raptr

Forms

raptr m (genitive rapts, plural raptar)^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *raftraz (“rafter”),^[3] with cognates in Old English ræfter (“rafter, beam”)^[4][5] and Middle Low German rafter (“small beam, lath”).^[6][7] De Vries notes that the spelling with ⟨pt⟩ stands for ⟨ft⟩,^[8] and the modern form is Icelandic raftur.^[7] He also compares the Vandal and Gepid personal names Raptos and Reptila.^[8]

Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon relates it to ráf and ræfr “roof” and probably to the root Proto-Indo-European *rep-, so that the first sense would be “split or cleft wood”;^[7] Köbler gives the root as Proto-Indo-European *rēp- (“pole, beam”).^[5] Torp thinks Ancient Greek ῥόπτρον (rhóptron, “door-knocker”) hardly related.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

ONP dates its first citation to 1150, in a homily on the church building: ásar oc staflǽgior ... stýþia. oc saman hallda bǽþe rꜵ́ftom. oc veggþiliom kirkionnar “the roof beams and wall plates support and hold together both the rafters and the wall panelling of the church”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

ONP distinguishes a pole, post or thin log, the rafter of a roof, and, once, a burning log.^[9] In the plural the rafters stand for the roof itself, as in koma undir sótkan rapt “to come under a sooty rafter”, that is, under a roof,^[10][11] and in the laws the word names light timber whose export was restricted.^[12] In the Eddic Atlamál the phrase raptar sundr brustu has been taken as the rafters of the hall,^[13][14] and Gering suggested the side pieces of a harp.^[15] The rímur use it in kennings for a man, such as bauga raptr.^[16]

Modern Icelandic raftur also serves as a term of abuse for a man.^[7] English raft “float” is a loan from the Norse word, as is Shetland raft “tall thin person”.^[8]

Timeline

• 1150 – rꜵ́ftom, the rafters of a church, in a homily.^[9]
• 1312 – rapta in a Norwegian law amendment forbidding foreigners to buy rafters except from the king's estate.^[9]
• 1325 – i raptana, Thor pushing a staff up into the rafters, in a manuscript of Snorra Edda.^[9]
• 1350 – rapt einn mikinn, a large log taken from a woodpile, in Eyrbyggja saga.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. a pole, post or thin log.^[9][1][11]
2. a rafter; in the plural, the rafters of a roof.^[9][1][10]
3. a burning log, firebrand.^[9]

Word family

• birkiraptr
• innraptr
• krókraptr
• timbrraptr

Descendants

• Icelandic raftur^[7]
• Norwegian Nynorsk raft^[7]
• Middle English raft^[8]

Related words

• ráf
• ræfr

References

1. ^ a b c Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. raptr
2. ^ Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. raptr
3. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 294
4. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 784
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ræfter
6. ^ a b Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 338
7. ^ a b c d e f Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. raftur
8. ^ a b c d de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 434
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. raptr
10. ^ a b Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 483
11. ^ a b Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 486
12. ^ Hertzberg, Ebbe (1895), Glossarium, in Norges gamle Love indtil 1387, vol. 5, Christiania, p. 507
13. ^ Finnur Jónsson (1931), Lexicon Poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, 2nd ed., Copenhagen: S. L. Møller, p. 456
14. ^ Neckel, Gustav (1927), Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius, vol. 2: Kommentierendes Glossar, Heidelberg, p. 136
15. ^ Gering, Hugo (1915), Glossar zu den Liedern der Edda, 4th ed., Paderborn, p. 141
16. ^ Finnur Jónsson (1926–1928), Ordbog til de af Samfund til udg. af gammel nordisk litteratur udgivne rímur samt til de af Dr. O. Jiriczek udgivne Bósarímur, Copenhagen, p. 293