hryggr

hryggr¹ back, spine

Forms

hryggr m (genitive hryggjar, plural hryggir) (strong i-stem)^[1]

Etymology

The word for the back is inherited from Proto-Germanic *hrugjaz (“back, ridge”).^[1][2] The Proto-Germanic noun is continued by Old English hryċġ (“back, spine, ridge”) (whence English ridge), Old Frisian hreg, Old Saxon hruggi, Old Dutch ruggi and Old High German rucki.^[2][3]

Its further origin is uncertain, and Kroonen finds no certain cognate outside Germanic: the best comparison, an Irish and Welsh word for “heap, hill”, is probably a loan from Germanic, a link with Old Irish croicenn (“skin”) is unlikely, and Latin crux (“cross”) is possible.^[2] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon thinks it is probably related to hrúga (“heap”), with an original sense “something curved or bulging”, and compares Lithuanian kriauklas (“rib”) and the Latin word.^[4] Köbler puts it under Pokorny's root Proto-Indo-European *skreuk- (“to turn, bend”), with a question mark.^[5][6] De Vries follows Trier in tracing the word family to building: the Latin word names the forked supporting post, the English one the horizontal ridge-beam of a roof, from which the sense “back” could easily develop.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

ONP's earliest dated record is in the Old Norse Dialogues of Gregory, dated 1212, of a dead abbot's body: lic abbatans snórisc a hliþ. es aþr la a hrvɢ “the abbot's body turned onto its side, which before lay on its back”.^[7] Larsson lists the definite form hrygren in AM 645 4to, among the oldest Icelandic manuscripts, and ONP dates that passage, on a beam that crushed a woman's spine, to 1220.^[8][7]

Semantic evolution

From the spine of people and animals (Cleasby and Vigfússon note that it is used even of serpents) the word passed to a ridge of land, a mountain ridge, and appears in place-names.^[9][7] In the laws it is the middle fold of a length of cloth, as opposed to its edge (jaðarr): Grágás has cloth measured at hrygg eða jaðri, at the fold or at the edge.^[9][7] It also names the back of a letter or charter and the sharp edge of a nail.^[7][10]

The noun lives on as Icelandic hryggur, Faroese ryggur, Norwegian Nynorsk rygg, Swedish rygg and Danish ryg.^[3][1] De Vries traces Middle English rig and dialect English rigg “back, ridge” to the Norse word, beside the native word, and notes Norse loans in Orkney and Shetland dialect and in Manx place-names.^[3] From the noun comes the verb hryggja “to form a ridge; to back off”.^[4]

Timeline

• 1212 – a hrvɢ “on (his) back” in the Dialogues of Gregory.^[7]
• 1220 – hryɢreɴ “the spine” in the Icelandic manuscript AM 645 4to, by ONP's dating.^[7][8]
• 1250–1300 – orma hryggjum “with the backs of serpents” in Vǫluspá, in the Codex Regius.^[11][12]
• 1265 – the sense “middle fold of cloth” in the Staðarhólsbók text of Grágás.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. the spine, backbone; the back, of people and animals.^[7][13][9]
2. a ridge of land, a mountain ridge or crest.^[7][13][10]
3. the back, reverse side of a letter or charter.^[7][14]
4. the middle fold of a piece of cloth folded lengthwise, as opposed to its edge.^[7][9]
5. the sharp edge of a nail or rivet.^[7][10]

Word family

• hryggja
• fiskhryggr
• melhryggr
• sandhryggr
• skógarhryggr
• járnhryggr

Descendants

• Icelandic hryggur^[1]
• Faroese ryggur^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk rygg^[1]
• Swedish rygg^[1]
• Danish ryg^[1]

hryggr² sad

Forms

hryggr adj (accusative masculine singular hryggvan; comparative hryggvari or hryggri, superlative hryggvastr)^[9][13]

Etymology

The word for sad is inherited from Proto-Germanic *hrewwaz (“sad”),^[15][16] which de Vries writes with ⟨i⟩.^[3] Its relatives are Old English hrēow (“sad, penitent”) and Old Saxon hriuwi (“sad, troubled”), with the noun Old High German hriuwa (“grief, repentance”);^[3][16] the verbs Old English hrēowan, Old Saxon hreuwan and Old High German hriuwan (“to grieve, rue”) (whence English rue and German reuen) belong with them.^[4] The oblique stem ⟨hryggv-⟩ keeps the old ⟨w⟩.^[9][16]

The further etymology is doubtful.^[3] De Vries lists three proposals: Uhlenbeck's link with hrár (“raw”), which he thinks unlikely;^[3] Persson's with a Sanskrit word for “pitiful”; and a root Proto-Indo-European *kreu- (“to push, strike”), as in hrosti.^[3] Köbler and Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon prefer the last, Ásgeir with hesitation, and comparing Lithuanian krušti (“to crush”).^[15][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

ONP's earliest dated record is in the Icelandic Homily Book, dated 1200, of Herod hearing of the birth of Christ: Herodes varþ hryɢr viþ oc allt fólc hans meþ honom “Herod was troubled at it, and all his people with him”.^[7] Menota has it in AM 677 4to, of 1200–1225, with the forms hryggvan and hryggvir.^[17]

Semantic evolution

The adjective is most common in religious works, by ONP's genre count, and it often stands in pairs such as hryggr ok hræddr “sad and afraid” and hryggr ok reiðr “sad and angry”.^[7] Beside the sense of a person, “sad, grieved”, it describes things that cause grief, “sorrowful, lamentable”, as in skaldic hrygg herverk and hryggr dómr.^[7][18] From it come the verb hryggja, older hryggva, “to make sad”, and the noun hryggð “sorrow”.^[4] It survives as Icelandic hryggur and Faroese ryggur.^[3]

Timeline

• 1200 – hryɢr in the Icelandic Homily Book.^[7]
• 1200–1225 – hryggvan, hryggvir in AM 677 4to.^[17]
• 1212 – the sense “sorrowful, lamentable” in the homilies of AM 677 4to, by ONP's dating.^[7]

Meanings

Adjective

1. sad, grieved, sorrowful, distressed.^[7][13][9]
2. saddening, lamentable, deplorable.^[7][18]

Word family

• hryggja
• hryggva
• hryggð
• hryggleikr
• hryggligr
• óhryggr
• allhryggr
• hughryggr

Descendants

• Icelandic hryggur^[1]
• Faroese ryggur^[3]