Lyritar-eiðr

Old Norse Dictionary - lyritar-eiðr

Meaning of Old Norse word "lyritar-eiðr"

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

lyritar-eiðr
m. a ‘lyrit-oath,’ a kind of oath of compurgation in the Norse, but not in the old Icel. law; it was an oath of three, viz. of the person who took the oath, with two compurgators, in remembrance of the three lyrit stones, which gave the name to this oath of compurgation; nú skal lyritar-eið svá vinna, sjálfr skal hann vinna, ok annarr jafnréttis-maðr, … sá skal enn þriði, er …, N. G. l. i. 56, cp. Js. 30, Jb.; stendr lyritar-eiðr fyrir hvárt þriggja marka mál ok þau er minni eru, N. G. l. ii. 306; hón skal þess synja með lyritar-eiði með frjálsum konum tveimr, i. 376 (394), of a compurgatory oath in the case of a still-born child.

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

Abbreviations used:

cp.
compare.
Icel.
Iceland, Icelander, Icelanders, Icelandic.
l.
line.
L.
Linnæus.
m.
masculine.
viz.
namely.

Works & Authors cited:

Jb.
Jóns-bók. (B. III.)
Js.
Járnsíða. (B. III.)
N. G. L.
Norges Gamle Love. (B. II.)
➞ See all works cited in the dictionary

Back