dvergr

Old Norse

FWOTD – 1 December 2013

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *dwergaz (“dwarf”). Cognate with Old English dweorg, Old Frisian dwerch, Old Saxon dwerg, Old High German twerg, twerc.

Pronunciation

• (12th century Icelandic) IPA^(key): /ˈdwerɣr̩/

Noun

dvergr m (genitive dvergs, plural dvergar)

1. (Norse mythology) a dwarf
   • Vǫluspá, verse 9, lines 5-6, in 1860, T. Möbius, Edda Sæmundar hins fróða: mit einem Anhang zum Theil bisher ungedruckter Gedichte. Leipzig, page 2:

     […] hverr skyldi dverga / dróttir skepja […]

     […] who shall the dwarves' / lord shape […]

2. a short support pillar
   • Old Icelandic Homily Book, in 1872, T. Wisén, Homiliu-bók: Isländska homilier efter en handskrift från tolfte århundradet. Gleerup, page 100, lines 37-38:

     Þuertre es scorþa staflǽgior oc upphalda dvergom, […]

     Crosstrees that prop the beams and upholding pillars, […]

3. a brooch, stud, dress pin
   • Rígsþula, verse 16, lines 7-8, in 1860, T. Möbius, Edda Sæmundar hins fróða: mit einem Anhang zum Theil bisher ungedruckter Gedichte. Leipzig, page 78:

     […] dúkr var á hálsi, / dvergar á öxlum; […]

     […] studs on her shoulders, / and scarf on her neck; […]

Declension

  Declension of dvergr (strong a-stem)

masculine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	dvergr	dvergrinn	dvergar	dvergarnir
accusative	dverg	dverginn	dverga	dvergana
dative	dvergi	dverginum	dvergum	dvergunum
genitive	dvergs	dvergsins	dverga	dverganna

Derived terms

Terms derived from dvergr

• dyrgja (“female dwarf”)
• dvergasmíði (“work of a dwarf”)
• dvergasóleyg (“glacier crowfoot”)
• dverghagr (“skillful”)
• dvergmál, dvergmali (“echo”)
• dvergmála (“to echo”)

Descendants

• Icelandic: dvergur
• Faroese: dvørgur
• Norwegian Nynorsk: dverg; (dialectal) verg, tverg
• Old Swedish: dværgher
  • Swedish: dvärg
• Danish: dværg
  • Norwegian Bokmål: dverg
• Gutnish: dvärg, värg

References

• “dvergr”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• dvergr in An Icelandic-English Dictionary, R. Cleasby and G. Vigfússon, Clarendon Press, 1874, at Internet Archive.
• dvergr in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, G. T. Zoëga, Clarendon Press, 1910, at Internet Archive.