Ná-bjargir

Old Norse Dictionary Entry

Ná-bjargir

Old Norse Dictionary Entry

Definitions

1 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).

Runic Inscription

ᚾᛅ-ᛒᛁᛅᚱᚴᛁᚱ

Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark

Abbreviations Used

Common Abbreviations

cp
compare.
cp.
compare.
f.
feminine.
Gr.
Greek.
i. e.
id est.
l.
Linnæus.
p.
page.
pl.
plural.
sing
singular.

Works & Authors

Bret.
Breta Sögur. (G. I.)
Eb.
Eyrbyggja Saga. (D. II.)
Eg.
Egils Saga. (D. II.)
Nj.
Njála. (D. II.)

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