Hangi

Old Norse Dictionary - hangi

Meaning of Old Norse word "hangi" in English.

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

hangi: a, m. a law term, a body hanging on a gallows, FmS. v. 212: the mythol. phrase, sitja, setjask undir hanga, to sit under a gallows, of Odin, in order to acquire wisdom or knowledge of the future;—for this superstition see Yngl. S. ch. 7;—whence Odin is called hanga-guð, hanga-dróttinn, hanga-týr, the god or lord of the hanged, Edda 14, 49, Lex. Poët.; varðat ek fróðr und forsum | fór ek aldregi at göldrum | … nam ek eigi Yggjar feng und hanga, I became not wise under waterfalls, I never dealt in witchcraft, I did not get the share of Odin (i. e. the poetical gift) under the gallows, i. e. I am no adept in poetry, Jd. 3 (MS., left out in the printed edition). According to another and, as it seems, a truer and older myth, Odin himself was represented as hangi, hanging on the tree Ygg-drasil, and from the depths beneath taking up the hidden mystery of wisdom, Hm. 139; so it is possible that his nicknames refer to that; cp. also the curious tale of the blind tailor in Grimm’s Märchen, No. 107, which recalls to mind the heathen tale of the one-eyed Odin sitting under the gallowS.

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

Abbreviations used:

ch.: chapter.

cp.: compare.

gl.: glossary.

i. e.: id est.

l.: line.

m.: masculine.

mythol.: mythology, mythologically.

S.: Saga.

s. v.: sub voce.

v.: vide.

Works & Authors cited:

Edda: Edda. (C. I.)

Fms.: Fornmanna Sögur. (E. I.)

Hm.: Hává-mál. (A. I.)

Jd.: Jómsvíkinga-drápa. (A. III.)

Lex. Poët.: Lexicon Poëticum by Sveinbjörn Egilsson, 1860.

Yngl. S.: Ynglinga Saga. (C. 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.