Áma

Meaning of Old Norse word "áma"

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

Old Norse word áma can mean:áma

áma

u, f. (and ámu-sótt, f.) erysipelas, Sturl. ii. 116; in common talk corrupted into heimakona or heimakoma.

áma

2. poët. a giantess, Edda (Gl.); hence the play of words in the saying, gengin er gygr or fæti en harðsperra aptr komin, gone is the giantess (erysipelas), but a worse (sceloturbe) has come after.

áma

3. a tub, awme, Germ. ahm.

áma

4. in Norse mod. dialects the larva is called aama (v. Ivar Aasen); and ámu-maðkr, spelt ánu-maðkr, a kind of maggot, lumbricus terrestris, is probably rightly referred to this. Fél. ix. states that it has this name from its being used to cure erysipelas.

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