fjǫr
See also: fjor, fjór, fjör, and fjør
Old Norse
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *ferhwą, *ferhwō. Cognates with the Old English feorh, Old Saxon ferh and Old High German ferh. Obsolete in modern English, German, Swedish and Danish. Confer the German Leib (“body”) and leben (“to live”).
Noun
fjǫr n
- life
- (poetic) the vital parts; the body
- Egill Skallagrímsson, Hǫfuðlausn (“Head's Ransom”, sometimes referred to as “Head-Ransom”):
- Fleinn hitti fjǫr.
- A pike struck the body.
- Egill Skallagrímsson, Hǫfuðlausn (“Head's Ransom”, sometimes referred to as “Head-Ransom”):
- vigour, spirit, energy
Usage notes
- Especially frequent in alliterative phrases such as eiga fótum fjǫr at launa and fjǫr ok fé.
- Often used in compounds in poems, especially when denoting loss of life e.g. fjǫrbann, fjǫrgrand and fjǫrlát.
Derived terms
- eiga fótum fjǫr at launa
- fjǫrbann
- fjǫrbaugsgarðr
- fjǫrbaugsmaður
- fjǫrbaugssekt
- fjǫrbaugssök
- fjǫrbaugur (life money, a legal term referring to a fee to be paid by a convict to the executive court, if this was not paid the convict was henceforth a full outlaw)
- fjǫrfiskr
- fjǫrgrand
- fjǫrkálfr (one bounding with life as a young calf)
- fjǫrlag
- fjǫrlauss (lifeless, listless)
- fjǫrlot
- fjǫrlát
- fjǫrmaðr (a vigorous man)
- fjǫrmikill (full of life)
- fjǫrnám
- fjǫr ok fé
- fjǫrrán
- fjǫrsegi
- fjǫrspell
- fjǫrtál
- með fullu fjǫri, vera með fullu fjǫri (to be in the full vigour of life)
Descendants
- Icelandic: fjör