árr

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *airuz. Cognate with Gothic airus (“messenger”).

Noun

árr m (genitive árar, plural ærir)

1. messenger, servant
   • c. 975, Þórbjǫrn dísarskáld, Poem about Þórr, verse 1

     Þórr hefr Yggs með ǫ́rum / Ásgarð af þrek varðan.

     Thor has mightily defended Asgard together with the messengers of Ygg [GODS].

   • Hlǫðskviða stanza 30 (ed. Neckel/Kuhn, Die Lieder des Codex Regius, 5th edition, 1983):

     Eigi scolom árom spilla, / þeim er fara einir saman.

     We ought not to harm messengers who ride alone.

2. (plural only, Christianity) angels

   Synonym: englar

Declension

Declension of árr (strong u-stem)

masculine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	árr	árrinn	ærir	ærirnir
accusative	ár	árinn	áru	áruna
dative	æri	ærinum	árum	árunum
genitive	árar	árarins	ára	áranna

Declension of árr (strong u-stem)

masculine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	ǫ́rr	ǫ́rrinn	ærir	ærirnir
accusative	ǫ́r	ǫ́rinn	ǫ́ru	ǫ́runa
dative	æri	ærinum	ǫ́rum	ǫ́runum
genitive	árar	árarins	ára	áranna

Related terms

• erendi (“errand”)

Further reading

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “árr”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 36; also available at the Internet Archive