Ný-lýsi

n. ‘new light,’ light of the new moon (ný); nýlýsi var mikit ok sá þeir at jarlar lögðu frá, Orkn. 420. According to the Saga and an entry in the old Annals the day in question was the evening of the 21st of Dec. 1154, old style; and from information given by Mr. Main (the Radcliffe Observer, Oxford), a full moon fell on this very day in that year, old style. This quite settles the question as to the true old sense of ný and nýlýsi. The chronology of Torfæus in the old Ed. of Orkn. S. is altogether wrong; um vetrinn var þat siðr Arnkels at flytja heyit af Örlygs-stöðum um nætr er nýlýsi vóru, Eb. 66 new Ed.; fóru þeir tíu saman frá Hváli öndverða nótt, því nýlýsi var á, Sturl. i. 61; sigla um nóttina við nýlýsi, O. H. L. 51.