Svefn-þorn
Old Norse Dictionary - svefn-þorn
Meaning of Old Norse word "svefn-þorn"
As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:
- svefn-þorn
- m. a ‘sleep-thorn;’ the popular notion was that charmed sleep is produced by putting the ‘sleep-thorn’ into the sleeper’s ears, then he will not awake until the thorn falls out; stinga e-m svefnþorn, to stick one with the sleeping-thorn, Fas. i. 18, 19; or, stinga e-n svefnþorni, Ísl. ii. 183, iii. 303, (cp. Fm. 43, Hrafnag. 13.)
Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᛋᚢᛁᚠᚾ-ᚦᚢᚱᚾ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements
Abbreviations used:
- cp.
- compare.
- l.
- line.
- m.
- masculine.
Works & Authors cited:
- Fas.
- Fornaldar Sögur. (C. II.)
- Fm.
- Fafnis-mál. (A. II.)