Niðr

Meaning of Old Norse word "niðr"

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

Old Norse word niðr can mean:niðr

niðr

1. m. some of the cases of which are taken from niðr (gen. niðs), some from a supposed niði (gen. niðja); from the former are nom. niðr, acc. nið, gen. niðs; from the latter, the plur. niðjar, niðja, niðjum; an acc. sing. niðja also occurs, Ó. H. (in a verse), as also gen. sing. niðja, Bragi; cp. also langniðjar: [Ulf. niþjis = συγγενής]:—a son, and hence of any kinsman, a descendant; nema reisi niðr at nið, man after man, Hm. 71; Börs niðr, the son of B. = Odin, Eg. (in a verse); Fjölnis niðr, Yggs niðr, the son of F., of Ygg, Ýt. 6, Fagrsk. (in a verse); Ása niðr, the scion of the A., Ht.; sjávarniðr, the sea’s kinsman = fire, Ýt. 4.

niðr

II. in the law it seems to mean distant relatives (cp. Grág. i. 171 and 237), which is confirmed by the use of the word in the early Swed. niþ, and in niþararf, which, according to Schlyter, means devolution to distant relatives; niðr would therefore answer to mod. Icel. útarfar, as opp. to frændr: it occurs chiefiy in the allit. phrase, inn nánasti niðr, the nearest nið, Grág. i. 171, 175; til ens nánasta niðs, 237; nú lifir ekki þeirra manna, þá skal taka inn nánasti niðr frjáls-borinna manna ok arfgengr, 171; þá eigu þau í föður-ætt at hverfa þar til þau eru sextán vetra, en síðan til ens nánasta niðs, 237; tvá nánustu niði, n. G. l. i. 56; cp. næsti na-nithi in early Dan. law; biðja griða nás nið eðr nefa, Grág. ii. 20.

niðr

2. adv. [A. S. nider; Scot. neth; Germ. nieder; Dan. neder; but not in Goth., for Ulf. renders κάτω by dalaþ]:—down; lúta niðr, to ‘lout low,’ bow down, FmS. i. 159; falla niðr, to fall down, Nj. 9; falla dauðr niðr, FmS. xi. 145; setjask niðr, to sit down, Nj. 3; færa korn niðr, to sow corn, 169; setja niðr lík, to bury, H. E. i. 491, FmS. iv. 110, x. 406; leggja niðr, to lay down; drepa niðr, to cut down, slaughter, vii. 243; færa niðr, to put doiun, Ld. 168; svelgja niðr, to swallow down, PR. 475; renna niðr, id.

niðr

2. of direction without motion; hamrar eru upp ok niðr frá hellinum, niðr frá Mælifelli, Landn. 71, FbR. 91 new Ed.; hann hefir upp líking manns, en niðr dýr, Best. 47:—with motion, niðr á jörð, Stj. 218; fara niðr á Egiptaland, down to Egypt (from Palestine), Stj. 162, 215.

niðr

II. metaph., koma niðr boði, to celebrate a wedding, Sturl. iii. 277: to hit, lóga eigi beltinu nema þú komir vel niðr, FmS. xi. 272; koma niðr í góðan stað, to fall into good hands; koma hart niðr, to smart, be hardly treated, metaphor from a severe fall, Nj. 165; drepa niðr, to put down, quash, 21, 33, Boll. 346, n. G. l. i. 73; slá niðr, to fling down, FmS. xi. 72.

niðr

B. niðri, denoting in a place, vera niðri, liggja niðri, etc., passim, see the remarks to frammi (p. 169, col. 2), to which the use of niðri is perfectly analogous:—down; uppi ok niðri ok þar í miðju, Lil. 1; skoðuðu hann uppi ok niðri, all over, high and low, Skíða R. 196; niðri við sjó, Gísl. 72; vera niðri í kili, FbR. 81 new Ed.

niðr

2. metaph. underneath, Stj. 393: beneath, underneath, secretly, styrktu hann undir niðri til slíkra údáða, MaR.; hann elskaði aðra konu undir niðri, id., passim.

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

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