Ginn-
Old Norse Dictionary - ginn-Meaning of Old Norse word "ginn-" in English.
As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:
ginn- Old Norse word can mean:
- ginn-
- or perhaps better gínn-, [cp. A. S. gin or ginn = vast, wide; it seems however better to derive it from the verb beginnan, Engl. begin, a word used in all Teutonic languages, except the old Scandinavian tongue, where it is unknown, unless in this mythological prefix]:—only used as a prefix:
- ginn-
- I. in old mythol. words, great, holy: ginn-heilög (adj. pl.) goð, the most holy gods, the supreme gods, as opposed to Asir and Vanir, the lower gods, Vsp. passim: ginn-regin, n. pl. ‘magna numina,’ Hm. 143, Haustl. 13, in the same sense as ginnheilög goð in Vsp.; in Hým. 4 opp. to tívar (dii); in Alm. goð and ginnregin are distinguished, cp. also Hm. 79: ginnungar, m. pl., seems used in the same sense as ginnregin, whence Ginnunga-gap, n. chaos, the formless void, in which abode the supreme powers, before the creation, Edda, Vsp.: later, in the 11th century, the sea between Greenland and America was called Ginnunga-gap, A. A. 295: Ginnunga-himin, m. of the heavenly vault of Ginnunga-gap, Edda 5: Ginnunga-vé, n. pl. the holy places of the Ginnungar, the universe, Haustl. 15: Ginnarr (Ginnir), m., is a name of Odin, prop. = aetherius, and also used of the eagle, the falcon.
- ginn-
- II. in an intensive sense only in poets; ginn-viti, a, m. a large fire, Sighvat; perhaps also we may read, Vkv. 5, ginn-fasti, a, m. a great fire in a smithy, for gim fasti.
Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᚴᛁᚾᚾ-
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements
Abbreviations used:
- A. S.
- Anglo-Saxon.
- cp.
- compare.
- Engl.
- English.
- gl.
- glossary.
- l.
- line.
- S.
- Saga.
- adj.
- adjective.
- m.
- masculine.
- mythol.
- mythology, mythologically.
- n.
- neuter.
- opp.
- opposed.
- pl.
- plural.
- prop.
- proper, properly.
- v.
- vide.
Works & Authors cited:
- A. A.
- Antiquitates Americanae. (E. II.)
- Alm.
- Alvís-mál. (A. I.)
- Edda
- Edda. (C. I.)
- Haustl.
- Haustlöng. (A. I.)
- Hm.
- Hává-mál. (A. I.)
- Hým.
- Hýmis-kviða. (A. I.)
- Vsp.
- Völuspá. (A. I.)
- Vkv.
- Völundar-kviða. (A. II.)