Fjöðr

Meaning of Old Norse word "fjöðr" (or fjǫðr)

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

Old Norse word fjöðr can mean:fjöðr

fjöðr (fjǫðr)

gen. fjaðrar; old pl. fjaðrar, later fjaðrir; dat. fjöðrum: [A. S. feðer; Engl. feather; Germ. feder; Gr. πτερόν]

fjöðr (fjǫðr)

1. a feather, it may be used of either the plume or the quill, but usually a distinction is made between fiðri or fiðr, plumage, and fjaðrar, quills; væng-fjöðr, a wing-feather; stél-fjöðr, a tail-feather; dynja hana fjaðrar, Bm. 1; hár ok fjaðrar, Edda (pref.); plokkaði af fjaðrarnar, 77: phrases and sayings, það er ekki fjöðr af fati þínu, ‘tis no feather of thy gear, thou needst not be proud of it, cp. Aesop’s fable; verðr hverr að fljúga sem hann er fjaðraðr, every one must fly as he is feathered; draga fjöðr um e-t, to slur over a thing (vide draga), FmS. vii. 20: cp. the proverb in Rafns S. BS. i. 647,—lítið er nef várt, en breiðar fjaðrar, our neb is small, but the feathers large, perhaps somewhat corrupt in the text, being taken from some fable about birds; the sense seems to be something like the Fr. ‘l’homme propose, Dieu dispose.’

fjöðr (fjǫðr)

2. metaph. of feather-formed things,

fjöðr (fjǫðr)

α. the blade of a spear, Eg. 285, Stj. 461, Ld. 244, Grett. 121, Sturl. ii. 60, FaS. ii. 209, Fb. 111. 409.

fjöðr (fjǫðr)

β. the fin of a fish, FaS. ii. 131; fiskr niðr frá beltis-stað ok fjöðr á, FmS. iv. 56 (rare).

fjöðr (fjǫðr)

COMPDS: fjaðrabroddr, fjaðralauss, fjaðrasárr, fjaðraspjót.

Orthography: The Cleasby & Vigfusson book used letter ö to represent the original Old Norse vowel ǫ. Therefore, fjöðr may be more accurately written as fjǫðr.

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