Gröf

Meaning of Old Norse word "gröf" (or grǫf)

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

Old Norse word gröf can mean:gröf

gröf (grǫf)

f., gen. grafar, [Ulf. graba = χάραξ, Luke xix. 43], a pit, hole dug; settr í gröf, put into a pit, Grág. ii. 131; þar var undir gröf djúp, Eg. 234; íllvirkja gröf, a den of thieves, GrEg. 40. Matth. xxi. 13; ór hellum ok gröfum, 623. 58: in the saying, sér grefr gröf þó grafi, Sams. 19, Kveldv. ii. 193; ef blindr leiðir blindan þá falla þeir báðir í gröfina, Matth. xv. 14: a charcoal pit, Grág. ii. 297; kola-gröf, a coal pit, peat pit, Vm. 156; mó-gröf, torf-gröf; grafar-görð, burning charcoal, Grág. ii. 298, Jb. 239, Dipl. v. 3; grafar-menn, pitmen, Hkr. ii. 249: freq. as a local name, Gröf and Grafir, prob. from charcoal pits. grafar-lækr, m. a brook which has dug itself a deep bed, a hollow brook, Sturl. iii. 257.

gröf (grǫf)

II. [Engl. grave; Germ. grabe; Dan. grav; Swed. graf], a grave, Ld. 286, and in numberless instances. grafar-bakki, a, m. and grafar-barmr, m. the verge of the grave: in the phrase, vera kominn á grafar-bakkann, to stand on the edge of the grave.

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

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