víkingr

(-s, -ar), m.

1) freebooter, sea-rover, pirate, viking (Flóki Vilgerðarson hét maðr, hann var v. mikill);

2) in later times, robber, highwayman.

* * *

m. a freebooter, rover, pirate, but in the Icel. Sagas used specially of the bands of Scandinavian warriors, who during the 9th and 10th centuries harried the British Isles and Normandy: the word is peculiarly Norse, for although it occurs in A. S. in the poem Byrnoth (six or seven times), it is there evidently to be regarded as a Norse word; and prob. so too in the poem ‘Exodus,’ in the words rondas bærun sæwicingas, over saltne mere; lastly, in ‘Widsith,’ as the name of a people, and Liðvicingas (= Liðungar? q. v.) The word ‘víkingr’ is thought to be derived from vík ( a bay), from their haunting the bays, creeks, and fjords;—or it means ‘the men from the fjords,’ the coincidence that the old Irish called the Norsemen ‘Lochlannoch.’ and Norway ‘Lochlan,’ is curious.

B. A few selected references will illustrate the word:—Naddoddr hét maðr, hann var víkingr mikill, Landn. 26; Flóki Vilgerðarson hét maðr, hann var v. mikill, 28; slógusk í Eyjarnar víkingar ok herjuðu ok ræntu víða, 41; Úlfr víkingr ok Ólafr bekkr fóru samskipa til Íslands, 202; en er þeir lágu til hafs kómu at þeim víkingar ok vildu ræna þá, en Gautr laust stafnbúann þeirra við hjálmun-veli, ok lögðu víkingar við þat frá, siðan var hann kallaðr Hjálmun-gautr, 223; Hrafn hafnar-lykkill var víkingr mikill, hann fór til Íslands ok nam land …, 269; Ölvir barna-karl hét maðr ágætr í Noregi, hann var víkingr mikill, hann lét eigi henda börn á spjóta-oddum sem þá var víkingum títt, því var hann barna-karl kallaðr, 308; maðr hét Þorsteinn, gamall maðr ok sjónlítill, hann hafði verit rauða-víkingr (q. v.) í æsku sinni, Þorst. S.; Þorkell miðlangr, hann er rauðr víkingr ok í missætti við Hákon jarl, Fms. xi. 121; her-víkingr, a pirate, i. 225 (p. 259); víkings efni, víkinga höfðingi, konungr, Eg. 190, Fms. vi. 389, Fas. ii. 132; víkinga lið, Stj.; víkinga skip, skeið, snekkja, Hkr. i. 296, Korm. 236, Fms. i. 289; víkinga bæli, Eg. 251; víkinga rán, Fms. vi. 291; Bera kvað Egil vera víkings-efni … þegar hann hefði aldr til ok honum væri fengin herskip, Eg. 190 (and the following verse—þat mælti mín móðir, at mér skyldi kaupa fley ok fagrar árar, fara í hring með víkingum …); af Gizori má göra þrjá menn, hann má vera víkinga höfðingi …, þá má hann ok vera konungr …, með þriðja hætti má hann vera biskup, ok er hann bezt til þess fallinn af þessum þremr, Fms. vi. 389: on Swed. Runic stones, sá var víkinga-vörðr með Gauti, Baut. 267; allir víkingar, Brocm. 197. Of old poems the Hkv. Hund. well illustrates the life and warfare of Vikings of the 9th and 10th centuries, where also the word itself occurs (verpr vígroða um víkinga); as also vinr víkinga, in the song in Hervar. S.; víkingr Dana, Helr. 11; the saying, víkingar fara ekki at lögum.

2. in after times the word fell into discredit, and is used, esp. in eccl. legends, as = robber, being applied by a misnomer even to highwaymen, Stj. passim; víkingsins Alexandri, Al. 98; Besso þeim vánda víkingi, 122; víkinga dráp, Grett. 100; þessum vansignaða víkingi, Stj. 463 (of Goliath), so in Grág. ii. 136; or even in the Landn., Þorbjörn bitra hét maðr, hann var v. ok íllmenni, 159. For the laws of the ancient Vikings, their discipline and manners, see esp. Hálfs S. ch. 10, Jómsvík. ch. 24 (Fms. xi), Flóam. S. ch. 2, Vd. ch. 2, Yngl. S. ch. 34, 41, Eg. ch. 48, Ó. T. (Hkr.) ch. 101, 102, Ó. H. ch. 21, the Orkn. S. (Sweyn Asleifson) ch. 115, Þorvalds S. Víðf. ch. 1 (Bs. i. 36, 37): records of their wars and voyages, the Landn. passim, the first chapters of Eg., Eb., Ld., Grett., Orkn., Hkr. i. passim.

II. Víkingr, a pr. name, Landn. and several times on the Swed. Runic stones; cp. Súð-víkingr, a man from Súðavík, Bs.

m. a plunderer, pirate, Fms. i. 225, v. 238, x. 282, Fas. i. 449, Stj. 573.

m., Hús-víkskr, adj. a man from Húsavík, Landn.

m. a ‘red viking,’ great pirate, Þorst. Stang. (begin.), Fms. xi. 121.

m. a pirate, Fas. i. 443.

m. a pirate, Fb. i. 69, Fagrsk. ch. 37.

a. red;

jarl setti þá rauðan (= varð rauðr) sem blóð, the earl turned red as blood;

snýta rauðu, to bleed at the nose;

rauðr víkingr = rauðavíkingr.

* * *

adj., rauð, rautt, compar. rauðari, rauðastr, [common to all Teut. languages, although it appears not in Ulf. himself, but in the Skeirings]:—red; rautt klæði, Nj. 35; rauðr hestr, Fs. 67: rautt skegg, Fb. iii. 246; blátt eða rautt, Grág. ii. 13; rauðr sem blóð, Ísl. ii. 220; rautt gull, Þiðr. 187; rautt berg, a red quarry, Bs. i. 830:—phrases, rautt brennr fyrir, ‘red burns afar,’ i. e. there is some hope yet; taldi enn nokkut rautt mundu fyrir brenna, Fms. viii. 34, Fs. 68; snýta rauðu, to spout blood, Fb. i. 412, Karl. 149; falda rauðu, to wear a red hood, to die a bloody death, Landn. (in a verse):—neut., et rauða, the yolk of an egg, Pr. 472:—metaph. bloody. fierce, arch, rauðr víkingr = rauða-víkingr, Fms. xi. 121; see rauðahaf, rauðarán, rauðkinni:—various shades of red, fagr-r. fair-red, Vsp.: dreyr-r., crimson; dumb-r., chestnut-red: dökk-r., dark-red; mó-r., coffee-coloured.

2. in local names, Rauða-mýrr, Rauð-á, Rauði-gnúpr, Rauða-fell, Rauði-melr, Rauði-lækr, Rauði-sandr, Rauða-skriða, Rauða-vatn, Landn., from the reddish colour of bogs and moorlands, which was supposed to be a sign that there was iron in the soil; whence Rauðæ-ingar, Rauð-melingar, Rauð-lækingar, Rauð-sendir, the men from R., Landn., Sturl.: in pr. names, Rauðr, Rauð-úlfr, Landn.

B. COMPDS: rauðbleikr, rauðbrúnaðr, rauðbrúnn, rauðbúinn, rauðdropóttr, rauðeygðr, rauðflekkóttr, rauðfreknóttr, rauðgulr, rauðhárr, rauðklæddr, rauðleitr, rauðlita, rauðlitaðr, rauðlitr, rauðmengjaðr, rauðsíðóttr, rauðskeggjaðr, rauðskjöldóttr, rauðumskjaldi.

f. freebooting voyage, piracy, (hann var í v. á sumrum ok fekk sér fjár); liggja í víkingu ok hernaði, to be engaged in freebooting expedition and warfare; fara í v., to go out on a freebooting expedition.

* * *

f. a freebooting voyage, piracy; see víkingr. In heathen days it was usual for young men of distinction, before settling down, to make a warlike expedition to foreign parts, this voyage was called ‘víking,’ and was part of a man’s education like the grand tour in modern times; hence the saying in the old Saga,—‘when I was young and on my voyage (víking), but now I am old and decrepit;’ so a son begs his father to give him a ‘langskip,’ that he may set out on a ‘víking,’ cp. the scene of the young Egil and his mother Bera, and the reference Fms. i. 69; see B. The custom was common among Teutonic tribes, and is mentioned by Caesar B.G. vi. ch. 23 (latrocinia nullam habent infamiam, quae extra fines cujusque civitatis fiunt, sqq.), only there it is a foray on land; (cp. the mod. American filibustering.)

B. REFERENCES illustrating this word: Leifr fór í hernað í vestr-víking, Landn. 32; Ólafr inn hvíti herjaði í vestr-víking ok vann Dyflinni, 108; Geirmundr heljar-skinn var herkonungr, hann herjaði í vestr-víking, 121; hann kom út síð landnáma-tíðar, hann hafði verit í vestr-víking ok haft ór vestr-víking þræla Írska, 133; Ánn varð missáttr við Harald konung inn hárfagra, hann fór því ór landi í vestr-víking, 140; Ingimundr var víkingr mikill ok herjaði í vestr-víking jafnan, 174; Ævarr fór til Íslands ór víkingu, ok synir hans, 185; Björn var á sumrum í vestr-víking en á vetrum með Öndótti, Eyvindr fór þá í vestr-víking, 204; þá var Þorsteinn son Ásgríms í víkingu, en Þorgeirr annarr son hans var tíu vetra, 292; hann var í víking á sumrum ok fékk sér fjár, Hkr. i. 171; Hjörleifr konungr féll í víkingu, Fas. ii. 35; leggjask í víking ok hernað, Fms. xi. 73; fara í víking, Eg. 260; Grímr, þeir vóru í vestr-víking, ok drápu í Suðreyjum Ásbjörn jarl skerja-blesa, ok tóku þar at herfangi Ólöfu konu hans, Grímr fór til Íslands, Landn. 314; þá er ek var ungr ok í víkingu … en nú hálfu síðr at ek em gamall ok örvasi, Glúm. 337; ek vil senda yðr austr til Svíþjóðar á fund tins bezta vinar míns, er nú er kallaðr Hákon gamli, við vórum lengi báðir samt í víking, var með okkr inn kærasti félagskapr, ok áttum einn sjóð, Fms. i. 69; en er hann var á unga aldri, lá hann í víkingu ok hernaði, Eg. (begin.); Björn var farmaðr mikill, var stundum í víking en stundum í kaupferðum, 154; er mér þat nær skapi, sagði hann, at þú fáir mér langskip ok þar lið með, ok fara ek í víking (the words of a son to his father), 157: of an expedition in the East (in the Baltic), þeir fóru um sumarit í víking í Austrveg, fóru heim at hausti ok höfðu aflat fjár mikils … skip þat höfðu þeir fengit um sumarit í víking, Eg. 170, 171; Björn var nú í víkingu at afla sér fjár ok frægðar, Bjarn. 13: the word occurs also on Swed. Runic stones, sá varð dauðr í vestr-vegum í víkingu, Baut. 962: þá lögðusk sumir menn út í víking ok á herskip, ok mörg endemi tóku menn þá til önnur þau er nú mundi ódæmi þykkja ef menn henti slíkt, Bs. i. 62 (referring to Iceland of A. D. 1056–1180): one of the last instances on record is Sturl. i. 152,—hann hafði verit útan nokkura vctr ok verit í víkingu, referring to A. D. 1195: in the Orkneys, among the Norsemen, the viking-life lasted till the 13th century, if not longer.

m. child’s friend, nickname of an old pirate; hann var víkingr mikill, hann lét eigi henda börn á spjótsoddum sem þá var víkingum títt, því var hann b. kallaðr, he was a great pirate, but he did not spit babies as pirates then used to do, wherefore he was called b., Landn. 308; in mod. usage, one who has many children, mesti b.

(-s, -ar), m. bottom (of sea or water); til grunns, til grunna, down to the bottom; ganga á grunn, to come to an end (fig.).

(grynnri, grynnstr), a. shallow; standa grunnt, to be shallow (vinitta okkur stendr grunnt).

* * *

adj., compar. grynnri (gryðri), superl. grynnstr, [Swed.-Dan. grund], shallow; vaðil-sund nokkut grunnt, Eg. 362; sögðu hafit baeði grunnt ok myrkt, Al. 170; gryðra, shallower, Bs. i. 342; vatnföll tvau hvártki gryðra en tók í miðja síðu, 349: metaph., standa grunnt, to be shallow; vinátta okkur stendr grunnt, Eg. 520; grunuðu at vinátta þeirra mundi vera heldr grunn, Fms. xi. 108: in local names, Grunna-vík, f. whence Grunn-víkingr, m. a man from G., Landn.

* * *

in compds., very, extremely.

* * *

[Goth. hund only found in pl. hunda], a form of hundrað, only used in poët. compds, many, very, like Lat. multi-, Germ. tausend: hund-forn, adj. very old, Þd. 14; in mod. conversation hund-gamall and hund-margr, adj. hundred-fold, innumerable, Hkv. 1. 21; h. víkingr, Sighvat (Ó. H. 190); h. herr, Hallfred, Fms. xi. 208 (in a verse), Sighvat (Hkr. iii. 3), Hm. 17; hunnmörg hof, Vþm. 38. hund-villr, adj. utterly lost, quite astray, Eb. (in a verse): esp. of sailors, fóru þeir þá hundvillir, Nj. 267. hund-víss, adj. very wise, esp. used of giants and partly as a term of abuse; hundvíss jötunn, Hým. 5, Hkv. Hjörv. 25, Fas. iii. 15; hann var jötunn h. ok íllr viðreignar, Edda; at jötnar hundvísir skulu þar drekka, 57. The similarity of hundr, a dog, seems here to have given a bad sense to the word (= dog-wise, cunning), which etymologically it did not deserve.

* * *

n. house (leita nú um hvert h. á þeim bœ);

pl. the group of buildings on a farm, = bœr;

taka hús (pl.) á e-m, to take a person by surprise in his house;

at húsa baki, at the back of the houses.

* * *

n. [Ulf. renders οἰκία by gards and razn, and δωμα by hrôt, whereas hûs only occurs once in the compd gudhus = ἱερόν, John xviii. 20; in all other Teut. languages, old and new, hûs is the general word; A. S., O. H. G., Dan., and Swed. hûs; Engl. house; Germ. haus; Dutch huys]:—a house; hús eru þrjú í hvers manns híbýlum, … eitt er stofa, annat eldhús, þriðja búr, Grág. i. 459; leita nú um hvert hús á þeim bæ, 215, x. 270; þeir fara til bæjarins ok hlaupa þar inn í hús, Eg. 385; í næsta húsi, Ld. 318; af hverju húsi, from every house, Fms. x. 226; eitthvert mikit hús, Sks. 62; eitt fagrt hús, Fb. i. 467; at húsinu, nær dyrrum hússins, id.; bæn-hús, a prayer-house, chapel; söng-hús, a choir; eld-hús, fjós (fé-hús), hest-hús (qq. v.)

2. a house, family, rare in old writers; sonr húss, the son of the house, Rm. 11: freq. in eccl. writers, í húsi Heber, 625. 11; af annars-háttar ættum ok húsi, Stj. 246: freq. in the N. T., af húsi Davíðs, Luke ii. 4: a religious house, monastic order; af Prédikara húsi, from the house of the Preaching Friars, the Dominican order, Bs. passim.

3. a case = húsi (q. v.), corporale með hús, B. K. 84, Vm. 83, 189, Pm. 73, Rb. 358.

II. in pl. = bær, the group of buildings of which a house consists, built in a row, the front (hús-bust) facing the sea, or a river if in a dale, or looking south; the back (húsa-bak) turned to the mountain; the pavement along the front is in Icel. called stétt, the open place in front hlað, q. v.; the buildings are parted by a lane (sund, bæjar-sund); the whole surrounded by a wall, called húsa-garðr; a lane, called geilar or tröð, leads up to the houses and house-yard, see Eggert Itin. 22; distinction is made between bæjar-hús or heima-hús, the ‘home-houses,’ homesteads, or úti-hús, the out-houses, and fjár-hús, sheep-houses, which are at a distance from the homesteads; geymslu-hús, store-houses. That this was the same in olden times is borne out by the freq. use of the plur., even when referring to a single house (cp. Lat. aedes, tecta); konur skulu ræsta húsin ok tjalda, Nj. 175, 220; þeir sóttu at húsunum, 115; þeir hlaupa upp á húsin, Eb. 214; biðjast húsa, skipta húsum, ráða sínum húsum, N. G. L. i. 109; hér milli húsa, Ld. 204; taka hús (pl.) á e-m, to take a person by surprise in his houses, Fms. viii. 172; inni í húsum, Sturl. i. 181; þeir stigu af baki fyrir sunnan húsin … ok gengu þá í einum dun heldr hljóðliga heim at húsum, iii. 185; varð þá brátt reykr mikill í húsunum, 189; tóku þá húsin mjök at loga, 186; nú tóku at loga öll húsin, nema elda-hús brann eigi ok litla-stofa ok skyrbúr, 191; þar vóru öll hús mjök vönduð at smíð, 193; hann hljóp upp á húsin ok rifu þakit, 218; rofin húsin yfir þeim, 220. Passages in the Sagas referring to buildings are very numerous: for Iceland, esp. in Sturl. 4. ch. 33, 50, 5. ch. 3–8, 6. ch. 31, 32, 35, 9. ch. 1–5, 8, 20, 52, Nj. ch. 34, 48, 78, 80, 117, 128–133, 137, Gísl. 28 sqq., Dropl. 28 sqq., etc.; for the Orkneys, Orkn. ch. 18, 33, 34, 70 (interesting), 105, 113, 115; for Norway, Eg., Hkr., Ó. H. passim.

COMPDS:

I. in plur., húsa-bak, n. the back of the houses; at húsa baki. húsa-búnaðr, m. = búsbúnaðr, Ó. H. 175. húsa-bær, m. buildings, farms, Rm. (prose), Nj. 130; mikill húsabær, Orkn. 244; góðr h., Fms. xi. 192, Fas. iii. 20; lítill h., Ó. H. 152. húsa-garðr, m. = húsabær, the yard-wall, Nj. 120, v. l. húsa-gras, n. herbs growing on a house roof, such as house-leek, Stj. 644. húsa-hagi, a, m. home pasture, Gþl. 404. húsa-kostr, m. lodgings, a means of dwelling, Ísl. ii. 139. húsa-kot, n. a cottage, Sturl. ii. 50, Ó. H. 152. húsa-kynni, n. a dwelling; mikil, góð húsakynni, Bs. i. 700, Fms. ii. 84; h. ok borðbúnaðr, Ó. H. 175. húsa-leiga, u, f. house rent, Barl. 194. húsa-mót, n. pl. the joining of buildings, Sturl. ii. 59, Fms. ix. 24. húsa-skildagi, a, m. a contract for the tenure of a house, Gþl. 330. húsa-skipan, f. the order, arrangement of buildings, Gísl. 28, Eg. 235, Post. 656 B. 8. húsa-skipti, n. a sharing of houses, Gþl. 341. húsa-skjól, n. house shelter. húsa-skygni, n. a ‘house-shed,’ shelter, Stj. 121. húsa-smiðr, m. a house-wright, Post. 153. húsa-smíð, f. house-building, Post. húsa-snotra, u, f. a ‘house-neat,’ house-cleaner; the exact meaning of this word is dubious; Finn Magnusson suggested a broom: the word only occurs in Fas. ii. (see hnísa) and in Fb. i. 548 (Symb. 14, Ant. Amer. 291); the latter instance is esp. interesting, as the ‘house-neat’ which is there mentioned (about A. D. 1002) was made from an American tree. húsa-staðr, m. a house-stead, the site of a building, Post. húsa-timbr, n. house timber. húsa-torf, n. house turf for walls and roof, Dipl. v. 5. húsa-tópt, f. house walls, without the roof, Lat. rudera, Fs. 158 (a local name). húsa-umbót, f. house repairs, Jb. 215. húsa-viðr, m. house timber, Grág. i. 200, Nj. 82 (v. l.), Ld. 32, Bs. i. 144. húsa-vist, f. abiding, an abode, Fb. ii. 456.

II. in local names, Húsa-fell, Húsa-garðr, Húsa-vaðill, Húsa-vík, Landn., Dipl. i. 7: Hús-víkingr, Hús-fellingr, m. a man from H.

( norœnn), adj. Norse, Norwegian, Grág. i. 299; Danskir Sænskir eða Norrænir, ii. 72; maðr norrænn, Eg. 705, Ísl. ii. 232 (v. l.), Landn. passim; n. víkingr, Hkr. i. 198; n. berserkr, Bs. i. 16, cp. 953; norræn lög, Eg. 259; norræna skjöldu, 286; norrænan eið, Sturl. ii. 201; norræn tunga, the Norse tongue, Fms. i. 23, Sturl. ii. 3 (opp. to Latin); í norrænu máli, Skálda 189, Hkr. i. (pref.); norrænn skáldskapr, Skálda 190.

II. of the wind, northern; görði á norrænt, Sturl. iii. 263; þá var á norrænt, Fms. ix. 42.

f. overlapping edge of a board (in clinker-built boats or ships).

* * *

f. [sýja], prop. a sewing, suture, but only used of the clinching of a ship’s boards (see skara and skarsúð); skipa, súða, sýju, Edda, freq.; skar-súð, felli-súð; poët. súð-bani, ‘plank-bane,’ i. e. the sea, as destroyer of ships, Stor.; súð-marr, ‘suture-steed,’ i. e. a ship, Lex. Poët.

2. of the outer boarding of a house, Nj. 114. súðar-steinn, a nickname, Bs.: a local name, Súða-vík, whence Súð-víkingr, m. a man from S., Bs.