Á-varðr

Meaning of Old Norse word "á-varðr"

As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:

á-varðr

adj. [from á- intens. and verja, part, variðr, contr. varðr, protectus], an interesting old word; with dat., a. e-m, protected by one, but only used of a man in relation to the gods, in the phrase, goðum ávarðr, a client or darling of the gods, used as early as by Egil, Ad. 20, and also three or four times in prose; at hann mundi Frey (dat.) svá a. fyrir blótin, at hann mundi eigi vilja at freri á milli þeirra, Gísl. 32; skilja þeir at þeir ern mjök ávarðir goðunum, Róm. 292; so also of God, ef hann væri svá á. Guði, sem hann ætlaði, Bs. i. 464.

Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᛅ-ᚢᛅᚱᚦᚱ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements