u, f. [A. S. grîma; Dan. grime = a horse’s halter], a kind of hood or cowl covering the upper part of the face, Edda (Gl.), Sks. 304, Þórð. 30; ríðr Barði at Snorra Goða ok hefir grímu á höfði sér, Ísl. ii. 378, Mirm. 58.

β. armour covering a horse’s breast, a poitrail; en utan yfir beisli ok um allt höfuð hestsins ok um háls framan ok til söðuls þá skal vera g. gör á panzara lund, Sks. 405: the beak on a ship, gyldar grímur, Gkv. 2. 16: grímu-eiðr, m. a Norse law term, a kind of oath taken by six compurgators, an απ. λεγ., N. G. L. i. 56 (vide eiðr); the origin of the name is uncertain, perhaps the compurgators had to appear in court in cowls: grímu-maðr, m. a cowled man, a man in disguise, Fb. i. 509, Fas. iii. 321, N. G. L. i. 175.

II. metaph. the night, poët., Alm. 31, Edda (Gl.), Lex. Poët.; óróar gríma, a night of woe, Stor. 18; so in the saying, hverf er haust-gríma, shifty is the autumn night, Hm. 73: curious is the phrase, það renna á e-n tvær grímur, one wavers, is uncertain, það runnu á mig tvær grímur; the metaphor is either derived from a horse’s halter or hood = doubly hoodwinked or from the night = in double darkness.

☞ Grímr and Grímnir are names of Odin from his travelling in disguise, Edda: Grímr also is freq. a masc. pr. name, and in compds, Þor-grímr, Ás-grímr, Stein-grímr, Hall-grímr, etc.; and of women Gríma, Hall-gríma, etc.; prefixed in Grím-kell, Grím-úlfr, etc.: a serpent is in poetry called grímr.