kross

Forms

kross m (genitive kross, plural krossar)^[1][2] Runic krus on the crosses of the Isle of Man,^[3] krs at Bride,^[4] and kurs on Barra.^[5] cros and crosse beside kross in the oldest manuscripts.^[6][7]

Etymology

It is a loan, ultimately from Latin crux (“cross”), and the sources differ on the channel.^[8][9] Fischer takes it from Irish, borrowed from Old Irish cross, and rejects Kluge's derivation from English;^[10] de Vries gives the Irish source first, after Fischer, and also reports Torp's Old English cross and Höfler's Old Frisian kross.^[9] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon leaves the choice open between Old English and Old Irish.^[8] Jóhannesson suggests that Danish kors and Swedish kors, with metathesis, may come from Frisian, and that the Old Frisian form could underlie the West Norse one as well.^[11]

Cleasby and Vigfússon note that the earliest poets used the Latin word itself, as a masculine, in “helgum crúci”.^[12] de Vries and Köbler compare krúss.^[9][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest dated records are on the runic crosses of the Isle of Man, where Rundata dates Braddan I and Bride to 930–950: Þorsteinn reisti kross þenna ept Ófeig, son Krínáns “Þorsteinn set up this cross in memory of Ófeigr, Krínán's son”.^[3][4] The Andreas cross IM MM113 is put in the 10th century, and the word is also on crosses in Scotland, England, Ireland and at Svanøy in Norway, there in the early 11th century.^[14][15] In the manuscripts ONP's first citation is the Icelandic homily fragment Hóm237 of 1150: Crossar oc róþor merkia meínlǽtes menn “crosses and roods signify men of penance”.^[16]

Semantic evolution

ONP has two senses: the cross on which Christ and criminals were put to death, as in hanga á krossi and inn helgi kross, and the cross as the sign of Christianity.^[16] Hence a crucifix, set up by the roads and in churches, on which oaths were sworn, and the sign of the cross made with the hand.^[12][17] In Norway a cross was also cut and sent from house to house to announce church matters, and LMNL records it as a token of seizure.^[17][18][19] taka kross was to vow to go on crusade.^[20][18] í kross means crosswise.^[2]

It continues as Icelandic kross, Faroese krossur and Norwegian Nynorsk kross, while Swedish and Danish have kors.^[8][9] In Icelandic it took on further senses: a decoration, a cairn built in the shape of a cross, a transept and a burden to bear.^[8][21]

Timeline

• 930–950 – krus “cross” on the Braddan I stone, Isle of Man (IM MM112).^[3]
• 980–990 – krus on several Manx crosses (IM MM132, MM135).^[22][23]
• Early 11th century – krus on the cross at Svanøy church, Norway (N 417).^[15]
• 1150 – crossar in the Icelandic homily fragment Hóm237.^[16]
• 1175 – hect á crose “hung on the cross” in ONP's BlasApp.^[16]
• 1200–1225 – kross and crosse in the Norwegian AM 619 4to and the Icelandic AM 677 4to.^[6][24]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Christian) the cross as an instrument of execution, especially that of Christ.^[16][1]
2. (Christian) a cross as the symbol of Christianity; a crucifix, a standing cross.^[16][2]
3. the sign of the cross.^[2][17]
4. (law) a cross sent round as a summons for church matters; a token of seizure.^[17][19]
5. the shape of a cross;^[2][20] í kross crosswise.^[2][20]

Word family

• krossa
• krossmark
• krossfesta
• krossgata
• gullkross
• trékross

Descendants

• Icelandic kross^[8]
• Faroese krossur^[8]
• Norwegian Nynorsk kross^[8]
• Swedish kors^[8]
• Danish kors^[8]

Related words

• krúss

References

1. ^ a b Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. kross
2. ^ a b c d e f Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. kross
3. ^ a b c Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. IM MM112
4. ^ a b Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. IM MM118
5. ^ Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. Sc 8
6. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 619 4to
7. ^ Larsson, Ludvig (1891), Ordförrådet i de älsta islänska handskrifterna, Lund: Ph. Lindstedt, p. 190
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. kross
9. ^ a b c d de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 331
10. ^ Fischer, Frank (1909), Die Lehnwörter des Altwestnordischen, Palaestra 85, Berlin, p. 19
11. ^ Jóhannesson, Alexander (1956), Isländisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern, p. 1061
12. ^ a b Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 356
13. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. kross
14. ^ Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. IM MM113
15. ^ a b Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. N 417
16. ^ a b c d e f Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. kross
17. ^ a b c d Hertzberg, Ebbe (1895), Glossarium, in Norges gamle Love indtil 1387, vol. 5, Christiania, p. 366
18. ^ a b Hægstad, Marius; Torp, Alf (1909), Gamalnorsk ordbok med nynorsk tyding, Kristiania: Det norske samlaget, p. 232
19. ^ a b A Lexicon of Medieval Nordic Law, Digital Humanities Institute, University of Sheffield, p. s.v. kross
20. ^ a b c Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 344
21. ^ Sigfús Blöndal (1920–1924), Islandsk-dansk ordbog, Reykjavík, p. 454
22. ^ Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. IM MM132
23. ^ Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. IM MM135
24. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 677 4to