a, m. a buck, he-goat, Edda (Gl.): name of a giant, Fms. iii. 214. In Norway (Ivar Aasen), a lock of hair on the forehead of animals is called ‘bruse.’ In Icel.

α. an earthen jar, to keep wine or spirits in (cp. Scot. greybeard, Scott’s Monastery, ch. 9), no doubt from their being in the shape of a bearded head. This has given rise to the pretty little poem of Hallgrím called Skeggkarlsvísur, Skyldir erum við Skeggkarl tveir, a comparison between Man and Greybeard (Skeggkarl = Beard-carle); cp. leir-brúsi = brúsi; flot-brúsi, Hym. 26.

β. a bird, columbus maximus, called so in the north of Icel., but else heimbrini, Eggert Itin. § 556.

II. a pr. name of a man, Landn.