hǫrgr

Old Norse

FWOTD – 30 April 2015

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *harugaz (“sanctuary, cairn, grove”). Cognate with Old English hearg, hearga, Old High German harug, haruc, haruch. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱarǝk- (“fenced or enclosed area”).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

hǫrgr m (genitive hǫrgs, plural hǫrgar)

1. (Germanic paganism) a sanctuary, cairn, altar
   • Hyndluljóð, verse 10, lines 1-2, in 1860, T. Möbius, Edda Sæmundar hins fróða: mit einem Anhang zum Theil bisher ungedruckter Gedichte. Leipzig, page 83:

     Hörg hann mér gerði · hlaðinn steinum, […]

     A cairn he made for me, loaded with stones […]

Declension

  Declension of hǫrgr (strong a-stem)

masculine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	hǫrgr	hǫrgrinn	hǫrgar	hǫrgarnir
accusative	hǫrg	hǫrginn	hǫrga	hǫrgana
dative	hǫrgi	hǫrginum	hǫrgum	hǫrgunum
genitive	hǫrgs	hǫrgsins	hǫrga	hǫrganna

Derived terms

Terms derived from hǫrgr

• blóthǫrgr (“sacrificial altar”)
• brúnahǫrgr (“head”)
• gunnhǫrgr (“helmet”)

Descendants

• Icelandic: hörgur m
• Faroese: hørgur m
• Norwegian Nynorsk: horg m
• Norwegian Bokmål: horg m
• Old Swedish: hargher m
  • Swedish: harg c, horg c, horv c
• Danish: harg c, hørg c

References

• hǫrgr in An Icelandic-English Dictionary, R. Cleasby and G. Vigfússon, Clarendon Press, 1874, at Internet Archive.
• hǫrgr in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, G. T. Zoëga, Clarendon Press, 1910, at Internet Archive.