goð

See also: Appendix:Variations of "god"

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse goð.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɔːð/
• Rhymes: -ɔːð

Noun

goð n (genitive singular goðs, nominative plural goð)

1. an idol, a pagan god

Declension

Declension of goð (neuter)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	goð	goðið	goð	goðin
accusative	goð	goðið	goð	goðin
dative	goði	goðinu	goðum	goðunum
genitive	goðs	goðsins	goða	goðanna

Derived terms

• eingyðistrú
• fjölgyðistrú
• goðafræði
• skurðgoð

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *gudą (“god”). Cognate with Old English god, Old Frisian god, Old Saxon god, Old Dutch got, Old High German got, Gothic 𐌲𐌿𐌸 (guþ).

Pronunciation

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

Noun

goð n (genitive goðs, plural goð)

1. (Germanic paganism) a god, at times more specifically a member of the æsir
   • Vǫluspá, verse 6, lines 3-4, in 1860, T. Möbius, Edda Sæmundar hins fróða: mit einem Anhang zum Theil bisher ungedruckter Gedichte. Leipzig, page 2:

     ginnheilög goð, / ok um þat gættusk: […]

     the high holy gods, / and held council about this: […]

2. (Christianity, especially in compounds) a god of any polytheism, understood as a false god
   • Clemens saga 2, in 1874, C. R. Unger, Postola sögur: Legendariske fortællinger om apostlernes liv. Copenhagen, page 127:

     […] i musteri solar goþs, es Apollo heiter […]

     in the temple of the god of the sun, who is called Apollo […]

Declension

Declension of goð (strong a-stem)

neuter	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	goð	goðit	goð	goðin
accusative	goð	goðit	goð	goðin
dative	goði	goðinu	goðum	goðunum
genitive	goðs	goðsins	goða	goðanna

Derived terms

• draumagoð (“Morpheus”)
• goðablót (“sacrifice to the gods”)
• goðagremi (“gods' wrath for oath-breaking”)
• goðaheill (“gods' favor”)
• goðahús (“temple”)
• goðareiði (“gods' wrath for oath-breaking”)
• goðastallar (“temple-altar”)
• goðastúka (“sanctuary”)
• goðatala (“tale of gods”)
• goðborinn (“god-born”)
• goðbrúðr (“Skadi”)
• goðdómr (“godhead”)
• goðgá (“blasphemy”)
• goðheimr (“home of the gods”)
• goðkonungr (“king”)
• goðkunnigr, goðkyndr (“of the kith of gods”)
• goðmálugr (“skilled in the lore of the gods”)
• goðmǫgn (“divine powers, deities”)
• goðorð (“priest's authority”)
• goðorðslauss (“without a priest's authority”)
• goðorðsmaðr (“owner of a priest's authority”)
• goðorðsmál (“action concerning priest's authority”)
• goðorðstilkall (“claim to a priest's authority”)
• goðrifi (“scorn of the gods”)
• goðrækr (“godforsaken, wicked”)
• goðvargr (“one who commits sacrilege in a temple”)
• goðvarðr (“protected, defended by the gods”)
• goðvefr (“velvet, costly weaving”)
• goðvegr (“way of the gods”)
• orrostugoð (“Mars”)
• sólargoð (“Apollo”)

Related terms

• goði (“alternate title for a jarl, invoker or invokee”)
• guð (“1. being known to answer when invoked; 2. infinite God of monotheism”)
• gyzki (“wonder”)
• gyðja (“1. a female goð; 2. a female goði”)

Descendants

• Icelandic: goð n

Further reading

• Richard Cleasby; Guðbrandur Vigfússon (1874), “goð”, in An Icelandic-English Dictionary, 1st edition, Oxford: Oxford Clarendon Press, page 207
• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), “goð”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 169; also available at the Internet Archive