Lesa

Meaning of Old Norse word "lesa"

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

Old Norse word lesa can mean:lesa

lesa

pres. les; pret. las, last, las, pl. lásu; subj. læsi; imperat. les, lestu; part. lesinn: [Ulf. lisan = συλλέγειν, συνάγειν; A. S. lesan; provincial Engl. to lease; O. H. G. lesan; Germ. lesen; cp. Gr. λέγειν, Lat. legere]:—prop. to glean, gather, pick, Stj. 615; lesa hnetr, aldin, Gísl. (in a verse), Dropl. 5; lesa ber, to gather berries, K. Þ. K. 82; hafði hón lesit sér mikil ber til fæðslu, BS. i. 204; lesa blóm, Art. 66:—lesa saman; verða nokkut vínber saman lesin af þyrnum? Matth. vii. 16; þvíat eigi lesa menn saman fíkjur af þyrnum ok eigi heldr vínber af þistlum, Luke vi. 44; lesit fyrst íllgresit saman, Matth. xiii. 30; þeir lásu saman manna um morguninn … þá hafði sá eigi meira er mikit hafði saman lesit, Stj. 292; þessir smáir articuli sem hér eru saman lesnir, Fb. iii. 237; saman lesa líf e-s, to compile, H. E. i. 584: þeir lásu upp (picked up) hálm þann allan, MArt. 123; tóku þeir silfrið ok lásu upp, FmS. viii. 143.

lesa

2. to grasp, catch; eldrinn las skjótt tróð-viðinn, Eg. 238: of a ship, þat má rétt heita Stígandi er svá less hafit, FS. 28; bróðirinn less um herðar sér þann kaðals-hlutinn sem þeir höfðu haldit, grasped it, wound it round his shoulders, Mar.; hann greip sviðuna, ok las af höndum honum, he gripped the weapon and snatched it out of his hands, Sturl. i. 64: lesa sik upp, to haul oneself up; þá las hann sik skjótt upp eptir öxar-skaptinu, Fær. 111; Þórir gékk at skíðgarðinum, ok krækði upp á öxinni, las sik upp eptir, Ó. H. 135.

lesa

3. to knit, embroider; hón sat við einn gullligan borða ok las (embroidered) þar á mín liðin ok framkomin verk, FaS. i. 176; typt klæði ok veigoð ok lesin (better lesni, q. v.), JS. 78.

lesa

II. metaph. to gather words and syllables, to read, [cp. Lat. legere]; sem lesit er, Stj. 40; hann lét lesa upp (to read aloud) hverir skráðir vóru á konungs-skipit, Fms, vii. 287; statuta skulu … geymask ok lesask, H. E. i. 509; sat konungr ok hirðin úti fyrir kirkju ok lásu aptan-sönginu, FmS. vii. 152, BS. i. 155; meðan biskup las öttu-söng, FmS. xi. 390: in endless instances, mod., lesa or lesa húslestr, q. v. This sense of course never occurs in poems of the heathen age, but the following references seem to form a starting-point, in which lesa means

lesa

2. to talk, gossip; lesa um e-n, to talk, speak of; hittki hann fiðr þótt þeir um hann fár lesi, ef hann með snotrum sitr, Hm. 23; kann enn vera at maðr vensk á at lesa of aðra, ok hafa uppi löstu manna, Hom. (St.): part. lesandi, able to read; vel lesandi: lesinn, well read; víð-lesinn, who has read many things.

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