Bekkr

Old Norse Dictionary - bekkr

Meaning of Old Norse word "bekkr" in English.

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

bekkr Old Norse word can mean:

bekkr
1. jar, m. pl. ir, gen. pl. ja, dat. jum, [A. S. benc; Engl. bench, bank; Germ. bank; Dan. bænk; Icel. per assimil. kk; the Span. banco is of Teut. origin]
bekkr
1. a bench, esp. of the long benches in an old hall used instead of chairs; the north side of a hall (that looking towards the sun) was called æðri bekkr, the upper bench (gl. 337, Ld. 294); the southern side úæðri bekkr, the lower (inferior) bench, Nj. 32, Eg. 547, FmS. iv. 439, xi. 70, Glúm. 336, Ld. l. c.; thus sitja á enn æðra or úæðra bekk is a standing phrase: the placing of the benches differed in Icel. and Norway, and in each country at various times; as regards the Icel. custom vide Nj. ch. 34, Sturl. i. 20, 21, the banquet at Reykhólar, A. D. 1120, ii. 182, the nuptials at Flugumýri, Lv. ch. 13, Ld. ch. 68, Gunnl. S. ch. 11, Ísl. ii. 250, cp. Nj. 220: á báða bekki, on both sides of the ball, Ísl. ii. 348, cp. Gísl. 41 (in a verse), etc.: as to foreign (Norse) customs, vide esp. Fagrsk. ch. 216, cp. FmS. vi. 390, xi. (Jómsv. S.) 70, Glúm. ch. 6, Orkn. ch. 70, Sturl. ii. 126; see more minutely under the words skáli, öndvegi, pallr, etc.; breiða, strá bekki, is to strew or cover the benches in preparing for a feast or wedding; bekki breiði (imper. pl., MS. breiða), dress the benches! Alvm. 1; bekki at strá, Em. verse 1; standit upp jötnar ok stráit bekki, Þkv. 22; brynjum um bekki stráð, the benches (wainscots?) covered with coats of mail, Gm. 44: in these phrases bekkir seems to be a collective name for the hall, the walls of which were covered with tapestry, the floor with straw, as in the Old Engl. hallS. The passage Vtkv. 10—hveim eru bekkir baugum sánir—is dubious (stráðir?); búa bekki, to dress the benches; er Baldrs feðr bekki búna veit ek at sumblum, Km. 25; breitt var á bekki, brúðr sat á stól, Ísl. ÞjóðS. ii. 466; vide brúðarbekkr.
bekkr
COMPDS: bekkjarbót, bekkjargjöf.
bekkr
2. as a law term, cp. Engl. bench; the benches in the lögrétta in Icel. were, however, usually called pallr, v. the Grág.
bekkr
3. the coloured stripes in a piece of stuff.
bekkr
2. s, and jar, m. [North. E. beck; Germ. bach; Dan. bæk; Swed. bäck], a rivulet, brook. In Icel. the word is only poët. and very rare; the common word even in local names of the 10th century is lækr (Lækjar-bugr, -óss, etc.); Sökkva-bekkr, Edda, is a mythical and pre-Icel. name; in prose bekkr may occur as a Norse idiom, FmS. vi. 164, 335, viii. 8, 217, Jb. 268, or in Norse laws as in Gþl. 418. At present it is hardly understood in Icel. and looked upon as a Danism. The phrase—þar er (breiðr) bekkr á milli, there is a beck between, of two persons separated so as to be out of each other’s reach—may be a single exception; perhaps the metaphor is taken from some popular belief like that recorded in the Lay of the Last Minstrel, note to 3. 13, and in Burns’Tam o’ Shanter—‘a running stream they dare na cross;’ some hint of a like belief in Icel. might be in Ísl. ÞjóðS. i. 356. It is now and then used in poetry, as, yfir um Kedrons breiðan bekk, PasS. 1. 15.
bekkr
COMPDS: bekkjarkvern, bekkjarráS.

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

Abbreviations used:

A. S.
Anglo-Saxon.
Dan.
Danish.
dat.
dative.
Engl.
English.
gen.
genitive.
Germ.
German.
gl.
glossary.
Icel.
Iceland, Icelander, Icelanders, Icelandic.
l.
line.
m.
masculine.
n.
neuter.
pl.
plural.
S.
Saga.
Span.
Spanish.
Teut.
Teutonic.
A. D.
Anno Domini.
ch.
chapter.
cp.
compare.
esp.
especially.
etc.
et cetera.
l. c.
loco citato.
v.
vide.
f.
feminine.
uff.
suffix.
North. E.
Northern English.
poët.
poetically.
Swed.
Swedish.

Works & Authors cited:

Eg.
Egils Saga. (D. II.)
Em.
Eiríks-mál. (A. III.)
Fagrsk.
Fagrskinna. (K. I.)
Fms.
Fornmanna Sögur. (E. I.)
Gísl.
Gísla Saga. (D. II.)
Glúm.
Víga-Glúms Saga. (D. II.)
Gm.
Grímnis-mál. (A. I.)
Ísl. Þjóðs.
Íslenzkar Þjóðsögur.
Jómsv. S.
Jómsvíkinga Saga. (E. I.)
Km.
Kráku-mál. (A. III.)
Ld.
Laxdæla Saga. (D. II.)
Lv.
Ljósvetninga Saga. (D. II.)
Nj.
Njála. (D. II.)
Orkn.
Orkneyinga Saga. (E. II.)
Sturl.
Sturlunga Saga. (D. I.)
Vtkv.
Vegtams-kviða. (A. I.)
Þkv.
Þryms-kviða. (A. I.)
Grág.
Grágás. (B. I.)
Edda
Edda. (C. I.)
Gþl.
Gulaþings-lög. (B. II.)
Jb.
Jóns-bók. (B. III.)
Pass.
Passiu-Sálmar.
➞ 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.

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