guykerl
English
Etymology
Compare Old Norse gýgr.
Noun
guykerl (plural guykerls)
- (Shetland) A giantess, typically a giant wife.
- 1932, Jessie Margaret Edmondston Saxby, Shetland Traditional Lore, page 132:
- He went up his hill for a large stone he knew would be sufficient, but as he was returning, staggering under the weight of the enormous boulder, his Guykerl saw him and cried out jeeringly.
- 1981, James R. Nicolson, Shetland Folklore, page 91:
- The giantesses or guykerls seem to have survived their husbands for some considerable time, for they continued to play an active part in folklore.