tjóðr

Forms

tjóðr n (a-stem)^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *teudrą (“tether, shaft”).^[3][4] Its cognates are Old Frisian tiāder (“tether”), Middle Low German tüder (“tether”) and Old High German ziotar (“wagon pole”);^[5][6] de Vries also lists an Old English form, but Etymonline finds none.^[5][7]

The root is disputed. Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon analyses the word as *teu- with the instrument suffix *-þra-, from Proto-Indo-European *deu- (“to pull”), the root extended in taug (“rope”) and tjóa.^[6] Etymonline gives the same root with *-tro-.^[7] De Vries rejects both the comparison with a Sanskrit word for “band”, which is of Dravidian origin, and a separate root *deu- set up only for this word; from Old High German “ziotar” he concludes that the starting point was a forked piece of wood, like tjúga, rather than a rope.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Menota's only record is in the Norwegian law manuscript Holm perg 34 4to, of 1276–1300, with the spellings tjóðr and tioðr.^[8] Fritzner cites the Gulathing law for stendr hestr í tjóðri “a horse stands on its tether”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The word is a farm and law term for the rope by which a grazing horse or cow is tied, as in hestr í tjóðri “a tethered horse”;^[10][2] Cleasby and Vigfússon list the compounds tjóðrhestr and tjóðrkýr.^[10][2] De Vries glosses it as a fetter for an animal's foot.^[5] The verb tjóðra “to tether” is made from it.^[6][2]

It survives as Icelandic and Faroese tjóður, Norwegian tjoder, Swedish tjuder and Danish tøjr.^[5][6] Middle English teder, English tether, is from Norse,^[11][6] and de Vries traces a Norman tierre “grazing rope” to it as well.^[5]

Timeline

• 1276–1300 – tjóðr, tioðr in the Norwegian manuscript Holm perg 34 4to.^[8]
• 1368 – Middle English tethirs in a Coldingham document.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. a tether, the rope by which a grazing horse or other animal is tied.^[2][9][12]

Word family

• tjóðra

Descendants

• Icelandic tjóður^[6]
• Faroese tjóður^[6]
• Norwegian Nynorsk tjoder^[5]
• Swedish tjuder^[5]
• Danish tøjr^[6]
• Middle English teder^[11]

References

1. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. tjóðr
2. ^ a b c d e Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. tjóðr
3. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b c d e f g h de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 592
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. tjóður
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. Holm perg 34 4to
9. ^ a b Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. tjóðr
10. ^ a b Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 635
11. ^ a b c 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)
12. ^ A Lexicon of Medieval Nordic Law, Digital Humanities Institute, University of Sheffield, p. s.v. tjóðr