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42 ÁKVÆÐI -- ÁLIT.
á-kvæði, n. 1. an uttered opinion; mun ek nú segja yðr hvat mitt á. er, Nj. 189, Sturl. i. 65 C; Ed. atkvæði (better): a command, Stj. 312, 208; með ákvæðum, expressly, Sks. 235: cp. atkvæði. 2. in popular tales and superstition it is specially used of spells or charms: cp. Lat. fatum from/ fari; cp. also atkvæði: the mod. use prefers ákvæði in this sense, hence ákvæða-skáld, n. a spell-skald, a poet whose words have a magical power, also called kraptaskald; v. Ísl. þjóðs. I, where many such poets are mentioned; indeed any poet of mark was believed to possess the power to spell-bind with his verses; cp. The tales about Orpheus. COMPDS: ákvæðis-teigr, m. a piece of field to be mowed in a day, a mower's day's work(in mod. usage called dags-látta), Fms. Iii. 207. ákvæðis-verk, n. piece-work; þat er títt á Íslandi at hafa á., þykjast þeir þá komnir til hvíldar eptir erviði sitt er verki er lokit, Fms. v. 203, Jb. 374. a-kynnis, adv. on a visit, Sd. 158. á-kæra, ð, to accuse, (mod. word.) á-kæra, u, f. a charge, accusation, Bs. i. 852. COMPDS: ákæru-lauss, adj. undisputed, Finnb. 356; blameless, Stj. 523. ákæru-maðr, m. an accuser, Stj. 42. á-kærsla, u, f. = ákæra, Fr. ákserslu-lauss = ákærulauss, id. ÁL, f., old form nom. dat. acc. sing, ól; öl heitir drykkr, en ól er band, Skálda (Thorodd) 163: gen. Sing. and nom. pl. álar; (the mod. form is ól, keeping the ó throughout all the cases; gen. pl. ólar) :-- a strap, esp. of leather; ál löng, Fms. vi. 378, Edda 29, Sks. 179: a proverb, sjaldan er bagi að bandi eðr byrdi að ól. β.. esp. the leather straps for fastening a cloak, etc. to the saddle, = slagálar, Orkn. 12, Bjarn. 68, Fbr. 57 new Ed. γ a bridle, rein; beislit fanst þegar ok var komit á álna, Bs. i. 314, note 2. COMPDS: álar-endi, a, m. the end of a leather strap, Edda 29. álar-reipi, n. a rope of leather, etc. á-lag, n. and álaga, u, f. [ieggja á]; in some cases, esp. dat. pl., it is often difficult to decide to which of these two forms a case may belong; they are therefore best taken together. In the neut. pl. the notion of spell, in the fem. pl. that of tax, burden, hardship prevails. In sing, both of them are very much alike in sense. I. fem. pl. a tax, burden, burdensome impost; sagði at bændr vildi eigi hafa frekari álög (álögur?) af konungi en forn lög stæði til, Fms. xi. 224; undan þessum hans álögum ... liggja undir slíkum álögum, tyranny, yoke, Bárð. ch. 2; gangit til ok hyggit at landsmenn, at ganga undir skattgjafar Ólafs konungs ok allar álögur, burdens, taxes, Fms. iv. 282, in the famous speech of Einar þveræing, (Ó. H. ch. 134; bað jarl vægja möunum um álögur, Fms. iv. 216; jarl hélt með freku öllum álögum, Orkn. 40; hvárt mun konungr sá ekki kunna hóf um álögur ok harðleiki við menn, Fms. vi. 37; þórstcinn kvað ekki um at leita, at þórðr kæmist undan neinum álögum, burdens, oppressive conditions, Bjarn. 72. 2. a law term, an additional fine; með álögum ok leigum, duties and rents, Grág. i. 260; binda álogum, to charge, 384; hálfa fimtu mörk álaga, a fine of three marks, 391. 3. metaph. in plur. and in the phrase, í álögum, in straits, at a pinch, if needful, Vm. 18; vitr maðr ok ágætr í öllum álögum, a wise and good man in all difficulties, Fs. 120. 4. a metric. term, addition, supplement; þat er annat leyfi háttanna at hafa í dróttkvæðum hætti eitt orð eða tvau með álögum, cp. álagsháttr below, Edda 124. 5. theol. a visitation, scourge, Stj. 106, 647. 2 Kings xxi. 13 (answering to plummet in the Engl. transl.); sing. in both instances. II. neut. pl. álög, spells, imprecations. In the fairy tales of Icel. 'vera í álögum' is a standing phrase for being spell-bound, esp. for being transformed into the shape of animals, or even of lifeless objects; leggja a., to bind by spells, cp. Ísl. Þjóðs. by Jón Árnason; var því líkast sem í fornum sögum er sagt, þá er konunga börn urðu fyrir stjúpmæðra álögum (v. l. sköpum), Fms. viii. 18 (Fb. ii. 539): hóri lýstr til hans með úlfs hanzka ok segir at hann skyldi verða at einuni híðbirni, ok aldri skáltn or þessuni álögum fara, Fas. (Völs. S.) i. 50, 404: sing, (very rare), þat er álag mitt, at þat skip skal aldri heilt af hafi koma er hér liggr út, Landn. 250. At present always in pl., cp. forlög, örlög, ólög. COMPDS: álags-bœtr, f. pl. a kind of line, N. G. L. i. 311. álags-háttr, m. a kind of metre, the first syllabic of the following line completing the sentence, e. g. ískalda skar ek öldu | eik; Edda (Ht.) 129. álögu-laust, n. adj. free from imposts. álar-, ála-, v. sub voce áll and ál. á-lasa, að, to blame, with dat. of the person. á-lasan and álösun, f., and álas, n. a reprimand, rebuke, Vígl. 25. ál-belti, n. a leathern belt, Stj. 606. ál-borinn, adj. Part. [álbera], measured with a thong or cord, of a field, N. G. L. i. 43. In Icel. called vaðbera and vaðborinn. ál-burðr, m. mensuration with a line, N. G. L. i. 43, = vaðburðr. á-leiðis, adv. on the right path, opp. to afleiðis; (leið) snúa e-m á., metaph., 655 xiii. B; snú þeim á. er þú hefir áðr vilta, id. β forwards, onwards; fóru á. til skipa, Fms. 1. 136; snúa ferð á., to go on (now, halda áfram), Korm. 232, K. Þ, K. 94 B: metaph., koma e-u á., to bring a thing about, Hkr. i. 169, iii. 104; koma e-u til á., id., Fas. i. 45 (corrupt reading); snúa e-u á., to improve, Bs. i. 488; víkja á. með e-m, to side with, Sturl. Iii. 91. á-leikni, f. a pertness, Grett. 139 (Ed.) á-leikr, m. [leika á], a trick, Grett. 139 C. á-leiksi, adj. ind. who had got the worst of the game, Bret. á-leitaðr, part. assailed, Stj. 255. á-leiting, f. = áleitni, Fr. á-leitinn, adj. pettish, Fms. ii. 120, Orkn. 308. á-leitligr, adj. reprehensible, Greg. 26. á-leitni, f. a pettish disposition, Fms. vii. 165, Sturl. ii. 228, Fs. 8; eigi fyrir á. sakar heldr góðvilja, Al. 129, 153; spott þórðar ok á., invectives, Bjarn. 3, Joh. 623. 19. á-lengdar, adv. along; engum friði heit ek þér á., Fms. iii. 156; eigi vildi hann vist hans þar á., he should not be staying along there, i.e. there, Grett. 129 A, Sturl. iii. 42. β. now used loc. far off, aloof, Lat. procul. á-lengr, adv. [cp. Engl. along], continuously; þessi illvirki skyldi eigi á. úhefnd vera, Bs. i. 533; á. er, as soon as; a. er goðar koma í setr sínar, þá ..., Grág. i. 8; á. er hann er sextan vetra, 197: ú. svá sem þeir eru búnir, in turn as soon as they are ready, 6l. ália, v. hálfa, region. álfkona, u, f. a female elf, Fas. i. 32, Bær. 2, Art. 146. álf-kunnigr, adj. akin to the elves, Fm. 13. ÁLFR, s, m. [A. S. ælf, munt-ælfen, sæ-ælfen, wudu-ælfen, etc.; Engl. elf, elves, in Shakespeare ouphes are 'fairies;' Germ. alb and elfen, Erl- in Erlkönig (Göthe) is, according to Grimm, a corrupt form from the Danish Ellekonge qs. Elver-konge]; in the west of Icel. also pronounced álbr: I. mythically, an elf, fairy; the Edda distinguishes between Ljósálfar, the elves of light, and Dökkálfar, of darkness (the last not elsewhere mentioned either in mod. fairy tales or in old writers), 12; the Elves and Ases are fellow gods, and form a favourite alliteration in the old mythical poems, e.g. Vsp. 53, Hm. 144, 161, Gm. 4, Ls. 2, 13, Þkv. 7, Skm. 7, 17, Sdm. 18. In the Alvismál Elves and Dwarfs are clearly distinguished as different. The abode of the elves in the Edda is Álfheimar, fairy land, and their king the god Frey (the god of light), Edda 12; see the poem Gm. 12, Álfheim Frey gáfu í árdaga tívar at tannfé. In the fairy tales the Elves haunt the hills, hence their name Huldufólk, hidden people: respecting their origin, life, and customs, v. Ísl. Þjóðs. i. I sqq. In old writers the Elves are rarely mentioned; but that the same tales were told as at present is clear;-- Hallr mælti, hvi brosir þú nú? þórhallr svarar, af því brosir ek, at margr hóll opnast ok hvert kvikindi býr sinn bagga bæði smá ok stór, ok gera fardaga (a foreboding of the introduction of Christianity), Fms. ii. 197, cp. landvættir; álfamenn, elves, Bs. i. 417, Fas. i. 313, 96; hóll einn er hér skamt í brott er álfar búa í, Km. 216: álfrek, in the phrase, ganga álfreka, cacare, means dirt, excrements, driving the elves away through contamination, Eb. 12, cp. Landn. 97, Fms. iv. 308, Bárð. ch. 4: álfröðull, elfin beam or light, a poët. name of the sun; álfavakir, elf-holes, the small rotten holes in the ice in spring-time in which the elves go a fishing; the white stripes in the sea in calm weather are the wakes of elfin fishing boats, etc.: medic. álfabruni is an eruption in the face, Fél. ix. 186: Ivar Aasen mentions 'alvgust, alveblaastr, alveld,' the breath, fire of elves (cp. St. Vitus' dance or St. Anthony's fire); 'alvskot,' a sort of cancer in the bone :-- græti álfa, elfin tears, Hðm. I, is dubious; it may mean some flower with dew-drops glittering in the morning sun, vide s. v. glýstamr (glee-steaming). Jamieson speaks of an elf's cup, but elf tears are not noticed elsewhere; cp. Edda 39. In Sweden, where the worship of Frey prevailed, sacrifices, álfa-blót, were made to the elves, stóð húsfreyja í dyrum ok bað hann (the guest) eigi þar innkoma, segir at þau ætti álfa blót, Hkr. ii. 124 (referring to the year 1018), cp. Korm. ch. 22. 2. metaph., as the elves had the power to bewitch men, a silly, vacant person is in Icel. called álfr; hence álfalegr, silly álfaskapr and álfaháttr, silly behaviour. II. in historical sense, the Norse district situated between the two great rivers Raumelfr and Gautelfr (Alhis Raumarum, et Gotharum) was in the mythical times called Álfheimar, and its inhabitants Álfar, Fas. i. 413, 384, 387, Fb. i. 23, vide also P. A. Munch, Beskrivelse over Norge, p. 7. For the compds v. above. álfrek, n., álfröðull, m., v. above. á-liðinn, adj. Part. far-spent, of time; dagr, Grett. 99 A; sumar, Orkn. 448, Ld. 14. á-lit, n. [líta á], prop. a view: I. aspect, appearance, esp that of a person's face, gait, etc.; vænn at áliti, fair, gentle of aspect, Nj. 30; fagr álitum, Edda 5, Eluc. 35, Bær. 7: of other animate or inanimate objects, dökkr álits, black of aspect, Fms. vi. 229; eigi réttr álits, crooked, not straight (of a broken leg), Bs. i. 743; smíði fagrt áliti, Hom. 128: the whole form, shape, hvert á. sem hann hefði, Fms. xi. 433; hann hafði ymsa manna á. eða kykvenda, Post. 656 C. 26. II. of a mind, a view, thought, consideration, reflection; með áliti ráðsmanna, Fms. Vii. 139; með skjótu áliti, at a glance, Sks. 3: esp. in pl., þú ferr með góðum vilja en eigi með nógum álitum, inconsiderately, Lv. 38; meir með ákefð en álitum, Stj. 454. Hom. 24; gjöra e-t at álitum, to take a matter into (favourable) consideration, Nj. 3, Lv. 16. 2. in mod. use, opinion; does not occur in old writers (H. E. i. 244 it means authority), where there is always some additional notion of reflection, consideration.