Forve

Old Norse Dictionary - forve

Meaning of Old Norse word "forve" in English.

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

forve
n. an απ. λεγ. in the eccl. law of the county Víkin or Borgarþing, a coast district in the south of Norway, n. G. l. i. 339, 363, where the law orders that a monster child (i. e. an abortion, a birth without human shape) shall be brought to a place ‘forve,’ and buried where neither man nor beast comes by; þat skal á forve (forre, v. l.) fœra ok röyra (put in a cairn) þar er hvárki gengr yfir menn né fénaðr, þat er forve (forfue, v. l.) hins ílla. In n. G. l. i. 13 it is ordered that felons (e. g. traitors, murderers, self-murderers, etc.) were not to be buried in consecrated soil, but in the ‘flood-mark where sea and green turf meet;’ cp. the curious story in Landn. 2. 19, where the Christian lady Auda ordered herself to be buried between high and low water mark (í flæðarmáli), as she would not rest in heathen earth; so, on the other hand, a monster child must not rest in Christian earth. Thus forve is probably derived from fyrva, q. v., to ebb, and denotes the flood-mark or beach in which the grave was to be dug; the concluding words, þat er forve hins ílla, probably mean this place is the forve of the evil one, i. e. an unhallowed place. The etymology given in H. E. i. 75 cannot be right.

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

Abbreviations used:

απ. λεγ.
απαξ. λεγόμενον.
cp.
compare.
eccl.
ecclesiastical.
e. g.
exempli gratia.
etc.
et cetera.
i. e.
id est.
l.
line.
L.
Linnæus.
n.
neuter.
q. v.
quod vide.
v.
vide.
v. l.
varia lectio.

Works & Authors cited:

H. E.
Historia Ecclesiastica Islandiae. (J. I.)
Landn.
Landnáma. (D. I.)
N. G. L.
Norges Gamle Love. (B. II.)
➞ 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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