m.

I. [cp. brenna, to burn; A. S. brand (rare)], a brand, firebrand; even used synonymous with ‘hearth,’ as in the Old Engl. saying, ‘este (dear) buith (are) oun brondes,’ E. Engl. Specimens; b. af brandi brenn, Hm. 56; at bröndum, at the fire-side, 2, Nj. 195, 201; hvarfa ek blindr of branda, id., Eg. 759; cp. eldi-brandr.

2. [cp. Dan. brand, Germ. brand], a flame; til brands, ad urnam, N. G. L. i. 50 (rare); surtar-brandr, jet; v. brand-erfð.

II. [A. S. brand, Beow. verse 1454; Scot. brand = ensis; cp. to brandish], the blade of a sword; brast þat (viz. the sword) undir hjaltinu, ok fór b. grenjandi niðr í ána, Fas. ii. 484, Korm. 82, Eb. 238, Fms. i. 17, Bs. ii. 12; víga-brandr, a war-brand, a meteor.

III. a freq. pr. name of a man, Brand.

B. On ships, the raised prow and poop, ship’s beak, (svíri and brandr seem to be used synonymously, Konr. S. l. c.); fellr brattr breki bröndum hærri, the waves rise high above the ‘brandar,’ Skv. 2. 17; brandar af knerri (a b. on a merchant-ship), Grett. 90 new Ed., Fms. ix. 304; hann tók um skipstafninn; en menn hans tóku af hendr hans, því at bráð var eigi af brandinum (sing. of the ‘high prow’ of a ship), viii. 217; leiddist mér fyrir Þórsbjörgum, er brandarnir á skipum Bagla stóðu í augu mér, 372, 247; gyltir brandar ok höfuð, Konr., where some MSS. ‘höfuð ok svirar.’

2. ships’ beaks used as ornaments over the chief door of dwellings, always in pl.; af knerri þeim eru brandar veðrspáir fyrir dyrum, before (above?) the door, Landn. 231, cp. Grett. 116, where it can be seen that the b. were two, one at each side of the door; hann sá fatahrúgu á bröndum, heaps of clothes on the b., 179; b. ákafliga háfir fyrir höllinni svá at þeir gnæfðu yfir bust hennar (b. exceeding high over the door so that they rose above the gable), gyltir vóru knappar á ofanverðum bröndunum, Konr. S.: these doors are hence called branda-dyrr, Sturl. ii. 106, iii. 200, 218.