Ey

Old Norse Dictionary - ey

Meaning of Old Norse word "ey" in English.

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

ey Old Norse word can mean:

ey
gen. eyjar; dat. eyju and ey, with the article eyinni and eyjunni; acc. ey; pl. eyjar, gen. eyja, dat. eyjum; in Norway spelt and proncd. öy; [Dan. öe; Swed. ö; Ivar Aasen öy; Germ. aue; cp. Engl. eyot, leas-ow, A. S. êg-land, Engl. is-land; in Engl. local names -ea or -ey, e. g. Chels-ea, Batters-ea, Cherts-ey, Thorn-ey, Osn-ey, Aldern-ey, Orkn-ey, etc.]:—an island, FaS. ii. 299, Skálda 172, Eg. 218, Grág. ii. 131, Eb. 12; eyjar nef, the ‘neb’ or projection of an island, Fb. iii. 316.
ey
2. in various compds; varp-ey, an island where wild birds lay eggs; eyði-ey, a deserted island; heima-ey, a home island; bæjar-ey, an inhabited island; út-eyjar, islands far out at sea; land-eyjar, an island in an inlet, Landn.: a small island close to a larger one is called a calf (eyjar-kálfr), the larger island being regarded as the cow, (so the southernmost part of the Isle of Man is called the Calf of Man): it is curious that ‘islanders’ are usually not called eyja-menn (islandmen), but eyjar-skeggjar, m. pl. ‘island-beards;’ this was doubtless originally meant as a nickname to denote the strange habits of islanders, FaS. i. 519 (in a verse), Fær. 151, 656 C. 22, FmS. ii. 169, viii. 283, Grett. 47 new Ed.; but eyja-menn, m. pl., Valla l. 228, Eb. 316 (and in mod. usage), cp. also Götu-skeggjar, the men of Gata, a family, Landn.; eyja-sund, n. a sound or narrow strait between two islands, Eg. 93, FmS. ii. 64, 298.
ey
3. in local names: from the shape, Lang-ey, Flat-ey, Há-ey, Drang-ey: from cattle, birds, beasts, Fær-eyjar, Lamb-ey, Sauð-ey, Hrút-ey, Yxn-ey, Hafr-ey, Svín-ey, Kið-ey, Fugl-ey, Arn-ey, Æð-ey, Má-ey, Þern-ey, Úlf-ey, Bjarn-ey: from vegetation, Eng-ey, Akr-ey, Við-ey, Brok-ey, Mos-ey: from the quarters of heaven, Austr-ey, Norðr-ey, Vestr-ey, Suðr-ey (Engl. Sudor): an island at ebb time connected with the main land is called Örfiris-ey, mod. Öffurs-ey (cp. Orfir in the Orkneys): from other things, Fagr-ey, Sand-ey, Straum-ey, Vé-ey (Temple Isle), Eyin Helga, the Holy Isle (cp. Enhallow in the Orkneys). Eyjar is often used κατ ἐξοχήν of the Western Isles, Orkneys, Shetland, and Sudor, hence Eyja-jarl, earl of the Isles (i. e. Orkneys), Orkn. (freq.); in southern Icel. it is sometimes used of the Vestmanna eyjar.
ey
β. in old poets ey is a favourite word in circumlocutions of women, vide Lex. Poët.; and in poetical diction ey is personified as a goddess, the sea being her girdle, the glaciers her head-gear; hence the Icel. poetical compd ey-kona. For tales of wandering islands, and giants removing islands from one place to another, vide Ísl. ÞjóðS. i. 209.
ey
4. in female pr. names, Þór-ey, Bjarg-ey, Landn.: but if prefixed—as in Eyj-úlfr, Ey-steinn, Ey-mundr, Ey-vindr, Ey-dís, Ey-fríðr, Ey-vör, Ey-þjófr, etc.—ey belongs to a different root.
ey
COMPD: eyjaklasi.

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

Abbreviations used:

acc.
accusative.
A. S.
Anglo-Saxon.
cp.
compare.
Dan.
Danish.
dat.
dative.
e. g.
exempli gratia.
Engl.
English.
etc.
et cetera.
gen.
genitive.
Germ.
German.
gl.
glossary.
l.
line.
m.
masculine.
n.
neuter.
pl.
plural.
proncd.
pronounced.
S.
Saga.
Swed.
Swedish.
L.
Linnæus.
mod.
modern.
freq.
frequent, frequently.
Icel.
Iceland, Icelander, Icelanders, Icelandic.
i. e.
id est.
pr.
proper, properly.

Works & Authors cited:

Eb.
Eyrbyggja Saga. (D. II.)
Eg.
Egils Saga. (D. II.)
Fas.
Fornaldar Sögur. (C. II.)
Fb.
Flateyjar-bók (E. I.)
Grág.
Grágás. (B. I.)
Ivar Aasen
Ivar Aasen’s Dictionary, 1850.
Skálda
Skálda. (H. I.)
Fms.
Fornmanna Sögur. (E. I.)
Fær.
Færeyinga Saga. (E. II.)
Grett.
Grettis Saga. (D. II.)
Landn.
Landnáma. (D. I.)
Valla L.
Valla Ljóts Saga. (D. II.)
Orkn.
Orkneyinga Saga. (E. II.)
Ísl. Þjóðs.
Íslenzkar Þjóðsögur.
Lex. Poët.
Lexicon Poëticum by Sveinbjörn Egilsson, 1860.
➞ See all works cited in the dictionary

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