Ná-bjargir

Old Norse Dictionary - ná-bjargir

Meaning of Old Norse word "ná-bjargir" in English.

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

ná-bjargir: f. pl. ‘lyke-help,’ see nár; in the phrase, veita e-m nábjargir, to lend one ‘lyke-help,’ i. e. to close the eyes, mouth, and nostrils of a person immediately after death; hví hefir þú eigi veitt honum nábjargir er opnar eru nasirnar, why hast thou not lent him the ‘lyke-help,’ for the nostrils are open? Nj. 154; hann bað hvern varask at ganga framan at honum meðan honum vóru eigi nábjargir veittar, Eb. 70; hann lagði hann niðr í setið ok veitti honum þá nábjargir, Eg. 398, Bret. 32; cp. the Gr. ἰδων δε ὑ Κρίτων ξυνέλαβε το στόμα τε και τους ὀφθαλμούς (but not the nostrils as in the Northern rite), Plato’s Phaedo (sub fine); whereas with the Norsemen the closing the nostrils was indispensable, whence the phrase, lúka nösum, to have the nostrils shut = to die, see nös (nasar).

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

Abbreviations used:

cp.: compare.

f.: feminine.

Gr.: Greek.

i. e.: id est.

l.: line.

pl.: plural.

Works & Authors cited:

Bret.: Breta Sögur. (G. I.)

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

Eg.: Egils Saga. (D. II.)

Nj.: Njála. (D. II.)

➞ See all works cited in the dictionary

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This headword also appears in dictionaries of other languages descending from Old Norse.