a, m. [Ulf. renders σταυρός by galga; A. S. gealga; Engl. gallows; Hel. galgo; Germ. galgen; Dan.-Swed. galge]:—the gallows; in olden times they were worked by a lever, and the culprit was hauled up (spyrna gálga), Fms. vii. 13; hence also the phrase, hengja á hæsta gálga, festa upp, and the like, vide Gautr. S. ch. 7; an old Swed. allit. law phrase, á gálga ok gren, on gallows and green tree (Fr.), as trees were used for gallows (cp. the Engl. ‘gallows-tree’); reisa, höggva gálga, Orkn. 436, Ó. H. 46, Am. 37, 55, Grett. 128: in poetry (vide Lex. Poët.) the gallows are called the horse of Sigar, from the love tale of the Danish hero of that name: the cross is now and then called gálgi, e. g. Mar. S., and even in mod. eccl. writers (Vidal.), but very rarely, and only in rhetorical phrases.

COMPDS: gálgafarmr, gálgagramr, gálgatré.