This is page 455 of An Icelandic-English Dictionary by Cleasby/Vigfusson (1874)

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455 NIÐRA -- NÍÐA.

koma niðr boði, to celebrate a wedding, Sturl. iii. 277: to hit, lóga eigi beltinu nema þú komir vel niðr, Fms. xi. 272; koma niðr í góðan stað, to fall into good hands; koma hart niðr, to smart, be hardly treated, metaphor from a severe fall, Nj. 165; drepa niðr, to put down, quash, 21, 33, Boll. 346, N. G. L. i. 73; slá niðr, to fling down, Fms. xi. 72.

B. niðri, denoting in a place, vera niðri, liggja niðri, etc., passim, see the remarks to frammi (p. 169, col. 2), to which the use of niðri is perfectly analogous :-- down; uppi ok niðri ok þar í miðju, Lil. 1; skoðuðu hann uppi ok niðri, all over, high and low, Skíða R. 196; niðri við sjó, Gísl. 72; vera niðri í kili, Fbr. 81 new Ed. 2. metaph. underneath, Stj. 393: beneath, underneath, secretly, styrktu hann undir niðri til slíkra údáða, Mar.; hann elskaði aðra konu undir niðri, id., passim.

niðra, að, mod. hniðra, [Scot, nidder], to put down, lower, with dat.; niðra e-m or e-u; n. blótum, Fb. i. 63; n. drambi e-s, Al. 10; þeir er mér vildu n., Fms. ix. 278; hafa hans frændr niðrat mínum ættmönnum, 306; hver sem mér n. vildi, Pass. 24. 11; ok Guðs andskotum at n., Bær. 18; neist ok niðrat, Bs., with acc. Stj. 67: mod. to pull down, revile, passim in mod. usage.

niðran. f., mod. hniðran, degradation, shame, Fms. i. 208, viii. 448 (v. l.), x. 305, Sks. 775 B, Bs. i. 738.

niðr-bjúgr, adj. crooked; n. nef, Rm. 10, Ó. T. (in a verse).

niðr-brot, n. a 'down-break,' destruction, Rb. 332, Mar., Fms. v. 163. niðrbrots-maðr, m. a destroyer, Bs. i. 724.

niðr-brotari, a, m. a destroyer, Bs. i. 733.

niðr-dráttr, m. a dragging down, Fb. i. 307.

niðr-drep, n. a pulling down, H. E. i. 497.

niðr-fall, n. a downfall, Stj. 9, Sks. 146, Barl. 89 :-- destruction, dilapidation, N. G. L. i. 343 :-- metaph. decay, ruin, Stj. 65, Sks. 450: downfall, loss, Fms. x. 31 (v. l.), Bs. i. 92, 132: as a law term, the dropping of a case, handsala n. at sökum, Nj. 21, passim. :-- a plague, Mar. niðrfalls-sótt, f. epilepsy, Mar.

niðr-ferð, f. descent, Bev.

niðr-ganga, u, f. descent, Bret. 32: setting of the sun, Rb. 472, 476.

niðr-gangr, m. = niðrganga :-- medic. diarrhoea.

niðri, adv., see niðr B. niðri-vist, f. a remaining below, Fms. vii. 166.

niðr-kváma, u, f. a coming down, Mar.

niðr-lag, n. an end, conclusion; at niðrlagi mánaðarins, Rb. 28: a saying, lítið upphaf görir stundum ágætt n., MS. 4. 9 :-- of a verse, book, or the like, upphaf ok n. vísu, Vígl. 30; ok er eitt n. (one burden) á öllum, Hkr. iii. 71: lýkr hér sögunni með svá föllnu niðrlagi ok enda, Fas. iii. 452. II. the storing up meat for household use; var þar betri einn sauðr til niðrlags en tveir annars-staðar, Grett. 137 A; lét hann þat standa á niðrlögum sínum, Fas. iii. 383.

niðr-leitr, adj. down-looking, Stj. 20, 71, Karl. 553.

niðr-lútr, adj. 'down-louting,' downcast, Sighvat, Pass. 16.

niðr-níða, d, to dilapidate, esp. of a farm; jörðin er niðrnídd, the estate is let down, is in a bad condition.

niðr-raða, að, to arrange; niðr-raðan, f. order, arrangement.

niðr-seta, u, f. = niðrsetningr.

niðr-setning, f. a setting down, burying, Bs. i. 132.

niðr-setningr, m. a pauper, from being distributed (set down) in Icel. among the different households in a parish, (setja e-n niðr á hreppinn.)

niðr-staða, u, f. the final end, conclusion of a thing; það var niðrstaðan á því.

niðr-stiga, u, f. a descent, Sks. 56.

niðr-stigning, f. a descent, Stj. 376, Niðrst. 8, Sks. 55, passim, niðrstigningar-Saga, u, f. the History of the Descent into Hell (sec List of Authors F. III), Am. 3.

niðr-stíga, steig, to descend: part. niðrstiginn, descended, Bs. i. 823.

niðr-taka, u, f. a pulling down, Fms. xi. 431.

niðr-varp, n. an overthrowing, Sks. 526.

niðr-víðr, adj. wide or large beneath. Fas. ii. 343.

nið-örkliga, adv. hideously; geispa n., Fb. i. 259.

NIFL, n. [O. H. G. nibul; Germ. nebel; Lat. nebula; Gr. GREEK] :-- a mist, fog; this ancient word is obsolete in the Northern languages, and solely remains in COMPDS, chiefly mythol.: nifl-farinn, part. gone towards the dark, i. e. the dead, a GREEK. GREEK., Akv. 33. nifl-góðr, adj. a GREEK. GREEK. in a doubtful passage, Stor. 15. Nifl-hel, f. the Tartarus of the heathen mythology, deeper down than Hel (Hades); wicked men are said to die a second death and pass from Hel into Niflhel; fyrir Niflhel neðan, hinnig deyja or Helju halir, Vþm. 43; ríða norðr til Niflheljar, Vtkv. 2; vándir menn fara til Heljar ok þaðan í Niflhel, Edda; ok sendi hann (the giant) niðr undir Niflhel, 27. Nifl-heimr, m. Hades, Edda 18, -- Hel kastaði hann í Niflheim ok gaf henni vald yfir níu heimum, Edda 4; fyrr var þat mörgum öldum en jörð var sköpuð, er Niflheimr var görr, 3. nifl-vegr, m. pl. the foggy way, Gg. 13.

Niflungar, n. pl. the Niebelungen, of the Germ. tales; the older form hniflungar (q. v.) shews that the word cannot be derived from nifl; the derivation in Edda 104, 105 (from king Nefir) is fanciful, and a later invention; hodd Niflunga (hniflunga ?) = Nibelungen hort, Akv.; Niflunga skattr, id.; Niflunga arfr, id., Bm.

Nikuðr, Nikuðs, Nikarr, m. one of the names of Ódin, Gm., Edda (Gl.); but, as suggested by Finn Magnusson in Lex. Mythol. s. v., it no doubt was originally the name of Neptune or a water-goblin, cp. Nykr.

NIPT, f., acc. nipti, as if from niptr, Hkv. 2. 28, [nefi] :-- a female relative, Edda (Gl.): a sister, ek hefi nauðigr nipti grætta, Hkv. 2. 28; nipt ok dísi nú mun ek telja, Edda (Gl.); nipt Nara = Hel, Höfuðl. 9, cp. Edda 18; Njörfa nipt, id., Stor. 24; nipt Nera, of a weird sister, Hkv. 1. 4; nipt Tveggia bága (= the sister of Fenrir = Hela) Stor. 24: a daughter, heil Nótt ok nipt, hail Night and daughter = the Earth, Sdm. 3, see Edda 7: a niece, Freys nipt, the niece of Frey, i. e. Hnoss, the daughter of Frey's sister Freyja, Edda (in a verse) :-- of a nun, as it seems, Sighvat (in a verse) :-- hlað-nipt, see hlað.

NIST and nisti, n. a brooch or pin, as also a locket; that it was shaped like a pin is seen from the verb nista, see Worsaae, Nos. 371-373, 384 sqq., 425 sqq.; Halldórr hafði yfir sér skikkju ok á nist löng sem þá var títt, . . . sprettr Halldórr upp svá hart at nistin rifnaði (sic) af skikkjunni, Ld. 322; dóttir skal hafa kross ok kingu ok nisti öll, ef vegr eyri eðr minna, af silfri gör, N. G. L. i. 211 (Js. 78); hón fór ór fötum ok spretti frá sér félitlu nisti, Bs. i. 337; bleikr ásýndar sem nesta gull, Fms. v. 345; fimm sylgjur ok þrjú nisti, Bs. i. 874; hón hefir menit á hálsi sér ok nistin horfðu niðr, Fb. i. 276.

nist, n. = nest, q. v.

nista, t, erroneously proncd. nísta :-- to pin, nail fast, esp. to pin with a weapon; sú (the arrow) nisti klæði hans við gólfit, Fms. i. 269; spjótið hafði nist allt saman fótinn ok brókina, Eb. 242; ok nisti hann svá dauðan út við borðinu, Sturl. iii. 66; ok nistir hann niðr við klakann, Finnb. 286; ok nistí hann við rist honum skjöldinn, Rd. 267; ok ætlaði at n. hann í gegnum við hallar-vegginn, Stj. 466; var hann skotinn gaflaki í óstinn ok nistr svo niðr við garðinn, Sturl. i. 112; ok nistir svá tunguna niðr við kverkrnar, Al. 77; ok nisti hann svá at öll námu staðar í hjartanu, Stj. 534; nist sverði, pierced with a sword, Lil. 56, cp. Líkn. 16. 32: the phrase, nístandi kuldi, piercing cold, not from gnísta, q. v.

nista, t, [from nesti, as gista from gestr], to provide with viands; ok nisti alia, N. G. L. i. 136; skal hann ok alla nista þá ef þess þarf viðr, ii. 352, v. l.; sá er úlfgi nistir, who never feeds (the wolf) never fights, Km. 22, see Lex. Poët. s. v.

nistill, in. a little pin; n. silki-treyju, silk-jacket-pin, an ironical circumlocution for a man, Skíða R. 186.

nisting, f. = nist; dálkrinn er ór feldi mínum ok vil ek at þú saumir á nisting, Glúm. 343; ný nisting, Edda (in a verse).

nit, f. = gnit, q. v.

NÍÐ, n. [Ulf. neiþ = GREEK; A. S. nîð; O. H. G. nid; Germ, neid; Dan.-Swed. nid :-- contumely, Vsp. 56; segja e-m níð, Akv. 35. 2. particularly as a law term, a libel, liable to outlawry :-- of a libel in verse, yrkja, kveða níð um e-n, Nj. 70; ef maðr kveðr níð um mann at lögbergi ok varðar skóggang, Grág. (Kb.) ii. 184: the classical passages in the Sagas are Hkr. O. T. ch. 36, cp. Jómsv. S. ch. 13 (Fms. xi. 42, 43), Kristni S. ch. 4, Nj. ch. 45, Bjarn. 33 (the verse). Another and even graver kind of níð was the carving a person's likeness (tré-níð) in an obscene position on an upraised post or pole (níð-stöng), for an instance of which see Bjarn. 33; ef maðr görir níð um annan ok varðar þat fjörbaugs-garð, en þat er níð ef maðr skerr tréníð manni eðr rístr eða reisir manni níðstöng, Grág. i. 147; when the post was set up, a horse's head was also put up, and a man's head was carved on the pole's end, with dire Runes and imprecations; all this is described in a lively manner in Eg. ch. 60 and Vd. ch. 34, Landn. 4. ch. 4, Rd. ch. 25. The beina-kerlinga-vísur of mod. times are no doubt a remnant of the old níðstöng; -- certain stone pyramids (varða) along mountain-roads are furnished with sheeps' legs or horses' heads, and are called beina-kerling (bone carline); one of the most noted is on the Kaldadal, as one passes from the north to the south of Iceland, it is even marked in the map; a passing traveller alights and scratches a ditty called beina-kerlinga-vísa (often of a scurrilous or even loose kind) on one of the bones, addressing it to the person who may next pass by; for a specimen see Bjarni 193, as also in poems of Jón Þorláksson, for there hardly was a poet who did not indulge in these poetical licences. In popular legends the devil always scratches his writing on a blighted horse's bone.

NÍÐ, f, thus (not Nið) in Ann. Reg., a river in Norway, whence Níðar-óss, in. the famous old town in Drontheim in Norway.

níða, d, [níð, n.], to lampoon, libel, Nj. 66, Fms. i. 153, vii. 60, Eg. 415: to revile. II. reflex., níðask á e-m, to behave shamefully to a person, thus to slay a defenceless man in his deep or the like; á engum manni níðumk ek, Fms. vii. 314; Noregs-menn höfðu níðsk á Olafi konungi, vi. 7; eigi vil ek níðask á þér, Nj. 60: of a thing, níðask á e-u, to break one's faith; hvárki skal ek á þessu níðask né á öngu öðru því er