Noun

[ weyf ]

1. a person, especially a child, who has no home or friends.

2. something found, especially a stray animal, whose owner is not known.

3. a very thin, often small person, usually a young woman.

4. a stray item or article:to gather waifs of gossip.

5. Nautical. waft (def. 8).

Origin:
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Anglo-French, originally “lost, stray (animal), unclaimed (property)” (compare Old French guaif “stray beast”), from Scandinavian; compare Old Norse veif “movement to and fro, something waving, flag”; see waive

“Ann is an opera singer, fragile and captivating onstage, somewhere between waif and warrior.”
- ANNETTE IS GORGEOUS TO LOOK AT BUT ALL THE WRONG KINDS OF WEIRD|STEPHANIE ZACHAREK|AUGUST 6, 2021|TIME

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Þórr svarar engu, setr hornit á munn sér ok hyggr nú, at hann skal drekka meira drykk, ok þreytir á drykkjuna, sem honum vannst til örendi, ok enn sér hann, at stikillinn hornsins vill ekki upp svá mjök sem honum líkar. Ok er hann tók hornið af munni sér ok sér í, lízt honum nú svá sem minna hafi þorrit men í inu fyrra sinni. Er nú gott beranda borð á horninu. 

meiri is a great word ahaha it´s a comparative word that means ‘great, large, more.’ In this case, more alcohol.

mjök also means much, great, but it’s an adverb. 

unsurprisingly, mestr means 'most’, and finallymikill is the adjective which means 'great.’

Mead is a frustrating word, as it´s so irregular because it´s so common, so it held onto it´s strange declension (like the word 'to be’ - am, is, are, was, were, be, been. So weird but also common.) So I´m going to add it onto this post, too. It´s called a u-stem noun, and in, like, Proto-Indo-European it had was 'médhu’ so there is a thing called breaking, where the ending breaks the vowel in the stem. (I can explain that later in another post, when I find my notes idk.)

It goes like this: 

Nominitive (I, ek) - mjǫðr (plural: miðir)
Accusative (you, þú) - mjǫðr (pl: mjǫðu)
Genetive (posessive) - mjaðar (pl: mjaða)
Dative (to him, honum) - miði (pl: mjǫðum)

A very important word in Old Norse

It’s used in many forms and has some interesting changes when it’s used, especially in this passage. It can also be a noun, and there are many ways to drink (drekka mjök - drink fast, drekka ein af stokki - to drink one under the table, drekkr sér lítit vit - to drink away one’s reason). It can also mean to host a feast and celebrate, and to drink out of a vessel (drukku þeir af einu silfrkeri).

In the passage: Þórr svarar engu, setr hornit á munn sér ok hyggr nú, at hann skal drekkameiradrykk, ok þreytir á drykkjuna, sem honum vannst til örendi, ok enn sér hann, at stikillinn hornsins vill ekki upp svá mjök sem honum líkar. Ok er hann tók hornið af munni sér ok sér í, lízt honum nú svá sem minna hafi þorrit men í inu fyrra sinni. Er nú gott beranda borð á horninu.

More uses according to my dictionary specificaly - 

drykkr (masculine noun) - a drink, drinking (hvat hafa Einjerjar at drykk - what kind of drink to the Einjerjar have)

drykkja (feminine noun) - as in ‘to sit alone drinking’ (sitja einn við drykkju)

So I’m going to do a new thing where I pick a passage every week and pick words from that to translate each day so it actually makes sense. 

This week’s is from Gylfagynning - the story of Thor visiting Utgarda-Loki. You can look it up and stuff later, it’s really hilarious. This part takes place after Utgarda-Loki has been basically making fun of his companions’ losses in different competitions. Then he asks Thor what he is good at and Thor says he’s good at drinking, so Utgarda-Loki is going to have a drinking competition with him. 

 Þórr svarar engu, setr hornit á munn sér ok hyggr nú, at hann skal drekka meira drykk, ok þreytir á drykkjuna, sem honum vannst til örendi, ok enn sér hann, at stikillinn hornsins vill ekki upp svá mjök sem honum líkar. Ok er hann tók hornið af munni sér ok sér í, lízt honum nú svá sem minna hafi þorrit men í inu fyrra sinni. Er nú gott beranda borð á horninu.  (Chapter 46)

The phrase I highlighted translates exactly as, “set the horn on mouth his." Often, old norse word order is not the same as English, but because of the complicated declensions and stuff, you can tell which words are related to which. In this case, sér means ‘his own’ or 'for oneself’ and can often emphasize separate-ness. (sér hvárr þeirra - themselves each of their own self.)

Horn is the word meaning 'horn’ and the endings -it,-ins, and -inu mean 'the.’

á munn in this case means 'on’ or, like, 'to his mouth’

settr means 'placed’ or 'set,’ it´s the past participle form of setja and it has this weird Icelandic modern spelling in this passage but I´m not about to change it. 

Words I´ve gone over already in bold! Words similar to English sound and meaning in italics. See if you can guess some of them. Remember Þ is pronounced ‘th’ andá is pronounced sort of like in 'sort’ or 'fort’.

´Þar sitr Sigurðr ok steikirFáfnishjarta.Þatskyldi hann sjálfr eta. Þá mundi hann verða hverjum manni vitrari.’

ǫnnursegir, 'Þar liggr Reginn ok vill véla þann sem honum trúir.’ Þá malti in þriðja,

'Hǫggvi hann þá hǫnum, ok má hann þá ráða gullinu því inu miklu einn.’

Þámælti in fjórða, 'Þá væri hann vitrari ef hann hefði þat sem þær hǫfðu ráðit honum, ok riði siðan til bóls Fáfnis ok toeki þat it mikla gull er þar er, ok riði siðan upp á Hindarfjall þar sem Brynhildr sefr, ok mun hann nema þar mikla speki, ok þá væri hann vitr ef han hefði yður ráð ok hygí hann um sína þurft, ok þar er mér úlfsins ván er ek eyrun sá.’ Þá mælti in fimmta,

'Eigi er hann svá horskr sem ek ætla ef hann vægir honum, en drepit áðrbróður hans.’ Þá mælti in sétta,

'Þat væri snjallræði ef hann dræpi hann ok réði einn fénu.’

Þámælti Sigurðr, 'Eigi munu þau óskǫp at Reginn sé minn bani, ok heldr skulu Þeir fara báðir broeðr einn veg.’

The translation and explanations of things I like to talk about:

Thensits Sigurd a stake in Fafnir´s heart. That should he himself eat. Then will he become wiser than every man.

Another/a second says, 'There lies Reginn and will betray (?)  which trusts him.’ Then says a third:

“Then chop him/(off his head), and may he then rule/advise the treasures the great one (meaning the great treasure, its repeated ok).”

Then said the fourth, “Then he would be wiser if he did as they had advised him, and ride since to Fafnir’s lair and take the great treasure (technically it says take it the great gold) which there is, and then ride up to Hinderfjall where Brynhild sleeps, and may he learn great wisdom (taken from Finch’s translation), and then would he [be] wise if he had another’s advise and he thought about his own needs, and there is the wolf expected [to be] (ván means hope, expect) where his ears had heard such.” Then said the fifth,

“He is not as wise I intended/thought if he spares him, and kills his other brother.” Then said the sixth,

“It seems strong-advise if he kills him and takes all the treasure.”

Then said Sigurd, “It’s not the will/destiny that my bane [be] from Reginn, and should be better if both brothers go their own way.”

segja (strong verb) - (presentsegir,pastsagði,past pluralsǫgðu,past participlesagt)

Konungrsagði at svá var. Hárekr segir, ’….’ (Egils saga, Chapter 12)

Kingsaid that was so. Hárekr says, ’….’

mæla (weak verb) - (pastmælti, past participlemælt)

Þámælti in fjórða, ’…..’ (Volsunga saga, Chapter 20, more from this passage tomorrow, its very exciting)

Thensaid the fourth, ’…..’

Simple and used often, but if someone asked me to conjugate them I don´t really want to because ugh. You start to recognize them the more you read, as they are used constantly. After you recognize them, you stop seeing them because they´re so common, in my opinion.

(presentskal,pastskyldi)

Þá mælti Sigurðr, ‘Eigi munu þau óskǫp at Reginn sé minn bani, ok heldr skulu þeir fara báðir broeðr einn veg.’ (Volsunga saga, Chapter 20)

Then said Sigurðr, 'Not shall (it be my destiny?) that Reginn be my killer (bane); (it) should be better that both brothers go their own way. (I took some liberties here in translating ok).

…var þat ákveðit nær konungr skyldi þar koma.

was it the decision (I am assuming here ok) (the) king should then come near.

This is a very common verb used all the time and it´s irregular and frustrating and so I might make more posts later about it. The reason the past tense has a 'y’ is because of i-umlaut, where the 'i’ in the ending makes the first vowel sound closer to it. That’s a post for another day, though.

Víkingar hljópu frá skipum við óvígjan her. Sigmund konungr ok Eylimi settu up merki sín ok ver þá blásit í lúdra. (Volsunga saga, Chapter 11)

The vikings leaped from the ships in great numbers. King Sigmund and Eylimi set up something remarkable and the trumpets were blown.

2. miracle
3. standard, banner
4. remains, traces

merkiligr, merkr (adj.) - noteworthy, important

(not to be confused with merkja (n.) - a mark, sign, symbol, or merkir(v.) - denotes, indicates)

a masculine noun; when naming a king it is typical to put their name first (ie: Sigmundr konungr - King Sigmund)

Lyngvikonungr soekir nú til konungsboejarins ok ætlar at taka þar konungsdóttur, en þat brásk honum. (Volsunga saga, Chapter 12)

King (nominative form) Lyngvi visited the king’s-house (genitive form) and expected to take the king’s daughter (genitive), but in that was he thwarted. (brásk is a reflexive ‘broken’ followed by the genitivehonum meaning 'him’; it´s translated as 'thwarted’ by R.G. Finch)

All Old Norse, All the time. Be ready.

Þórr svarar engu, setr hornit á munn sér ok hyggr nú,at hann skal drekka meira drykk, ok þreytir á drykkjuna, sem honum vannst til örendi, ok enn sér hann, at stikillinn hornsins vill ekki upp svá mjök sem honum líkar. Oker hann tók hornið af munni sér ok sér í, lízt honum nú svá sem minna hafi þorrit men í inu fyrra sinni. Ernú gott beranda borð á horninu.

 nú - now

svá - so, such

ok - and, but (now modern Íslenska and Norsk ‘og’)

at - which, that

er - which, with regards to, who, when, until, that (also very important - a form of 'to be’)

So many different examples of 'er,’ and it´s a very complex word for only two letters.

er hón hafði í hendi (which she had in hand)

er hann kom frá (the land where he came from)

er hón æva grét (who had never wept)

siðan er (since)

hyggja (v.) - to think

Þórr svarar engu, setr hornit á munn sér ok hyggr nú, at hann skal drekka meira drykk, ok þreytir á drykkjuna, sem honum vannst til örendi, ok enn sér hann, at stikillinn hornsins vill ekki upp svá mjök sem honum líkar. Ok er hann tók hornið af munni sér ok sér í, lízt honum nú svá sem minna hafi þorrit men í inu fyrra sinni. Er nú gott beranda borð á horninu.

One ofOðins raven is named Huginn, based on this word. (The other is Muninn, meaning memory. It’s rumored that Odin fears most losing Huginn and Muninn, thought/wisdom and memory, as he ages.)

The saying from Hávamál, verse 45 says: mæla fagrt, ok hyggja flátt, meaning to speak fair but think false.

Havmal 10.

Old icelandic:

Byrði betriberr-at maðr brautu aten sé mannvit mikit;auði betraþykkir þat í ókunnum stað;slíkt er válaðs vera.

Danish:

“Bedre Byrde 

bærer ej Mand paa Vej 

end meget Mandevid. 

Bedre end Formue 

det tykkes paa fremmed Sted. 

Det er den Fattiges Frelse." 

Norwegian:

"Betre byrdi 

du ber ‘kje i bakken 

enn mannavit mykje. 

D'er betre enn gull 

i framand gard; 

vit er vesalmanns trøyst.”

Swedish:

Bättre börda 

man bär ej på vägen 

än mycket mannavett. 

På främmande ort 

går det framför guld. 

Slikt är den torftiges tillflykt.“

English:

"Better burden

one does not carry on the road

than much wisdom

In a foreign place

it goes before gold.

Such is the refuge of the poor.”

JÄRSBERGSSTENEN.

Kristinehamn, Värmland, Sweden.

From the sixth century 

“[Le]ubaz(?) haite. Hrabnaz hait[e]. Ek, erilaz, runoz writu”

Translation:

“Leubaz I am called. Raven is called. I, the erile, carve the runes.”

The word Erile or Eril is an important one, often been interpreted as “magician” or “runmaster”, but the word is etymologically related to the Germanic tribal name heruler. However, later studies has shown that both eril and herul have the same linguistic root as the english Earl, which means that eril may also have been a Germanic military title.

Urnordisk/Úr norse (really old norse) Norse dictionary from the bok “Runor Mästarens handbok - Lars Magnar Enoksen”

AfatR - after/in memory of

Alja - all, everyone

AljamarkiR - no Borders, land of all

Arbija - heritage, heirloom, heritage lands

Arbijano - inheritor, heir

Dalidun - shared

DohtriR - daughter

Ek - I, I’m

ErikaR - rune crafter, rune master

Fahido - paint, decor

GandiR - evil magic

GastiR - guest, stranger

GinaA - open, strengthen, broaden

GinA runAr - great magic, great secret

Gudija - (gyðja) pagan preastes

hAerA - sword

hAerAwulafiR - sword wolf

hAri - Combat, battle

hAþu - Combat

hAþuwulafR - Combat wolf

Lada - barn

Lada warijaR - barn protecter, barn guardian

LeubaR - runner

RunAR - secret, riddle, magic, soundstaf

MarkiR - border, border land

rAginA - godlike, derived from higher powers

Raginaku - Godly powers, great power

Raginaku do - completed godly powers, great power

rAginA runAR - Godly runes, secrets

Runo fahi - decorated runic secret

RunoR - secret, riddle, magic, soundstaf

RunAR - secret, riddle, magic, soundstaf

Satido - to put, to place

SijosteR - the primary

Skiþa - cut pice of wood, ski

Skiþa leubaR - skier

Tawido - to finish, to craft, to make

ÞrijoR - 3

Un - not, no

Un grandiR - protected from witchcraft

UþArAbA - shoddy, bad

UþArAbA sbA - bad prophecy, bad future seeing

WarijaR - defender

Widu - forest, big, great

WidugastiR - forest guest

WolAfR - wolf

Wulafa - wolf

WulafiR - wolf

WylafR - wolf

I found a old bok from my school day when I was still studying old germanic.

One of the boks I got in the beginning of my study was “Runor Mästarens handbok -Lars Magnar Enoksen.”

I rarely read it these days but it was a of great help early in my study.

Today I prefer to read on runes tones and in the city archive.

I highly recommend this book if you new in the study of old germanic.