1 gýgr
m. an abyss; eld-gýgr, a crater of a volcano: to this perhaps belongs the saying, vinna fyrir gýg, to labour in vain, answering to the Lat. ‘oleum et operam perdere;’ hvað gagnar svo fyrir gýg ad vinna, Bb. 3. 98; og vann ei fyrir gýg, and got his reward, Snót 319 (Ed. 1866); or is gýg (qs. gýgi), to labour for an ogre or witch, the metaphor being taken from popular tales ?