krókr

Forms

krókr m^[1] Early spellings include crocar, krokr and krocur;^[2][3] Cleasby and Vigfússon note a form krákr.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *krōkaz (“something bent, a hook”).^[1][4] De Vries compares Old High German kracho (“hook, fork”) and sets it with kraki, kriki and krœkja;^[5][6] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon takes the first of these as an ablaut relative.^[7]

Köbler and Wiktionary trace the family to Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to turn, wind”).^[4][1] De Vries ties the senses “bend” and “bent wood” to plaiting, and so to the words for wattle fences treated under karmr, with kró (“pen”) beside it.^[5] Etymonline calls the origin obscure.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

ONP's earliest dated citations are from 1275.^[2] In one, from the saga of Saint Óláfr, Þormóðr pulls an arrow out of his wound with tongs: En þar voro crokar a oc lagv þar a tagar af hiartano “and there were barbs on it, and fibres of the heart hung on them”.^[2] In another, from Morkinskinna, the word is used of hooks on chains.^[2]

Semantic evolution

ONP orders the senses from the hook itself to things with a hook: a pole with a hook, the barb of a weapon, a trident, and the curled stern of a dragon ship, and then to bends: the hook of a nose and a tail.^[2] The idea of a bend gave rísta krók and gera sér króka “to make a detour”, and Baetke records the figurative “trick”.^[2][9][10] Zoëga adds “corner”.^[10]

It continues as Icelandic krókur, Swedish krok and Danish krog.^[7][11] English crook, from about 1200, is from the Norse word, and de Vries lists loans in Orkney, Shetland, Scottish Gaelic, French croc and Russian krjuk.^[8][5]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – English crook “hook-shaped tool”, from the Norse word.^[8]
• 1275 – crokar, the barbs of an arrow, in a text of Óláfs saga helga.^[2]
• 1276–1300 – krókar in the law manuscript Holm perg 34 4to.^[12]
• 1300 – krókr, the curled stern of a dragon ship, in Orkneyinga saga.^[2]
• 1330–1370 – krókr and króks in the Víga-Glúms saga of AM 132 fol.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. a hook, a clasp.^[2][10]
2. a pole with a hook, a fire-hook.^[2][10]
3. a barb on a spear or arrow-head.^[2][10]
4. a three-pronged fork, a trident.^[2][3]
5. a chain.^[2]
6. the curved stern of a dragon ship.^[2][3]
7. the hook or bend of a nose.^[2][14]
8. a tail.^[2]
9. a bend or detour;^[2][10] gera sér króka “to go out of one's way”.^[2][10]
10. a corner.^[10][9]

Word family

• krœkja
• krókaspjót
• krókǫr
• hælkrókr
• járnkrókr
• heykrókr
• torfkrókr
• framkrókr

Descendants

• Icelandic krókur^[1]
• Faroese krókur^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk krok^[1]
• Norwegian Bokmål krok^[1]
• Swedish krok^[1]
• Danish krog^[1]
• English crook^[8][5]
• French croc^[5]
• Russian крюк (krjuk)^[5]

Related words

• kraki
• kriki
• kró

Usage notes

Krókr is also found as a byname and personal name.^[5][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. krókr
3. ^ a b c d Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 356
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
5. ^ a b c d e f g de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 331
6. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. col. 742
7. ^ a b Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. krókur
8. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ a b Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 344
10. ^ a b c d e f g h Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. krókr
11. ^ Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. krok
12. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. Holm perg 34 4to
13. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 132 fol
14. ^ Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. krókr
15. ^ Möbius, Theodor (1866), Altnordisches Glossar, Leipzig: Teubner, p. 241