to+think+of+-ing

(þykki, þótta, þótt), v.

1) to be thought to be, seem to be, be esteemed or reckoned as;

hón þótti beztr kostr, she was thought the best match;

2) with dat. it seems to one, one thinks (þykki mér ráð, at þú farir at finna Gizur hvíta);

e-m þykkir at e-u, one feels hurt at, takes it to heart, is displeased with (þótti mönnum mikit at um víg Kjartans);

mér þykkir fyrir (or fyr) e-u, I dislike, am unwilling to (mér þykkir meira fyrir en öðrum mönnum at vega menn);

e-m þykkir mikit um e-t, one takes it much to heart (honum þótti svá mikit um fall Ólafs konungs, at);

e-m þykkir mikit undir e-u, one thinks it of great importance (mikit þótti spökum mönnum undir því, at);

impers., vilda ek, at þér þœtti eigi verr, I wish that thou wouuldst not take it amiss;

þótti sinn veg hvárum, they disagreed;

þykki mér sem undan sé gaflveggrinn, it seems to me as though the gable-wall were down;

þótti mér þeir sœkja at (= sem þeir sœkti at), methought they pressed hard on me;

3) refl., þykkjast, to seem to oneself, think oneself, think (en ek þykkjumst þó mjök neyddr til hafa verit);

hann þykkist einn vita allt, he thinks he alone knows everything;

þykkist hann mjök fyrir öðrum mönnum, he thinks himself far above other men;

en Brynhildr þykkist brúðr var-gefin, but B. will think she is ill-matched.

1) thought;

liking, sentiment, disposition;

fóru þykkjur þeira saman, their sentiments went together;

2) dislike, displeasure (leggja þykkju á e-n or e-t).

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pres. þykkir, pret. þótti, subj. þætti (i. e. þœtti), part. þótt: a middle form þykkjumk and þóttumk: the form with kk is the true old one, and is always so written in rhymes by old poets (with fékk, hykk, þekkir, etc.): in mod. usage one k has been lost, þykja, þykir, and so often in Editions, but erroneously; the ancients often sounded this word with i, þikkja, þikkir, but y is the older and better form: with neg. suff. þykkir-a, þótti-t, þóttisk-a-þú, Ls. 60; þykkj-at, Hkv. 2. 22; þikkir-a, Fms. vi. 447 (in a verse): [þykkja þótti and þekkja þátti are correlative verbs, one neut. the other transit.; so also Goth. þagkjan þahta = λογίζεσθαι, and þugkjan þauhta = δοκειν; A. S. þencan þahte and þincan þuhte; Germ. denken dachte and dünken dünkte; a trace of the neut. sense remains in Engl. methinks, methought.]

A. To be thought, seem:

I. to be thought to be, seem to be, be esteemed, valued; ok hann mundi þá þykkja betr gengit hafa, en sitja við eldstó móður sinnar, Fs. 6; muntú þar göfugr þykkja á því landi ok verða kynsæll, Landn. 260; öngir þóttu ( were thought) löglegir dómar nema hann væri í, … hón þótti beztr kostr, Nj. 1; tíðindi þau er mörgum þótti mikil, 123; saka-staði þá er hann þótti á eiga, 166; þótti hvárum-tveggja þær ræður skemtiligar, Eg. 686; öllum þótti þeirra ferð in svívirðiligsta, Nj. 263; bætt vóru vígin sem vert þótti, 88; ek þótta ok þjóðans rekkum hverri hæri, I was thought by them to be, Gkv. 1. 19.

II. with dat. it seems to one, one thinks, denoting thought, feeling, sentiment, also resentment, as may be seen from the references, (cp. Germ. mich dünkt; Engl. methinks); mikit þótti spökum mönnum undir því at menn ætti gott saman í útverjum, Ld. 38; Halli þótti Ingjaldr lítt vilja hefja sitt ráð til þroska, id.: vel þykki mér, hvergi þykki mér við hníta, Ísl. ii. 343; þér þótti eigi þess vert at við mik væri um talat, þykki mér þetta ráð eigi svá mikils-háttar, id.; vilda ek, at þér þætti eigi verr, that thou shouldest not think the worse, be displeased, Nj. 17; þótti sinn veg hvárum, they disagreed, Ld. 38; þeir ræddu at Guðrúnu þætti lítið dráp Bolla, they said that G. took little thought of Bolli’s death, 246; þótti okkr gott ( it seemed good to us) er þeim var ótti at ykkr, Nj. 252; allir menn mæltu at betra þætti hjá Skarphéðni dauðum en þeir ætluðu, 209; Finnr lét sér fjándskap í þykkja við konung, Fms. vi. 294; Gunnari þótti fýsilegt … þótti þeim sér nú mundu lítið fyrir, Nj. 113; mér þykkir sem málum várum sé komit í únýtt efni, ef …, 150; þan (tíðendi) megu mér mikil þykkja, ok eigi ólíklig, Fs. 9; vil ek sjá hverr slægr mér þykkir í þér vera, 11; mér þykkir þeir merkiligstir menn, 19; ekki þikki mér þetta sjór, Landn. 251; vel þykkir mér at þú farir brott, 260; eigi þikki mér sem vér munim í þessum dal búnað reisa, Fs. 25; þat þótti honum mest af bregða, 77; líkami Bergþóru þikki mér at líkendum ok þó vel, Nj. 208; nú þykkja þeim eigi tíðir í görandi, K. Þ. K. 154; nú þikkir presti eigi rétt at skírn farit, 14; þikki mér ráð, at þú farir at finna Gizur hvíta, Nj. 77; ek veit at þér þykkir mikit fyrir ferðum, id., Fms. i. 195; undr þótti mér, er bróðir þinn vildi eigt taka af þér þetta starf, Nj. 77; höfðu menn þat fyrir satt at þeim þætti mikit fyrir at skiljask, Ld. 190; hvárt þykkir þér undir því sem mest at vit sém sem vitrastir, Nj. 263; honum þykkir mikit undir at þeim færisk vel, Ísl. ii. 343; hann heilsar þeim … þat ætlum vér at þér þykki lítið undir um vára heilsan, … en þat vitum vér at oss þykkir eigi verr at þú værir eigi heil, Fbr. 62; hann segir sér mikit þykkja at láta eignir sínar, Eg. 539; þó þú látir þér einskis þ. vert um dráp Bárðar, 255; hann spurði hvat honum þótti, eða þykkir þér hér eigi gott, Nj. 126; hefir ek nökkut þat gört at þér þykki við mik at, Gísl. 16; allt þat er honum þykkir af við mik, Ó. H. 148; þótti honum mikit at um víg Kjartans, Ld. 226; sem mér þykkir meira fyrir en öðrum mönnum at vega menn, Nj. 85; ek hygg at honum muni nú minnst fyrir þ., Fms. xi. 113; er mér þykkir allítið fyrir at missa, … þótti þeim sem Egill mundi eigi aptr koma, Eg. 223; þótti honum sér úvænt til undan-kvámu, 406; þeir er höfðu sér traust at mæla sem þótti, to speak as they thought, Fms. i. 22; þat þótti Þorkatli mest af bregða er í vatni skyldi þvásk, Fs. 77: with the notion of vision, dreams, or the like, þótti mér þeir sækja at öllu-megin … en Hjört þótti mér þeir hafa undir, … eptir þat þótti mér stökkva vargarnir, Nj. 95; þeim þótti hann vera kátr ok kveða í hauginum, 118; ok þótti honum hann vekja sik, 121; þá þótti mér undarliga við bregða, mér þótti hann þá kalla …, 211; æpti hann svá mikit óp at mér þótti allt skjálfa í nándir, 212; hón þótti mér þat vel þekkjask, Ísl. ii. 194; ekki þótti henni blómit svá mikit á vera, 14; ok þótti mér ílla sæma … þótti mér sjá skaði miklu meiri, etc., Ld. 126. 128.

B. Reflex.; the forms þykkjumk and þóttumk, also spelt with mz:

I. subject and object being the same person, I myself, he himself, or the like; to seem to oneself, to think oneself, of oneself, with oneself, or the like; hversu mikinn styrk fólkit þykkisk af honum hafa, Edda (pref.) 148; ok þóttumk ek ekki þess verðr frá henni, því at ek þykkjumk þat hafa lýst nökkurum sinnum, at mér hefir ekki hennar úvirðing betri þótt en sjálfs míns, Gísl. 35; svá þykkjumzt ek jafnan gört hafa, Fms. vi. 101; en ek þykkjumk þó mjök neyddr til hafa verit, Nj. 88: to seem to oneself, ok þóttisk-a þú þá Þórr vera, thou didst not seem to thyself to be Thor, daredst not call thyself Thor, Ls. 60; hét Grímr ferðinni þá er hann þættisk búinn, Eg. 108; til hvers þykkjask þessir menn færir, Hrafn. 17: with the notion of presumption or pride, ok þykkisk hann mjök fyrir öðrum, he thinks himself much above others, Ld. 38; þó þykkisk ér þjóðkonungar, Skv. 3. 35; hann þykkisk einn vita allt, Nj. 32: with the notion of appearance, not reality, þá þóttisk hann rista henni manrúnar, he deluded himself. Eg. 587: with the notion of vision, to dream that, Njáll mælti, undarliga sýnisk mér nú, ek þykkjumk sjá um alla stofuna (ok þykki mér sem undan sé gaflveggrinn), Nj. 197; þat dreymdi mik at ek þóttumk ríða fram hjá Knafahólum, þar þóttisk ek sjá varga marga, … ok þóttumk ek þá eigi vita hvat mér hlífði … en ek þóttumk verða svá reiðr, at …, 95; hann þóttisk játa því, 121; ek þóttisk staddr at Lómagnúpi, Nj.; dreymt hefir mik í nótt … þar þóttumk ek vera staddr er eigi þótti öllum einnog, ok þóttumk ek hafa sverðit … en ek þóttumk kveða vísur tvær í svefninum, Ísl. ii. 352; þat dreymði mik at ek þóttisk heima vera at Borg, … álpt eina væna ok fagra ok þóttisk ek eiga, ok þótti mér allgóð …, 194; hón þóttisk sjá tré mikit í rekkju þeirra Grímkels, 14; úti þóttumk ek vera stödd við læk nokkurn, … ek þóttumk vera stödd hjá vatni einu … ok þóttumk ek eiga ok einkar vel sama, … ek þóttumk eiga gullhring, … er ek þóttumk þá bera hjá mér þann hug, … þá þótumk ek sjá fleiri brestina á … ek þóttumk hafa hjálm á höfði … ek þóttumk eiga þá görsemi, Ld. 126, 128; hvat er þat drauma? ek þóttumk fyr dag rísa, etc., Em. (begin.) In the first person the ancients use the form þóttumk þykkjumk much more frequently than þykkist þóttisk, which is the mod. form.

II. the subject being different, he or it seemed to me, a middle form, this use is rare, and only occurs in poetry; gott þóttumk þat, er ek þögn of gat, it seemed good to me, I was glad that I got a bearing, Höfuðl. 19; úlfar þóttumk öllum betri, ef þeir léti mik lífi týna, the wolves seemed all the better friends if they would let me lose my life, Gh. 11.

(hygg, hugða, hugðr and hugaðr), v.

1) to think, believe;

hugðu þó mjök sér hvárir-tveggju, they were of different opinions;

2) to guess;

fár hyggr þegjanda þörf, few can guess the needs of him that is silent;

3) to intend, purpose (sóknargögn þau, er hann hugði fram at fœra);

mæla fagrt, ok flátt hyggja, to speak fair and mean false;

mæla hugat (af hugðu), to speak sincerely;

4) hyggja e-m e-t, to intend a thing for one, to have in store for one (þóttist þann vita, at honum mundi slíkr kostr hugaðr);

hyggja e-m vel, to be well disposed towards a person;

hyggja e-u illa, to be ill pleased with;

ok munu þau vel hyggja ( they will be glad), er þau hafa akrinn;

5) with preps.:

hyggja af e-u, to leave off thinking about, forget or drop (hyggja af harmi, heimsku);

hyggja af um leitina, to give up the search;

hyggja at e-u, to attend to, mind, look at;

konungr hugði vandliga at manninum, the king looked closely at the man;

hyggja á e-t, to think of (hyggja á flótta);

ef hann á grið hygði, if he thought of any breach of faith;

hyggja fyrir e-u, to look to, take heed to (hygg nú svá fyrir hag þínum);

hyggja til e-s, to look forward to with pleasure, etc. (hversu hyggr þú til at deyja? gott hygg ek til bana míns);

hyggja um e-t, to think about a thing;

hyggja um með e-m, to deliberate with one about a thing;

6) refl., hyggjast, to think;

hyggst þú betr gøra munu? thinkst thou thou canst do it better? hyggjast fyrir, to hesitate;

hyggst vætr hvatr fyrir, a valiant man flinches for nought.

f. thought, mind, opinion.

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u, f. thought, mind, opinion; h. ok hugleiðing, MS. 4. 7; at sinni hyggju, N. G. L. ii. 173; Guðleg h., Róm. 308: understanding, mannleg h., Stj.; fyrr fullkominn at hyggju en vetra-tölu, Ld. 18: á-hyggja, care, anxiety; fyrir-h., forethought; van-h., want of forethought; um-hyggja, concern.

COMPDS: hyggjulauss, hyggjuleysi.

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.

1) light, opp. to þungr;

2) active, nimble (l. á sér); vera á léttasta skeiði, to be at one’s most active age; ek em nú af léttasta skeiði, I am past my best years;

3) unencumbered, free; verða léttari (at barni), to be delivered of a child; e-m verðr harms síns léttara, one is eased of one’s grief;

4) light, easy (mœddist hann fyrir þeim ok gekk þeim léttara); var veðr létt, the wind was light;

5) cheerful, gladsome (var konungr þá l. í öllum rœðum); e-m segir eigi létt hugr um e-t, one has apprehensions;

6) of small value; leggja e-t í léttan stað, to think lightly of.

* * *

adj., léttari, léttastr, [cp. Ulf. leihts = ἐλαφρία, 2 Cor. i. 17; A. S. leoht; Engl. light; O. H. G. lihti; Germ. leicht; Dan. let; Swed. lätt; cp. Lat. levis; Gr. ἐ-λαφ-ρός]:—light, of weight; bjórtunnu eða annað eigi léttara. Bs. i. 389.

2. of the body; manna fimastr ok léttastr á sér, Fms. x. 73; vera á léttasta skeiði (aldri), to be at one’s most active age; þá er Haraldr var á léttasta skeiði aldrs, Eg. 536, Ó. H. 68; ek em nú af léttasta skeiði, ok ekki til slíks færr, I have passed my best years, Háv. 40:—the phrase, verða léttari, to give birth, ‘to be lightened of the womb,’ Spenser, (ú-létt = heavy with child); ok nu líða stundir fram lil þess er hón verðr léttari, ok fæðir hón sveinbarn, Fms. xi. 53, Nj. 91, Ísl. ii. 11), Ó. H. 144, Fs. 143, 190; verða léttari barns (= at barni), N. G. L. i. 131.

II. metaph. light, easy; mæddisk hann fyrir þeim ok gékk þeim léttara, Eg. 192; þvíat þat kann henda at mönnum verðr harms síns léttara ef um er talat, Fms. vii. 105:—light, of wind, var veðr létt ok segltækt, 286; hann siglir út léttan land-nyrðing, Ld. 116.

2. light, mild, gladsome, of manners or countenance; var konungr þá léttr í öllum ræðum, Eg. 55; léttr í málum, Ls.; léttr ok linr í máli, gracious, Germ. huldvoll, Bs. i. 154; hann var við alla menn léttr ok kátr, Nj. 48; hverjum manni kátari ok léttari ok vakrari, Fms. x. 152; e-m segir eigi létt hugr um e-t, to have apprehensions, Fs. 38, Fms. vi. 211.

3. of value, light, vile; glitaðan dúk sæmiligan ok annan léttari, Vm. 32; betri, opp. to léttari, Dipl. iii. 4; hinar betri, hinar léttari, Vm. 58; létt fæða, light fare, Mar.; léttr forbeini, Bs. ii. So; leggja e-t í léttan stað, to think lightly of, Grett. 175 new Ed.

B. COMPDS: léttabragð, léttakona, léttasótt, léttbrúnn, léttbrýnn, léttbúinn, léttbærr, Léttfeti, léttfleygr, léttfæri, léttfærr, léttfættr, létthendr, létthjalað, létthlaðinn, létthugaðr, léttklæddr, léttlátr, léttleikr, léttliga, léttligr, léttlífr, léttlyndi, léttlyndr, léttlæti, léttmeti, léttmæltr, léttúð, léttúðigr, léttvaxinn, léttvígr, léttvísi, léttvægr.

(sœki, sótta, sóttr), v.

1) to seek (hann ætlar at s. sér kirkjuvið ok siglir þegar á haf); þangat sœkir þik engi, no one will seek thee thither; s. heilræði ok traust at e-m, to seek good counsel and help from one; s. um liðveizlu við e-n, to call on one for support;

2) to go to fetch (B. átti erendi yfir fjörð at s. skjöldu sína ok vápn); s. e-t í e-n stað or til e-s staðar, to go to a place to fetch a thing (s. grös upp í hlíð, vatn til lœkjar);

3) to visit, come to (enn aldna jötun ek sótta); s. e-n heim, to come to see one, visit one in his home; s. þing, to attend or frequent á þing; s. e-n at liðveizlu, um liðveizlu, to call on one for support;

4) to attack, assail (s. e-n með vápnum; þessir munu s. oss með eldi); s. e-n heim, to fall upon one in his house (Gunnar sóttu heim þeir höfðingjar, er …);

5) to catch, overtake (nú fiðr hann geldingaflokk ok fær eigi sótt);

6) to overcome, master (munu þeir mik aldri fá sótt, meðan ek kem boganum við); to carry, take (eigi mun eyin sótt verða);

7) to pursue; þeir sækja ferðina knáliga, they push on doughtily; s. fast róðrinn (sundit), to pull (swim) hard;

8) to prosecute, in a lawsuit (s. e-n sökum, s. e-n til fullra laga); sótti K. til lands at Móeiðarhváli, K. laid claim to the land at M.; s. sök, mál, to carry on a suit; skalt þú s. þær sakir báðar, both these suits thou shall take up; s. mál til laga, to follow up a suit at law;

9) to pass over (býðr þeim at s. fjallit norðr í bygð); var áin all-ill at s., the river was very bad to cross;

10) absol. to proceed, go, advance (þeir stíga af hestunum ok sœkja upp á hólinn); er hann sótti langt austr, when he had advanced far eastward; s. á fund e-s, to go to see one; s. at, s. á, to attack (s. á borg); to urge the matter, insist (Þ. sótti á því meirr, en G. fór undan); s. eptir e-m, to pursue (Egill sótti þá eptir þeim); s. fram, to advance, go forward, in battle (E. sótti þá fram ok hjó til beggja handa); s. til e-s staðar, to frequent a place (til Túnsbergs sóttu mjök kaupmenn);

11) refl., sœkjast, to advance, of a work in hand (en er á leið vetrinn, sóttist mjök borgargørðin); to be passed, of a road or distance; nú er meir en hálf-sótt, more than half-way; sóttist þeim seint skip þeira Hrúts, they were slow in boarding Hrut’s ship; þeir ætla, at þeim muni illa s. at vinna oss, they think it will be a hard struggle to master us; recipr., to seek one another sœkjast sér um líkir, birds of a feather flock together; to attack one another, fight (þeir nafnar sóttust lengi).

* * *

a negative suffix to verbs, not;

era útmakligt, at it is not unmeet that.

* * *

á, prep., often used elliptically, or even adverbially, [Goth. ana; Engl. on; Germ. an. In the Scandinavian idioms the liquid n is absorbed. In English the same has been supposed to happen in adverbial phrases, e. g. ‘along, away, abroad, afoot, again, agate, ahead, aloft, alone, askew, aside, astray, awry,’ etc. It is indeed true that the Ormulum in its northern dialect freq. uses o, even in common phrases, such as ‘o boke, o land, o life, o slæpe, o strande, o write, o naht, o loft,’ etc., v. the glossary; and we may compare on foot and afoot, on sleep (Engl. Vers. of Bible) and asleep; A. S. a-butan and on-butan (about); agen and ongean (again, against); on bæc, aback; on life, alive; on middan, amid. But it is more than likely that in the expressions quoted above, as well as in numberless others, as well in old as in modern English, the English a- as well as the o- of the Ormulum and the modern Scottish and north of England o- are in reality remains of this very á pronounced au or ow, which was brought by the Scandinavian settlers into the north of England. In the struggle for supremacy between the English dialects after the Conquest, the Scandinavian form á or a won the day in many cases to the exclusion of the Anglo-Saxon on. Some of these adverbs have representatives only in the Scandinavian tongues, not in Anglo-Saxon; see below, with dat. B. II, C. VII; with acc. C. I. and VI. The prep. á denotes the surface or outside; í and ór the inside; at, til, and frá, nearness measured to or from an object: á thus answers to the Gr. επί; the Lat. in includes á and i together.]

With dat. and acc.: in the first case with the notion of remaining on a place, answering to Lat. in with abl.; in the last with the notion of motion to the place, = Lat. in with acc.

WITH DAT.

A. Loc.

I. generally on, upon; á gólfi, on the floor, Nj. 2; á hendi, on the hand (of a ring), 48, 225; á palli, 50; á steini, 108; á vegg, 115; á sjá ok á landi, on sea and land. In some instances the distinction between d and i is loose and wavering, but in most cases common sense and usage decide; thus ‘á bók’ merely denotes the letters, the penmanship, ‘í’ the contents of a book; mod. usage, however, prefers ‘í,’ lesa í bók, but stafr á bók. Old writers on the other hand; á bókum Enskum, in English books, Landn. 24, but í Aldafars bók, 23 (in the book De Mensurâ Temporum, by Bede), cp. Grág. i. 76, where á is a false reading instead of at; á bréfi, the contents of a letter: of clothing or arms, mítr á höfði, sverð á hlið, mitre on head, sword on side, Fms. i. 266, viii. 404; hafa lykil á sér, on one’s person, 655 xxvii. 22; möttull á tyglum, a mantle hanging on (i. e. fastened by) laces, Fms. vii. 201: á þingi means to be present at a meeting; í þingi, to abide within a jurisdiction; á himni, á jörðu, on (Engl. in) heaven and earth, e. g. in the Lord’s Prayer, but í helviti, in hell; á Gimli, Edda (of a heavenly abode); á báti, á skipi denote crew and cargo, ‘í’ the timber or materials of which a ship is built, Eg. 385; vera í stafni á skipi, 177: á skógi, to be abroad in a wood (of a hunter, robber, deer); but to be situated (a house), at work (to fell timber), í skógi, 573, Fs. 5, Fms. iii. 122, viii. 31, xi. 1, Glúm. 330, Landn. 173; á mörkinni, Fms. i. 8, but í mörk, of a farm; á firðinum means lying in a firth, of ships or islands (on the surface of the water), þær eyjar liggja á Breiðafirði, Ld. 36; but í firði, living in a district named Firth; á landi, Nj. 98, Fms. xi. 386.

II. á is commonly used in connection with the pr. names or countries terminating in ‘land,’ Engl. in, á Englandi, Írlandi, Skotlandi, Bretlandi, Saxlandi, Vindlandi, Vínlandi, Grænalandi, Íslandi, Hálogalandi, Rogalandi, Jótlandi, Frakklandi, Hjaltlandi, Jamtalandi, Hvítramannalandi, Norðrlöndum, etc., vide Landn. and the index to Fms. xii. In old writers í is here very rare, in modern authors more frequent; taste and the context in many instances decide. An Icelander would now say, speaking of the queen or king, ‘á Englandi,’ ruling over, but to live ‘í Englandi,’ or ‘á Englandi;’ the rule in the last case not being quite fixed.

2. in connection with other names of countries: á Mæri, Vörs, Ögðum, Fjölum, all districts of Norway, v. Landn.; á Mýrum (in Icel.), á Finnmörk, Landn., á Fjóni (a Danish island); but í Danmörk, Svíþjóð (á Svíþjóðu is poët., Gs. 13).

3. before Icel. farms denoting open and elevated slopes and spaces (not too high, because then ‘at’ must be used), such as ‘staðr, völlr, ból, hjalli, bakki, heimr, eyri,’ etc.; á Veggjum, Landn. 69; á Hólmlátri, id.: those ending in ‘-staðr,’ á Geirmundarstöðum, Þórisstöðum, Jarðlangsstöðum…, Landn.: ‘-völlr,’ á Möðruvöllum: á Fitjum (the farm) í Storð (the island), í Fenhring (the island) á Aski (the farm), Landn., Eg.: ‘-nes’ sometimes takes á, sometimes í (in mod. usage always ‘í’), á Nesi, Eb. 14, or í Krossnesi, 30; in the last case the notion of island, νησος, prevails: so also, ‘fjörðr,’ as, þeir börðust á Vigrafirði (of a fight o n the ice), Landn. 101, but orusta í Hafrsfirði, 122: with ‘-bær,’ á is used in the sense of a farm or estate, hón sa á e-m bæ mikit hús ok fagrt, Edda 22; ‘í bæ’ means within doors, of the buildings: with ‘Bær’ as pr. name Landn. uses ‘í,’ 71, 160, 257, 309, 332.

4. denoting on or just above; of the sun, when the time is fixed by regarding the sun in connection with points in the horizon, a standing phrase in Icel.; sól á gjáhamri, when the sun is on the crag of the Rift, Grág. i. 26, cp. Glúm. 387; so, brú á á, a bridge on a river, Fms. viii. 179, Hrafn. 20; taka hús á e-m, to surprise one, to take the house over his head, Fms. i. 11.

III. á is sometimes used in old writers where we should now expect an acc., esp. in the phrase, leggja sverði (or the like) á e-m, or á e-m miðjum, to stab, Eg. 216, Gísl. 106, Band. 14; þá stakk Starkaðr sprotanum á konungi, then Starkad stabbed the king with the wand, Fas. iii. 34; bíta á kampi (vör), to bite the lips, as a token of pain or emotion, Nj. 209, 68; taka á e-u, to touch a thing, lay hold of it, v. taka; fá á e-u, id. (poët.); leggja hendr á (better at) síðum, in wrestling, Fms. x. 331; koma á úvart á e-m, to come on one unawares, ix. 407 (rare).

B. TEMP. of a particular point or period of time, at, on, in:

I. gener. denoting during, in the course of; á nótt, degi, nætrþeli …, Bs. i. 139; or spec. adding a pron. or an adject., á næsta sumri, the next summer; á því ári, þingi, misseri, hausti, vári, sumri …, during, in that year …, Bs. i. 679, etc.; á þrem sumrum, in the course of three summers, Grág. i. 218; á þrem várum, Fms. ii. 114; á hálfs mánaðar fresti, within half a month’s delay, Nj. 99; á tvítugs, sextugs … aldri, á barns, gamals aldri, etc., at the age of …, v. aldr: á dögum e-s, in the days of, in his reign or time, Landn. 24, Hrafn. 3, Fms. ix. 229.

II. used of a fixed recurrent period or season; á várum, sumrum, haustum, vetrum, á kveldum, every spring, summer …, in the evenings, Eg. 711, Fms. i. 23, 25, vi. 394, Landn. 292: with the numeral adverbs, cp. Lat. ter in anno, um sinn á mánuði, ári, once a month, once a year, where the Engl. a is not the article but the preposition, Grág. i. 89.

III. of duration; á degi, during a whole day, Fms. v. 48; á sjau nóttum, Bárð. 166; á því meli, during that time, in the meantime, Grág. i. 259.

IV. connected with the seasons (á vetri, sumri, vári, hausti), ‘á’ denotes the next preceding season, the last winter, summer, autumn, Eb. 40, 238, Ld. 206: in such instances ‘á’ denotes the past, ‘at’ the future, ‘í’ the present; thus í vetri in old writers means this winter; á vetri, last winter; at vetri, next winter, Eb. 68 (in a verse), etc.

C. In various other relations, more or less metaphorically, on, upon, in, to, with, towards, against:

I. denoting object, in respect of, against, almost periphrastically; dvelja á náðum e-s, under one’s protection, Fms. i. 74; hafa metnað á e-u, to be proud of, to take pride in a thing, 127.

2. denoting a personal relation, in; bæta e-t á e-m, to make amends, i. e. to one personally; misgöra e-t á e-m, to inflict wrong on one; hafa elsku (hatr) á e-m, to bear love ( hatred) to one, Fms. ix. 242; hefna sín á e-m, to take revenge on one’s person, on anyone; rjúfa sætt á e-m, to break truce on the person of any one, to offend against his person, Nj. 103; hafa sár á sér, 101; sjá á e-m, to read on or in one’s face; sér hann á hverjum manni hvárt til þín er vel eðr illa, 106; var þat brátt auðséð á hennar högum, at …, it could soon be seen in all her doings, that …, Ld. 22.

3. also generally to shew signs of a thing; sýna fáleika á sér, to shew marks of displeasure, Nj. 14, Fs. 14; taka vel, illa, lítt, á e-u, to take a thing well, ill, or indifferently, id.; finna á sér, to feel in oneself; fann lítt á honum, hvárt …, it could hardly be seen in his face, whether …, Eb. 42; líkindi eru á, it is likely, Ld. 172; göra kost á e-u, to give a choice, chance of it, 178; eiga vald á e-u, to have power over …, Nj. 10.

II. denoting encumbrance, duty, liability; er fimtardómsmál á þeim, to be subject to …, Nj. 231; the phrase, hafa e-t á hendi, or vera á hendi e-m, on one’s hands, of work or duty to be done; eindagi á fé, term, pay day, Grág. i. 140; ómagi (skylda, afvinna) á fé, of a burden or encumbrance, D. I. and Grág. in several passages.

III. with a personal pronoun, sér, mér, honum …, denoting personal appearance, temper, character, look, or the like; vera þungr, léttr … á sér, to be heavy or light, either bodily or mentally; þungr á sér, corpulent, Sturl. i. 112; kátr ok léttr á sér, of a gay and light temper, Fms. x. 152; þat bragð hafði hann á sér, he looked as if, … the expression of his face was as though …, Ld., cp. the mod. phrase, hafa á sér svip, bragð, æði, sið, of one’s manner or personal appearance, to bear oneself as, or the like; skjótr (seinn) á fæti, speedy ( slow) of foot, Nj. 258.

IV. as a periphrasis of the possessive pronoun connected with the limbs or parts of the body. In common Icel. such phrases as my hands, eyes, head … are hardly ever used, but höfuð, eyru, hár, nef, munnr, hendr, fætr … á mér; so ‘í’ is used of the internal parts, e. g. hjarta, bein … í mér; the eyes are regarded as inside the body, augun í honum: also without the possessive pronoun, or as a periphrasis for a genitive, brjóstið á e-m, one’s breast, Nj. 95, Edda 15; súrnar í augum, it smarts in my eyes, my eyes smart, Nj. 202; kviðinn á sér, its belly, 655 xxx. 5, Fms. vi. 350; hendr á henni, her hands, Gísl. (in a verse); í vörunum á honum, on his lips, Band. 14; ristin á honum, his step, Fms. viii. 141; harðr í tungu, sharp of tongue, Hallfred (Fs. 114); kalt (heitt) á fingrum, höndum, fótum …, cold ( warm) in the fingers, hands, feet …, i. e. with cold fingers, etc.; cp. also the phrase, verða vísa (orð) á munni, of extemporising verses or speeches, freq. in the Sagas; fastr á fótum, fast by the leg, of a bondsman, Nj. 27: of the whole body, díla fundu þeir á honum, 209. The pers. pron. is used only in solemn style (poetry, hymns, the Bible), and perhaps only when influenced by foreign languages, e. g. mitt hjarta hví svo hryggist þú, as a translation of ‘warumb betrübst du dich mein Herz?’ the famous hymn by Hans Sachs; instead of the popular hjartað í mér, Sl. 43, 44: hjartað mitt is only used as a term of endearment, as by a husband to his wife, parents to their child, or the like, in a metaphorical sense; the heart proper is ‘í mér,’ not ‘mitt.’

2. of other things, and as a periphrasis of a genitive, of a part belonging to the whole, e. g. dyrr á husi = húsdyrr, at the house-doors; turn á kirkju = kirkju turn; stafn, skutr, segl, árar … á skipi, the stem, stern, sail … of a ship, Fms. ix. 135; blöð á lauk, á tré …, leaves of a leek, of a tree …, Fas. i. 469; egg á sverði = sverðs egg; stafr á bók; kjölr á bók, and in endless other instances.

V. denoting instrumentality, by, on, or a-, by means of; afla fjár á hólmgöngum, to make money a-duelling, by means of duels, Eg. 498; á verkum sínum, to subsist on one’s own work, Njarð. 366: as a law term, sekjast á e-ju, to be convicted upon …, Grág. i. 123; sekst maðr þar á sínu eigini ( a man is guilty in re sua), ef hann tekr af þeim manni er heimild ( possessio) hefir til, ii. 191; falla á verkum sínum, to be killed flagranti delicto, v. above; fella e-n á bragði, by a sleight in wrestling; komast undan á flótta, to escape by flight, Eg. 11; á hlaupi, by one’s feet, by speed, Hkr. ii. 168; lifa á e-u, to feed on; bergja á e-u, to taste of a thing; svala sér á e-u, to quench the thirst on.

VI. with subst. numerals; á þriðja tigi manna, up to thirty, i. e. from about twenty to thirty, Ld. 194; á öðru hundraði skipa, from one to two hundred sail strong, Fms. x. 126; á níunda tigi, between eighty and ninety years of age, Eg. 764, v. above: used as prep., á hendi, on one’s hand, i. e. bound to do it, v. hönd.

VII. in more or less adverbial phrases it may often be translated in Engl. by a participle and a- prefixed; á lopti, aloft; á floti, afloat; á lífi, alive; á verðgangi, a-begging; á brautu, away; á baki, a-back, behind, past; á milli, a-tween; á laun, alone, secretly; á launungu, id.; á móti, against; á enda, at an end, gone; á huldu, hidden; fara á hæli, to go a-heel, i. e. backwards, Fms. vii. 70;—but in many cases these phrases are transl. by the Engl. partic. with a, which is then perh. a mere prefix, not a prep., á flugi, a-flying in the air, Nj. 79; vera á gangi, a-going; á ferli, to be about; á leiki, a-playing, Fms. i. 78; á sundi, a-swimming, ii. 27; á verði, a-watching, x. 201; á hrakningi, a-wandering; á reiki, a-wavering; á skjálfi, a-shivering; á-hleri, a-listening; á tali, a-talking, Ísl. ii. 200; á hlaupi, a-running, Hkr. ii. 268; á verki, a-working; á veiðum, a-hunting; á fiski, a-fishing; á beit, grazing: and as a law term it even means in flagranti, N. G. L. i. 348.

VIII. used absolutely without a case in reference to the air or the weather, where ‘á’ is almost redundant; þoka var á mikil, a thick fog came on, Nj. 267; niðamyrkr var á, pitch darkness came on, Eg. 210; allhvast á norðan, a very strong breeze from the north, Fms. ix. 20; þá var á norðrænt, a north wind came on, 42, Ld. 56; hvaðan sem á er, from whatever point the wind is; var á hríð veðrs, a snow storm came on, Nj. 282; görði á regn, rain came on, Fms. vi. 394, xi. 35, Ld. 156.

WITH ACC.

A. Loc.

I. denoting simple direction towards, esp. connected with verbs of motion, going, or the like; hann gékk á bergsnös, Eg. 389; á hamar, Fas. ii. 517.

2. in phrases denoting direction; liggja á útborða, lying on the outside of the ship, Eg. 354; á annat borð skipinu, Fms. vii. 260; á bæði borð, on both sides of the ship, Nj. 124, Ld. 56; á tvær hliðar, on both sides, Fms. v. 73. Ísl. ii. 159; á hlið, sidewards; út á hlið, Nj. 262, Edda 44; á aðra hönd henni, Nj. 50, Ld. 46; höggva á tvær hendr, to hew or strike right and left, Ísl. ii. 368, Fas. i. 384, Fms. viii. 363, x. 383.

3. upp á, upon; hann tók augu Þjaza ok kastaði upp á himin, Edda 47: with verbs denoting to look, see, horfa, sjá, líta, etc.; hann rak skygnur á land, he cast glances towards the land, Ld. 154.

II. denoting direction with or without the idea of arriving:

1. with verbs denoting to aim at; of a blow or thrust, stefna á fótinn, Nj. 84; spjótið stefnir á hann miðjan, 205: of the wind, gékk veðrit á vestr, the wind veered to west, Fms. ix. 28; sigla á haf, to stand out to sea, Hkr. i. 146, Fms. i. 39: with ‘út’ added, Eg. 390, Fms. x. 349.

2. conveying the notion of arriving, or the intervening space being traversed; spjótið kom á miðjan skjöldinn, Eg. 379, Nj. 96, 97; langt upp á land, far up inland, Hkr. i. 146: to reach, taka ofan á belti, of the long locks of a woman, to reach down to the belt, Nj. 2; ofan á bringu, 48; á þa ofan, 91.

III. without reference to the space traversed, connected with verbs denoting to go, turn, come, ride, sail, throw, or the like, motion of every kind; hann kastar honum á völlinn, he flings him down, Nj. 91; hlaupa á skip sitt, to leap on board his ship, 43; á hest, to mount quickly, Edda 75; á lend hestinum, Nj. 91; hann gengr á sáðland sitt, he walks on to his fields, 82: on, upon, komast á fætr, to get upon one’s legs, 92; ganga á land, to go a-shore, Fms. i. 40; ganga á þing, vii. 242, Grág. (often); á skóg, á merkr ok skóga, into a wood, Fb. i. 134, 257, Fms. xi. 118, Eg. 577, Nj. 130; fara á Finnmörk, to go travelling in Finmark, Fms. i. 8; koma, fara á bæ, to arrive at the farm-house; koma á veginn, Eg. 578; stíga á bát, skip, to go on board, 158; hann gékk upp á borg, he went up to the burg (castle), 717; en er þeir komu á loptriðið, 236; hrinda skipum á vatn, to float the ships down into the water, Fms. i. 58; reka austr á haf, to drift eastwards on the sea, x. 145; ríða ofan á, to ride down or over, Nj. 82.

IV. in some cases the acc. is used where the dat. would be used, esp. with verbs denoting to see or hear, in such phrases as, þeir sá boða mikinn inn á fjörðinn, they saw great breakers away up in the bight of the firth, the acc. being due perhaps to a motion or direction of the eye or ear towards the object, Nj. 124; sá þeir fólkit á land, they saw the people in the direction of land, Fas. ii. 517: in phrases denoting to be placed, to sit, to be seated, the seat or bench is freq. in the acc. where the dat. would now be used; konungr var þar á land upp, the king was then up the country, the spectator or narrator is conceived as looking from the shore or sea-side, Nj. 46; sitja á miðjan bekk, to be seated on the middle bench, 50; skyldi konungs sæti vera á þann bekk … annat öndvegi var á hinn úæðra pall; hann setti konungs hásæti á miðjan þverpall, Fms. vi. 439, 440, cp. Fagrsk. l. c., Sturl. iii. 182; eru víða fjallbygðir upp á mörkina, in the mark or forest, Eg. 58; var þar mörk mikil á land upp, 229; mannsafnaðr er á land upp (viewed from the sea), Ld. 76; stóll var settr á mótið, Fas. i. 58; beiða fars á skip, to beg a passage, Grág. i. 90.

V. denoting parts of the body; bíta e-n á barka, to bite one in the throat, Ísl. ii. 447; skera á háls, to cut the throat of any one, Nj. 156; brjóta e-n á háls, to break any one’s neck; brjóta e-n á bak, to break any one’s back, Fms. vii. 119; kalinn á kné, frozen to the knees with cold, Hm. 3.

VI. denoting round; láta reipi á háls hesti, round his horse’s neck, 623. 33; leggja söðul á hest, Nj. 83; and ellipt., leggja á, to saddle; breiða feld á hofuð sér, to wrap a cloak over his head, 164; reyta á sik mosa, to gather moss to cover oneself with, 267; spenna hring á hönd, á fingr, Eg. 300.

VII. denoting a burden; stela mat á tvá hesta, hey á fimtán hesta, i. e. a two, a fifteen horse load, Nj. 74: metaph., kjósa feigð á menn, to choose death upon them, i. e. doom them to death, Edda 22.

B. TEMP.

I. of a period of time, at, to; á morgun, to-morrow (í morgun now means the past morning, the morning of to-day), Ísl. ii. 333.

II. if connected with the word day, ‘á’ is now used before a fixed or marked day, a day of the week, a feast day, or the like; á Laugardag, á Sunnudag …, on Saturday, Sunday, the Old Engl. a-Sunday, a-Monday, etc.; á Jóladaginn, Páskadaginn, on Yule and Easter-day; but in old writers more often used ellipt. Sunnudaginn, Jóladaginn …, by dropping the prep. ‘á,’ Fms. viii. 397, Grág. i. 18.

III. connected with ‘dagr’ with the definite article suffixed, ‘á’ denotes a fixed, recurring period or season, in; á daginn, during the day-time, every day in turn, Grett. 91 A.

IV. connected with ‘evening, morning, the seasons,’ with the article; á kveldit, every evening, Ld. 14; á sumarit, every summer, Vd. 128, where the new Ed. Fs. 51 reads sumrum; á haust, every autumn, Eg. 741 (perh. a misprint instead of á haustin or á haustum); á vetrinn, in the winter time, 710; á várit, every spring, Gþl. 347; the sing., however, is very rare in such cases, the old as well as mod. usage prefers the plur.; á nætrnar, by night, Nj. 210; á várin, Eg. 710; á sumrin, haustin, á morgnana, in the morning (á morgin, sing., means to-morrow); á kveldin, in the evening, only ‘dagr’ is used in sing., v. above (á daginn, not á dagana); but elliptically and by dropping the article, Icelanders say, kveld og morgna, nótt og dag, vetr sumar vor og haust, in the same sense as those above mentioned.

V. denoting duration, the article is dropped in the negative phrase, aldri á sinn dag, never during one’s life; aldri á mína daga, never in my life, Bjarn. 8, where a possess. pron. is put between noun and prep., but this phrase is very rare. Such phrases as, á þann dag, that day, and á þenna dag, Stj. 12, 655 xxx. 2. 20, are unclassical.

VI. á dag without article can only be used in a distributive sense, e. g. tvisvar á dag, twice a-day; this use is at present freq. in Icel., yet instances from old writers are not on record.

VII. denoting a movement onward in time, such as, liðið á nótt, dag, kveld, morgun, sumar, vetr, vár, haust (or nóttina, daginn …), jól, páska, föstu, or the like, far on in the night, day …, Edda 33; er á leið vetrinn, when the winter was well on, as the winter wore on, Nj. 126; cp. áliðinn: also in the phrase, hniginn á inn efra aldr, well stricken in years, Ld. 68.

C. Metaph. and in various relations:

I. somewhat metaphorically, denoting an act only (not the place); fara á fund, á vit e-s, to call for one, Eg. 140; koma á ræðu við e-n, to come to a parley with, to speak, 173; ganga á tal, Nj. 103; skora á hólm, to challenge to a duel on an island; koma á grið, to enter into a service, to be domiciled, Grág. i. 151; fara á veiðar, to go a-hunting, Fms. i. 8.

β. generally denoting on, upon, in, to; bjóða vöxtu á féit, to offer interest on the money, Grág. i. 198; ganga á berhögg, to come to blows, v. berhögg; fá á e-n, to make an impression upon one, Nj. 79; ganga á vápn e-s, to throw oneself on an enemy’s weapon, meet him face to face, Rd. 310; ganga á lagið, to press on up the spear-shaft after it has passed through one so as to get near one’s foe, i. e. to avail oneself of the last chance; bera fé á e-n, to bribe, Nj. 62; bera öl á e-n, to make drunk, Fas. i. 13; snúinn á e-t, inclined to, Fms. x. 142; sammælast á e-t, to agree upon, Nj. 86; sættast, verða sáttr á e-t, in the same sense, to come to an agreement, settlement, or atonement, 78, Edda 15, Eb. 288, Ld. 50, Fms. i. 279; ganga á mála, to serve for pay as a soldier, Nj. 121; ganga á vald e-s, to put oneself in his power, 267; ganga á sætt, to break an agreement; vega á veittar trygðir, to break truce, Grág. ii. 169.

II. denoting in regard to, in respect to:

1. of colour, complexion, the hue of the hair, or the like; hvítr, jarpr, dökkr … á hár, having white, brown, or dark … hair, Ísl. ii. 190, Nj. 39; svartr á brún ok brá, dark of brow and eyebrow; dökkr á hörund, id., etc.

2. denoting skill, dexterity; hagr á tré, a good carpenter; hagr á járn, málm, smíðar …, an expert worker in iron, metals …, Eg. 4; fimr á boga, good at the bow: also used of mastership in science or arts, meistari á hörpuslátt, a master in striking the harp, Fas. iii. 220; fræðimaðr á kvæði, knowing many poems by heart, Fms. vi. 391; fræðimaðr á landnámssögur ok forna fræði, a learned scholar in histories and antiquities (of Are Frode), Ísl. ii. 189; mikill á íþrótt, skilful in an art, Edda (pref.) 148; but dat. in the phrase, kunna (vel) á skíðum, to be a cunning skater, Fms. i. 9, vii. 120.

3. denoting dimensions; á hæð, lengd, breidd, dýpt …, in the heighth, length, breadth, depth …, Eg. 277; á hvern veg, on each side, Edda 41 (square miles); á annan veg, on the one side, Grág. i. 89.

β. the phrase, á sik, in regard to oneself, vel (illa) á sik kominn, of a fine ( ugly) appearance, Ld. 100, Fas. iii. 74.

III. denoting instrumentality; bjargast á sínar hendr, to live on the work of one’s own hands, (á sínar spýtur is a mod. phrase in the same sense); (vega) á skálir, pundara, to weigh in scales, Grág. ii. 370; at hann hefði tvá pundara, ok hefði á hinn meira keypt en á hinn minna selt, of a man using two scales, a big one for buying and a little one for selling, Sturl. i. 91; á sinn kostnað, at one’s own expense; nefna e-n á nafn, by name, Grág. i. 17, etc. The Icel. also say, spinna á rokk, snældu, to spin on or with a rock or distaff; mala á kvern, to grind in a ‘querne,’ where Edda 73 uses dat.; esp. of musical instruments, syngja, leika á hljóðfæri, hörpu, gígju …; in the old usage, leika hörpu …, Stj. 458.

IV. denoting the manner or way of doing:

1. á þessa lund, in this wise, Grág. ii. 22; á marga vega, á alla, ymsa vega, in many, all, respects, Fms. i. 114; á sitt hóf, in its turn, respectively, Ld. 136, where the context shews that the expression answers to the Lat. mutatis mutandis; á Þýðersku, after German fashion, Sks. 288.

2. esp. of language; mæla, rita á e-a tungu, to speak, write in a tongue; á Írsku, in Irish, Ld. 76; Norrænu, in Norse, Eb. 330, Vm. 35; a Danska tungu, in Danish, i. e. Scandinavian, Norse, or Icelandic, Grág. i. 18; á Vára tungu, i. e. in Icelandic, 181; rita á Norræna tungu, to write in Norse, Hkr. (pref.), Bs. i. 59:—at present, dat. is sometimes used.

3. in some phrases the acc. is used instead of the dat.; hann sýndi á sik mikit gaman, Fms. x. 329; hann lét ekki á sik finna, he shewed no sign of motion, Nj. 111; skaltú önga fáleika á þik gera (Cod. Kalf.), 14.

V. used in a distributive sense; skal mörk kaupa gæzlu á kú, eðr oxa fim vetra gamlan, a mark for every cow, Grág. i. 147; alin á hvert hross, 442; á mann, per man (now freq.): cp. also á dag above, lit. B.

VI. connected with nouns,

1. prepositional; á hendr (with dat.), against; á hæla, at heel, close behind; á bak, at back, i. e. past, after; á vit (with gen.), towards.

2. adverbially; á braut, away, abroad; á víxl, in turns; á mis, amiss; á víð ok dreif, a-wide and a-drift, i. e. dispersedly.

3. used almost redundantly before the following prep.; á eptir, after, behind; á undan, in front of; á meðal, á milli, among; á mót, against; á við, about, alike; á frá (cp. Swed. ifrån), from (rare); á fyrir = fyrir, Haustl. 1; á hjá, beside (rare); á fram, a-head, forwards; á samt, together; ávalt = of allt, always: following a prep., upp á, upon; niðr á, down upon; ofan á, eptir á, post eventum, (temp.) á eptir is loc., id., etc.

VII. connected with many transitive verbs, answering to the Lat. ad- or in-, in composition, in many cases periphrastically for an objective case. The prep. generally follows after the verb, instead of being prefixed to it as in Lat., and answers to the Engl. on, to; heita kalla, hrópa á, to call on; heyra, hlusta, hlyða á, to hearken to, listen to; hyggja, hugsa á, to think on; minna á, to remind; sjá, líta, horfa, stara, mæna, glápa, koma auga … á, to look on; girnast á, to wish for; trúa á, to believe on; skora á, to call on any one to come out, challenge; kæra á, to accuse; heilsa á, to greet; herja, ganga, ríða, hlaupa, ráða … á, to fall on, attack, cp. ágangr, áreið, áhlaup; ljúga á, to tell lies of, to slander; telja á, to carp at; ausa, tala, hella, kasta, verpa … á, to pour, throw on; ríða, bera, dreifa á, to sprinkle on; vanta, skorta á, to fall short of; ala á, to plead, beg; leggja á, to throw a spell on, lay a saddle on; hætta á, to venture on; gizka á, to guess at; kveða á, to fix on, etc.: in a reciprocal sense, haldast á, of mutual strife; sendast á, to exchange presents; skrifast á, to correspond (mod.); kallast á, to shout mutually; standast á, to coincide, so as to be just opposite one another, etc.

f. [Lat. aqua; Goth. ahva; Hel. aha; A. S. eâ; O. H. G. aha, owa; cp. Germ. ach and aue; Fr. eau, eaux; Engl. Ax-, Ex-, etc., in names of places; Swed.-Dan. å; the Scandinavians absorb the hu, so that only a single vowel or diphthong remains of the whole word]:—a river. The old form in nom. dat. acc. sing. is , v. the introduction to A, page 1, Bs. i. 333 sq., where ́n, ́ (acc.), and ́na; so also Greg. 677; the old fragm. of Grág. ii. 222, 223, new Ed. In the Kb. of the Edda the old form occurs twice, viz. page 75, ́na (acc.), (but two lines below, ána), í ́nni (dat.) The old form also repeatedly occurs in the Kb. and Sb. of the Grág., e. g. ii. 266, 267: gen. sing. ár; nom. pl. ár, gen. á contracted, dat. ám, obsolete form ́m; Edda 43, Eg. 80, 99, 133, 185: proverbs, at ósi skal á stemma, answering to the Lat. principiis obsta, Edda 60; hér kemr á til sæfar, here the river runs into the sea, metaph. = this is the very end, seems to have been a favourite ending of old poems; it is recorded in the Húsdrápa and the Norðsetadrápa, v. Edda 96, Skálda 198; cp. the common saying, oil vötn renna til sævar, ‘all waters run into the sea.’ Rivers with glacier water are in Icel. called Hvítá, White river, or Jökulsá: Hitá, Hot river, from a hot spring, opp. to Kaldá, v. Landn.: others take a name from the fish in them, as Laxá, Lax or Salmon river (freq.); Örriða á, etc.: a tributary river is þverá, etc.: ár in the Njála often means the great rivers Ölfusá and Þjórsá in the south of Iceland. Áin helga, a river in Sweden, Hkr. ii: á is also suffixed to the names of foreign rivers, Tempsá = Thames; Dóná, Danube (Germ. Don-au), (mod.), etc. Vide Edda (Gl.) 116, 117, containing the names of over a hundred North-English and Scottish rivers.

COMPDS: áráll, árbakki, árbrot, ardjúp, árfarvegr, árfors, árgljúfr, árhlutr, ármegin, árminni, ármót, áróss, árreki, árstraumr, árströnd, árvað, árvegr, árvöxtr.

I) (older form es), rel. part. in old poems and in law phrases ‘es’ is suffixed to a demonstrative or interrogative word, pron. or adv., as s: sás, sús, þats, þeims, þærs; þars, þás, þegars, síðans, hveims, hvars, &c., = sá es, sú es, þar es, þá es, &c.

I. used as a rel. pron., indecl., who, which, that;

1) Mörðr hét maðr, er (nom.) kallaðr var gígja;

grös fögr, er (acc.) hón hafði í hendi;

aðra hluti þá, er (gen.) menn vildu visir verða;

þann einn son, er (dat.) hann ann lítit;

2) with a prep. placed at the end of the sentence;

land, er hann kom frá, the land he came from;

jötunn, er ór steini var höfuðit á (viz. honum), whose head was of stone;

3) ellipt., the prep. being understood;

ór þeim ættum, er mér þóttu fuglarnir fljúga (viz. ór), from the quarter that I thought the birds flew from;

þeir hafa nú látit líf sitt, er mér þykkir eigi vert at lifa (viz. eptir), whom I think it is not worth while to outlive;

4) a personal or demonstr. pron. may be added to the rel. part., er þú, er þik; er hann, er hón, er hana, er hans, er hennar, er þeim, er þeiri, er þeira, etc.;

œrr ertu, Loki, er þú (who) yðra telr ljóta leiðstafi;

sá maðr, er hann vill, that man who wishes;

nema ein Goðrún, er hón æva grét, who never wept;

ekkja heitir sú, er búandi hennar (whose husband) varð sóttdauðr;

þann konung, er undir honum eru skatt-konungar, that king under whom are tributary kings;

5) in the fourteenth century added to the int. pron., hverr;

þat herbergi, í hverju er hann ( in which = er hann í því) hefir sitt ráð ok ræðr;

II. as a conj. and adv.

1) local, er, þar er, there where;

hann sá á eldinum fölskann, er netit hafði brunnit, where the net had been burnt;

Ó. gekk þar til, er H. lá, to the spot where H. lay;

2) of time, er, þá er, when;

ok er, and when;

en er, but when;

þar til er, until;

í því er, just when;

eptir (þat) er, when;

þegar er, as soon as (þegar er lýsti, stóð konungr upp);

síðan er, since;

meðan er, while;

næst er vér kómum, next when we came;

þá lét í hamrinum, sem er reið gengr, as when it thunders;

3) = at, that;

ok fannst þat á öllu, er hón þóttist vargefin, that she thought she was thrown away;

ek em þess sæll, er okkart félag sleit, I am happy that;

skyldi fara fyrst leyniliga, en þó kom þar, er allir vissu, but it came to this, that every one knew of it.

II) from vera.

* * *

old form es, mod. sometimes eð, but usually ‘er;’ indecl. Particle used as relat. pron. or as relat. adv.; in very old MSS. always es, and rhymed so by old poets; in the 12th century it changed into er. In poems and in law phrases the particle ‘es’ is suffixed to the pronoun or adverb, as s or z, e. g. thus: as pron., sá’s = sá es (so in ‘people’s Engl.’ he as, him as, for he who, etc.), Hkr. iii. 11 (Sighvat); dat. þeim’s = þeim es, illi qui, Hm. 3, Fms. vi. 38 (Sighvat); acc. masc. þann’z or þann’s = þann es, illum qui, Vsp. 45 (MS.), Od. i, Hm. 44, 120, Hým. 39, Am. 90; neut. þatz = þat es, illud quod, Hm. 39, Am. 37, Hkv. Hjörv. 3, Fms. iii. 9 (Hallfred): as conj. or adv., hvárt’z … eða = hvárt es … eða, utrum … an, Grág. (Ed. 1853); hvárt’z hann vill at reiða eða …, i. 25, 145, 152, 155, 156, 161, 233, ii. 50: as adv., þegar’s = þegar es, as soon as, Grág. (Ed. 1853) i. 94, Am. 30; síðan’s = síðan es, since (Old Engl. sithens, sithence), 78; even sem’s = sem es, Am. 103; hvar’s = hvar es, wherever, 47, Mork. 138, Hm. 138; hve’s = hve es, however, 140 (MS. hvers), Skálda 190 (in a verse); þar’s = þar es, there where, i. e. where, Grág. i. 46, 153, Hm. 66, Hbl. 60, Gm. 8, Ls. 50, Mork. 18, 34, 37, 62, 170, Skálda 189 (Bragi), Edda (Ht.) 124, where this anastrophe is called bragar-mál, poetical diction; hvarge’s = hvarge es, wherever, Grág. ii. 44. The Icel. has no relat. pron. but only the relat. particles er and sem, both of them indecl. in gender, case, and number; in simple sentences the sense (gender etc.) is clear from the context; and the language has certain expedients to meet the deficiency.

A. Used as relat. pron. which, who, that:

I. used alone, where there is perhaps an ellipse of the demonstrative, er = er hann (þeir, þær, þeim, etc.);

α. nom., á þeim bæ, er Abia heitir, 625. 83; Mörðr hét maðr, er kallaðr var Gigja, Nj. 1; hann átti dóttur eina, er Unnr hét, id.; þá skulu þeir, er fær eru ( who are) saman, Grág. i. 9; maðr, er þessa þurfi, id.; at þeim svörum, er verða, 19; lið þat, er þeim hafðI þangat fylgt, Fms. i. 62; konur þær, er völfur vóru kallaðar, iii. 212; þeim unga manni, er þar sitr hjá þér, id.

β. acc., þingfesti manna þeirra, er ( quos) menn vilja sækja, Grág. i. 19; sakar þeirrar, er ( quam) ek hefi höfðað, id.

γ. gen., aðra hluti þá, er ( quorum) menn viidu vísir verða, Fms. iii. 212.

δ. dat., þann einn, er ( cui) hann ann lítið, Fms. i. 86.

ε. joined to a demonstrative; allir Þrændir, þeir er …, all the Th., who …, Fms. i. 62.

II. with a prep., which, as often in Engl., is placed at the end of the sentence; er hann kom til, whom he came to; land, er hann kom frá, the land he came from; so Lat. quocum venit = er hann kom með sub quibus = er … undir; in quibus = er … í, etc.: the prep. may also be a penultimate, e. g. the phrase, er mér er á ván, wlich I have a hope of; or, er hann var yfir settr, whom he was set over, etc.; this use of the pronoun is undoubtedly elliptical, the corresponding demonstrative pronoun being left out, although the ellipse is not felt; þvengrinn sá er muðrinn Loka var saman rifjaðr með (Kb. omits the prep.), the lace that the mouth of Loki was stitched with, Edda 71; öðrum höfðingjum, þeim er honum þótti liðs at ván (that is to say, þeim, er honum þótti liðs van at þeim), at whose hands, i. e. from whom he thought help likely to come, Fms. i; þeir er ek mæli þetta til (= er ek mæli þetta til þeirra), those to whom I speak, xi. 12; er engi hefir áðr til orðit, Nj. 190; in stórúðgi jötunn, er ór steini var höfuðit á (= er ór steini var höfuðit á honum), whose head was of stone. Hbl. 15; því er vér urðum á sáttir, Fms. xi. 34; við glugg þann í loptinu, er fuglinn hafðI áðr við setið. the window close to which the bird sat. Eg.: nokkurum þeim höfðingja, er mér sé eigandi vinátta við (viz. þá). Ó. H. 78: þá sjón, er mér þykir mikils um vert (viz. hana), 74; er mér þat at sýn orðit, er ek hefi opt heyrt frá sagt (= frá því sagt), 57; til vatns þess, er Á en Helga fellr ór, 163: til kirkju þeirra, es bein eru færð til, Grág. i. 13 new Ed.

2. ellipt. the prep. being understood, esp. to avoid the repetition of it; ekirinn sá er brendr vár Ásgarðr (viz. með), Edda (pref.); hann gékk til herbergis þess, er konungr var inni (viz. í), he went to the house that the king was in, Ó. H. 160, Fb. iii. 251; dyrr þær, er ganga mátti upp á húsit (viz. gegnum, through), the doors through which one could walk up to the house, Eg. 421; ór þeim ættum er mér þóttu fuglarnir fljúga (viz. ór), the airt ( quarter) that I thought the birds flew from, Ísl. ii. 196; yfir þeim manni, er Mörðr hafði sök sína fram sagt (viz. yfir), the man over whose head ( to whom) Mord had pleaded his suit, Nj. 242; þrjú þing, þau er menn ætluðu (viz. á), three parliaments, in ( during) which men thought …, 71; nær borg þeirri, er konungr sat (viz. í), near the town the king resided in, Eg. 287; Montakassin, er dyrkast Benedictus, Monte Cassino, where B. is worshipped, Fms. xi. 415; þeir hafa nú látið lif sitt fyrir skömmu, er mér þykir eigi vert at lifa (viz. eptir), they, whom methinks it is not worth while to outlive, 150; fara eptir með hunda, er þeir vóru vanir at spyrja þá upp (viz. með), er undan hljópusk, they pursued with hounds, that they were wont to pick up fugitives with, i. e. with bloodbounds, v. 145; þat er í þrem stöðum, er dauðum má sök gefa (viz. í), it is in three places that a man can be slain with impunity, N. G. L. i. 62; þat er í einum stað, er maðr hittir (viz. í), it is in one place that …, id.

III. a demonstrative pron. may be added to the relat. particle, e. g. er þeirra = quorum, er þeim = quibus, er hans, er hennar = cujus; but this is chiefly used in old translations from Lat., being rarely found in original writings; þann konung, er undir honum eru skatt-konungar, that king under whom vassals serve, Edda 93; ekkja heitir sú, er búandi hennar ( whose husband) varð sótt-dauðr; hæll er sú kona kölluð er búandi hennar er veginn, 108; sú sam-stafa, er raddar-stafr hennar er náttúrlega skammr, that syllable, the vowel of which is naturally short, Skálda 179; sá maðr, er hann vill, that man who wishes, Grág. i. 19; sá maðr, er hann skal fasta, 36; nema ein Guðrún, er hón æva grét, G. that never wailed, Gh. 40; þess manns, er hann girnisk, Hom. 54; sæl er sú bygghlaða … er ór þeirri …, felix est illud horreum … unde …, Hom. 15; engi er hærri speki en sú, er í þeirri …, nulla melior est sapientia quam ea, qua …, 28; varðveita boðorð hans, fyrir þann er vér erum skapaðir, ejusque mandata custodire, per quem creati sumus, 28; harða göfugr er háttr hófsemi, fyrir þá er saman stendr …, nobilis virtus est valde temperantia, per quam …, id.; elskendum Guð þann er svá mælti, Deum diligentibus qui ait, id.; skírn Græðara várs, er í þeirri, 56; er á þeim = in quibus, 52: rare in mod. writers, enginn kann að játa eðr iðrast réttilega þeirrar syndar, er hann þekkir ekki stærð hennar og ílsku, Vídal. i. 226.

IV. in the 14th century, the relat. pron. hverr was admitted, but by adding the particle er; yet it has never prevailed, and no relative pronoun is used in Icel. (except that this pronoun occurs in the N. T. and sermons, e. g. Luke xi. 1, whose blood Pilate had mingled, is rendered hverra blóði Pilatus hafði blandað; an old translator would have said, er P. hafði blandað blóði þeirra): hvern er þeir erfðu, M. K. 156; hverjar er hón lauk mér, id.; af hverju er hann megi marka, Stj. 114; hvat er tákna mundi, Fms. xi. 12.

V. the few following instances are rare and curious, er þú, er ek, er mér, er hón; and are analogous to the Germ. der ich, der du, I that, thou that; in Hm. l. c. ‘er’ is almost a superfluous enclitic, eyvitar fyrna er maðr annan skal, Hm. 93; sáttir þínar er ek vil snemma hafa, Alm. 7; ójafnt skipta er þú mundir, Hbl. 25; þrár hafðar er ek hefi, Fsm. 50; auði frá er mér ætluð var, sandi orpin sæng, Sl. 49; lauga-vatn er mér leiðast var eitt allra hluta, 50; ærr ertu Loki, er þú yðra telr, Ls. 29, cp. 21, Og. 12, Hkv. 2. 32; tröll, er þik bíta eigi járn, Ísl. ii. 364. ☞ This want of a proper relat. pron. has probably preserved Icel. prose from foreign influences; in rendering Lat. or mod. Germ. into Icel. almost every sentence must be altered and broken up in order to make it vernacular.

B. Conj. and adv. joined with a demonstrative particle, where, when:

1. loc., þar er, there where = ubi; þar er hvárki sé akr né eng, Grág. i. 123; hvervetna þess, er, N. G. L. passim.

2. temp. when; ok er, and when; en er, but when: þá er, then when; þar til er, until, etc., passim; annan dag, er menn gengu, Nj. 3; brá þeim mjök við, er þan sá hann, 68; sjaldan fór þá svá, er vel vildi, Ld. 290; ok í því er Þórgils, and in the nick of time when Th., id.: þá lét í hamrinum sem er ( as when) reið gengr, Ísl. ii. 434; næst er vér kómum, next when we came, Eg. 287; þá er vér, when we, id.

II. conj. that (vide ‘at’ II, p. 29); þat er (is) mitt ráð er ( that) þú kallir til tals, Eg. 540; ok þat, er hann ætlar, Nj. 7: ok fansk þat á öllu, er ( that) hon þóttisk vargefin, 17; en þessi er (is) frásögn til þess, er ( that) þeir vóru Heljar-skinn kallaðir, Sturl. i. 1; ok finna honum þá sök, er (en MS.) hann hafði verit, that he had been, Fms. vii. 331; af hverju er hann megi marka, from which he may infer, Stj. 135; hvárt er (en MS.) er (is) ungr eða gamall, either that he is young or old, N. G. L. i. 349; spurði hann at, hvárt er, asked him whether, Barl. 92; mikill skaði, er slíkr maðr, that such a man, Fms. vi. 15; hlægligt mér þat þykkir, er ( that) þú þinn harm tínir, Am. 53; er þér gengsk illa, that it goes ill with thee, 53, 89; hins viltú geta, er ( that) vit Hrungnir deildum, Hbl. 15.

2. denoting cause; er dóttir mín er hörð í skapi, for that my daughter is hard of heart, Nj. 17.

β. er þó, although, Skálda 164.

3. þegar er, as soon as, when, Fms. iv. 95, cp. þegar’s above: alls er þú ert, for that thou art, i. 305; síðan er, since, after that, Grág. i. 135; en siðan er Freyr hafði heygðr verít, Hkr. (pref.); but without ‘er,’ N. G. L. i. 342. In the earliest and best MSS. distinction is made between eptir er ( postquam), þegar er ( quum), meðan er ( dum), síðan er ( postquam), and on the other hand eptir ( post), þegar ( jam), meðan ( interdum), síðan (post, deinde); cp. meðan’s, síðan’s, þegar’s, above; but in most old MSS. and writers the particle is left out, often, no doubt, merely from inaccuracy in the MSS., or even in the editions, (in MSS. ‘er’ is almost always spelt  and easily overlooked): again, in mod. usage the particle ‘at, að,’ is often used as equivalent to ‘er,’ meðan að, whilst; síðan að, since that; þegar að, postquam, (vide ‘at’ V, p. 29.)

3rd pers. pres. is, vide vera.

(-ar, -ir), m.

1) mind;

í hug eða verki, in mind or act;

vera í hug e-m, to be in one’s mind;

koma e-m í hug, to come into one’s mind, occur to one;

leiða e-t hugum, to consider;

ganga (líða, hverfa) e-m ór hug, to pass out of one’s memory, to be forgotten;

snúa hug sínum eptir (at, frá) e-u, to turn one’s mind after (to, from);

mæla um hug sér, to feign, dissemble;

orka tveggja huga um e-t, to be of two minds about a thing;

orkast hugar á e-t, to resolve;

ef þér lér nökkut tveggja huga um þetta, if thou be of two minds about the matter;

2) mood, heart, temper, feeling;

góðr hugr, kind heart;

illr hugr, ill temper, spite;

heill hugr, sincerity;

reynast hugi við, to make close acquaintance;

hugir þeirra fóru saman, they loved each other;

3) desire, wish;

leggja hug á e-t, to lay to heart, take interest in;

leggja lítinn hug á e-t, to mind little, neglect;

leggja hug á konu, to fall in love with a woman;

mér leikr hugr á e-u, I long (wish) for a thing;

e-m rennr hugr til e-s, to have affection for one;

mér er engi hugr á at selja hann, I have no mind to sell him;

4) foreboding;

svá segir mér hugr um, I forebode;

hann kvað sér illa hug sagt hafa ( he had evil forebodings) um hennar gjaforð;

mér býðr hugr um e-t, I anticipate (eptir gekk mér þat, er mér bauð hugr um);

mér býðr e-t í hug, it enters my mind, I think;

gøra sér í hug, to imagine;

5) courage;

hugr ræðr hálfum sigri, a stout heart is half the battle;

herða huginn (hug sinn), to take heart, exert oneself.

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m., gen. hugar, dat. hugi and hug, pl. hugir; an older form hogr occurs in very old MSS., e. g. hog-gði, 655 xxv. 2, and still remains in the compds hog-vrr etc., see p. 280: [Ulf. hugs = νους, but only once, in Ephes. iv. 17, whereas he usually renders νους etc. by other words, as fraþi, aha, muns; A. S. hyge; Hel. hugi; O. H. G. hugu; Dan. hu; Swed. håg; hyggja, hugga, hyggð, -úð (q. v.) are all kindred words and point to a double final]:—mind, with the notion of thought, answering to Germ. gedanke; hugr er býr hjarta nær, Hm. 94; engi hugr má hyggja, Fms. v. 241; enn er eptir efi í hug mínum, 623. 26; í hug eða verki, in mind or act, Fms. vi. 9; koma e-m í hug, to come into one’s mind, to bethink one, iv. 117, Fb. ii. 120, 325; vera í hug e-m, to be in one’s mind; þat mun þér ekki í hug, thou art not in earnest, Nj. 46, Fms. iv. 143; hafa e-t í hug, to have a thing in mind, intend; renna hug sínum, to run in one’s mind, consider, vii. 19; renna hug or hugum til e-s, Hom. 114; koma hug á e-t, to call to mind, remember, 623. 16; leiða e-t hugum, to consider, Sks. 623; leiða at huga, Skv. 1; ganga, líða, hverfa e-m ór hug, to forget, Ó. H. 157, Fms. vi. 272; snúa hug sínum eptir (at, frá) e-u, to turn one’s mind after (to, from) a thing, iv. 87, Eb. 204; mæla um hug sér, to feign, dissimulate, Fær. 33 new Ed., Hkv. 2. 15, Am. 70; orka tveggja huga um e-t, to be of two minds about a thing, Þjal. 31; orkask hugar á e-t, to resolve, Grett. 207 new Ed.; ef þér lér nokkut tveggja huga um þetta mál, if thou be of two minds about the matter, Odd. 112 new Ed.; ok ljær mér þess hugar (thus emend.) at né einn fái fang af honum, I ween that none will be a match for him, Fms. xi. 96.

II. denoting mood, heart, temper, feeling, affection; góðr h., a good, kind heart, Hm. 118; íllr h., ill temper, spite, id.; heill h., sincerity, Sól. 4; horskr h., Hm. 90; í góðum hug, in a good mood, Fms. vi. 110, ix. 500 (v. l.), Stj. 453; in plur., vera í hugum góðum, Fas. i. 441 (in a verse); or simply, í hugum, ‘in one’s mind,’ cheerful, Hkm. 9, Hým. 11; bæði reiðr ok í hugum, both when angry and when glad, Post. 168; í reiðum hug, in angry mood, Fms. vi. 4; í hörðum hug, in hard ( sad) mood, distressed, 655 xii. 3; í íllum hug, in evil mood; af öllum hug, from all one’s heart, 686 B. 2 (Matth. xxii. 37), cp. Hm. 125: and adverb., alls hugar, from all one’s heart, Hom. 68; all hugar feginn, Hom. (St.): reynask hugi við, to try one another’s mind, make close acquaintance, Fb. iii. 446; því at hón vildi reynask hugum við hann ( examine him), Fs. 128; hugir þeirra fóru saman, their minds went together, they loved one another, 138.

III. denoting desire, wish; leggja hug á e-t, to lay to heart, take interest in, Nj. 46; leggja mikinn hug á um e-t, Eg. 42; leggja allan hug á e-t, Ó. H. 44, 55; leggja lítinn hug á e-t, to mind little, Fms. x. 61; to neglect, 96; leggja hug á konu, to love a woman, Fs. 137, Fb. i. 303; leika hugr á e-u, to long, wish for a thing, hón er svá af konum at mér leikr helzt hugr á, Fms. vii. 103, Rd. 254; hugir þínir standa til þess mjök, Hom. 53; e-m rennr hugr til e-s, to have affection for one, Fb. i. 279; e-m er hugr á e-u, to have a mind for a thing, be eager for, have at heart; mér er engi hugr á at selja hann, I have no mind to sell him, Fms. i. 80, iv. 30, vii. 276; er þér nú jammikill hugr á at heyra draum minn sem í nótt? Dropl. 22, Nj. ii.

2. in plur., personified, almost like fylgja or hamingja, q. v., a person’s ill-will or good-will being fancied as wandering abroad and pursuing their object; for this belief see the Sagas passim, esp. in dreams; þá vakti Torfi mik, ok veit ek víst, at þetta eru manna hugir, Háv. 55; þetta eru íllra manna hugir til þín, Þórð. 65; hvárt syfjar þik, Járnskjöldr faðir? Eigi er, Járndís dóttir, liggja á mér hugir stórra manna, art thou sleepy, father? Not so, daughter, but the minds of mighty men weigh upon me, Fb. i. 258: popular sayings referring to the travelling of the mind, e. g. fljótr sem hugr manns, swift as thought (Germ. gedankenschnell), cp. the tale of the race of Hugi and Thjalfi, Edda, and of Odin’s ravens Hugin and Munin.

IV. with the notion of foreboding; svá segir mér hugr um, ‘so says my mind to me,’ I forebode, Fs. 127; kveðsk svá hugr um segja, sem konungr myndi úmjúklega taka því, Ó. H. 51; kvað sér ílla hug sagt hafa um hennar gjaforð, her wedlock had boded him evil, Ísl. ii. 19; en kvaðsk þó úvíst hugr um segja, hver …, i. e. he had little hope, how …, Fb. i. 360; e-m býðr e-t í hug, it bodes one, Ísl. ii. 32; bauð konungi þat helzt í hug, at …, Ó. H. 195, Eg. 21 (see bjóða IV); göra sér í hug, to imagine, Fms. viii. 338; telja sér í hug, id., Fb. ii. 322, Eb. 204.

V. denoting courage; hugr ræðr hálfum sigri, a stout heart is half the battle, a saying, Fms. vi. 429 (in a verse); hugr ok áræði, Stj. 71; með hálfum hug, half-heartedly, faintly; með öruggum hug, fearlessly; herða huginn, Eg. 407, Ó. H. 241; engi er hugr í Dönum, Hkr. i. 338; treysta hug sínum, Odd. 112 new Ed.; hugar eigandi, bold, Fas. i. 522 (in a verse), Korm. 200; bregðask at hug, Þórð. 48; þat segi þér, at mér fylgi engi hugr, Fms. vii. 297; engi hugr mun í vera, Glúm. 356, passim.

VI. COMPDS: hugarangr, hugarbeiskleikr, hugarbót, hugarburðr, hugarekki, hugarfar, hugarfýst, hugarglöggr, hugargóðr, hugarhræring, hugarhvarf, hugarkraptr, hugarlátliga, hugarlund, hugarótti, hugarreikan, hugarspeki, hugarstyrkr, hugarstyrkt, hugarválað, hugarvíl, hugaræði.

B. COMPDS: hugást, hugblauðr, hugbleyði, hugblíðr, hugboð, hugboðit, hugborð, hugborg, hugbót, hugbrigðr, hugdirfð, hugdirfl, hugdjarfr, hugdyggr, hugfallast, hugfastliga, hugfastr, hugfár, hugfeldr, hugfesta, hugfróun, hugfró, hugfullr, huggóðr, huggæði, hughraustr, hughreysta, hughreysti, hughryggr, hughvarf, hughægr, hugkvæmi, hugkvæmiligr, hugkvæmr, huglauss, hugleggja, hugleiða, hugleiðing, huglétt, hugléttir, hugleikit, hugleysa, hugleysi, huglítill, hugljúfi, hugljúfr, hugmaðr, hugmannliga, hugmóðr, hugmynd, hugprúðr, hugprýði, hugrakkr, hugraun, hugreifr, hugrekki, hugrenning, hugreynandi, hugró, hugrúnar, hugsjó, hugsjón, hugsjúkr, hugskot, hugsnjallr, hugsótt, hugspakligr, hugspakr, hugspeki, hugspæi, hugsteinn, hugsterkr, hugstiginn, hugstoltr, hugstórr, hugstyrkr, hugstæðr, hugsvala, hugsvalan, hugsvinnr, Hugsvinnsmál, hugsýki, hugsýkja, hugtregi, hugtrúr, hugveikr, hugvekja, hugvit, hugvitr, hugvitsmaðr, hugværr, hugþekkliga, hugþekkr, hugþokkaðr, hugþokkan, hugþokki, hugþótti, hugþungt.

II. in pl. in a few words, mostly poëtical: hugum-prúðr, adj. = hugprúðr; Hjálmarr inn h., a nickname, Fas. hugum-sterkr, -stórr, -strangr, adj. = hugstórr, etc., Hkv. 1. 1, Korm., Jd. 38, Fas. i. 418.

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(ligg; lá, lágum; leginn), v.

1) to lie (ör liggr þar úti á vegginum);

liggja sjúkr, to lie sick (hann liggr sjúkr heima);

þeir lágu í sárum, they lay ill of their wounds;

2) to lie buried (hér liggr skáld);

3) to lie at anchor (hann lagði til hafnar ok lá þþþþþþar um hríð);

liggja veðrfastr, to lie weather-bound;

4) to lie, be situated, of a place (þorp ok borgir, er lágu við ríki hans);

5) to lie, go, lead, of a road (liggr gata til bœjarins);

6) to be covered with ice, ice-bound (vetrar-ríki var á mikit ok lágu firðir allir);

7) to lie with, have sexual intercourse with, = liggja hjá konu;

8) with preps. and advs.:

liggja á e-m, to lie heavy on, weigh upon, oppress (liggja á mér hugir stórra manna);

liggja á hálsi e-m, to hang on one’s neck, blame one;

liggja á e-m, to be fated to one (þat lá á konungi, at hann skyldi eigi lifa um tíu vetr);

liggja á e-u, to attend, be connected with (á þessum ráðum liggja stórmeinbugir);

to be urgent, of importance, pressing (A. kvað honum eigi á liggja þat at vita);

liggr honum ekki á, it does not matter to him;

liggja á úknyttum, to pursue wicked courses;

liggja eptir, to be left undone (skal ekki eptir liggja þat, sem vér megum þeim veita);

liggja fyrir e-m, to lie in wait for;

liggja fyrir, to be in store for, or open to, one;

þœtti mér þat ráð fyrir liggja, at þú sendir menn, that the best thing would be to send men;

liggja hjá e-rri, to lie with (lá ek hjá dóttur þinni);

liggja í e-u, to stick or sink in (lágu hestarnir á kafi í snjónum);

liggja í, to stick fast in mire or bog (liggr í hestrinn undir þeim);

liggja í hernaði, víkingu, to be engaged in warfare;

liggja niðri, to lie untold (nú skal þat eigi niðri liggja, er honum er þó mest vegsemd í);

liggja saman, to be adjacent (lágu saman skógar þeirra Lopts);

liggja til e-s, to belong to (naut ok sauðir, lá þat til Atleyjar);

bœtr liggja til alls, there is atonement for every case;

to be due or proper (þótti þat til liggja at taka af honum tignina);

liggja til byrjar, to lie by for a fair wind;

liggja til hafs, to lie ready for sea (lá biskup til hafs sex vikur);

liggja um e-n, to lie in wait for;

liggja um e-t, to be bent upon (hann liggr um þat nótt ok dag at veita yðr líflát);

liggja undir e-n or e-m, to be subject to, belong to (þessi lönd liggja undir Danakonung);

hlutr e-s liggr undir, one is worsted;

liggja úti, to lie out, not in a house (sumir lágu úti á fjöllum með bú sín);

liggja við, to lie at stake (líf mitt liggr við);

þá muntu bezt gefast, er mest liggr við, when the need is greatest;

e-m liggr við e-u, one is on the verge of;

mörgum lá við bana, many lay at death’s door;

lá við sjálft, at, ti was just on the point of.

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pres. ligg, pl. liggja; pret. lá, 2nd pers. látt, mod. lást; subj. lægi; imperat. ligg and liggðú; part. leginn: [Ulf. ligan = κεισθαι; A. S. licgan; Chauc. to ligge; North. E. and Scot. to lig; Engl. to lie; Germ. liegen; Dan. ligge]:—to lie; ör liggr þar úti á vegginum, Nj. 115, Fas. i. 284; þeir vógu at honum liggjanda ok úvörum, 332; hann liggr á hauginum, Fb. i. 215; lá hann inni meðan þeir börðusk, Nj. 85; legsk hann niðr í runna nokkura ok liggr þar um stund, 132; Rafn lá í bekk, Sturl. i. 140; sveinar tveir er lengi höfðu úti legit á fjöllum, to lie out in the cold, Fms. ii. 98; sumir lágu úti á fjöllum með bú sín, lay out on the fells with their cattle, Sturl. iii. 75: of robbers, cp. úti-legu-maðr, an ‘outlying-man,’ outlaw; l. úti á fjöllum, Ld. 250: of freebooters, víkingar tveir, ok lágu úti bæði vetr ok sumar, Grett. 83; l. í hernaði, víkingu, to be out on a raid, Fs. 120, Eg. 1, Fms. xi. 44:—to lie, rest, þú skalt liggja í lopti hjá mér í nótt, Nj. 6; lágu þau þar tvau ein í loptinu, 7; þú skalt ríða um nætr en liggja ( but lie abed) um daga, 34; Gunnarr lá mjök langa hríð, 94; þeir lágu úti um nóttina, lay out by night, Fms. ix. 364: the phrase, liggja á gólfi, to lie on the floor, to lie in labour, Fb. ii. 263: of carnal intercourse, to lie with, hefir Guðrún dóttir mín legit hjá þér, Nj. 94; lá ek hjá dóttur þinni, 130: liggja með e-m, id., Grág. i. 128; hón hefir legit sekt í garð konungs, N. G. L. i. 358: with acc., liggja konu, stuprare, Gþl. 203, N. G. L. i. 20; at þú hafir legit dóttur Ísólfs, Lv. 78: of animals (rare), en veðrarnir ok bukkarnir lágu þær, Stj. 178:—to lie sick, hann liggr sjúkr heima at búð …, lá hann sjúkr um allt þingit, Nj. 80; Þórólfr ok Bárðr lágu í sárum, lay sick of their wounds, Eg. 34; Helga tók þá ok þyngd ok lá þó eigi, H. lay sick, but not bedridden, Ísl. ii. 274; ef griðmaðr liggr af verkum sínum, lies sick from his work, Grág. i. 154; ef hann liggr í helsótt, 201:—to lie, be buried, Björn liggr í Farmanns-haugi, Fms. i. 12; hér liggr skald, Fb. i. 215 (in a verse):—to lie at anchor, Bs. i. 713; þar lagði hann til hafnar ok lá þar um hríð, Fms. i. 145; lágu langskip konungs með endilöngum bryggjum, ix. 478; þeir lágu þar nokkura hríð undir nesi einu, Nj. 43; hann lá í Gautelfi austr, 122; þar lá fyrir í höfninni knörr einn mikill, Eg. 79; en er hann kom fyrir Elfina þá lágu þeir þar ok biðu nætr, 80; Haraldr konungr lá liði sínu út fyrir Hreinsléttu, Fms. i. 12; liggja til byrjar, to lie by for a fair wind, 135; liggja til hafs, id., Bs. i. 66, Bjarn. 4, Gísl. 7, Landn. 223: l. veðr-fastr, to lie weather-bound:—lágu hvelpar í hundunum, they were big with whelps, Fms. xi. 10: l. í kafi, to sink deep; þá liggr í hestrinn undir þeim, sank in a quagmire, Fs. 65; Gregorius lá í ísinum, Fms. vii. 273; also, lágu hestarnir á (í) kafi, Eg. 546.

II. to be covered with ice, ice-bound (cp. leggja); vötnin lágu öll, Fbr. 13; til Vigra-fjarðar, ok lá hann allr, Eb. 84 new Ed.; lágu allir firðir, 306.

III. to lie idle, of capital; enda er heimting til fjárins, hversu lengi sem liggr, Grág. i. 209; enda liggr féit hér alldregi, 220; erfðir liggi sem áðr er skilt um, Gþl. 254; liggja úslegit, to lie unmown, Grág. ii. 284; láta sum orð liggja (to let them lie, leave out) þau er máli eigu at skipta, þat er ljúgvitni, i. 43; l. niðri, to lie down, lie dormant, lie untold, or the like, Fagrsk, 126, Nj. 88, Ó. H. 233, Grett. 192 new Ed.; opt má satt kyrt liggja, truth may often be left alone, a saying: liggja eptir, to be left behind, untold, Fms. viii. 4: spec. usages, liggja lauss fyrir, to lie loose, lie at one’s hand; fylg þú nú virðing þinni er þér liggr laus fyrir, Boll. 360; þótti eigi svá laust fyrir liggja sem þeir hugsuðu, Fms. viii. 357: liggja undir e-m (or e-n), of power, lands, to belong to; jörðu þeirri er legit hefir undir oss langfeðrum, Gþl. 296; þat er mikit ríki, ok liggr undir biskup í Skáni, Fms. xi. 231.

IV. to take, hold, of a measure; vatns-ker þau er í lágu matskjólur tvennar, Hom. (St.): the phrase, liggja í miklu, litlu rúmi, to take a great, a little space, metaph. to think much, little of a thing, Ld. 210, Al. 152; liggja í léttu rúmi, to care little for: e-m liggja vel (ílla) orð til e-s, to speak well ( ill) of a thing or person, Konr.; honum lágu vel orð til hans, he spoke favourably of him.

V. to lie, be situated, of a place, road, of direction; slá er lá um þvert skipit, Nj. 125; liggja saman garðar, Gísl. 10; liggr sá steinn þar enn, Eg. 142, Gm. 4, 12; þær (the Scilly Islands) liggja vestr í hafit fra Englandi, Fms. i. 145; at garði þeim sem liggr ofan eptir mýrinni, Dipl. v. 25; er sagt er at liggi sex dægra sigling í norðr frá Bretlandi, Landn. (begin.); en Finnmörk liggr fyrir ofan öll þessi lönd, Eg. 58; Ey liggr í Hitará, Bjarn. 22; eyin liggr við þjóðleið fyrir útan, Ó. H. 116; veiði-stöð sú liggr á Breiða-firði er Bjarneyjar heita, Ld. 38; þar liggr til hafs útver, lies on the sea-side, Ó. H. 149; veginn þann er um skóginn lá, Eg. 578; sem leið liggr, Eb. 306; liggr gata til bæjarins, Gísl. 28; en til góðs vinar liggja gagnvegir, Hm. 33; leiðin liggr fram með hálsinum, Eg. 582; tjaldstaði þá er þeim þóttu beztir, ok hæst lágu, Fms. vi. 135; þangat sem leiðin liggr lægra, Sturl. ii. 247: of the body, lá hátt tanngarðrinn, he had prominent teeth, Nj. 39: of the eyes, rauðlituð augu ok lágu fagrt ok fast, Fms. viii. 447; augu þau er liggja í ljósu líki, Kormak: ofarliga mun liggja ú-jafnaðr í þér, Grett. 135 new Ed.

B. Metaph. usages, esp. with prepp.; liggja á, to lie heavy on, to weigh upon, and metaph. to oppress; liggja á mér hugir stórra manna, Fb. i. 258, Sks. 276; l. á hálsi e-m, to hang on one’s neck, blame, Fms. xi. 336: of a fine, þar liggr ekki fégjald á, ’tis not finable, K. Þ. K. 164: to be bewitched, lie under a spell, þat lá á konungi, at hann skyldi eigi lifa um tíu vetr, Fms. x. 220 (cp. leggja á e-n and á-lög): to pursue, liggja á úknyttum, to pursue wicked things, 172; liggja á úráði, Karl. 121: to be urgent, of importance, pressing, kvað honum eigi á liggja þat at vita, Grett. 37 new Ed.; eigi þykki mér á því liggja, segir Járnskjöldr, Fb. i. 259; mun þar stórt á liggja, ’tis a grave matter, Nj. 62; nú liggr honum ekki á ( it does not matter for him), þótt hann komi aldri til Íslands, Band. 10: mod., það liggr ekki á, it does not press, is not urgent; mér liggr á, it lies on me, is pressing for me: impers. to feel, be in spirits so and so, liggr vel á e-m, to be in good spirits; liggr ílla á e-m, to be in low spirits, the metaphor being taken from the pressure on the mind: leaving out the prep., lá honum þat ílla, it weighed heavily on hitn, Bs. i. 775:—liggja að, in the phrase, það lá að, that was just what was to be expected! an expression of dislike:—liggja fyrir e-m, to lie before one, of things to be done or to happen, of what is fated, doomed (see for-lög); þætti mér þat ráð fyrir liggja, faðir, at þú sendir menn, the best thing to be done would be to send men, Eg. 167; at þat mundi fyrir liggja at búask til orrostu, 283; en Bera kvað Egil vera víkings-efni, kvað þat mundu fyrir liggja, þegar hann hefði aldr til, 190: liggja fyrir e-m, to lie in one’s way, in ambush (cp. fyrirsát), Edda 148 (pref.), Eg. 240:—liggja um e-t, to lie in wait for, Fms. x. 287; l. um líf e-s, to seek one’s life, Stj. 550, Sks. 722:—liggja til, to be due to, deserved; þótti þat til liggja at taka af honum tignina, Eg. 271: to belong to, naut ok sauðir, lá þat til Atleyjar, 719: to fit to, til sumra meina liggr bruni (as a remedy), 655 xi. 28; bætr liggja til alls, there is atonement for every case, Fas. iii. 522; e-m liggr vel (ílla) orð til e-s, to speak well (or evil) of a person, Sturl. iii. 143:—liggja undir, to lie underneath, be worsted, of wrestling, Bárð. 166; fyrir hverjum liggr hlutr þinn undir, Eb. 156:—liggja við, to lie at slake; deildi … ok hafði einn þat er við lá, Ísl. ii. 215; en þeir köru at hætta til, er féfang lá við svá mikit, Eg. 57; skal þar liggja við mundrinn allr, Nj. 15; liggr þér nökkut við?—Líf mitt liggr við, segir hann, 116; þá muntú bezt gefask, er mest liggr við, when the need is greatest, 179; svá er ok at mikit liggr yðr þá við, 227; en mér liggr hér nú allt við, it is all important to me, 265; þótt ek vita at líf mitt liggi við, 115; lá við sjálft, at …, it was on the point of …, Al. 79: mod., það lá við, að …

C. Reflex. to lay oneself down, lie down; þá er þat étr ok er fullt liggsk þat ok söfr (of cattle), Best. 58, cp. Gm.

2. e-m liggsk e-t, to leave behind, forget; svínið lásk mér eptir, Skíða R. 185; legisk hefir mér nokkut í minni venju, ek gáða eigi at taka blezun af biskupi, Bs. i. 781: hence the mod. phrase, mér láðist ( I forgot) and mér hefir láðst, which is a corruption from mér lásk eptir; for lá mér eptir, read lásk mér eptir, I forgot, neglected (?), Skv. 1. 20; láskat þat dægr háski, it did not miss, did not fail, Arnór; láskat, be failed not, Bjarn. (in a verse).

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(acc. mikinn, neut. mikit), a.

1) great, tall, of stature (m. vexti, maðr m. ok sterkr);

2) great, large, in bulk or size (mikil ey ok góð); áin var mikil, the river was swollen;

3) of quantity, great, much (m. viðr, mikil drykkjuföng);

4) great, prominent (skörungr m., málafylgjumaðr m.); m. drykkjumaðr, a great drunkard; vetr m., a severe winter; með mikilli snild, with great skill;

5) acc. ‘mikinn’ used as adv.; ríða (fara) m., to ride (go) fast; róa m., to pull hard;

6) neut. as subst., much; skipta miklu, to be of great importance; dat., ‘miklu’ with compar., much, by far (m. betr; m. meiri maðr en áðr); with superl., m. mestr, by far the greatest, the very greatest; neut. as adv., mikit, greatly, much, = mjök( hón unni honum m.).

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or mykill, adj., mikill, mikil, mikit; gen. mikils, mikillar, mikils; dat. miklum, mikilli, miklu; acc. mikinn, mikla, mikit: plur. miklir, miklar, mikil; gen. mikilla; dat. miklum; acc. mikla, miklar, mikil: with a suff. neg. miklo-gi, Grág. i. 209, Ísl. ii. 360 (Heiðarv. S.), see -gi (C). The spelling also varies between i and y; the latter form is represented by the Swed. mycka and mycket; Ivar Aasen mykjen and mygje; A. S. mycel; Old Engl., Scot., and North. E. have both muckle and mickle; Engl. much; early Dan. mögel. Some Icel. MSS., e. g. the Flatey-book (first hand), make a difference by spelling i in the uncontractcd forms, but y in the contracted, e. g. mikill, but myklir, myklar, myklum; this however was prob. a Norwegianism, for the poets in their rhymes use i throughout, sik miklu, sikling miklum, Hallfred, agreeably with the mod. pronunciation: compar. meiri, superl. mestr, see meiri: [Ulf. mikils; A. S. mycel; Hel. mikil; O. H. G. mihil; Scot. mickle; Dan. megen; Lat. magnus; Gr. μέγας.]

B. Great, tall, of stature; maðr m. ok sterkr, Nj. 2, Eg. 1; sveinn m. ok fríðr, Fms. i. 14; m. vexti, vi. 102.

2. great, large, in bulk or size; mikil ey ok góð, Eg. 25; m. nauts-húð, Fms. vi. 183; miklar hendr ok fætr, 429; jammikit, Grág. ii. 264; vatn vel mikit at vexti, Sks. 90; áin var mikil, swoln, Nj. 253; mikit hár, 2; höllina miklu, Fms. vii. 122; mikit ríki, vi. 148; mikil borg, id.

3. of quantity, great, much; mikil drykkjuföng, Sturl. iii. 289; mikill viðr, Nj. 45; mikit fé annat, Ld. 84; hafði mikit á græðsk, Nj. 10; mikit hunang, Rb. 572; mikið skal til mikils vinna, Vídal. ii. 64.

II. metaph. great; skörungr mikill, Ld. 120; málafylgju-maðr mikill, Nj. i; svá m. atgörvi-maðr ok skörungr, Ld. 84; m. drykkju-maðr, Fms. vii. 175: eigi mikill þegn, Ísl. ii. 344; miklir eptirmáls-menn, Ld. 64; miklir atgörvi-menn, Fms. i. 17; göra e-n mikinn mann, Eg. 28; þá görði él mikit ok íllviðri, Fms. i. 175; vinds gnýr mikill, Ld. 326: vetr mikill, a hard winter, Rb. 572, Ld. 120; mikit ár, a good season, Hom. 68; mikla rausn, Sturl. iii. 289; um Dofra-fjall var mikil fór ór Þrándheimi, Fms. vii. 122; svá mikit metorð, x. 398; frost eru þá mikil, Edda 40; mikit úgagn, mikit mein, 41; með mikilli snild, Ld. 84; með mikilli vínáttu, id.; mikla virðing, id.; mikil tíðindi, 326; mikinn trúnað, 204; mikit tilkall, Eg. 266; mikit vald, Nj. 10; mikill fagna-fundr, Ld. 330; mikit ( imposing) er þitt yfirbragð, Fms. ii. 161; mikit mannfall, Rb. 572.

2. acc. mikinn used as adv.; hann ríðr mikinn, Nj. 55, 125, Gullþ. 64, Grett. 29 new Ed.; þeir fóru mikinn. Fms. ix. 511; mikinn tekr þú nú af, vi. 206; hann tók mikinn af því at þat væri eigi, x. 148.

III. neut. as subst., much; skipta miklu, to be of great importance, Ld. 308; hversu mikit, how much, id.; vera til mikils ferr, 655 xi. 3; mikils verðr, Ísl. ii. 327, Njarð. 372; e-m er mikit í skapi, of emotion, anger, Nj. 38; þykkja e-t mikit, to think much of it, be sorry, angry for, or the like, Eg. 539.

2. dat. miklu with a compar. much, by far, cp. Lat. multo; muni vera miklu fleiri ván skipa, Ld. 78; miklu betr, 84; miklu hærra, Sks. 653; miklu meiri maðr en áðr, Fms. vii. 233; miklu meira háttar, i. 295.

β. with superl., in poets; miklu mest, much the greatest; þá er unni mér miklu mest manna, Kormak, Hkv. 1. 49; miklu beztan, Ó. H. (in a verse); miklu maklegast, Nj. (in a verse); miklu daprastr, Fas. ii. 56 (in a verse); miklu lengst, Ó. H. (in a verse); miklu fegrst, Fm. 40.

γ. in prose; miklu hollastir, Glúm. 340; miklu mest allra þeirra, Fms. ix. 54; miklu mest hyrndir, xi. 6; sú borg var miklu mest, vi. 154; jarl var miklu blíðastr þann dag til konungs, ix. 282; miklu beztr, Þiðr. 183; miklu harðast ok hættuligast, 200.

IV. neut. as adv., mikit = much, greatly; hón unni honum mikit. Nj. 27; sá maðr eykr mikit ( greatly) efni til skipsins Naglfars, Edda 41; honum fannsk mikit um, Fms. vii. 232; unnusk þeir mikit, Nj. 149; gékk þá skipit mikit (= mikinn), Eg. 390; en þeir sigldu mikit, Fms. vii. 214; samðisk þá mikit með þeim feðgum. Ísl. ii. 210; þessi rembisk mikit, 219.

V. pr. names; Mikla Gildi. the Great Guild, Fms. vi. 440; Mikla-Stofa, etc.: as a nickname, inn Mikli en Mikla, the big; Hrolleifr enn Mikli, Fs.: in old writers always of the body, in mod. usage = great as Alexander Mikli, (where formerly Ríki was used.)

2. in local names, [cp. Dan. mögel-, magle-]: Mikli-garðr, m. ‘Mickle-garth’ = Constantinople, Fms. passim; Mikla-garðs-konungr, -keisari, the king of M., passim.

C. COMPDS: mikilbrjóstaðr, mikilfengliga, mikilfengligr, mikilgjarn, mikilgæfr, mikilhugaðr, mikilhæfr, mikillátr, mikilleikr, mikilleitr, mikilliga, mikilligr, mikillætask, mikillæti, mikilmagnaðr, mikilmannliga, mikilmannligr, mikilmenni, mikilmennska, mikilmæli, mikilráðr, mikilræði, mikilúðligr, mikilvegligr, mikilvirkr, mikilvænligr, mikilþægr.

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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.

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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.