stǫð

Forms

stǫð f (genitive stǫðvar, plural stǫðvar) (strong wō-stem)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *staþwō (“landing-place”), a feminine beside *staþaz (“shore”), the noun behind Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌸𐍃 (staþs, “shore”), Old English stæþ (“shore”), Old Saxon stath and Old High German stad (“landing-place, bank”).^[2][3] Köbler gives the Proto-Norse stem with *-w-.^[4]

Orel derives the Germanic noun from Proto-Indo-European *stā- (“to stand”), comparing Latin status and Lithuanian statùs (“standing, straight”),^[3] and Wiktionary likewise takes it from the root of standa (“to stand”).^[1] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon also cites an Old Gutnish plural meaning “shore”.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

IcePaHC's first record is the plural stöðvar in Jómsvíkinga saga, which it dates 1260.^[5] In the Poetic Edda the prose of Grímnismál says that the brothers kómu til stǫþva fǫþur sins “came to their father's landing-place”, and in Hárbarðsljóð the ferryman is told styrþu hingat eikjonne, ek mon þér stǫþna kenna “steer the boat over here, I will show you the landing-place”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is a landing-place for boats, which the laws use of the shore a man owns, where a whale might drift in.^[7][8] In the plural it means places, parts or regions.^[7][2] Snorri's Edda uses it for the place of a word in a stanza, from which the reader must tell what is meant.^[8] In skaldic verse it is a haunt or lair, and kennings use it for mountains as the haunts of wolves and for ships.^[9]

It continues as Icelandic stöð, now “place where something is done, station”, Faroese støð “landing-place; workplace” and Norwegian Nynorsk stø “landing-place”; the old sense also survives in Icelandic place-names.^[2] Cleasby and Vigfússon compare English stead in roadstead.^[7]

Timeline

• 1260 – stöðvar in Jómsvíkinga saga, by IcePaHC's dating.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. a landing-place, berth, harbour.^[10][7][8]
2. a place, position; the context of a word.^[10][8]
3. a haunt, dwelling-place, abode; in the plural, parts, regions.^[10][9][7]

Word family

• stǫðva
• heimstǫð

Descendants

• Icelandic stöð^[1]
• Faroese støð^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk stø^[1]

Related words

• standa
• staða
• staðr
• stǫðugr

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. stöð
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 372
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. stǫð
5. ^ a b Wallenberg, Joel C.; Ingason, Anton Karl; Sigurðsson, Einar Freyr; Rögnvaldsson, Eiríkur, Icelandic Parsed Historical Corpus, version 0.9
6. ^ Gering, Hugo (1903), Vollständiges Wörterbuch zu den Liedern der Edda, Halle: Waisenhaus, p. col. 987
7. ^ a b c d e Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 602
8. ^ a b c d Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. stöð
9. ^ a b Faulkes, Anthony (2011), A New Introduction to Old Norse III: Glossary and Index of Names, 4th ed., London: Viking Society for Northern Research, p. s.v. stǫð
10. ^ a b c Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. stöð