Ör-lygi

Meaning of Old Norse word "ör-lygi" (or ǫr-lygi)

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

ör-lygi (ǫr-lygi)

n. another form for örlög, [mid. H. G. urliugi; cp. Dutch orlog = war; whence again mod. Dan. orlog = warfare at sea]:—fate, doom, generally conceived as coming in or by war; heyja eyrlygi, Eg. (in a verse); heyr undr mikit, heyr örlygi (‘hear words of doom’), heyr mál mikit, heyr manns bana! Gísl. 15, (these alliterative words are evidently a fragment of an old lay, see Mr. Dasent’s Transl. p. 30, l. c.) In Edda (Gl.) ‘örlygi’ is entered among the names of ‘battles:’ in a verse of Bragi, örlygis-draugr, a battle-worker, warrior; these are the only places in which we find the word, while in Dutch and Low Germ. it is common, but see örlög.

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

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