Afla

Old Norse Dictionary - afla

Meaning of Old Norse word "afla" in English.

As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:

afla Old Norse word can mean:

afla: að, [cp. Swed. afvel, breed, slock: Dan. avling, farming; avlsgaard, farm; faareavl, qvægavl, breed of sheep or cattle. In Norse (mod.) avle is to harvest; Swed. afla, to beget. In the Icel. verb afla the idea of producing or gathering prevails, whereas the nouns branch off; the weak afli chiefly denotes produce, means, stores, resources, troops, forces; the strong one—afl—force alone. Yet such phrases as ramr at afli indicate something besides the mere notion of strength. In the mod. Scandin. idioms—Dan., Swed., Norse—there are no traces left of the idea of ‘force:’ cp. the Lat. opes and copiae. The Icel. spelling and pronunciation with bl (abl) is modern, perhaps from the time of the Reformation: cp. the words efla etc. with a changed vowel. The root is OP-, as shown in Lat. ope, ŏpes, the ŏ being changed into a?].

afla: I. with gen. of the thing, to gain, acquire, earn, procure; vandara at gæta fengins fjár en afla þess (a proverb); þá bjöggu þeir skip ok öfluðu manna til, got men to man it, Eg. 170.

afla: β. the phrase, afla sér fjár ok frægðar, to earn fame and wealth, of young heroes going sea-roving; fóru um sumarit í víking ok öfluðu sér fjár, Eg. 4; afla sér fjár ok frama, FS. 5; fjár ok virðingar, id.; hann hafði aflat sér fjár (made money) í hólmgöngum, Eg. 49; aflaði þessi bardagi honum mikillar frægðar, brought him great fame, FmS. ii. 307; kom honum í hug, at honum mundi mikillar framkvæmdar afla, bring him great advantage, Eb. 112.

afla: 2. as a law term, to cause, inflict a wound; ef maðr aflar einum blóðs eðr bens af heiptugri hendi, n. G. l. i. 387.

afla: II. with acc., mostly in unclassical writers, but now rare, to earn; aflaði hann þar fé mikit, FmS. vii. 80; aflandi þann thesaur er, 655 xxxii. i; hafit ér ok mikit í aflat, Al. 159; mun ek til hafa atferð ok eljun at afla mér annan við, to contrive, Ld. 318, where, however, the excellent vellum MS. A. M. 309, 4to, has gen.—annars viðar—more classically, as the Saga in other passages uses the gen., e. g. afla sér manna ok hrossa, to procure horses and men, l. c. little below.

afla: β. reflex., e-m aflask e-t, gains, Fb. 163.

afla: γ. absol., njót sem þú hefir aflat, of ill-earned means, Nj. 37.

afla: δ. part. aflandi, Njarð. 366.

afla: 2. now used absol. to fish, always with acc.; a standing phrase in Icel., the acc. only being used in that particular connection.

afla: III. with dat. in the sense of to perform, manage, be able to; hann aflaði brátt mikilli vinnu, ok var hagr vel, FmS. i. 289; fyr mun hann því afla en ek færa honum höfuð mitt, it will sooner happen, FmS. iv. 291, where the Hkr. reads orka; bauð út leiðangri, sem honum þótti landit mestu mega afla, to the utmost that the country could produce, FmS. x. 118; ekki aflar harm því at standa í móti yðr, he is not man enough to stand against you, FaS. iii.

Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᛅᚠᛚᛅ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements

Abbreviations used:

cp.: compare.

Dan.: Danish.

etc.: et cetera.

Icel.: Iceland, Icelander, Icelanders, Icelandic.

l.: line.

Lat.: Latin.

mod.: modern.

n.: neuter.

Scandin.: Scandinavia, Scandinavian.

Swed.: Swedish.

gen.: genitive.

id.: idem, referring to the passage quoted or to the translation

L.: Linnæus.

acc.: accusative.

e. g.: exempli gratia.

l. c.: loco citato.

S.: Saga.

reflex.: retlexive.

absol.: absolute, absolutely.

part.: participle.

dat.: dative.

v.: vide.

Works & Authors cited:

Eg.: Egils Saga. (D. II.)

Eb.: Eyrbyggja Saga. (D. II.)

Fms.: Fornmanna Sögur. (E. I.)

Fs.: Forn-sögur. (D. II.)

N. G. L.: Norges Gamle Love. (B. II.)

Al.: Alexanders Saga. (G. I.)

A. M.: Arna-Magnacanus.

Ld.: Laxdæla Saga. (D. II.)

Fb.: Flateyjar-bók (E. I.)

Nj.: Njála. (D. II.)

Njarð.: Njarðvíkinga Saga. (D. II.)

Fas.: Fornaldar Sögur. (C. II.)

Hkr.: Heimskringla. (E. I.)

➞ See all works cited in the dictionary

Also available in related dictionaries:

This headword also appears in dictionaries of other languages descending from Old Norse.