Fall

Meaning of Old Norse word "fall"

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

Old Norse word fall can mean:fall

fall

n., pl. föll, [common to all Teut. idioms except Goth.], a fall:—defined in law, þat er fall ef maðr styðr niðr kné eðr hendi, Grág. ii. 8, Ísl. ii. 246, Al. 76, Sd. 143: the proverb, fall er farar heill, a fall bodes a lucky journey, FmS. vi. 414 (of king Harold at Stamford-bridge), viii. 85, 403, Sverr. S.; sá er annarr orðs-kviðr at fall er farar heill, ok festir þú nú fætr í landi, Fb. i. 231, cp. Caesar’s ‘teneo te, Africa;’ falls er ván að fornu tré, Stj. 539; stirð eru gamalla manna föll; flas er falli næst, flurry is nigh falling: föll berask á e-n, one begins to reel, stagger. FaS. iii. 429; koma e-m til falls, to cause one to fall, Edda 34; reiddi hann til falls, he reeled, Eb. 220. 2. a fall, death in battle, Lat. caedes, FmS. i. 11, 43, 89, Nj. 280, Eg. 37, 106, Ó. H. 219, passim; the proverb, í flótta er fall vest, FmS. viii. 117; val-fall, Lat. strages; mann-fall, loss of men in battle.

fall

β. the ‘fall,’ a plague in cattle or beasts, murrain, 655. 2, BS. i. 97, 245, 456.

fall

γ. the carcase of a slaughtered animal; baulu-fall, sauðar-fall, nauts-fall, hrúts-fall, Stj. 483.

fall

3. medic. in compds, brot-fall, the falling sickness, epilepsy; blóð-fall, klæða-föll, bloody flux; lima-fall, paresis.

fall

β. childbirth, in the phrase, vera komin að falli, to be in an advanced state, (komin að burði is used of sheep, cowS.)

fall

4. the fall or rush of water; vatns-fall, a waterfall, large river; sjávar-föll, tides; að-fall, flood-tide; út-fall, ebb-tide; boða-fall, a breaker, cp. BS. ii. 51.

fall

5. in gramm. a case, Lat. casus, Skálda 180, 206: quantity, 159, 160, Edda 126: a metric. fault, a defective verse, dropping of syllables, Fb. iii. 426.

fall

II. metaph. downfall, ruin, decay; fall engla, the fall of the angels, Rb. 80; til falls ok upprisu margra í Ísrael, Luke ii. 34; hafa sér e-t til falls, to run risk of ruin, Hrafn. 30; gózin eru at falli komin, the estates are dilapidated, Mar.; á-fall, a shock; frá-fall, death; ó-fall, mishap; jarð-fall, an earth-slip.

fall

2. eccl. a sin, transgression, BS. i. 686, Mar. 77 (Fr.)

fall

3. a law term, breach, failure, non-fulfilment, in eið-fall, vegar-fall, Gþl. 416; messu-fall, orð-fall, veizlu-fall.

fall

4. mod. a case, occasion.

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