Heilagr

Meaning of Old Norse word "heilagr"

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

Old Norse word heilagr can mean:heilagr

heilagr

adj., usually contracted before a vowel, whereby the root vowel becomes short, thus helgan, helgir, helgum, helgar, and the definite helgi, helga; but also uncontractcd, esp. in mod. usage, heilagir, heilagan, heilögum, definite heilagi; [Ulf. seems not to have known the word, and renders αγιος etc. by veihs; so also in Dan. and Swed. local names, holy places and temples are marked by a prefixed or suffixed vi-, e. g. Vi-borg, Odens-e (= Óðins-vé): heilagr is derived in a metaph. sense from heill, whole, and is consequently not so old as the primitive vé, veihs; so A. S. hâlag; Engl. holy; Hel. hêlag; Germ. heilig; Dan. hellig; Swed. helig]:

heilagr

I. holy in heathen usage, helgar kindir, holy beings, Vsp. I; hár baðmr heilagr, 19, v. l.; heilög goð, holy gods; ginnheilög goð, Vsp.; heilakt land, Gm. 4; heilög (grind) fyrir helgum dyrum, 22; heilög vötn, 29, Hkv. 2. 1; heilög fjöll (hélug?), Fm. 26; helgu fulli, the holy toast of Odin, i. e. song, poetry, Edda (in a verse); af helgu skutli, from the holy table, Haustl. 4; þat vatn er svá heilakt, at …, Edda 11; brunnr mjök heilagr, 10: in local names, þat fjall kallaði hann Helga-fell, Holy-fell, Eb. 10; at þeir görði lönd sín helgari en aðrar jarðir, 20; ok kallar þá jörð nú eigi helgari en aðra, 24:—heilagir fiskar (mod. heilag-fiski), a halibut, Dan. helle-flynder, BS. i. 365.

heilagr

2. as a law term (and this is no doubt the original sense of the word), inviolable, one whose person is sacred, who cannot be slain with impunity, esp. within certain boundaries; hann (fjörbaugs-maðr, q. v.) skal heilagr vera at þeim heimilum ok í örskots-helgi við á alla vega, etc., Grág. i. 89; hann er heilagr á þeirri götu ok í örskots-helgi við þá götu, 132; hann verðr eigi heilagr ef eigi var sagt til heimilis hans at féráns-dómi, ok eigi verðr hann heilagr ef eigi gelzk fé þat er þar skyldi gjaldask, 133; hann er jamheilagr á götu er hann ferr til skips, 90, vide Þ. Þ. ch. 33 sqq.; falla óheilagr, to fall unholy, to be slain as an outlaw for whom no weregild was to be paid, Grág. and Sagas passim, cp. the interesting passages in Landn. 5. ch. 4, Sturl. 1. ch. 14; frið-heilagr, ‘peace-holy,’ protected, a term for birds and animals protected by law; úheilagr, outlawed, exlex: closely akin are the above phrases, in which heilagr is used as an epithet of places, h. land, fjöll, etc.

heilagr

II. eccl. holy, Lat. sanctus, BS. passim, n. T., hymns, sermons, etc.; Heilagr Audi, the Holy Ghost; helgir dagar, holy days; halda heilagt, vide halda; helgir dómar, holy relics; but helgi-dómr, holidom, sanctuarium; heilög orð, holy words; helgir siðir, holy rites; helgar bækr, holy books; helgar tíðir, horae canonicae; helgir menn, saints of the Roman church; Heilagir = Άγιοι, i. e. Christians, n. T.

heilagr

2. of special feasts, Helga Vika, the Holy Week, the week after Whitsuntide, Dipl. iii. to; Nóttin Helga, the Holy Night, cp. Germ. Weihnachten; Helgi Þórs-dagr, Holy Thursday, FmS. ix.

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