Meiðr

Old Norse Dictionary - meiðr

Meaning of Old Norse word "meiðr" in English.

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

meiðr Old Norse word can mean:

meiðr: m., gen. meiðar, Gm. 34 (Bugge), but else meiðs, dat. meiði; [meid or mei, Ivar Aasen; Swed. mede; perh. derived from meiða, of a lopped and barked tree]:—a pole or longitudinal beam, esp. the two long beams in a sledge, also called sleð-meiðr; þá reif hann meiðinn undan sleðanum, … en Arnkell laust af sér með meiðnum, … hann laust sleðmeiðnum í mót honum, … en meiðrinn kom á garðinn, … en sleðmeiðrinn brotnaði í fjötrar-raufinni, Eb. 190: the phrases, standa á öndverðan meið með e-m, to stand foremost on the meið, to stand at the upcurving of the sledge-bearers, i. e. to stand in the forefront as a champion, BS. i. 141; cp. ‘staa paa meiom,’ and ‘meia-hals’ = the rising of the meid, Ivar Aasen; mjök þótti mönnum á einn meið hallask með þeim, it went all on one side (metaphor from a sledge capsizing), Bjarn. 59; váð-meiðr, a pole to hang clothes on for drying; nú skulu þér hér reisa við ána váðmeið, ok er konum hægt til þváttar at hreinsa stórföt … þat hygg ek at við þann meið festi hann ykkr upp, Glúm. 390, 391, Rd. 296; cp. váð-áss, Hrafn. 20.

meiðr: 2. poët. a pole; telgja meið til rifjar, to shape a pole for a loom, to make a weaver’s loom, Rm. 15: of the mistletoe, af þeim meiði er mer (i. e. mær = mjór) sýndisk, Vsp.: of the gallows’ tree, Hðm. 18, Ht. (Yngl. S. ch. 26); and of the tree Yggdrasil, Gm. 34, Hm. 139, prob. from the notion of its being the gallows of Odin: so also the raven ‘á meiði’ in Bkv. 11 seems to mean the gallows, cp. Germ. galgen-vogel; in Hkv. 1. 5. it is perh. = váðmeiðr. The word can never be used of a living tree. In poetical circumlocutions of a man, vápna meiðr, passim, see Lex. poët.

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

Abbreviations used:

cp.: compare.

dat.: dative.

esp.: especially.

gen.: genitive.

i. e.: id est.

m.: masculine.

n.: neuter.

perh.: perhaps.

Swed.: Swedish.

ch.: chapter.

Germ.: German.

gl.: glossary.

l.: line.

poët.: poetically.

prob.: probably.

S.: Saga.

v.: vide.

Works & Authors cited:

Bjarn.: Bjarnar Saga. (D. II.)

Bs.: Biskupa Sögur. (D. III.)

Eb.: Eyrbyggja Saga. (D. II.)

Glúm.: Víga-Glúms Saga. (D. II.)

Gm.: Grímnis-mál. (A. I.)

Hrafn.: Hrafnkels Saga. (D. II.)

Ivar Aasen: Ivar Aasen’s Dictionary, 1850.

Rd.: Reykdæla Saga. (D. II.)

Bkv.: Brynhildar-kviða. (A. II.)

Hðm.: Hamðis-mál. (A. II.)

Hkv.: Helga-kviða Hundingsbana. (A. II.)

Hm.: Hává-mál. (A. I.)

Ht.: Hátta-tal. (C. I.)

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

Rm.: Rígsmál. (A. II.)

Vsp.: Völuspá. (A. I.)

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.