mýrr

Forms

mýrr f (genitive mýrar, plural mýrar) (strong ijō-stem)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *miuzijō (“bog, swamp”);^[1] de Vries gives the Proto-Norse form as *meuziō.^[2] It is an ablaut variant of the word for moss: the nearest cognates are Old English mēos (“moss”) and Old High German mios, and within Old Norse it stands in ablaut with mosi (“moss”).^[3][4][5] Gersum explains the difference from the Old English and Old High German forms by Verner's law, which acted in the Norse word but not in theirs.^[6] The likeness to Old English mōr (“moor”) is a false one.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

ONP's earliest citation, dated 1192, is a gloss in its GlossCod1812, where the manuscript writes myrr.^[7] The first passage in running prose is in Ágrip, dated 1225 by ONP: þá var hon teken ok søkt í mýri einni “then she was seized and sunk in a bog”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The word means a moor or bog, and ONP gives it a single sense.^[7] Cleasby and Vigfússon note the old custom of drowning criminals in bogs.^[8] It is frequent in place-names such as Mýrar.^[8][9] In skaldic kennings más mýrr “the gull's bog” is the sea and Fáfnis mýrr “Fáfnir's bog” is gold.^[9]

The modern form is Icelandic mýri, the old dative and accusative form.^[3][8] English mire is a loan from Norse.^[2][10][11]

Timeline

• 1192 – myrr in a gloss in GlossCod1812, by ONP's dating.^[7]
• 1225 – í mýri einni “in a bog” in Ágrip, by ONP's dating.^[7]
• 1320–1350 – mýrr, mýrar and the place-name Mýrar in Egils saga in AM 132 fol.^[12]
• c. 1300 – English mire, from a Scandinavian source.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. a moor, bog, swamp.^[7][13][8]

Word family

• torfmýrr
• kjarrmýrr

Descendants

• Icelandic mýri^[1]
• Faroese mýri^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk myr^[1]
• Old Swedish mȳr^[1]
• Swedish myr^[1]
• Danish myr^[1]
• Middle English myre (→ English mire)^[6][10]

Related words

• mosi

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 398
3. ^ a b Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. mýri
4. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 269
5. ^ Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. myr
6. ^ a b Dance, Richard; Pons-Sanz, Sara; Schorn, Brittany, eds., The Gersum Project: The Scandinavian Influence on English Vocabulary, gersum.org, p. s.v. myre
7. ^ 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. mýrr
8. ^ a b c d Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 441
9. ^ a b Finnur Jónsson (1931), Lexicon Poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, 2nd ed., Copenhagen: S. L. Møller, p. 417
10. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 132 fol
13. ^ Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. mýrr