flaki

Forms

flaki m (genitive flaka)^[1][2] Also fleki.^[1][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *flakōn (“hurdle”), the source also of Middle English flake (“hurdle”).^[4] De Vries compares Middle Low German vlake (“flat wickerwork”) and Middle Dutch vlake (“hurdle”), and puts the word in the family of the verb fela.^[5] Orel instead relates it to Ancient Greek πλάγος (plágos, “side”) and Latin plaga (“region, tract”),^[4] and Köbler's Germanic dictionary to the adjective Proto-Germanic *flakaz (“flat”).^[6] Kroonen records that adjective only in West Germanic.^[7]

De Vries reports Karsten's view that Proto-Norse forms of the word were borrowed into Finnish, as Finnish laki (“inner part of the roof”) and lakka (“porch roof, loft”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated record is in AM 243 bα fol of 1270–1280.^[8] ONP's earliest citations, from the same text dated 1275, are advice on defending a castle: Þat gera mænn … at gera flaca mæð storum æiki vonndum oc hylia alla steiɴ væggi “men make shields of large oak rods and cover all the stone walls with them”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word is a military one: a screen or roof of planks or plaited branches that protected men from missiles in a siege or a sea battle.^[9][10] ONP finds it mostly in the kings' sagas and other historical works,^[2] and Falk treats it among the weapons.^[11] Icelandic still has flaki as a synonym of fleki.^[12][13]

Timeline

• 1270–1280 – flaca and flacar in AM 243 bα fol.^[8]
• 1270–1290 – flaka in AM 519 a 4to.^[14]
• 1275 – konungr let gera flaca af viðartagum “the king had shields made of withies”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. a protective screen or shelter of boards or wickerwork, used in battle.^[2][3][9]

Word family

• hurðarflaki
• viðarflaki
• vígflaki

Related words

• fleki
• flak
• fláki

References

1. ^ a b Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 159
2. ^ a b c d e Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. flaki
3. ^ a b Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. flaki
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 105
5. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 128
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
7. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 143
8. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 243 bα fol
9. ^ a b Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 144
10. ^ Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. flaki
11. ^ Falk, Hjalmar (1914), Altnordische Waffenkunde, Kristiania, p. 194
12. ^ Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. flaki
13. ^ Sigfús Blöndal (1920–1924), Islandsk-dansk ordbog, Reykjavík, p. 201
14. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 519 a 4to