty hundreds.’

II. in ecclesiastical writers, and in annals influenced by the Latin and the like, it is frequent enough; tíu þúsundir, fjórtán þúsundir, Fms. i. 107, 108 (annalistic records); fimm þúsundir, xi. 386, Al. 111; tíu þúsundum, Sks. 705; tíu þúsundum sinna hundrað þúsunda, Hom.; þúsund þúsunda, a thousand of thousands, i. e. a million, (mod.); hundrað þúsundir rasta ok átta tigir þúsunda, … hundrað þúsund mílna, Fb. i. 31 (in the legend of Eric the Far-traveller and Paradise, taken from some church-legend); fjórar þúsundir, Þiðr. 234: or of the years of the world, sex þúsundir vetra, Fs. 197; sjau þúsundir vetra, Landn. 34.

C. REMARKS.—The popular way of counting high numbers was not by thousands, but by tens (decades) and duodecimal hundreds as factors; thus ten … twenty hundreds, and then going on three, four, five, six … tens of hundreds (a ‘ten of hundreds’ being = 1200). The following references may illustrate this—tíu hundruð, ellefu hundruð, tólf hundruð, þrettán hundruð, fimtán hundruð …, Íb. 17, Ó. H. 119, 201, Fms. vii. 295, xi. 383, 385. From twenty and upwards—tuttugu hundrað manna, twenty hundreds of men, Fms. vii. 324, viii. 40; hálfr þriðitugr hundraða skipa, two tens and a half hundreds of ships, i. e. twenty-five hundreds, Fas. i. 378; þrjá tigu hundraða manna, three tens of hundreds of men, Fms. viii. 311; var skorat manntal, hafði hann meirr enn þrjá tigu hundraða manna, vii. 204; þrír tigir hundraða, D. N. v. 18; user fjorir tigir hundraða manna, nearly four tens of hundreds of men, Fms. vii. 275; á fimta tigi hundraða, on the fifth ten of hundreds, i. e. from four to five tens of hundreds, viii. 321; sex tigir hundraða, six tens of hundreds, 311, xi. 390; sex tigu hundraða manna, Fb. ii. 518, D. I. i. 350,—all odd amounts being neglected. The highest number recorded as actually reckoned in this way is ‘six tens of hundreds’ (fimtán tigir hundraða, fifteen tens of hundreds, Fms. viii. 321, v. l., is a scribe’s error): it is probable that no reckoning exceeded twelve tens of hundreds. All high multiples were unintelligible to the ancients; the number of the Einherjar in Walhalla is in the old lay Gm. thus expressed,—there are ‘five hundred doors in Walhalla, and five tens beside (the ‘five tens’ are, by the way, merely added for alliteration’s sake), and eight hundred Einherjar will walk out of each door when they go out to fight the Wolf’ (on the Day of final Doom). There seems to have been some dim exaggerated notion of a definite thousand in an ancient lay, only preserved in a half alliterative prose paraphrase, Fas. i. 502, where a mythical host is given thus,—there were thirty-three phalanxes, each of five ‘thousand,’ each thousand of thirteen hundreds, each hundred four times counted. The armies in the battle of Brawalla, the greatest of the mythical age, are given, not in numbers, but by the space the ranks occupied, Skjöld. S. ch. 8. This resembles the story in Ó. H. ch. 59, of the two young brothers, king’s sons: when asked what they would like to have most of, the one said: ‘Cows.’ ‘And how many?’ ‘As many,’ said he, ‘as could stand packed in a row round the lake (Mjösen in Norway) and drink.’ ‘But you?’ they asked the other boy: ‘House-carles’ (soldiers), said he. ‘And how many?’ ‘As many,’ said he, ‘as would in one meal eat up all my brother’s cows.’ Add also the tale of the King and the Giant, and the number of the giant’s house-carles, Maurer’s Volksagen 306. No less elementary was the rule for division and fractions, of which a remarkable instance is preserved in an ancient Icelandic deed, called Spákonu-arfr, published in D. I. i. 305. See also the words tigr, hundrað, skor, skora, and the remarks in Gramm. p. xix. The Homeric numeration, as set forth in Mr. Gladstone’s Homeric Studies, vol. iii, p. 425 sqq., is highly interesting, and bears a striking resemblance to that of the ancient Scandinavians. We may notice that in Iceland land and property are still divided into hundreds (hundreds of ells = 120), see hundrað B; in this case a thousand is never used, but units and hundreds of hundreds as factors, thus, sex tögu hundraða, in Reykh. Máld, (a deed of the 12th century), and so still in mod. usage; a wealthy man of the 15th century is said to have bequeathed to his daughters in land, ‘tólf hundruð hundraða ok ellefu-tíu og tvau hundruð betr, en í lausafé fimm hundruð hundraða,’ i. e. twelve hundreds of hundreds and ‘eleventy’ and two hundreds, and in movables five hundreds of hundreds, Feðga-æfi 16 (by the learned Bogi Benidiktsson of Staðarfell in Iceland, A. D. 1771–1849); sjau hundruð hundraða og þrjátigi hundruð betr, 21; hann eptir-lét börnum sínum fjármuni upp á níu hundruð hundraða, 22,—a proof that in very remote times, when this valuation of land first took place, ‘thousand’ was still unknown as a definite number.

* * *

(er; var, várum or vórum; verit), v.

1) to be, exist; þeir menn vóru, er, there were men who;

2) to be, happen; þat var, at hón fór brott, so it was that she went away; en er váraði, var þar búskortr, there was scarcity in the household; hvat er henni, what is the matter with her! þat var einn dag, at, it happened one day that; kann (má) v., at, it is possible, it may be that;

3) to last; meðan þingit væri, while the Thing lasted;

4) láta e-n v., to leave one alone (lát mik v. ok ger mér ekki illt); bað hann láta v., begged him to leave it undone, not to do it;

5) to dwell, stay; hann bað hana vera í búð sinni, he asked her to stay in his booth; hann var á Höskuldsstöðum um nótt, he passed a night at H.;

6) with infin., hlymr var at heyra, a clattering was to be heard; þar var at sjá, there was to be seen; v. at gera e-t, to be doing a thing; kvað hann v. at telja silfr, said he was counting the money; denoting necessity, a thing about to happen, or to be done; nú er þeim út at ganga öllum, er leyft er, now all those must go out to whom leave is given; er nú eigi Kára at varast, now there is no need to beware of K.; nú er þar til máls at taka, at, now it is to be told that; nú er at segja frá Skamkatli, now we must tell of S.;

7) with a predicate (noun, a., or adv.); v. konungr, Jarl, biskup, to be king, earl, bishop; v. glaðr, sæll, hryggr, ungr, gamall, to be glad, happy, sad, young, old; v. vel, illa til e-s, to be well, ill-disposed towards one; þat er illa, it is sad; vera spakliga í heraði, to behave gently; orð kvað þá Vingi þats án veri, words which he had better not have said;

8) impers., e-m er varmt, heitt, kalt, one is warm, cold;

9) with past participles in passive sense; v. kallaðr, sagðr, tekinn, to be called, said, taken;

10) with preps., v. af e-u, to be off, out of (v. af klæðum); v. at e-u, to be busy at; verkmenn váru at arningu, they were ploughing; to be present (þar varstu at); ek var at ok vafk, I was about weaving; þeir höfðu verit at þrjú sumur, they had been busy at it for three summers; v. eptir, to be left, remain (A. kvazt vilja v. eptir ok hvílast); v. fyrir, to lead ( see fyrir); v. til, to exist; v. um, undir, see um, undir.

1) stay, sojourn; ef hann á sér í vá veru, if he has a corner to stay in;

2) comfort (slíkt er válaðs v.).

* * *

older form vesa, the verb substantive; pres. em, ert, er, pl. erum, eruð, eru: pret. var, vart (mod. varst), var, pl. váru or vóru; a obsolete óru occurs, Sæm. (once), Orkn. 426. l. 11, Nj. 81, Thom. 28, 90, 102, 116, 150, 196, Ísl. ii. 482: pres. subj. sé, sér (Vþm. 4, 7), sé; the older form is sjá, en ek sjá, Clem. 138. l. 14; at ek sjá, … ok sé mér eigi reiðr, 145, Fms. viii. 299, x. 384, xi. 124, Eg. 127; for the forms sják, sjákk, see below: the mod. forms are sé, sért, sér (eg sé, þú sért; s ert and ert make a rhyme in Pass. 34. 5): imperat. ver, vertú; see Gramm. p. xxiii: there also occurs a subj. pres. verir, veri, Sdm. 22, Ls. 54; þatz án veri, Am. 36; skósmiðr þú verir, Hm. 126, but rarely.

A. CHANGES AND FORMS.—Vera is an anomalous verb, which has undergone several changes:

I. by changing s to r; of the older form there occur, the infin. vesa, pres. es, pret. vas, vast (vastu), vas; pres. subj. vesi; imperat. ves, MS. 623. 25. l. 14, 645. 6l. l. 33, 677. 40. l. 38; vestu, 623. 25, Post. (Unger) 129. l. 27, 229. l. 12; vesum, Hom. (Arna-Magn. 237) p. 214. l. 8; pres. indic. 2nd pers. est, Glúm. 372; 3rd pers. es: but no traces remain of the older form in pret. plur. indic. and subj. (váru væri, never vásu væsi). Rhymes in poets and the spelling of the oldest extant poems shew that the s form alone existed in Icel. down to about the end of the 12th century, the time of Snorri Sturluson, when the modern forms crept in probably from Norway, for there the change seems to have taken place a century or so earlier; the old Norse vellums (written in Norway or by Norsemen) are distinguished from the Icel. by their constant use of the r: the phrase ‘at upp vesandi sólu’, in N. G. L. i. 4, being the only instance of the s form in all the Norse vellums. The earliest instances extant of a rhyme to the r form are, the Ht. of Rögnvald, earl of the Orkneys; he was a native of Norway, born about A. D. 1100, and the poem was composed about A. D. 1145; another instance is ‘vara, fara’ in Fms. vii. 185, in a poem about A. D. 1140, written by an Icelander who had lived in Norway the greater part of his life, the rhyme is therefore a Norwegianism. The first instance in an Icel. poem is in the Ht. of Snorri, A. D. 1222. Instances from poets, Hallfred, Sighvat, Arnórr, and coeval poets; vesa, vísi; sás með Sygna ræsi; þági vas sem þessum; vask til Róms í háska; vastu, kosta; vas fyrir Mikkjals- messu; nú es um verk þau er vísi; bráskat þat dægr háski: from A. D. 1100–1150, Geisli, Pd., etc., svás, ræsir; esat, risnu; vasa, tysvar; vestu. freistni; vestu, traustla: on the other hand, in the poem of earl Rögvald, vera, skera; gera, vera; var, skar (twice): from later Icel. poems it is sufficient to note, erðu, fyrðum; ertú, h jarta; verðú, f orðast, Leiðarv. etc. This may sometimes serve as a test, e. g. var ek nær viðr-eign þ eirra, Grett., and skap-kers saman vera, Gísl., are impossible in the mouth of poets of the early Saga time; the verses of both these Sagas are a later composition.

2. as to the spelling of the MSS.,—the oldest (the Arna-Magn. 677, the Eluc. 674, the Íb. etc.) use the s throughout: vellums of the next period, about A. D. 1200 (e. g. Arna-Magn. 623 and 645), use the later form sparingly, even the second hand in the Reykholts máldagi gives ‘es,’ not ‘er.’ Again, in the vellums of the middle of the 13th century, such as the Cod. Reg. of the Sæm., the Grág., and the Mork., the mod. spelling has entirely got the better of the old, and an ‘es’ only creeps in, as if unawares, from an older copy. Of the poetical literature, the Pd. alone has been preserved in a copy old enough to retain the s; all the rest have the modernised spelling, even in the rhymed syllables quoted above; such too is the case with the Cod. Reg. of the Sæm. Edda; but had that vellum been but fifty or sixty years older, the forms vesa, es, vas, etc. would now be the established spelling in Editions of these poems.

3. on Danish and Swedish Runic stones, the 3rd pers. pret. sing. is a word of frequent occurrence; the best Danish monuments have vas, e. g. ias vas farinn vestr, Thorsen 93 and 101 (on a stone of the reign of Sweyn, died A. D. 1014). In Sweden the great majority present the later form: the so-called Ingvar stones are chronologically certain, being of the middle of the 11th century (Ingvar died A. D. 1039); there we read, ‘vas’ (twice), ‘varinn’ (once), ‘var’ (thrice, being twice spelt with ᛦ, once with ᚱ): this shews that about this time in Sweden the later or more modern form had begun to be used, but that the old was still remembered.

II. suffixed personal pronoun or suffixed negation; em’k (tautologically ek em’k = I-am-I), emk, Ad. 1, Vþm. 8, Fms. xi. 91; ek emk, Mork. 89. l. 13, 104. l. 23, Clem. 136. l. 20, 138. l. 13; vask, I was, 133. l. 25, Mork. 89. l. 16; vark, Post. 225, v. l. 15; ek vark, Ls. 35; vestu, be thou, Clem. 129. l. 27; es þú, art thou, l. 30, 130. l. 11; sjá’k ( may I be), ek sják, Mork. 134; at sják, 189. l. 29; ek sják, Hbl. 9, Hkv. 1. 20; at ek gjarn sják, Stor.; with double kk, þó at ek sjákk, Mork. 89.

2. a medial form, erumk, erumz, or apocopated erum, Stor. 1, Ad. 16, Hkv. 1. 25, Korm. ch. 5. 2, Ls. 35, Bragi (see senna); leið erum-k fjöll, Edda (in a verse); várumk, were to me, Am. 78.

3. suff. neg. eru-mk-a, it is not to me, Stor. 17, Eg. (in a verse); emkat-ek, am I not I, i. e. I am not, Hbl. 34, Skm. 18, Ó. H. 192 (in a verse): er-at, es-at, or er-a, es-a, is not, passim; eru-ð, are not, Skv. 1. 42; ert-attu, thou art not, Vtkv.; vart-attu, thou wast not, Gs., Eg. (in a verse); veri-a, be not, Mork. 37. l. 8.

4. sá’s = sá es, that is, Hallfred (Fs. 95); svá’s = svá es, so is, Fms. vii. (in a verse).

III. the plur. eru when suffixed to words ending in r drops the initial e, and is suffixed; this spelling, which agrees with mod. Icel. pronunciation, was afterwards disused; þeir-ro, they are, Gm. 34; margir-ro, many are, Hkv. 2. 11; Æsir-ro, the Ases are, Vsp. 49; skildir-ro, shields are, 44; torogætir-ro, rare are, Korm. (in a verse); hverjar-ro, which are, Vþm. 48; langir-ro, long are, Gg.; tveir-ro, þrír-ro, fjórir-ro, two, three, four are, Edda 108; báðir-ro, both are, Mork. 169; hér-ro, here are, 234; þér-ro, ye are, MS. 686 B. 1; hryggvir-ro, id.; hver-ro, who are, Mork. 96; úvar-ro, wroth are, Gm. 53; værrom, vérrom, we are, Edda i. 526, Fms. x. 421; hverrtu [cp. North. E. wh’art’ou, lad] (hverrtú karl, who art thou, carle?), Frissb. 256. l. 8; ir-rot, ye are, Ó. H. 151.

IV. the pres. 1st pers. em [Engl. am] has changed into er (eg er, þú ert, hann er), making the 1st and 3rd pers. uniform; this new form appears in vellums about the end of the 13th century, but the word being usually abbreviated (ē = em, eͬ = er), it is often hard to distinguish. In the Icel. N. T. and in hymns the old ‘em’ still remains in solemn language, em eg, Matth. xxvii. 24; eigi em eg, John xviii. 17; eg em hann, 5, 8, xi. 25, xv. 1, 5, Matth. xiv. 27; em eg eigi postuli, em eg eigi frjáls, 1 Cor. ix. 1; em eg orðinn, 20, 22, and passim.

B. USAGE.—To be:

I. to be, exist; þær sakir skal fyrst dæma, ef þær eru, if such there are, Grág. (Kb.) i. 73; eigi vóru hans jafningjar, Eg. 1; Rachel grét sonu sína, … þvi at þeir eru eigi, Hom. 49; þeir menn vóru, er þess gátu, there were men who, Nj. 90.

2. to be, happen; þat var, at hón for brott, Nj. 51; él eitt mun vera, 198; þess sem vera vill, that which is to be, 186; ok er (is) Vagn þá fimtán vetra gamall, er þetta er, when this came to pass, Fms. xi. 97; at þessi orrosta hafi verit á öðrum degi viku, iii. 11; í þann tið var úfriðr Kristnum mönnum, Ver. 43; hvat er henni, what is the matter with her? Fms. ii. 290; hvat er þér, Atli? er þér hryggt í hug, Gkv. 3.

3. to last; meðan þingit væri, Nj. 12; hirðit eigi at óttask píslir þeirra—þvíat stund eina eru, 623. 32; meðan líf hans var, Bret. 100; þykkir eigi vera mega svá búit, Fms. xi. 62: to remain, leave alone, láttu það vera, let that be, Flóv.

4. to be, dwell, stay, sojourn; vask til Róms, I was at Rome, Sighvat; hann bað hana vera í búð sinni, Nj. 12; Gunnarr var á Höskuld-stöðum um nótt, passed a night there, 34, N. G. L. i. 347: so the phrase, biðja að lofa sér að vera, to ask for night-quarters, of a stranger or traveller; lofa honum að vera, to take a stranger in; honum var boðit at vera, Vápn. 23; hefi ek hér verit síðan, Nj. 45; Hallkell var þar með Otkatli, 73; þeir vildu eigi vesa hér við heiðna menn, Íb. 4; vera samvistum við e-n, Grág. ii. 80; vera við e-t, to be present at, Hom. 129: vera at, to be present; vark at þar, Glúm.: vera brottu, to be away, absent, Nj. 113; meðan ek em í brautu, 52: sagðisk eigi vita hvar þau væri, were to be found, Dipl. ii. 20; hvar ertu? slá ein var um þvert skipit, Nj. 44; hygg ek at þar hafi verit Bolli, Ld. 274; er þér hér nú minja-griprinn, Nj. 203: as with the notion of ‘towards’ a place, an irregular construction, vartú á land upp, Fas. ii. 174; meðan þeir vóru til Danmerkr, Fms. x. 104; Ribbungar höfðu ekki verit út í landit, ix. 359; verit eigi til orrostu, vii. 263, v. l.; vera á fund hans, Eg. 26.

5. with prepp.; vera at, to be busy at (see ‘at’ A. II, p. 26, col. 2): vera fyrir, to lead (see fyrir): vera til, to exist (see til IV); eiga fjölskyldi, vandræði, um at vera, to be in straits (see um C. VII); e-m er mikit, lítið, ekki um e-t (see um C. I. 3); vera við (see við B. VIII).

II. with a predicate:

1. with a noun, to be so and so; vera bróðir, systir, faðir, sonr, dóttir … e-s, vera konungr, jarl, biskup …, passim; hvers son ertú?—Ek emk Kattarson, Mork. 104; ek skal þer Mörðr vera, Nj. 15: followed by a gen. ellípt., er þat ekki karla, that is not men’s (affair), 75; er þat ekki margra, ‘that is not for many,’ few are equal to that (cp. Lat. ‘non cuivis homini,’ etc.), 48.

2. with adjectives, to be so and so, of a state or condition; vera kunnigr, Fms. x. 370; vera glaðr, sæll, hryggr, dauðr, lifandi, … ungr, gamall, to be glad …, young, old, passim; þó at ek sjákk ótignari, Mork. 89; nema ek dauðr sják, Hbl. 9; þótt ek sják einn, Mork. 134; vera kominn, to be come: so too with adverbs, vera vel, ílla … til e-s, er við e-n, to be, behave well, ill … to one, passim; or also, þat er ílla, it is sad, Nj. 70, 71; ílla er þá, fyrr væri ílla, 75, 260; drengr góðr, þar sem vel skyldi vera, when it was to be, i. e. when she wished, 147; vera spakliga í heraði, to behave gently, Sturl. iii. 143; at þú frændr þína vammalaust verir, to behave blamelessly, Sdm. 22; orð kvað hann þats án veri, words which he had better not have said, Am. 36.

3. impers., e-t er skylt, it is incumbent, Grág.; e-m er varmt, heitt, kalt, one is warm, cold, Nj. 95; er auðit, q. v.

4. with participles, in a passive sense; vera kallaðr, vera sagðr, tekinn, elskaðr, etc., to be called, said, taken, loved.

5. with infin.; hlymr var at heyra, was to hear, i. e. to be heard, Am.; þar var at sjá, there was to be seen, passim.

6. ellipt., dropping a noun or the like, denoting futurity, necessity, a thing at hand, about to happen, or to be done; ok er hér at þiggja, Hrafn, þann greiða sem þú vill, and it is now for thee, Rafn, to partake of what food thou wilt, Ísl. ii. 262; nú er þeim út at ganga öllum, er leyft er, now it is for them to go out, Nj. 200; nú er at verja sik, 83; er nú eigi Kára at varask, now there is no need to beware of K., 259; nú er at segja frá, now is to be told, 75, 259; er nú ekki fyrr frá at segja en þeir koma …, 21; er ekki um hans ferðir at tala fyrr en …, 215.

III. irregular usages:

1. ellipse of the infin. vera; ek skal þér Hrútr, I will [be] Hrútr to thee, Nj. 15; Gunnarr segir sér þat alvöru, G. says it [ is to be] his earnestness, 49; vil ek þá lauss máls þessa, 76; bað hann alla metta at miðri nótt, he begged all eating [ to be over] at midnight, Fms. ix. 353; þá þótti hverjum gott þar sem sat, Nj. 50; at skamt skyli okkar í meðal, 114; mun þín skömm lengi uppi, mun hans vörn uppi meðan landit er bygt, 116, 117: or also ‘var,’ ‘er’ may be understood, hann hafði hjálm á höfði, og gyrðr sverði, 70; sá ek glöggt hvat títt var,—barn at aldri, en vegit slíka hetju, a bairn in age, and to have slain such a champion! Glúm. 382: the dropping of the infin. vera is esp. freq. after the reflex. forms kveðsk, segjask, látask, þykkjask, virðask, sýnask when followed by a part. pret. or by an adjective, as also after the verbs munu, skulu,—thus, hann sagðisk kominn, he said he was come; hann lezt búinn, he made as if he was ready; hann þóttisk staddr, he thought that he was …; skal þat á þínu umdæmi, Fms. xi. 89; þess eins er mér þykkir betr, … til hvers þykkjast þessir menn færir, Hrafn. 17; mun þat harðla lítið, 21; at fátt muni manna á fótum, 20; þú virðisk okkr vaskr maðr, 23; þessi hestr sýnisk mér eigi betri en aðrir, id.

2. an irregularity, occurring now and then, is the use of the sing. ‘er’ for plur. eru; mannföll þessi er sögð, Gullþ. 71; nú er fram komin sóknar-gögn, Nj. 242.

IV. recipr., erusk, vórusk; viðr-gefendr ok endr-gefendr erosk lengst vinir, Hm. 40; þeir er í nánd erusk, those who are neighbours, 655 xxi. 3; þótt þau sésk eigi hjóna, though they be not man and wife, K. Þ. K. 158; ok városk góðir vinir, were good friends, Fms. xi. 39, 89; ok várusk þeir fóstbræðr, 55.

V. as to the poët. medial form, erumk, várumk (see ek C), the following instances are from the poems of Egil: grimmt várumk hlið, the breach was cruel to me, Stor.; erumk-a leitt, it is not to me, Eg. (in a verse); erumka þokkt þjóða sinni, see sinni II; mærðar-efni erumk auð-skæf, Ad.; mjök erum(k) tregt tungu at hræra, it is hard for me to move the tongue, Stor. 1; (hence one might correct the end verse of that poem into nú ‘erumk’ torvelt, for the modernised nú ‘er mér’ torvelt); blautr erumk bergi-fótar borr, Eg. (at the end); to which add, þat erumk sennt, it is told us, Bragi; lyst várumk þess, I had a longing to, Am. 74; ván erumk, ‘a hope is to me,’ I hope, Fagrsk. 122; the phrase, títt erumk, ‘tis ready to me, Eb. (in a verse).

VI. part., allir menn verandi ok eptir komandi, Dipl. i. 3; æ-verandi, everlasting, Hom. 107; hjá-verandi, being present, Vm. 47; nær-verandis, present; engi nær-verandis maðr, öllum lýð nær-verandis, Th. 77; klerkar ok nær-verandi leikmenn, Mar.; at upp-vesandi sólu, at sunrise, N. G. L. i. 4; verandi eigi úminnigr, being not unmindful, Fms. v. 230.

(gen. vetrar, pl. vetr), m.

1) winter; miðr v., midwinter; í v., this winter; v. verðr mikill, the winter becomes cold, severe; á vetri, í vetri, last winter;

2) year (sextán vetra gamall); tíu vetrum síðarr, ten years later.

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m., gen. vetrar, dat. vetri; pl., nom. and acc. vetr, gen. vetra, dat. vetrum: it was an assimilated form anciently written vettr or vittr, qs. vintr; vitrar or vittrar (gen.), Post. (Unger) 233; vettr is freq., esp. in N. G. L.; double consonants are in vellums difficult to distinguish from single, and so tt may well have been the current form, although the Edd. give the mod. form (vetr): in poets we find, m itt sextigu v ittra, Glúm, (in a verse): vintr occurs in Icel. ballads of the 15th century, see Þryml., Völs. R., Skáld H.R., but here it is merely an imitation of Danish originals, for the word in Icel. always took the assimilated form: [Ulf. wintrus = χειμών and ἔτος; A. S., Engl., and Germ. winter; Dan.-Swed. vinter, for the assimilation of nt into tt did not prevail in the south of Scandinavia, see Gramm. p. xxx, col. 1.]

A. A winter; winter, like summer (see sumar), is a calendary period, containing 180 days, or six months of thirty days; the winter begins on the Saturday next before St. Luke’s day (old style), or on St. Luke’s day, if a Saturday. In the Gregorian style, for 1872 and 1873, vetrar-dagr fyrsti, the first winter day = Saturday, the 26th of Oct.; miðr vetr, mid-winter, the 24th of Jan.; síðasti vetrar dagr, the last winter day = Wednesday, the 23rd of April; Laugardagr skal fyrstr vera í vetri, en þaðan skal vera sex mánuðr þrjátigi nátta til sumars, K. Þ. K. 166; vetr kemr laugardaginn er næstr er fyrir Lúkas-messu, en hana sjálfa ef hlaupár ferr eptir, Rb. 490; Drottins-dagr inn fyrsti í vetri skal vera inn þriði frá messu-degi Cosmi ok Damiani, Rb. 434: as a general term, í vetr, this winter, Nj. 4; hafa blót hvern vetr, Ó. H.; Miðr vetr, Mid-winter, see above; miðs vetrar skeið, mid-winter time, Fb. i. 204; miðs vetrar blót, a sacrificial feast at mid-winter, see miðr B; á vetri, or í vetri, see prepp. á and í; mikill vetr, a cold winter, Bs. i. 873; harðr, kaldr, Kominn er kaldr vetr, initial words of a hymn.

II. = a year; as in A. S. days were reckoned by nights (see nótt), so years were counted by winters; in Ulfilas (Matt. ix. 20, Luke ii. 42, viii. 42) ἔτος is rendered by wintrus; and so at present in Icel., a person is so many ‘winters’ old; tólf vetra gamall, K. Þ. K. 134; sextán vetra gamall, Grág. i. 197; and ellipt. leaving out gamall, tólf vetra, Fms. i. 8; tíu vetrum síðarr, 61; sex tigi vetra konungr, Eg. 367; sjau vetr ena ársömu, Ver. 17 (of king Pharaoh’s dream); þeirra var vetrar-munr, difference in age of one year, Dropl. 7; for more references, see tigr B.

III. mythol., Vetr, a giant, the son of Vindsvalr or Vindlóni, Vþm., Edda i. 82.

COMPDS: vetrarblót, vetrarbók, vetrarbraut.

2. astron. the milky way, in Icel. called vetrar-braut, undoubtedly from old heathen times, although the word happens not to occur in old writers; Icel. weather-prophets use in the autumn to forecast the course of the winter, by the appearance of the milky-way; this is evidently a very old custom, whence probably the name, for in old times fortune-telling used to take place at the great autumnal feasts and sacrifices, see the references s. v. völva. vetrar-dagr, m. a winter day, N. G. L. i. 348; á vetrardag, in the winter, Fms. viii. 50, Bs. i. 324, v. l.; fyrsti vetrardagr, D. N. vi. 143, Icel. Almanack. vetrar-far, n. the course of winter; sagði hón (the Sibyl) mönnum forlög sín ok vetrar-far ok aðra hluti, Fas. ii. 506; blótuðu þeir þá til friðar ok vetrarfars góðs, Fms. iv. 235. vetrar-höll, f. the winter hall, D. N. ii. 409. vetrar-langt, n. adj. the winter long, Fms. vii. 25. vetrar-megn, n. the depth of winter;þá var vetrarmegn ok treystisk hann eigi á haf at halda, Eb. 6. vetrar-messa, u, f. ‘winter-mass’ = Oct. 14, D. N. vetrar-myki, f. winter-muck, manure, Gþl. 342. vetrar-nauð, f. ‘winter-need,’ a severe winter, Ísl. ii. 155, Lv. 206. vetrar-nótt, f. a winter’s night; þar skaltú sofa í ina fyrstu v., Fms. xi. 4. vetrar-ríki, n. = vetrarnauð, a severe winter, Eb. 290, Fbr. 41, v. l. vetrar-rúgr, m. winter rye, Gþl. 343. vetra-stefna, u, f. a winter term; nú vill hann til vetrar-stefnu jörð selja, fimmtán vetr, N. G. L. i. 92. vetra-tal, n. a number of winters, Rb. 508: years, fyrr rosknir at afli en vetra tali, Fms. i. 30, x. 230, 419. vetrar-tíð, f. winter-tide, Bb. 3. 34. vetrar-tími, a, m. winter-time, Stj. 69, 97, Bs. i. 324. vetrar-tungl, n. the winter moon, the moon when winter sets in, Icel. Almanack (Nov. 1, 1872).

B. REAL COMPDS: vetrbeit, vetrbjörg, vetrgamall, vetrgata, vetrgemlingr, vetrgestr, vetrgrið, vetrhagi, vetrhluti, vetrhringr, vetrhús, vetrliði, vetrligr, vetrlægr, vetrmessa, vetrnætr, vetrrúgr, vetrseta, vetrseti, vetrtaka, vetrtökumaðr, vetrvist.

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(gen. handar, dat. hendi; pl. hendr), f.

1) hand;

taka hendi á e-u, to touch with the hand;

hafa e-t í hendi, to hold in the hand;

drepa hendi við e-u, to refuse;

halda hendi yfir e-m, to protect one;

taka e-n höndum, to seize, capture;

bera hönd fyrir höfuð sér, to defend oneself;

eiga hendr sínar at verja, to act in self defence;

láta e-t hendi firr, to let go out of one’s hands, to lose;

taka í hönd e-m, to join hands with one;

eiga e-t jöfnum höndum, to own in equal shares;

sverja sér af hendi, to forswear;

af hendi e-s, on one’s behalf, on the part of (af hendi landsmanna);

at hendi, as adv. in turn;

hverr at hendi, each in turn;

felast á hendi e-m, to be under one’s protection;

hvat er þér á höndum, what hast thou in hand?;

ef honum væri ekki á höndum, if he had nothing in hand, if his hands were free;

eiga e-t fyrir hendi (höndum), to have in hand (duty, business, engagement);

vera í hendi, to be at hand, at one’s disposal;

hafa vel (illa) í höndum, to behave well (badly);

hafa e-t með höndum, to have in hand, manage, discharge;

hljóta e-t undan hendi e-s, from one, at one’s hand;

á hönd, á hendr, against (lýsa vígi á hönd e-m);

snúa vanda á hendr e-m, to throw the responsibility on one;

fœrast e-t á hendr, to undertake;

ganga (drífa) á hönd e-m, to submit to one;

bjargast á sínar hendr, by one’s own handiwork;

selja, gefa, fá e-t í hönd (hendr) e-m, to give into one’s hands, hand over;

búa e-t í hendr e-m, to make it ready for one;

kalla til e-s í hendr e-m, to lay claim to a thing at the hands of another;

þá sömu nótt, er fór í hönd, the following night;

veðr óx í hönd, the wind rose higher and higher;

vera hœgt um hönd, to be easy in hand;

til handa e-m, into one’s hands;

ganga til handa e-m, to put oneself in another’s hands, submit to him;

ef þat berr þér til handa, if it befalls thee;

þá skömrn kýs ek mér eigi til handa, I will not have that shame at my door;

biðja konu til handa e-m, on one’s behalf, for him;

2) the arm and hand, the arm (höndin gekk af axlarliðnum; hann hefir á hœgri hendi hring fyrir ofan ölnboga);

var eigi djúpara en þeim tók undir hendr, the water just reached to their armpits;

3) hand, side;

á hœgri (vinstri) hönd, on the right (left) hand, side;

á hvára hönd, on either hand;

minnar (yðvarrar) handar, for my (your) part;

4) kind, sort;

allra handa árgœzka, great abundance of all things.

* * *

f., gen. handar, dat. hendi, acc. hönd, pl. hendr, mod. proncd. höndur, gen. handa; [Goth. handus; A. S. and Engl. hand; O. H. G. hant; Germ. hand; Dan. haand; Swed. hand]:—a hand; beit höndina þar er nú heitir úlfliðr, Edda 17; armleggir, handleggir ok hendr, Anecd. 6; kné eðr hendi, Grág. ii. 8; ganga á höndum, Fms. vi. 5; með hendi sinni, K. Þ. K. 5 new Ed.; taka hendi á e-u, to touch with the hand, Fms. x. 110; taka höndum um háls e-m, Nj. 10; hvítri hendi, Hallfred; hafa e-t í hendi, to hold in hand, wield, Eg. 297, Nj. 84, 97, 255; hrjóta ór hendi e-m, Fms. xi. 141; hafa fingrgull á hendi, Nj. 146; handar-högg, Fms. xi. 126, Fas. ii. 459; sjá ekki handa sinna skil (deili), not to be able to see one’s hands, of a dense fog.

2. the arm and hand, the arm, like Gr. χείρ, Nj. 160, 253; á hendi heitir alnbogi, Edda 110; hendr til axla, Fas. i. 160; leggir handa ok fóta, Magn. 532; hönd fyrir ofan úlnlið, Nj. 84; hafa hring á hendi, of an arm-ring, Nj. 131; hring á hægri hendi fyrir ofan ölnboga, Fms. iv. 383:—the arm and arm-pit, ná, taka undir hönd ( arm-pit) e-m, Gþl. 380; var eigi djúpara en þeim tók undir hendr, the water reached to their arm-pits, Ld. 78; taka undir hönd sér, to take hold under one’s arms, Eg. 237, Nj. 200; sjá undir hönd e-m, Fas. ii. 558; renna undir hendr e-m, to backspan one, Háv. 40, 41; þykkr undir hönd, stout, Ld. 272.

3. metaph. handwriting, hand; rita góða hönd, to write a good hand; snar-hönd, running hand, italics.

II. the hand, side; hægri hönd, the right hand; vinstri hönd, the left hand; á hvára hönd, on either hand, each side, Landn. 215; á vinstri hönd, Nj. 196; á hægri hönd; á tvær hendr, on both hands or sides, Ísl. ii. 368, Fas. i. 384; á báðar hendr, Grág.; hvat sem á aðra hönd ber, whatsoever may happen; á aðra hönd … en á aðra, Ld. 46; til hvárigrar handara, Fms. x. 313; til annarrar handar, Nj. 50, 97; til sinnar handar hvárr, 140; til beggja handa, Eg. 65; til ýmsa handa, Bs. i. 750; þver-hönd, a hand’s breadth; örv-hönd.

III. sayings and phrases referring to the hand:

1. sayings; sjálfs hönd er hollust, one’s own hand is best, i. e. if you want to have a thing well done, do it yourself, Glúm. 332, Ó. H. 157; blíð er bætandi hönd, blessed is the mending hand; gjörn er hönd á venju, Grett. 150, Nj. (in a verse), and Edda (Ht. 26); margar hendr vinna létt verk; fiplar hönd á feigu tafli; betri ein kráka í hendi en tvær á skógi, Ld. 96; skamma stund verðr hönd höggvi fegin, see högg.

2. phrases; drepa hendi við, to refuse, Nj. 71; halda hendi yfir e-m, to hold one’s hand over, protect, 266, Fbr. 22, Anecd. 14; taka e-n höndum, to take hold with the hands, seize, capture, Fms. x. 314, Nj. 265, passim; eiga hendr sínar at verja, to act in self-defence, 84, 223; hefja handa, to lift the hands, stir for action, 65, Ld. 262; bera hönd fyrir höfuð sér, to put one’s hand before one’s head, stand on one’s guard, defend oneself; vera í hers höndum, óvina höndum, to be in a state of war, exposed to rapine; vera í góðum höndum, vina-höndum, góðra manna höndum, to be in good hands, among friends.

β. læknis-hendr, ‘leech hands,’ healing hands; pains and sickness were believed to give way to the magical touch of a person gifted with such hands, Sdm. 4, Magn. S. Góða ch. 36 (Fms. vi. 73), cp. Rafns S. ch. 2; hönd full, a handful, Fms. ii. 302, vi. 38, viii. 306; fullar hendr fjár, hands full of gold:—kasta hendinni til e-s, to huddle a thing up; með harðri hendi, with hard hand, harshly, rudely; með hangandi hendi, with drooping hand, slothfully; fegins hendi, with glad hand, joyfully; sitja auðum höndum, to sit with empty hands, sit idle; but með tómar hendr, empty-handed, portionless, Thom.:—láta hendr standa fram úr ermum, to work briskly; víkja hendi til e-s (handar-vik), to move the hand to do a thing; það er ekki í tveim höndum að hafa við e-n, of double handed (i. e. faltering) half measures, when the one hand undoes what the other has done; kann ek þat sjá at ekki má í tveim höndum hafa við slíka menn, Band. 3; láta hönd selja hendi, of a ready bargain; láta e-t ganga hendi firr, to let go out of one’s hands, lose, Ld. 202; ok lét sér eigi hendi firr ganga, and never lost sight of him, 656 ii. 4; e-m fallask hendr, to be discomfited, lose one’s head (see falla); leggja görva hönd á allt, to be a ready hand, adept in everything, Thom. 300 (see göra F. 2); taka í hönd e-m, to join hands, Nj. 3; takask í hendr, to join, shake hands, Grág. ii. 80; leggja hendr saman, id., Gþl. 18,—of shaking hands as symbolical of a bargain, see the compds hand-lag, hand-festi, handa-band; eiga, taka, jöfnum höndum, to own, take with even hands, i. e. in equal shares, Grág. i. 171, ii. 66, Hkr. i. 318; vinna jöfnum höndum, to work even-handed, to help one another; e-m eru mislagðar hendr, one’s hands are amiss, when bad work is done by one from whom better was expected; honum hafa verið mislagðar hendr, etc.

B. Metaph. usages:

I. dat., sverja sér af hendi, to forswear, Fms. vii. 176; færa af höndum sér, to dismiss, Grág. i. 248; hefjask af höndum e-m, Fms. xi. 59:—af hendi e-s, on one’s behalf, part, Landn. 154; af hendi Hákonar, Fms. i. 20, iv. 118; af hendi landsmanna, ix. 359; af sinni hendi, of one’s own hand, for one’s own part, Grág. i. 392; reiða, greiða, gjalda, inna af hendi or höndum, to discharge, pay off, Fms. vii. 230, Nj. 146, 190, 232, 239, 257, 281, Grág. i. 82, ii. 374; selja, láta af hendi (höndum), to part with, dismiss, Nj. 186, 231, Fms. vii. 173, Rb. 12; líða af hendi, to pass, of time, Ísl. ii. 144, Fms. iv. 83: koma, bera at hendi, to happen, Nj. 71, 177: at hendi, as adv. in turn; hvern at hendi, each in turn, Fms. i. 150: þar næst Gunnarr, þá Loðinn, þá hverr at hendi, Nj. 140; hverr segir at hendi þat er frá honum hefir stolit verit, Mar.: felask á hendi e-m, to be under one’s charge, protection, Nj. 201, Bs. i. 167, 173. vera e-m á hendi, id., Fms. vii. 243; vera bundinn á hendi e-m, Sturl. i. 57: hafa e-t á höndum (hendi), to have a thing in hand, of duty, business to be done, Grág. i. 38; eiga ferð á höndum, Ld. 72; hvat er þér á höndum, what hast thou in hand? for what art thou concerned, distressed? Nj. 133, Ld. 270; ella eru þér stórir hlutir á höndum, Fms. vii. 30; ef honum væri ekki á höndum, if he had nothing in hand, if his hands were free, Ld. 42: eiga e-t fyrir hendi (höndum), to have in hand (duty, business, engagement), Fas. ii. 557; farvegr langr fyrir hendi, Fms. xi. 316; tveir kostir fyrir höndum, Nj. 264, Grág. i. 279; hafa sýslu fyrir höndum, Ísl. ii. 344; eiga vandræði fyrir höndum, Ld. 4; eiga gott fyrir höndum, Hkr. iii. 254: vera í hendi, to be at hand, within reach, at one’s disposal, in one’s power; hann er eigi í hendi, Fms. vi. 213; þat er eigi í hendi, ‘tis no easy matter, v. l.; hafa raun ( evidence) í hendi, Bs. i. 708; hafa ráð e-s í hendi sér, Ld. 174, Fas. i. 260; hafa vel, ílla í höndum, to behave well, badly, Ísl. ii. 387, Eg. 158; varð honum þat vel í höndum, 50: hafa e-t með höndum (fé, auðæfi, embætti, etc.), to have in hand, manage, discharge, Grág. ii. 389, Greg. 25, Stj. 248, Hkr. iii. 131; to design, hafa ráð, stórræði með höndum, 623. 51: hljóta undan hendi e-s, from one, at one’s hands, Fas. i. 365: undir höndum, eigi lítill undir höndum, not a small man to handle, Fms. vii. 17; vera undir höndum e-m, to be under or in one’s hands, under one’s protection, in one’s power, Sks. 337, Fms. i. 7, 13; sitja undir hendi e-m, Hkr. i. 166,—um hendr, Fms. iv. 71, is prob. an error = undir hendi.

2. absol., annarri hendi, on the other hand, Fms. vii. 158; en annarri hendi vildu þeir gjarna veita konungi hlýðni, ix. 258.

II. acc., with prepp.; á hönd, á hendr, against; höfða sök, lýsa vígi (etc.) á hönd e-m, to make a suit … against, Grág. i. 19, Nj. 86, 87, 98, 99, 101, 110, 120, 230; hyggja e-t á hendr e-m, to lay a thing to a person’s charge, Hom. 115; reynask á hendr e-m, to have a charge brought home to one, Fms. xi. 76; snúa vanda á hendr e-m, to throw the responsibility upon …, Nj. 215; færa, segja stríð á hendr e-m, to wage, declare war against one; fara geystr á hendr e-m, to rage against, Fms. vii. 230; færask e-t á hendr, to undertake, Nj. 126; ganga á hönd e-m, to vex one, 625. 33; sótt elnar á hendr e-m, Eg. 126; leggja e-t á hendr e-m, to lay ( a burden) on one’s hands, Fms. xi. 98; in a good sense, ganga á hönd, to pay homage to, submit, Ó. H. 184; dreif allt fólk á hönd honum, submitted to him, filled his ranks, Fms. i. 21; bjargask á sínar hendr, by one’s own handwork, Vápn. 28; (for at hönd, Grág. i. 135, read á hönd): selja, fá, gefa e-t í hönd, hendr e-m, to give into one’s hands, hand over; selja sök í hönd e-m (handsöl), Grág. ii. 80, Nj. 4, 98, 112, 186; so, halda e-u í hönd e-m, Ísl. ii. 232, Fms. vii. 274; búa í hendr e-m, to make it ready for one, Ld. 130; veiði berr í hendr e-m, Nj. 252; kalla til e-s í hendr e-m, to lay claim to a thing at the hands of another, Ld. 300, Eg. 350, Fms. iv. 222, ix. 424; þegar í hönd, offhand, immediately, Bs. i; þá sömu nótt er fór í hönd, the following night, Fms. viii. 397, Glúm. 341; gjalda í hönd, to pay in cash, Vm. 16; veðr óx í hönd, the wind rose higher and higher, Fb. i. 432: undir jafna hönd, equally, Sturl. iii. 243; standa óbrigðiliga undir jafna hönd, Dipl. v. 26: væra hægt um hönd, to be easy in hand, Nj. 25; þegar eg vil er hægt um hönd, heima á Fróni að vera, Núm. 1. 10; but mér er e-t um hönd, it is awkward, costs trouble: hafa við hönd sér, to keep at hand, Fms. x. 264; tóku konur manna ok dætr ok höfðu við hönd sér viku, Grett. 97; hafa e-t við höndina, to have it at hand.

III. gen., with prepp.; til handa e-m, into one’s hands; fara Guði til handa, to go into God’s hands, Blas. 51; ganga til handa e-m, to put oneself in another’s hands, submit to him, Rb. 404, Eg. 12, Fms. vii. 234, Fas. ii. 522; ef þat berr þér til handa, if it befalls thee, i. 135; þá skömm kýs ek mér eigi til handa, I will not have that shame at my door, Nj. 191: for one, on one’s behalf, biðja konu til handa e-m, 120, 180, Grág. i. 353; í þeirri bæn er hann orti oss til handa, for its, for our use, our sake, 655 i. 2; hann hélt fénu til handa Þrándi, Landn. 214, Nj. 151; safnar konungr liði (til) handa Oddi, Fas. ii. 553; til handa Þorkatli, Fs.

β. dropping the prep. til; mikit fé handa honum, Rd. 195 (late MSS.): whence, handa has become an adverb with dat., handa e-m, for one, Lat. alicui, which is freq. in mod. usage.

2. adverbial; allra handa, Dan. allehaande, of every kind; allra handa árgæzka, Edda (pref.); allra handa ganganda fé, Þórð. 51 new Ed.; fjögurra handa, of a fourfold kind, H. E. i. 525.

3. absol., minnar handar, for my part, Ísl. ii. 356; yðvarrar handar, for your part, Fms. ix. 498; hvárrar-tveggju handar, on either hand, Skálda 164; innan handar, within one’s hands, easy, Ld. 112; þótti þeim innan handar falla at taka land þetta hjá sér sjálfum, 210.

C. COMPDS:

I. plur., handa-afl, n., Edda, = handafl, p. 237. handa-band, n. a joining or shaking of hands, as a law term = handlag, Dipl. i. 11, iv. 2, Vígl. 23; in plur., Bs. (Laur. S.); heilsa, kveðja með handabandi. handa-festi, f. a hold for the hands, Fms. ii. 276. handa-gangr, m. grasping after a thing with all hands, Fas. iii. 345. handa-görvi, f. ‘hand-gear,’ gloves, Sd. 143, Fbr. 139. handa-hóf, n., in the phrase, af handahófi, at random. handa-kenning, f. hand touching, Eluc. 20. handa-klapp, n. a clapping of hands, Skálda 174. handa-læti, n. pl. gestures with the arms, Sks. 116. handar-mál, n., in the phrase, at handarmáli, in heaps; var þá drepit lið hans at handarmáli, Fas. i. 41. handa-saumr, m. tight gloves, Bs. ii. 10. handa-síðr, adj. = handsíðr. handa-skil, n. pl., in the phrase, sjá ekki h., not to see one’s own hands, as in the dark, in a dense fog. handa-skol, n. pl. maladroitness; það er allt í handaskolum. handa-skömm, f. shameful work, a scandal; það er mesta h.! handa-staðr, m. the print of the hands. Fas. i. 285. handa-tak, n., -tekt, f., -tekja, u, f. a taking of hands, as a bargain, Háv. 42, H. E. ii. 194, D. N. i. 398. handa-tæki, n. pl. a laying hold, a fight, Bs. i. (Laur. S.): a pledging of hands, Dipl. ii. 6, D. N. passim. handa-upphald, n. a lifting the arms, Stj. 296. handa-verk, n. pl. one’s handiwork, doings, N. G. L. i. 76, Fms. vii. 295, Stj. 198; í handaverkum eða bókfræði, 46; handaverk manna, men’s handiwork, Blas. 47; Guðs h.; ek em þín h., Sks. 610; hans h., Fms. viii. 406.

II. sing., handar-bak, n. the back of the hand, Sdm. 7. handar-gagn, n. a being ready to the hand; leggja e-t til handargagns, to lay it so as to be ready at hand, Hkr. ii, 158, 249. handar-grip, n. a measure, = spönn, Karl. 481. handar-hald, proncd. handarald, n. a handle, Fas. ii. 355. handar-jaðarr, m. the hand’s edge; in the phrase, vera undir handar-jaðri e-s, to be in one’s hands, in one’s power, Fær. 201. handar-kriki, a, m. ‘hand’s-creek,’ the arm-pit, Eg. 396, Fms. vi. 348, Sturl. ii. 37. handar-mein, n. a sore in the hand, Bs. i. 115, 187, Sturl. ii. 177. handar-stúfr, m. a ‘hand-stump,’ stump of the arm, the hand being hacked off, Fms. x. 258, xi. 119. handar-vani, a, m. maimed in hand, Hm. 70, Matth. xviii. 8. handar-veif, n., í handarveifi, in a ‘wave of the hand,’ in a moment. handar-vik, n. the hands’ reach, movement, work; lítið handarvik, a small work. handar-væni, a, m. want of hands (?), Hm. 72.

☞ For the compds in hand- see pp. 237, 238.

* * *

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.

the negative prefix un-. See ‘ú-’.

* * *

or ú-, the negative prefix before nouns and verbs, [Goth., Engl., and Germ. un-; Dan. and Swed. û-, the nasal being absorbed.] The Icel. at a very early date changed this ú into ó, for the very oldest and best vellums use ó, not only the Greg., Eluc., Íb., the Miracle-book (Bs. i. 333 sqq.), but also the Grág., the Cod. Reg. of the Sæm. Edda, etc.; in later vellums of the better kind ú and ó are used promiscuously; till about the union with Norway the ú prevailed, and is chiefly used in vellums of the 14th century; but in the 15th the ó again took its old place, and has been retained ever since, agreeably with the usual pronunciation. The ó is therefore the proper Icel. form, e. g. ó-vitr = Engl. un-wise; that it was sounded thus even in the 12th century is also shewn by the treatise of the second grammarian (Gramm. p. i, col. 1),—ó eðr ú þat skiptir orðum, svá sem er satt eðr ó-satt (ú-satt), Skálda 171. This change of spelling in the MSS. about (or a little before) the union with Norway cannot have been owing to any change in pronunciation, but was simply a Norwegianism, as were many other cases, e. g. the dropping the h before liquids, contrary to the Icel. pronunciation. On the other hand, as for the rest of Scandinavia, the ú has been retained in Denmark and in the east of Norway; but ó in the west and north of Norway (see Ivar Aasen’s Dict.), as also in mod, Swed. (e. g. o-möjlig = Germ. un-möglich). In early Swed. (in the laws) u and o are used indifferently. The Orkneys seem to have followed the Icel., to judge from a rhyme in the poem Jd. composed by bishop Bjarni (died A. D. 1222), a native of the Orkneys,— ó-teitan mik sútar, the metre of which requires a half rhyme, a rule followed strictly throughout that poem.

B. Of the compds with ú- or ó-, all but a few words are from un-; these exceptional words appear to be contractions, either,

α. from ör-, where we have such double forms as ör-sekr and ó-sekr, N. G. L. i. 379; ör-viti and ó-viti, ó-verðr and ör-verðr, ó-vænn and ör-vænn, ör-hæfi and ú-hæfa, ör-keypis and ó-keypis, ú-dæmi qs. ör-dæmi (?), ó-bóta qs. ör-bóta (?), ó-birgr and ör-birgr; perh. also ú-helgi qs. ör-helgi, ú-heilagr qs. ör-heilagr; cp. also such words as ú-megin and ör-megna, ú-synja qs. ör-synja (?).

β. from of-, esp. before a labial or dental; thus, of-vægr and ó-vægr, ó-frýnn qs. of-frýnn, ó-sköp = of-sköp (?), ó-freskr qs. of-freskr, ó-fyrirsynju qs. of-fyrirsynju (?), ó-hljóð or ú-hljóð qs. of-hljóð (?), of-dæll and ó-dæll, of-ljóss and ó-ljóss. In some of these instances doubt may arise, for a double set of compds might have sprung up. On the other hand, the great number of compds with ur-, er- in German and Saxon, and the scarcity of such words in the Norse tongue, lead to the conclusion that many of these compds in the course of time have been lost or replaced by ú-; cp. also of-allt and á-valt, (of-saka and á-saka, of-brýði and á-brýði, of-munir and á-munr, af-vöxtr and á-vöxtr, af-burðr and of-burðr?). Since in most Editions the spelling with ú- has been adopted in these classes of words, they must be sought for under that head.

* * *

prep. with gen.

1) to (ríða til skips, koma t. Noregs); leiða, stefna t. e-s, to lead, tend towards;

2) of; tala vel, illa t e-s, to speak well, ill of one; vita t. e-s, to know of, be conscious of; spyrja t. e-s, to hear tidings of; segja t. e-s, to tell of; ljúga t. e-s, to tell a falsehood about;

3) on; t. annarrar handar, on the other hand or side; t. vinstri, hœgri handar, on the left, right hand;

4) denoting reason, purpose, respect (svelta sik t. fjár; berjast t. ríkis; blóta t. árs; sverð ørugt t. vápns); liggja t. byrjar, to wait for a favourable wind; hross t. reiðar, a horse for riding;

5) e-m verðr gott, illt t. e-s, one is well or ill off for a thing, has much or little of it; þeim varð gott t. manna, they got together many men; land illt t. hafna, a land ill off for havens; henni féll þungt t. fjár, she was pressed for money;

6) with verbs, gera e-t t. skaps e-m, to do a thing to please one; jafna e-u t. e-s, to compare it with; gera vel, illa t. e-s, to treat one well, badly;

7) of time; t. elli, to old age; t. dauðadags, till one’s death day; liðr á sumarit t. átta vikna, the summer passed till eight weeks were left; t. þess er, þar t. er, until; allt t., all the time till;

8) ellipt. and adverbial usages; vera t., to exist; fala hey ok mat, ef t. væri, if there were any left; hvárttveggja er t., there is a stock of both; eiga t., hafa t., to possess; þat áð, sem helzt var t., ready to hand; vera t. neyddr, to be forced; skilja t., to reserve; verða fyrstr t., to be the first to do a thing;

9) too (t. ungr, t. gamall, eigi t. víðlendr); eigi t. mikit, not too much, not very much; æva t. snotr, not too wise; helzt t. (helzti), mikils t. (mikilsti), by far too much.

* * *

prep. with gen. As to this particle, the two branches of the Teutonic family vary: all the South Teut., including the Goth., present the form without the final l; Goth. du (qs. tu) = πρός, εἰς; A. S., Hel., Old Fris. te, to; North. E. te; Engl. to; Dutch te, toe; O. H. G. zi, za, zuo; Germ. zu; Old Frank. to, te, ti; while the Northerners add the l, as Dan., Swed., North. E. and Scot. til; the Swedes double the l, till. That til is the truer form is seen from rhymes, til vilja, Vígl.: on the other hand, mod. provinc. Norse and Swedish drop the l, thus te, Ivar Aasen, Rietz. The Engl. uses both forms, to, of place, till, of time, of which the latter is no doubt borrowed from the Norse or Danish: til = to is quite common still in Cumberland and other North. E. counties, ‘to gang til Carlisle,’ etc.; a single instance of the form til is said to exist in an old Northumbrian vellum. Both forms, to and til, are, we believe, identical, the latter being a compound particle, ti-l, although the origin of the l has not as vet been made out. The uncompounded particle ti- is not entirely unknown in the Scandinavian, for it has been preserved in the compds mikils-ti, hölz-ti, unz-t, qq. v. ☞ Particles, even brief monosyllabic ones, often turn out to be compds, as e. g. ok(conj.), or the suffixed verbal negative; the prep. ‘til’ therefore is no more akin to the Germ. noun ziel than is ‘ok’ ( and) to ok ( a yoke); the apparent similarity in sense is in both cases merely accidental.

A. To, with gen., also used elliptically or as an adverb; bjóða e-m til sín, Eg. 140; til kirkju, Nj. 209; koma til boðs, 50; ganga til búðar, Grág. i. 31; ríða til skips, Ísl. ii. 192; leiða til skips, Ld. 74; til Íslands, Nj. 10; ríða til Norðrárdals, ok svá til Hrúta-fjarðar ok til Laxárdals, 32; koma til Noregs, 121; hann fór til Ólafs á Dröngum, til Gests í Haga, Landn. 154; sækja giptu til e-s, Fms. v. 154: adding direction, austr, vestr, suðr … út, inn, upp, fram, norðr til Þrandheims, austr til Danmerkr, vestr til England:, suðr til Björgynjar, etc., passim; út til, inn til, Landn. 140; heim til, Fms. xi. 382; upp til borgar; neðan til knjá, Nj. 209.

2. with verbs, to, towards; leiða, stefna … til, to lead, tend towards, Eg. 230, Nj. 4, 102; tala vel, ílla til e-s, to speak well or ill ‘towards,’ i. e. of; vita til e-s, to know of, be conscious of, Fms. i. 142, x. 377; íllorðr til e-s, Nj. 142; minna til e-s, to remember; minnask til e-s, to kiss, 282; drekka til e-s, to ‘drink towards’ (vulg. Engl.), i. e. drink to one, Eg. 552 (also ellipt. drekka e-m til); vísa til e-s (til-vísan), Landn. 192, Nj. 209; taka til e-s, 196, Fms. i. 151: with verbs denoting to look, see, hear, turn, sjá, gæta, hlýða, heyra, hugsa … til e-s, to look, listen, think, speak … to one, Eg. 380, Nj. 2, 10, 87, 91; þeir sá eyjar í haf til útsuðrs, Landn. 35; hann sá opt ljós til leiðis konungsins, Fms. xi. 286; þeir sá eld til Úlfars-fells, Eb. 156; heyra gný ok glam til hersins, Fms. vi. 156, viii. 125; til norðr-ættar, xi. 230; sá menn elda brenna til hafs, x. 157; vissi til lands, Eg. 389; þann veg er veit til Hlaða, Fms. x. 265; horfa aptr til hala; í þeim hlut húss er til vetfangs horfir, Grág. ii. 125; spyrja til e-s, to speer after, hear tidings of one, þetta spyrsk til skipa, Fas. i. 241, Nj. 7; spyrja gott til e-s, Hkr. i. 140: segja til e-s, to tell of(see segja), Nj. 46, Ld. 40, Hrafn. 5; ljúga til e-s, to tell a falsehood of, Finnb. 318.

3. til annarrar handar, on the other hand or side, Nj. 50, 97; til vinstri, hægri handar, til beggja handa, Hkr. i. 158, Eg. 65.

II. denoting business, reason, purpose, capacity, respect; leggjask til svefns, ÓH.; ganga til svefns, Eb. 156; halda barni til skirnar, K. Á. 146; ríða til dagverðar, Nj. 219; fara til vistar, 40; dómar fara út til sóknar, Eg. 725; falda sér til vélar við konu, Grág. i. 338; skipa mönnum til umráða, i. 5; svelta sik til fjár, Nj. 18; drepa e-n til fjár, göra e-t til fjár, Ld. 264; gefin ( married) til fjár, 26, Nj. 257; skora á e-n til landa, Landn. 80; Eg. 498; sækja til trausts, Ld. 26; sækja til landa, Nj. 103; sækja til faðernis, Grág. i. 140; leggja fé til höfuðs e-m, taka fé til höfuðs e-m, Ld. 50, Eg. 375; berjask til ríkis, Fms. vii. 283; blóta til árs, Hkr. i. 13; sverð öruggt til vápns, Ld. 244; hafa eðli til e-s, Skálda 171; selja e-t til silfrs, to convert it into silver, Landn. 293 (Hb.); ætla e-n til dráps, Nj. 163; hlaðinn til hafs, ready for use, Fms. x. 157; liggja til byrjar, i. 135, Eg. 183; taka til konungs, Fms. i. 21; taka til lögsögu-manns, Nj. 164; kjósa til veganda, 100; vinna til e-s (see vinna); gefa til bóta, 101; göra til saka, 80; taka til ráða, 75; hvat er til ráðs, 76; þat er til jartegna, Eg. 768; til merkja (til marks), 766; til gagns, til lítils, Nj. 52; til meins, 106; til sæmdar, 79; til tíðenda, Eg. 201; til næringar, til viðrværis, til fæðu, til matar, Stj. 87, Fms. i. 126, Eg. 221; hross til reiðar, Hrafn. 7; til skjóls, Grett. 169; til sóma, til eptirlætis, Nj. 89; til spotts, Korm. 232; til gamans, til hvárs, for what purpose; as also, til einskis, til góðs, til ílls, til nokkurs.

2. kaupa til tuttugu hundraða, to the amount of, Landn. 145; til fulls eyris, Grág.; fé til tveggja aura gulls, Fms. vii. 218; til fulls, fully; til jafns við, Nj. 46; til hálfs, Eg. 379; til loks, finally, to the end (see lok); vaxa meirr en til dæma, beyond example, unexampled, Stj. 87; draga til dæmis, to produce for the sake of example, Mar.; hence, til dæmis (as adverb), for instance (written abbreviated in mod. books, t.d. = e. g.)

3. e-m verðr gott, íllt til e-s, to be well or ill off for a thing, have little of it; þeim varð gott til manna, Nj. 20; land íllt til hafna, a land ill off for havens, Eg. 332; þar var íllt til vað-mála, short of, Bárð. 5 new Ed.; henni féll þungt til fjár, Nj. 31; góðr til ( open-handed as to) fjár ok metnaðar, Eg. 17; færr til e-s, able to do a thing, Nj. 97, Fms. ix. 530; vænn til framkvæmdar, 480; líkligr til e-s, likely to, Nj. 132; hafa verðleika til e-s, to deserve of, Eg. 226.

4. with verbs; göra e-t til skaps e-m, Nj. 198; göra til skaps vina minna, 80; jafna e-u til e-s, to compare it with, Ld. 60; vera til eptirmáls, Nj. 166; göra vel, ílla til e-s, Eg. 542, Ld. 62; vinna til e-s, 50, Ísl. ii. 253, Nj. 101, Eg. 519; hlutask til e-s, Nj. 101; beina til, búa til, afla til, efna til, fá til, göra til, hjálpa til, inna til, leggja til, reyna til, ráða til, segja til, skipa til, stilla til, stoða til, stofna til, taka til, vinna til, vísa til, vána til, e-s, all verbs of providing, doing, helping, disposing, and the like; as also kalla til.

5. vera til vers, to be fishing, Korm. 142, rare, but cp. the Dan. phrase, til sös = at sea.

III. temp., til miðs aptans, Hrafn. 7; til elli, Ld. 12; til dauða-dags, Nj. 109; allt til dauða-dags, Fms. i. 17, etc.

2. til skamrar stundar, i. e. till within a short time, a short time ago, Hom. 107; líðr á sumarit til átta vikna, the summer passed till eight weeks (were left), Nj. 93; vika til þings, a week to (i. e. before) the season of the þing, Grág.; þrír dagar til sumars, Edda 26; tíu vikur til vetrar, Ld. 106; stund til hádegis, stund til miðs morguns, dagmála, in measuring time, used in Icel. exactly as in Engl., ten minutes to eight, a quarter to eleven, (but mod. Dan. follows the Germ. mode of reckoning, for there ‘ti minutter til tolv’, ten minutes towards twelve, is = Engl. ‘ten minutes past eleven’); til þess, until, Nj. 153; allt til, all the time till, 272, Hrafn. 7; þar til er, until, Nj. 4.

IV. ellipt. and adverbial usages; vera til, to be ‘toward’ to exist; eiga til, hafa til, to possess; fala hey ok mat ef til væri … hvárt-tveggja er til, Nj. 73; ef þú kemr eigi til, if thou comest not to hand, 4; ef nökkut var til, Eg. 267; þat ráð sem helzt var til, ready on hand, 42; munu eigi tveir til, Nj. 261; kómu þeir þangat til, 80; ætla svá til, 86; vera til neyddr, to be forced, 98; þat er þú þarft til at taka, 105; gefa fé til, 75; væri mikit gefanda til, at, 98; telr hann þat til, at …, Fms. xi. 137; skilja til, to reserve, Nj. 54; spara til, 3, Hkr. i. 196; mæla til, 99; tala til, 216; eiga ætt til, Edda 7; hafa aldr til, Eg. 190; skorta til, Nj. 73; íllt þótti mér til móti at mæla, Fms. xi. 242; verða fyrstr til, to be the first to do a thing, v. 103; sem lög stóðu til, Ld. 32; hljótask af mér til, Nj. 113; sækja mál til laga, 86.

2. of direction; sunnan til, Sks. 216; norðan til, e. g. sunnan til við ána, on the south side of the river, Sks. 216.

B. Too, Lat. nimis; eigi til víðlendr, Fms. vi. 94; eigi til görla, 205; til ungr, til gamall, Grág. i. 192; verða til seinn, Bær. 15; honum þótti sinn hluti til lágr, Lv. 97; engi hefir til djarfligar risit, Mar.; helz til, mikils til, by far too much, as in mod. usage; but the ancients said hölzti (helzti) and mikilsti, thus mikilsti ( too much), Hm. 66, Bs. i. 775; hölzti, Nj. 191, Ld. 188, 216, Al. 37, 41, Fms. viii. 91, 133, Hkr. iii. 376; helzti, Eb. 154, etc., see heldr, B. III; unzt, see that word.

1) assembly, meeting;

esp. for purposes of legislation, a parliament;

slíta þingi, segja þing laust, to dissolve a meeting;

2) parish;

3) district, county, shire;

vera í þingi goða, to be in the district of such and such a goði, to be his liegeman, in his jurisdiction;

4) interview, of lovers;

vera í þingum við konu, to have a love intrigue with a woman (þat var talat, at Þorbjórn væri í þingum við Þórdísi);

5) in pl. things articles, valuables (síðan tók hón þing sín, en Þorsteinn tók hornin).

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n. [no Goth. þigg is recorded; A. S. and Hel. þing; Engl. thing; O. H. G., Germ., and Dutch ding; Dan.-Swed. ting.]

A. A thing, Lat. res. In the Icel. this sense of the word is almost unknown, although in full use in mod. Dan.-Swed. ting, where it may come from a later Germ. influence.

II. in plur. articles, objects, things, esp. with the notion of costly articles: þeir rannsaka allan hans reiðing ok allan hans klæðnað ok þing, articles, Sturl. iii. 295; þau þing (articles, inventories) er hann keypti kirkjunni innan sik, Vm. 20; þessi þing gaf Herra Vilkin kirkjunni í Klofa,—messu-klæði, kaleik, etc., 26.

2. valuables, jewels (esp. of a married lady), the law often speaks of the ‘þing’ and the ‘heimanfylgja;’ ef maðr fær konu at lands-lögum réttum … þá skulu lúkask henni þing sín ok heimanfylgja, Gþl. 231; hann hafði ór undir-heimum þau þing at eigi munu slík í Noregi, Fms. iii. 178; siðan tók hón þing sín, 195; eptir samkvámu ( marriage) þeirra þá veitti Sveinn konungr áhald þingum þeim er ját vóru ok skilat með systur hans, x. 394; maðr skal skilja þing með frændkonu sinni ok svá heiman-fylgju, N. G. L. ii; skal Ólafr lúka Geirlaugu þing sín, svá mikil sem hón fær löglig vitni til, D. N. i. 108; þinga-veð, a security for a lady’s paraphernalia, D. N. passim.

B. As a law phrase [see Þingvöllr]:

I. an assembly, meeting, a general term for any public meeting, esp. for purposes of legislation, a parliament, including courts of law; in this sense þing is a standard word throughout all Scandinavian countries (cp. the Tyn-wald, or meeting-place of the Manx parliament): technical phrases, blása til þings, kveðja þings, stefna þing, setja þing, kenna þing (N. G. L. i. 63); helga þing, heyja þing, eiga þing; slíta þingi, segja þing laust, to dissolve a meeting, see the verbs: so also a þing ‘er fast’ when sitting, ‘er laust’ when dissolved (fastr I. γ, lauss II. 7); Dróttins-dag hinn fyrra í þingi, ríða af þingi, ríða á þing, til þings, vera um nótt af þingi, öndvert þing, ofanvert þing, Grág. i. 24, 25; nú eru þar þing ( parliaments) tvau á einum þingvelli, ok skulu þeir þá fara um þau þing bæði (in local sense), 127; um várit tóku bændr af þingit ok vildu eigi hafa, Vápn. 22; hann hafði tekit af Vöðla-þing, skyldi þar eigi sóknar-þing heita, Sturl. i. 141: in countless instances in the Sagas and the Grág., esp. the Nj. passim, Íb. ch. 7, Gísl. 54–57, Glúm. ch. 24, 27, Eb. ch. 9, 10, 56, Lv. ch. 4, 15–17: other kinds of assemblies in Icel. were Leiðar-þing, also called Þriðja-þing, Grág. i. 148; or Leið, q. v.; hreppstjórnar-þing (see p. 284); manntals-þing; in Norway, bygða-þing, D. N. ii. 330; hús-þing, vápna-þing, refsi-þing, v. sub vocc.:—eccl. a council, H. E. i. 457, Ann. 1274; þing í Nicea, 415. 14.

2. a parish (opp. to a benefice); in Iceland this word is still used of those parishes whose priest does not reside by the church, no manse being appointed as his fixed residence; such a parish is called þing or þinga-brauð (and he is called þinga-prestr, q. v.), as opp. to a ‘beneficium,’ Grág. i. 471, K. Þ. K. 30, 70, K. Á. passim; bóndi er skyldr at ala presti hest til allra nauðsynja í þingin, Vm. 73; tíundir af hverjum bónda í þingunum, 96, Bs. i. 330, H. E. ii. 48, 85, 128.

3. an interview, of lovers, H. E. i. 244; þat var talat at Þorbjörn væri í þingum við Þórdísi, Gísl. 5; nær þú á þingi mant nenna Njarðar syni, Skm. 38; man-þing, laun-þing.

II. loc. a district, county, shire, a þing-community, like lög (sec p. 369, col. 2, B. II); a ‘þing’ was the political division of a country; hence the law phrase, vera í þingi með goða, to be in the district of such and such a godi, to be his liegeman, cp. þingfesti; or, segjask or þingi, see the Grág., Nj., and Sagas, passim; full goðorð ok forn þing, Grág. i. 15; í því þingi eðr um þau þing, 85. In later times Icel. was politically divided into twelve or thirteen counties. In old days every community or ‘law’ had its own assembly or parliament, whence the double sense of ‘lög’ as well as of ‘þing.’

C. HISTORICAL REMARKS.—In Norway the later political division and constitution of the country dates from king Hacon the Good and his counsellors Thorleif the Wise and earl Sigurd. As king Harold Fairhair was the conqueror of Norway, so was his son Hacon her legislator as also the founder of her constitution, and of her political division into ‘þings;’ for this is the true meaning of the classical passage,—hann (king Hacon) lasgði mikinn hug á laga-setning í Noregi, hann setti Gulaþings-lög ok Frostaþings-lög, ok Heiðsævis-lög fyrst at upphafi, en áðr höfðu sér hverir fylkis-menn lög, Ó. H. 9; in Hkr. l. c. the passage runs thus—hann setti Gulaþings-lög með ráði Þorleifs spaka, ok hann setti Frostaþings-lög með ráði Sigurðar jarls ok annara Þrænda þeirra er vitrastir vóru, en Heiðsævis-lög hafði sett Hálfdan svarti, sem fyrr er ritað, Hkr. 349 new Ed.; the account in Eg. ch. 57, therefore, although no doubt true in substance, is, as is so often the case in the Sagas, an anachronism; for in the reign of Eric ‘Bloodaxe,’ there were only isolated fylkis-þing, and no Gula-þing. In later times St. Olave added a fourth þing, Borgar-þing, to the three old ones of king Hacon (those of Gula, Frosta, and Heiðsævi); and as he became a saint, he got the name of legislator in the popular tradition, the credit of it was taken from Hacon, the right man; yet Sighvat the poet speaks, in his Bersöglis-vísur, of the laws of king Hacon the foster-son of Athelstan. Distinction is therefore to be made between the ancient ‘county’ þing and the later ‘united’ þing, called lög-þing (Maurer’s ‘ding-bund’); also almennilegt þing or almanna-þing, D. N. ii. 265, iii. 277; fjórðunga þing, ii. 282; alþingi, alls-herjar-þing. The former in Norway was called fylkis-þing, or county þing; in Icel. vár-þing, héraðs-þing, fjórðungs-þing (cp. A. S. scîrgemot, a shiremote). Many of the old pre-Haconian fylkis-þing or shiremotes seem to have continued long afterwards, at least in name, although their importance was much reduced; such we believe were the Hauga-þing (the old fylkis-þing of the county Westfold), Fms. viii. 245, Fb. ii. 446, iii. 24; as also Þróndarness-þing, Arnarheims-þing, Kefleyjar-þing, Mork. 179.

II. in Iceland the united þing or parliament was called Al-þingi; for its connection with the legislation of king Hacon, see Íb. ch. 2–5 (the chronology seems to be confused): again, the earlier Icel. spring þings (vár-þing), also called héraðs-þing ( county þing) or fjórðunga-þing ( quarter þing), answer to the Norse fylkis-þing; such were the Þórness-þing, Eb., Landn., Gísl., Sturl.; Kjalarness-þing, Landn. (App.); Þverár-þing, Íb.; also called Þingness-þing, Sturl. ii. 94; Húnavatns-þing, Vd.; Vöðla-þing, Lv., Band.; Skaptafells-þing, Nj.; Árness-þing, Flóam. S.; þingskála-þing, Nj.; Hegraness-þing, Glúm., Lv., Grett.; Múla-þing (two of that name), Jb. (begin.), cp. Grág. i. 127; Þorskafjarðar-þing, Gísl., Landn.; Þingeyjar-þing, Jb.; further, Krakalækjar-þing, Dropl. (vellum, see Ny Fél. xxi. 125); Sunnudals-þing, Vápn.; þing við Vallna-laug, Lv.; þing í Straumfirði, Eb.; Hvalseyrar-þing, Gísl.; or þing í Dýrafirði, Sturl.; Fjósatungu-þing, Lv.

III. in Sweden the chief þings named were Uppsala-þing, Ó. H.; and Mora-þing (wrongly called Múla-þing, Ó. H. l. c., in all the numerous vellum MSS. of this Saga; the Icelandic chronicler or the transcriber probably had in mind the Icel. þing of that name).

IV. in Denmark, Vebjarga-þing, Knytl. S.; Íseyrar-þing, Jómsv. S.

V. in the Faroe Islands, the þing in Þórshöfn, Fær.: in Greenland, the þing in Garðar, Fbr.

VI. freq. in Icel. local names, Þing-völlr, Þing-vellir (plur.) = Tingwall, in Shetland; Þing-nes, Þing-eyrar, Þing-ey, Þing-eyri (sing.); Þing-múli, Þing-skálar, etc., Landn., map of Icel.; Þing-holt (near Reykjavik).

D. COMPDS: þingsafglöpun, þingsboð, þingabrauð, þingadeild, þingadómr, þingakvöð, þingaprestr, þingasaga, þingatollr, þingaþáttr.

* * *

n. pl. Yule, a great midwinter feast in the heathen time, afterwards applied to Christmas.

* * *

n. pl., in rhymes, gólig, Jóla, Ó. H. (in a verse); [A. S. geôl, sometimes used of the whole month of December, whereas December is also called æra geola = fore Yule, and January æftera geola = after Yule; the plur. in Icel. perhaps refers to this double month. The origin and etymology of the word Yule is much contested, and has been treated at length by Grimm (Gesch. der Deutschen Sprache), who tries to make out a relation between the Lat. Jūlus or Jūlius and the Teut. Yule, the one being a midsummer month, the other a midwinter month; like former etymologists, he also derives the word from hjól, a wheel, as referring to the sun’s wheeling round at midwinter and midsummer time. The resemblance of the words is striking, as also the old northern celebration of the midsummer feast Jónsvaka (see below), which was in fact a kind of midsummer Yule.]

B. Yule, a great feast in the heathen time, afterwards applied to Christmas (as still in North. E.) In Icel. popular usage Yule-eve is a kind of landmark by which the year is reckoned, so that a man is as many years old as he has passed Yule nights, hafa lifað (so and so) margar Jóla-nætr; for the year counts from Yule night, whence the phrase, vera ílla or vel á ár kominn, to become well or ill in the year; thus a person born shortly before Yule is ‘ílla á ár kominn,’ for at next Yule he will be reckoned one year old, whereas one born just after it is ‘vel á ár kominn.’ The heathen Yule lasted thirteen days, whence are derived the names Þrettándi, the thirteenth = Epiphany, i. e. the 6th of January, as also the Engl. ‘Twelfth-night;’ it is however probable that the heathen feast was held a little later than the Christian (see hökunótt). The heathen Yule was a great merry-making, and tales of ghosts, ogres, and satyrs were attached to it, esp. the Jóla-sveinar or ‘Yule-lads,’ a kind of goblins or monster satyrs, thirteen in number, one to each day of the feast, sons of the kidnapping hag Grýla (q. v.), whose names were used to frighten children with, see Ísl. Þjóðs. i. 219, 220. As the night lengthens and the day shortens, the ghosts gain strength, and reach their highest at Yule time, see Grett. ch. 34–37, 67–70, Eb. ch. 34, Flóam. S. ch. 22. The day next before Yule is called atfanga-dagr (q. v.) Jóla, when stores were provided and fresh ale brewed, Jóla-öl. Passages in the Sagas referring to Yule are numerous, e.g. Hervar. S. ch. 4, Hálfd. S. Svarta ch. 8, Har. S. Hárf. ch. 16 (in a verse), Hák. S. Góða ch. 12, 15, 19, Ó. H. ch. 151, Eb. ch. 31, Landn. 3. ch. 15 (in the Hb.), Bjarn. 51 sqq., Sturl. iii. 127. As for Yule games cp. the Norse and Danish Jule-buk, Jola-geit (Ivar Aasen) = a Yule goat, Dan. Jule-leg = a Yule game.

II. in poetry a feast (generally); hugins jól, a raven’s feast, Fms. vi. 255 (in a verse), cp. Bjarn. 36.

COMPDS: Jólaaptan, Jólabál, Jólaboð, Jólabók, Jóladagr, Jóladrykkja, Jólafasta, Jólafriðr, Jólaföstubók, Jólaföstutíð, Jólagjöf, Jólagrið, Jólahald, Jólahelgi, Jólahöll, Jólakveld, Jólales, Jólamorgin, Jólanótt, Jólaskrá, Jólasveinar, Jólatíð, Jólatíðir, Jólatíðabók, Jólatungl, Jólaveizla, Jólavist, Jólaöl.

I) n.

1) household, house-folk; bondslaves;

2) bondwoman, female slave; þær ‘ro máttkar meyjar at mani hafðar, these mighty maids are held in bondage;

3) woman, esp. young woman, maid; líki leyfa hins ljósa mans, to praise the fair maid’s form.

II) from muna, munu.

* * *

n., does not occur in plur. unless it be in gen. pl. mana, Stor. 13 (mͣ in MS.); [man is an ancient word only used in old laws and poetry, it remains in the compd man-sal, and in the Icel. local name Man-heimar; ‘man’ (ἀνδράποδον), being neuter and having but one n, is prob. of different origin from mann (ἄνθρωπος, ἀνήρ), which is masc. and has a double final n. The etymology of this word is lost in the remotest antiquity; it appears in the O. H. G. mana-houbit = a bondman’s head, a ‘serf’s head;’ (Grimm in R. A. expresses a doubt as to the current etymology of Lat. man-cipium from manu-capere; perh. man and caput?). In early Swed. law the word occurs twice or thrice, næmpnæ man, næmpnæ quicfæ, Schlyter i. 134; in Gutalagen—kauper tu mans man i garth thin (i. e. mans-mann = a bondman, cp. mans-manna and mans-maðr, see Schlyter’s Glossary).]

B. A bondman, prob. originally of prisoners of war who were sold as slaves (Irish in the west, Finns and Slaves in the east), see Ld. ch. 12, Ó. T. (Fms. i. ch. 92); svá ok ef hann vill í mani gjalda, tva aura fyrir einn, ok á hann lausn á maninu en næstu misseri ef hann hefir upp alit, Grág. i. 396; kaupa man ok gefa frelsi, N. G. L. i. 5, 6; ok þat fé skal hálft vera í gulli ok í silfri en hálit í mani hérrænu ( native bondmen) eigi ellra en fertogu, né yngra en fimmtán vetra, SS; mans leiga, 224; ok heimta hann sem annan mans-mann, K. Þ. K. 58; mani austrænu, eastern slaves, Hornklofi; máttkar meyjar at mani hafðar, Gs. 1, 15; er þú man keyptir, 8; hálfa aðra alin fyrir frjálsgjafa, penning veginn fyrir man-manna, N. G. L. i, 347; næst kirkju-garði skal grafa man-manna, 345; maðr manna, no doubt false for man-manna, 388; er hann réttlauss við hann ok hans konu ok man hans allt, 36, Am. 66; þar kom mart man falt, þar sá Loðinn konu nokkura er seld hafði verit mansali, Fms. i. 185: allit., mold ok man, N. G. L. iii. 92, v. l.

II. a girl, maid, as also in a worse sense, a mistress, for bondwomen often became their master’s mistresses (see Ld. ch. 12), so that this sense grew out of the preceding one; líki leyfa ens ljósa mans, Hm. 91; í myrkri skal við man spjalla, 81; et horska man, 101; et manunga man, 163; þat et unga man, þat et mjallhvíta man, Alm. 6, 7; bjarthaddað man, Skv. 1. 33; harðúðigt man, 27; fóstr-man, a bondwoman nurse, 3. 67; mans at kosta, Hbl. 16; hvé ek at andspilli komumk ens unga mans, Skm. 11; hve ek fyrir-banna manna glaum mani, manna nyt mani, how I ban her from all concourse with men, 34; Ylfinga man, Hkv. 2. 3; Yggjar man, the beloved of Ygg (Odin) = the Earth, Lex. Poët.; Héðins man = Hilda, the beloved of Hedin, Fms. ix. (in a verse); bjarnar man, a giantess, Stor. 13. It is probable that in some law phrases the obso- lete ‘man’ has been replaced by the common ‘mann,’ e. g. in gefa manni frelsi (mani? cp. manfrelsi), N. G. L. i. 5: as also in mana-kaup in the Swed. law, see Schlyter’s introd. to the 10th vol. of Sver. Gamla Lagar.

COMPDS: mansfólk, manfrelsi, Manheimar, mankynni, manmanna, manrúnar, mansal, mansalsmaðr, mansmaðr, mansöngr, mansöngsdrápa.

(-s, -ar), m.

1) a piece of property, article (hann skipar upp gózit, var þar hverr penningr valinn í);

2) coin, money (enskir penningar);

3) penny = 1/10 of an eyrir.

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m., mod. peningr, with a single n; the double n is borne out by rhymes, penningi, kenna, Bragi; a contr. form pengar also occurs, Dipl. i. 8, iii. 4, Bs. i. 699, Mar.: [cp. Engl. penny; Germ. pfennig; Dan. contr. penge; from Lat. pecunia]:—a penny, in sing. a coin, coined piece; in plur. also gener. = money: the word occurs as early as in Bragi, the oldest of Norse poets, who calls the round shield with the painted ring (see baugr) ‘the penny of Walhalla,’ for the halls of the ancients were hung with shields; it also occurs in the Ls. 40. It is probably one of the earliest borrowed Gr.-Lat. words in the Scandin. language; Byzantine and Roman coins up to the end of the 2nd century A. D. have been discovered in Danish cairns and fens (coins of the last decennium of the 2nd century have been discovered in a ‘mose fund’ in Sleswig); see also the remarks s. v. kinga; but money for trade-purposes was little used until after the introduction of Christianity, and the first mint-masters were English; Enskir penningar, English coins, English money, Eg. 767; see the curious records in the Saga, ch. 55, 61, but esp. 88; gull-p., a gold coin; silfr-p., a silver coin: for a coin used as a token see the story in Gísl. 14, 24.

II. a small coin, a penny, a subdivision of an ounce; but the value varies, thus, thirty pence to an ounce, N. G. L. i. 225; sixty to an ounce, Grág. i. 500; tuttugu penningar vegnir í örtog, MS. 732. 16; ten to an ounce, Grág. i. 357; lögsilfr et forna, þat er tíu penningar göra eyri, ii. 188; penning er tíu væri fyrir alin vaðmáls, Hkr. ii. 231; ef pennings er vert eðr meira, 188; hálfum vegnum penningi miðr en hálfan sjótta eyri, 175; þrjá penninga Enska, Fms. ix. 442, v. l.; hann fann grafsilfr ok tók af tuttugu penninga, Landn. 146; þrjá penninga ok tvær örtogar, N. G. L. i. 76; bæta fjórum penningum ok tveim örtogum, id.; þrem penningum minna en eyri = an ounce minus three pennies, 77; þrjá penninga ok fimm ærtogar, … áttján penninga, … tólf penninga, … tvá hluti fimta pennings ok eyri; tvá hluti sétta pennings þat er fimtungi minna en full öln, 78, 79; þrír penningar taldir eru við einn veginn, 732. 16; hálf önnur örtug ok tveir peningar, Dipl. iii. 4; hann görði penning þann er ekki stóð minna en eyri, he made a coin which weighed not less than an ounce, Gísl. 14; gjalda Rúma-skatt einn penning taldan (Peter’s penny), K. Á. 194:—in translations, þrjátigi penninga, 655 vii. 3 ( triginti argenteis of the Vulgate, Gen. xxxvii. 28); tveim hundruðum penninga, 655 xi. 4 (=διακοσίων δηναρίων, John vi. 7); en hver sú kona sem hefir tíu peninga … eg hefi minn pening aptr fundið, Luke xv. 8, 9:—phrases, fyrir-göra hverjum penningi fjár síns, to forfeit every penny, K. Á. 144; hvern penning, every penny, Eg. 72; aldrei fær hann af því er ek á einn penning, MS. 4. 11; vert eins pennings, a penny’s worth, 4. 13; hvárki öln né penning, neither an ell nor a penny, i. e. not a whit, Ls 40.

III. in plur. money; ríkr at penningum, monied, Dropl. 35; penninga upptekt, Fms. v. 162; mildr af penningum, i. 257; fá e-m góða penninga, vii. 319; svá marga penninga sem hér verðr brestr í, Dipl. ii. 10, iv. 3; fríðra penga, i. 8; frami ok fagrligir penningar, Fs. 6; til veraldligra pengi, Mar.; góðs ok penninga, Fms. iii. 91: sing. collect., Al. 4.

COMPDS: penningalauss, penningaleysi, penningaríkr, penningaskortr.

IV. in mod. Icel. usage penningr is used of cattle, live stock; sauð-peningr, sheep; naut-p., neat cattle; mjalta peninginn, to milk the sheep. This curious usage is due to an analogy with the old word fé, q. v.

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(hin, hitt), dem. pron.

1) the other; á hinn fótinn, on the other leg; pl. the others, the rest (Kimbi bar sár sín engan mun betr en hinir);

2) emphatically, that; hitt ek hugða, that was what I thought; hitt vil ek vita, that I want to know.

(hin, hit), def. art., before an adjective standing alone or followed by a substantive, the, = inn, enn( eptir hinni eystri kvísl).

* * *

HIN, HIT, the article, an enclitic, which therefore can never serve as an accentuated syllable in a verse, either as rhyme or in alliteration. In good old MSS. (e. g. Cod. Reg. of Sæm.) it is hardly ever spelt with the aspirate, but is written inn, in, it or ið, or enn, en, et or eð, and thus distinguished from the demonstr. pron. hinn; but in the Editions the prob. spurious aspirate has been generally prefixed: an indecl. inu or hinu occurs often in later MSS. of the 14th century, e. g. the Fb.; but as it has not been heard of since and is unknown in the modern language, it simply seems to be a Norwegianism, thus, inu sömu orð, Th. 2; hinnu fyrri biskupa (gen. pl.), H. E. ii. 79; enu instu luti ( res intimas), Hom. 57 (Norse MS.); hinu ágæztu menn (nom. pl.), id.; innu óargu dýra, 657 A. ii. 12: [cp. Goth. jains = ἐκεινος; A. S. geond; Engl. yon; Germ. jener.]

A. The:

I. preceding the noun:

1. before an adjective standing alone or followed by a substantive; inn mæri, inn ríki, inn dimmi dreki, inn mikli mögr, Vsp.; in aldna, id.; inn góða mjöð, the good mead, Gm. 13; inn mæra mjöð, Skm. 16; inn helga mjöð, Sdm. 18; in forna fold, Hým. 24; in fríða frilla, 30; inn fróði jötum, Vþm. 20; inn gamli þulr, 9; inn hára þul, Fm. 34; inn fráni ormr, 19; opt inn betri bilar þá er inn verri vegr, Hm. 127; in alsnotra ambátt, in arma, Þkv.; enn fróði afi, Skm. 2; in ílla mæra, 32; enn fráni ormr, 27; eð manunga man, Hm. 163; enn aldna jötun, 104; en horska mær, 95; it betra, Stor. 22; ena þriðju, the third, Vsp. 20; inn móður-lausi mögr, Fm. 2; it gjalla gull, ok it glóðrauða fé, 9; ið fyrsta orð, Sdm. 14; enu skírleita goði, Gm. 39; in glýstömu græti, Hðm. 1; in svásu goð, Vþm. 17; enum frægja syni, Hm. 141; at ins tryggva vinar, 66; ennar góðu konu, 100; ins svinna mans, 162; ens dýra mjaðar, 141; ens hindra dags, 109; ens unga mans, Skm. 11; ens deykkva hrafns, Skv. 2. 20; æ til ins eina dags, Fm. 10; ena níundu hverja nótt, Skm. 21: with the ordinals, inn fyrsti, þriði …, Gm. 6 sqq., Sdm. 21 sqq.

2. so also before an adverb; it sama, likewise, Hm. 75, Fm. 4, Vþm. 22, 23, Gm. 15, Hdl. 26.

3. as an indecl. particle ‘in’ or ‘en’ before a comparative; in heldr, the more, Hm. 60, Sdm. 36, Hkv. 1. 12, Skv. 1. 21, Gh. 3, Nj. 219; in lengr, the longer, Am. 58, 61; this has been already mentioned s. v. en (p. 127, B. at bottom, and p. 128), but it is almost exclusively poetical.

II. placed between a pronoun and an adjective in the definite form:

1. after a demonstr.; sá inn fráni ormr, Fm. 26; sá inn harði hallr, Gs. 10; sá inn aldni jötun, Skm. 25; sá inn ámáttki jötunn, 10; þat ið mikla men, Þkv. 13; þat ið litla, ‘that the little,’ i. e. the little thing, Ls. 44: þann inn alsvinna jötun, Vþm. 1; þann inn aldna jötun, Fm. 29; þann inn hrímkalda jötun, 38; þess ins alsvinna jötuns, Vþm. 5; þat it unga man, Alm. 6; þann inn aldna jötun, Gm. 50; þau in harðmóðgu ský, 41; sá inn máttki munr, 93; mönnum þeim enum aldrœnum, Hbl. 44; börn þau in blíðu, Og. 9; hrís þat ið mæra, Akv. 5: in prose, fjölmenni þat it mikla, Eg. 46; þetta it mikla skip, Fms. x. 347, passim: with ordinals, segðu þat ið eina, say that the first, Vþm. 20; þat ið þriðja, fjórða …, 20 sqq.

2. after a possessive; síns ins heila hugar, síns ins svára sefa, Hm. 105; þíns ins hvassa hjörs, Fm. 29; minn inn hvassi hjörr, 6; míns ins hvassa hjörs, 28; bækr þínar inar bláhvítu, Hðm.

3. after a pers. pron.: þú hinn armi, thou wretch! Ld. 326; gakk þú hingat hinn mikli maðr! Eg. 488.

III. placed between two nouns in apposition:

1. between a proper name and a title or epithet in the definite form; Sigurðr inn Suðræni, Sigurd the Southerner, Skv. 3. 4; Atli inn Ríki, Akv. 29; Högna ins frækna, Hjalla ins blauða, 23; Guðröðr inn Göfugláti, Ýt.; Hamðir inn hugumstóri, Hðm. 25; Kjötva’nn (= Kjötva enn) Auðga, Hornklofi; Svan enum Rauða, Álfr enn Gamli, Hdl.; as also in prose, Ívarr inn Víðfaðmi, Haraldr enn Hárfagri, Ólafr inn Digri, Knútr inn Fundni, Auðr in Djúpauðga, Þorbjörg in Digra, Hildr in Mjófa, Steinólfr inn Lági, Þorkell inn Hávi, Kjarlakr inn Gamli, Björn inn Austræni, Ólafr inn Hvíti, Hálfdan inn Svarti, Sighvatr inn Rauði, Kyjólfr inn Grá, Gestr inn Spaki; Ari inn Fróði (Aren Froðe contr. = Are enn Froðe, Ó. T. 23, line 1), Ketill inn Heimski, Knútr inn Ríki, Eadvarðr inn Góði, Hálfdan inn Mildi, Ingjaldr inn Illráði, Helgi inn Magri, Úlfr inn Skjálgi, Landn., Fb. iii; cp. Gr. Νέστωρ ὁ γέρων, Σωκράτης ὁ φιλόσοφος, Germ. Nathan der Weise, Engl. Alfred the Great, etc.: of ships, Ormr inn Langi, Ormr inn Skammi.

2. between an appellative and an adjective; sveinn inn hvíti, Ls. 20; hendi inni hægri, 61; þengill inn meins-vani, Gm. 16; seggr inn ungi, Skm. 2; skati inn ungi, Hdl. 9; brúðr in kappsvinna, Am. 75; hest inn hraðfæra, Gh. 18; varr inn vígfrækni, gumi inn gunnhelgi, Hðm. 30; auð inn fagra, Skv. 1. 13; orm inn frána, 1, 11; fjánda inn fólkská, Fm. 37; konungr inn Húnski, Skv. 3. 8, 18, 63, 64; orð ið fyrra, Og. 9; mál ið efsta, 16; seggr inn suðræni, Akv. 3; seggr inn æri, 6; mar’inum mélgreypa, 3, 13; borg inni há, 14; sól inni suðrhöllu, 30; veðrs ens mikla, Hkv. 1. 12; handar ennar hægri, Ls. 38, 61; vífs ins vegliga, Am. 54; konung inn kostsama, Hkm.; gramr inn glaðværi, id.; hlut inn mjóvara, Ýt. 13; konungr inn kynstóri, fylkir inn framlyndi, hilmi’nom hálsdigra, konu’na Dönsku, hverr’ enni Heinversku, Hornklofi, Sæm. (Möb.) 228–231; við arm inn vestra, Sighvat; so also in prose passim.

B. When there was no adjective the article became a suffix to the noun (see Gramm. pp. xix, xx), a usage common even in early prose, but extremely rare in poetry; the reason is, not that the poems were composed before the suffixed article had come into use, but that the metres themselves in which all the old poems were composed are older than that usage, and are not well adapted to it, so that the absence of the article became traditional. The old poem Harbarðsljóð makes an exception, no doubt not from being later than all other poems, but from being composed in a peculiar metre, half verse and half prose; thus in that single poem alone there are nearly twenty instances, or about twice or thrice as many as in all the other poems together:—váginn, Hbl. 2, 13, 15; sundit, 1, 3, 8, 13; verðinum, 4; eikjunni, 7; skipit, id.; stöðna, landit, id.; leiðina, 55; höfuðit, 15; bátinum, 53; veggsins, stokksins, steinsins, 56; matrinn, 3: other solitary instances are, goðin öll, Vsp. 27 (prob. somewhat corrupt); eiki-köstinn, Gh. 20; vömmin vár, Ls. 52.

II. in prose, old and modern, the suffixed article occurs at every step; only one or two instances are worth noticing as peculiar to the Icelandic:

1. as vocative in addressing; konan, O woman! mjöðnannan, id., Sighvat (in a verse of A. D. 1018, and so in mod. usage); elskan! hjartað! heillin! ástin, my love! dear! heart! þursinn! Fas. i. 385; hundarnir! = ω κύνες, Od. xxii. 35: also with another word, barnið gott, good child! Þrúðnaþussinn, thou monster giant! Miðgarðs-ormrinn! Fas. i. 373.

2. esp. if with a possessive adjective following, as in Gr. οὑμός, τοὐμόν, τἀμά, etc.; elskan mín, ástin mín, hjartað mitt, góðrinn minn! hér er nú ástin mín, here is my darling! Sturl. ii. 78, of a father presenting a darling child to a friend; and so in mod. usage: as abuse, hundrinn þinn, thou dog! Ísl. ii. 176; þjófrinn þinn! Fms. vii. 127; dyðrillinn þinn! ii. 279; hundinum þínum! vi. 323: this use is not confined to the vocative, e. g. konan mín biðr að heilsa, my wife (kona mín is never used); maðrinn minn, my husband; biddu foreldrana þína ( ask thy parents) að lofa þér að fara; augun hans, his eyes, Pass. 24. 4; hugrinn vor og hjartað sé, our mind and heart (cp. Gr. τω ἐμω θυμω), 43. 5; svo hjartað bæði og málið mitt | mikli samhuga nafnið þitt, 10. 7; gef þú að móður-málið mitt, 35. 9; bókin mín, my favourite book, my own book; as also, fáðu mér hattinn minn, vetlingana mína, skóna mína, give me my hat, gloves, shoes; tungan í þér, augun í þér, thy tongue, thy eyes; höfuðið á mér, fætrnir á mér, my head, my feet; hendrnar á þér (‘á mér, á þér’ are here equivalent to a possessive, see p. 37, C. IV), thy hands, cp. Homer, τα σα γούνατα; hestana þína, Gr. ϊππους τους σούς: similar is the instance, vömmin vár, the sins of ours, Ls. 52; this may be a remnant of a time when the article was used separately, even with an indefinite adjective.

3. a double article, one suffixed to the noun and the other prefixed to the word in apposition; hirðin sú in Danska, Fms. vi. 323; þau in stóru skipin, viii. 384 and passim: again, when a noun is put in the genitive after another noun the former has no article; as the Engl. phrase ‘the fish of the sea and the fowl of the air’ is in Icel. ‘fiskar sjávarins og fuglar loptsins:’ but this belongs to the syntax; see also Grimm’s D. G. iv. 432.

C. SPECIAL CHANGES, in mod. usage:

I. the demonstr. pron. sá, sú, það has in speech generally taken the place of inn, in, it; thus, sá gamli maðr, sú gamla kona, það gamla skáld; sometimes the article is dropped altogether, e. g. á fimta degi, on the fifth day (= á enum fimta degi); á sömn stundu, in the same hour; even in old writers this is found, með sömu ætlan, Bs. i. 289; á níundu tíð dags, Stj. 41, (but rarely); yet the old form is often retained in writing.

II. in case A. II. the article may be dropped; þann gamla maim, þá gömlu konu, það gamla skáld, þú armi, etc.; sá ráða-góði, sú goðum-líki, sá ágæti Odysseifr, sú vitra Penelopa, sá Jarðkringjandi Pósídon, Od. passim (in Dr. Egilsson’s translation).

III. in case A. III. 1. the article is also dropped, Knútr Ríki, Haraldr Hárfagri; even old writers (esp. in later vellums) omitted it now and then, Hálfdan Svarta, Fms. i. 1; Haraldr Grænski, 90; Haraldr Hárfagri, 192; Óttarr ungi, Hdl.: even in the Sæm. Cod. Reg., Völsungr ungi, Skv. 3. 1, 3.

IV. in case A. III. 2. the pronouns sá, sú, það, and hinn, hin, hit may be used indiscriminately, although the former is more usual.

V. lastly, in case B. the suffixed article has gained ground, and is in modern prose used more freq. than in ancient.

☞ CONCLUSION.—The old poetical language, with the sole exception of a single poem, had no article in the modern and proper sense; in every instance the ‘inn, in, it’ bears the character of a demonstrative pronoun, preceding an adjective and enhancing and emphasising its sense, like the pers. pron. hann, q. v.; but it is never attached to a single substantive; when the adjective was placed in apposition after a noun, the pronoun came to stand as an enclitic just after the noun, and was sounded as if suffixed thereto; at last it was tacked as an actual suffix to single nouns standing without apposition, and thus the true suffixed article gradually arose, first in speech, then in writing; whereas at the same time the old pronominal enclitic (A. I-III) gradually went out of use, and was either dropped or replaced by the stronger demonstrative pronoun ‘sá, sú.’

HIN, HITT, demonstr. pron., prob. identical in etymology with the preceding word, from which it is however distinguished,

1. by the neut. hitt, Dan. hint;

2. by the initial aspirate, which is never dropped;

3. by being a fully accentuated pronoun, so that the h can stand as an alliterative letter, e. g. handar ennar hægri | mun ek hinnar geta, Ls.; veitkat ek hitt hvart Heita | hungr …, Hallfred; Hitt kvað þá Hamðir, etc., Hom. 23, 25, Korm. 40; Raun er hins at Heinir | hræ …; Skáld biðr hins at haldi | hjálm …, Sighvat, Hkv. Hjörv. 26: [Ulf. jains = ἐκεινος; A. S. geond; Engl. yon; Germ. jener.]

A. This pronoun is used,

I. in a demonstr. sense, emphatically and without being opp. to a preceding demonstr.; raun er hins at …, it is proved that …; skáld biðr hins, at …, Sighvat; veitkat ek hitt hvat (hvárt) …, Hallfred; hitt ek hugða, emphatically, that was what I thought, I thought forsooth, Hm. 98; hitt kvað pá Hróðrglóð, Hðm. 13; hitt kvað þá Hamðir, 25; hitt vil ek vita, that I want to know, Vþm. 3, 6; þó ek hins get, ef …, yet I guess, that if …, Skm. 24; vita skal hitt, ef …, Korm. 40 (in a verse), Ísl. ii. 225 (in a verse); hitt var fyrr = in former times, formerly, Ýt., Fs. 94 (in a verse); hinn er sæll, er …, he is happy, that …, Hm. 8; maðr hinn er …, ‘man he that’ = the man who, 26; hinn er Surts ór Sökkdölum, Edda 51 (in a verse); veitat hinn er tin tannar, hinn er um eyki annask, Kormak (in a verse); handar innar hægri mun ek hinnar geta, er …, the right hand, that hand namely, which …, Ls. 38; this usage scarcely occurs except in old poetry.

II. demonstr. referring to another pronoun, denoting the former, farther, the other, = Dan. hiin, hint, Germ. jener, cp. Gr. ἐκεινος, Lat. ille; freq. in prose, old and mod.; fóru þeir með þau skip er þeim þóttu bezt en brenndu hin, Fms. v. 8; Kimbi bar sár sitt engan mun betr en hinir, er hann hafði áðr á fært, 92; en hitt er meira, at hann lætr sér annarra manna fé jafnheimilt, Eg. 47; kemr örvar-oddrinn í strenglag hinnar örvarinnar, Fb. iii. 405; er þú hefir mik fyrir lagt á hinu áðr, 407; hinir frændr þínir, ii. 425; á hinn fótinn, on that, the other leg, Nj. 97; þat er válítið, … hitt er undr …, Ls. 33; hinir hlaða seglunum ok bíða, Fms. x. 347; ef hinn ( the other part) er eigi þar við staddr, Grág. i. 52; hvárt hinn ( the other one) hefir jafnmikit fé hins ( of the other one) er austr er, 220; rétt er at kveðja frá hennar heimili ef hann veit hvártki hinna (gen. pl.), 339; ok vill annarr hluta en annarr eigi … ok verðr sem hinn mæli ekki um er eigi vill hluta, 393; ef maðr sendir annan mann til eindaga, ok erat hinn skyldr við at taka, id.; þess á milli er hón fór at sofa á kveldit, ok hins er hón var klædd, Ld. 14; ærit fögr er mær sjá, … en hitt veit ek eigi hvaðan þjófs-augu eru komin í ættir várar, forsooth she is a beautiful girl, but yet I know not, Nj. 2:—demonstr. in the sense of this (but rare), stjörnur þær er nær eru leiðar-stjöruu ganga aldri undir með oss, en í Blálandi eðr Arabia ganga hinar stjörnur, these very stars, Rb. 468: phrases, hitt ok annat, this and the other, Rd. 235; mod. hitt og þetta.

B. COMPOUND FORMS, hinn-ug, hinn-og, or hins-ig, mod. hins-egin, also hizig, q. v. [from vegr], adv. the other way; þótt Gísl þykki hinsig (hinn veg, v. l.) eigi síðr til vísa, Fms. vii. 46; hinnig værir þú undir brún at líta sem …, Nj. 55: locally, there, in the other place, illic, ok láta bera vætti þat hinneg var nefnt, Grág. i. 90; heimta af erfingja ef hinnig er eigi til, K. Þ. K. 28; brenndi þar ok görði hervirki eigi minna enn hinneg, Fms. vi. 340; ef hinnig mundi kostr, K. Þ. K. 24; eigi er hægra undir þeim at búa fyrir kulda sakir, enn hinnog er fyrir ofrhita sakir, Sks. 196; því at hón er kaldari hér en hizug, 70: temp. the other day, formerly (rare), er ek hinnig mælta, Og. 11.

2. denoting motion, hither, thither; hinnig deyja ór Helju halir, Vþm. 43; renna hinnig, Gh. 18; ríða hinig, Fm. 26: koma hinig, Gs. 18.

(-ar, -ir), m.

1) lot;

bera (leggja) hluti í skaut, to throw the lots into a cloth (lap of a garment);

skera (marka) hluti, to mark the lots;

2) amukt, talisman (hlutr er horfinn or pússi þínum);

3) share, allotment, portion (hann fœrði Ølvi skip sin ok kallar þat vera hans hlut);

4) part (of a whole);

höggva í tvá hluti, to cut in two parts;

mestr hlutr liðs, the most part of the company;

meiri hlutr dómanda, the majority of the judges;

tveim hlutum dýrra, twice as dear;

5) participation;

eiga hlut í e-u or at e-u, to have part in, be concerned in (mér uggir, at hér muni eigi gæfumenn hlut í eiga);

þar er þú ættir hlut at, wherein thou wast concerned;

6) condition, position, lot;

eiga hlut e-s, to be in one’s place (position);

ef þú ættir minn hlut, if thou wert in my place;

láta hlut sinn, to be worsted;

sitja yfir hlut e-s, to oppress, weigh a person down;

leggja hlut sinn við e-t, to cast in one’s lot with, to espouse a cause;

hafa (fá) hærra, meira (lægra) hlut, to get the best (worst) of it;

7) thing;

allir hlutir, all things;

kynligr hlutr, a strange thing;

um alla hluti, in all things, in all respects.

* * *

m., the original form was diphthongal, hlautr, like the Gothic, as is borne out by the kindred and derivative words hlaut, hleyti, q. v.; the acc. was weakened into o, hlotr, Fms. xi. 128; and lastly into u, hlutr; old nom. pl. hlotar, Jómsv. S. l. c., but commonly hlutir; gen. sing. hlutar: [Goth. hlauts = κληρος, Mark xv. 24, Col. i. 12, Ephes. i. 11, Luke i. 9; A. S. and Hel. hlot; Engl. lot; Germ. loos; Dan. lod; Swed. lott; the Goth., Germ., and earliest Scandin. have a long vowel, and prob. also A. S. and O. H. G. (hlôt, not hlot); the Ormul. spells lott with a short vowel, as is the case also in Icel., Dan., Swed., and Engl.]

A. A lot; the ceremony of drawing lots was like that described in Homer; each party marked his lot (skera or marka hluti), which was then thrown into a sheet (lap of a garment, bera or leggja hluti í skaut), and a third person came and drew a lot out; (it was not thrown out by shaking.) This drawing of lots was originally a sacred ceremony; it was used in sacrifices (by way of augury, see below), in sharing booty or an inheritance; in law the order in which suits came on was decided by lot, in banquets the seats of honour were so assigned (e. g. who was to sit next to the daughter of the house), etc. Many words in the language refer to this old rite, and the ceremony is thus described: en hluti skyldi skera ok í skaut bera, Fms. vii. 140; kom þat ásamt með þeim at hluti skyldi bera í skaut, … skyldi því hvárir-tveggju una sem hlutr segði, vóru þá hlutir markaðir; þá mælti Norðbrikt til Gyrgis: ‘lát mik sjá hversu þú markar þinn hlut at vit markim eigi báðir einn veg;’ hann gerði svá; síðan markaði Norðbrikt sinn hlut, ok kastaði í skaut ok svá báðir þeir; síðan gékk sá maðr at er til (upp, v. l.) skyldi taka, ok tók upp annan hlutinn milli fingra sér …; síðan var at hugat þeim hlutinum ok kenndu þar allir mark Gyrgis, vi. 136, 137: hverr maðr er sök hefir með at fara í dóm, þá skal hlut bera í skaut, einn, þótt hann hafi fleiri sakar í dóm þann, hverr maðr skal merkja hlut sinn ok bera alla saman í skaut, ok skal maðr taka fjóra hluti senn upp, Grág. i. 37; bjóða til hlutfalla ok bera þar hluti í skaut, 74; menn báru þá hluti sína í skaut ok tók jarlinn upp; … svá sagði hlutr til, at Egill skyldi sitja hjá jarls-dóttur um kveldit, Eg. 247; en þá er tólfmenningr var skipaðr til at sitja ok settir hlutir til hverr næst skyldi sitja Ástríði, dóttur Vigfúss hersis, ok hlaut Eyjólfr ávalt at sitja hjá henni, Glúm. 331: nú ræða þeir um goðorðit ok verða eigi ásáttir, vildi hverr sinn hlut ( case) fram draga; þá leggja þeir hluti í skaut, ok kom jafnan upp hlutr Silfra, Fs. 68; þeir lögðu hluti á, ok hlaut Þrándr, Fær.

2. of sacrifice; vóru þá görvir hlutir af vísinda-mönnum ( soothsayers), ok feldr blótspánn til, en svá gékk fréttin, at …, Fas. i. 452; cp. hristu teina ok á hlaut sá, Hym. 1; and, þá kná Hænir hlautvið kjósa (= taka upp hluti), Vsp. l. c.; see also hlaut, hlauttein, p. 270.

II. the hlutir were talismans or little images, which people used to wear on their persons; síðan tekr jarl skálar ( scales) góðar … ok fylgðu tvau met ( weights), annat af gulli en annat af silfri; þar var á líkneskja manns, ok hétu þat hlutar (hlotar sem fornmönnum var títt at hafa, add. in v. l.), ok fylgði sú náttúra, at þá er jarl lagði þá í skálarnar, ok kvað á hvat hvárr skyldi merkja, ok ef sá kom upp ( turned up) er hann vildi, þá breylti sá í skálinni svá at varð glamm af. Jarl gaf Einari skálarnar ok varð hann glaðr við ok síðan kallaðr Einarr Skálarglam, Jómsv. S. (1824) 37, 38; hlutr er horfinn ór pússi þínum sá er Haraldr konungr gaf þér í Hafrsfirði, ok er hann nú kominn í holt þat er þú munt byggja, ok er á hlutnum markaðr Freyr af silfri, Fs. 19; ok vili Freyr þar láta sinn hlut niðr koma er hann vill sitt sæmdar-sæti setja, 22; cp. Landn., hann sendi Finna tvá í hamförum til Íslands eptir hlut sínum, 174; hann hefir líkneski Þórs í pungi sínum af tönn gört …; nú fannsk engi sá ‘hlutr’ í hans valdi, Fs. 97: the ‘gumna heillir’ or talismans, mentioned in Sdm., were prob. hlutir.

B. Metaph., without the actual drawing of lots:

I. a share, allotment, portion; skal þat þeirra er biskup lofar skilnað, hafa slíkan hlut fjár ( portion) við annat, Grág. i. 329: of booty, hann færði Ölvi skip sín ok kallar þat vera hlut hans, Nj. 46: of a finder’s share, heimtir hlut af sauðunum, Háv. 40; halda til hlutar, id.

β. esp. of a fisherman’s share of the catch, Band. 4, cp. Höfuðl. 1; a fishing boat has one or two hundred … í hlut, each of the crew (hásetar) taking his ‘hlutr,’ and besides this there was a færis-hlutr ( line share) or netja-hlutr ( net share), skips-hlutr (ship’s share), and lastly for-manns-hlutr (foreman’s share, he getting double); see the remarks on aflausn.

γ. a share, lot, portion, of inheritance, often in early Dan. law, where the daughter received a half, the brother a whole portion, sun til ful lot, oc dotær til half lot, Wald. Sjæll. Lov., p. 1;—whence in Dan. broder-lod, söster-lod, = a brother’s, sister’s portion; en komi jafnmikit fé á hlut hvers þeirra, Grág. (Kb.) i. 220: of duty, kom þat á hlut Andreas postula, 625. 64.

2. metaph. phrases; láta hlut sinn, to let go one’s share, be worsted, Fms. i. 74, Fb. ii. 62; þeirra h. brann við, got singed, Hkr. ii. 178; þinn hlutr má ekki verða betri en góðr, thy case cannot be better than good, is as good as it can be, Nj. 256; ella muntú finna á þínum hlut, thou shalt find it to thy cost, Ld. 98; þeirra h. varð æ minni ok minni, their lot grew ever worse and worse, Fms. x. 250; eigi skyldi hennar h. batna við þat, her case should not mend with that, Nj. 52; sitja yfir hlut e-s, to oppress, weigh a person down, Eg. 512, Nj. 89, Fb. iii. 450; mínka sinn hlut, to yield one’s lot ( right), 451; láta sinn (hlut) undir liggja, to let one’s lot be the nethermost, Bárð.; leggja hlut sinn við e-t, to throw in one’s lot with a thing, to espouse a cause, run a risk, Lv. 45 (twice), Fb. iii. 166, Sturl. i. 162 C; eigi mundi svá Sverrir gera, ef hann ætti várn hlut, S. would not do so if he had our lot, our cards in his hand, Fms. viii. 392; eigi mundir þú svá renna frá þínum manni, ef þú ættir minn hlut, xi. 72; hafa (fá) hærra (meira, lægra) hlut, to get the better ( less) share, to get the best ( worst) of it, to win or lose, Eb. 194, Fs. 32, 113, Nj. 90, 224, Fas. i. 252, Fms. vi. 412, viii. 284, Hkv. 2. 19; hafa allan hlut mála, Bs. i. 82; eiga hlut at e-u, to own a share in, take part ( interest) in, interfere ( meddle) in a thing, be concerned about, Eb. 124, Nj. 27, 101, 119, Fms. xi. 83; þar er þú ættir hlut at, wherein thou wast concerned, Nj. 54; nú mun eigi mega sitjanda hlut í eiga, to take a sitter’s part in it, i. e. not stir in the matter, 110; hér munu eigi gæfu-menn í hlut eiga, 179; hafa inn vesta hlut af, to behave meanly, Eg. 271.

II. a part, Lat. pars; enn efra hlut Hrunamanna-hrepps, Landn. 312: mestr h. liðs, the most part of the body, Eg. 275; meiri hlutr, búa, dómanda …, the majority of the neighbours, judges …, Nj. 237, Grág. i. 79; tíundi h. eyrir, a tenth part of an ounce, 357: byggja jörð til hlutar, to lease an estate in shares, N. G. L. i. 137: sjau hlutum ljósari, seven times brighter, Eluc. 44; tveim hlutum dýrra, twice as dear, Landn. 243; eins hlutar ( on the one hand) … annars hlutar ( on the other hand), 625. 172.

III. a case, thing, Lat. res; hvern hlut, everything, Nj. 53; á engum hlut, in nothing, Fms. ii. 27; í öllum hlutum, in everything, passim; allir hlutir, all things, Edda 147 (pref.); aðra hluti, other things, Fms. i. 213; alla hluti þá er …, all things whatsoever, Ld. 18; allir þeirra hlutir, all their things, Fms. x. 250; fjórir eru þeir hlutir ( cases) er menn ber í átt, Grág. i. 361; hverngi hlut ( reason) er maðr vill til þess færa, 179; fyrir tengda sakir ok annarra stórra hluta er hér hvarfla í milli, Nj. 147; undarlegr, kynlegr h., a strange thing, Ld. 200, Fms. x. 169; iðna slíka hluti, Grág. i. 149; eru þér stórir hlutir á höndum, Fms. vii. 30: a deed, fact, orðinn h., a bygone thing, Fr. fait accompli, Nj. 20; einn lítill h., a little thing, small matter, Fms. ix. 448.

β. with neg. adv. = Engl. naught; görðit hlut þiggja, Am. 94; ekki lyt (lyf MS.), Skv. 1. 9; engi hluta(r), noways, 656 C. 25.