Njörðr

Old Norse Dictionary - njörðr

Meaning of Old Norse word "njörðr" (or njǫrðr) in English.

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

njörðr (njǫrðr): m., gen. Njarðar, dat. Nirði, [cp. Nerthus, the goddess in Tacit. Germ. ch. 40; a similar worship is in the Northern account, FmS. ii. 73–78, attributed to Njord’s son Frey]:—Njorð, one of the old Northern gods, father of Frey and Freyja; about whom see Vþm. 38, 39, Gm. 16, LS. 33, 34, Edda passim: Njord was the god of riches and traffic, hence the phrase, auðigr sem Njörðr, wealthy as Njord, a Croesus, FS. 80. The name remains in Njarðar-vöttr, m. Njord’s glove, i. e. a sponge, Matth. xxvii. 48, freq. in mod. usage, and that it was so in olden times is seen from the words, þessa figúru köllum vér Njarðar-vött í skáldskap, this figure (a kind of antonomasia) we call Njord’s glove, Skálda 196: in local names, Njarð-vík, in eastern Icel., q. v.; Njarðar-lög and Njarð-ey, in Norway; cp. also njarð-láss, njarð-gjörð. In old Icel. translations of classical legends Njord is taken to represent Saturn, Bret., Clem. S. passim.

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

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

Abbreviations used:

ch.: chapter.

cp.: compare.

dat.: dative.

freq.: frequent, frequently.

gen.: genitive.

Germ.: German.

Icel.: Iceland, Icelander, Icelanders, Icelandic.

i. e.: id est.

l.: line.

m.: masculine.

mod.: modern.

n.: neuter.

q. v.: quod vide.

S.: Saga.

v.: vide.

Works & Authors cited:

Bret.: Breta Sögur. (G. I.)

Clem.: Clements Saga. (F. III.)

Edda: Edda. (C. I.)

Fms.: Fornmanna Sögur. (E. I.)

Fs.: Forn-sögur. (D. II.)

Gm.: Grímnis-mál. (A. I.)

Ls.: Loka-senna. (A. I.)

Skálda: Skálda. (H. I.)

Vþm.: Vafþrúðnis-mál. (A. I.)

➞ 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.