Höldr

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

höldr Old Norse word can mean:

höldr (hǫldr)

m., in old MSS. spelt hꜹlðr or hꜹlþr, denoting that the d is inflexive, not radical; [the word therefore is not to be derived from halda, but is identical with A. S. hæleð, Germ. held, whence mod. Swed. and Dan. hjälta and helt, see halr]:—a Norse law term, a kind of higher yeoman, like the statesman of Westmorland, i. e. the owner of allodial land, mod. Norse odelsbonde; the höld is to be distinguished from a hersir (q. v.) or a lendr maðr, who held land in fee from the king, see the interesting story in Har. S. Harðr. ch. 62 (FmS. vi. 278); the höld is thus defined, sá er hꜹldr er hann hefir óðöl at erfðum tekit bæði eptir föður ok móður, þau er hans forellrar (forefathers) hafa átt áðr fyrir þeim, n. G. L. ii. 146; hölda tvá eða bændr ina beztu, i. 251. In old Norway the churchyards were divided into four parts; in the first were buried the lendir menn, next them the hölds and their children (hölds-lega), then the freed men (leysingjar), and lastly the thralls (man, q. v.) nearest to the wall; the höld had right to twice as much as the simple franklin, and half as much as the lendr maðr, e. g. bóandi hálvan annan eyri, höldr þrjá aura, lendr maðr sex aura, jarl tólf aura, konungr þrjár merkr, n. G. L. i. 45, cp. 55, 71, 81; þegnar ok hꜹlðar, svá eru búendr kallaðir, Edda 107; haulðar, þat er búendr þeir, er gildir eru af ættum eða réttum fullum, 94; Björn hlaut annan bústað góðan ok virðilegan, görðisk hann ekki handgenginn konungi, því var hann kallaðr Björn hölðr, Eg. 198; lends manns son skal taka hölds rétt ef hann fær eigi lönd, n. G. L. i. 71; hann veltisk ór jarldóminum ok tók hölds rétt, Orkn. 12: for the weregild to be paid for a höld (hölds-gjöld) see n. G. L. i. 81: a law of king St. Olave ordered that Icelanders whilst in Norway should enjoy the right of a höld; Íslendingar eigu at hafa hölds-rétt í Noregi, D. I. i. 65.

höldr (hǫldr)

2. in poetry, a man, Hm. 41; hölda synir, the sons of men, 93, Fm. 19, Hkr. i. 101, where the mother of Ganger-Rolf calls him ‘the kinsman of the hölds,’ cp. also Rm. 21, GS. 17; h. inn hvíti, ÍsL. ii. 251 (in a verse): in mod. IceL. usage it remains in bú-höldr, q. v.

Orthography: The Cleasby & Vigfusson book used letter ö to represent the original Old Norse vowel ǫ. Therefore, höldr may be more accurately written as hǫldr.

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