varða

varða¹ cairn, beacon, road marker

Forms

varða f^[1]

Etymology

The word for the cairn is inherited from Proto-Germanic *wardō (“watch, guard post”),^[2][3] the source also of Old English weard (“ward, guard, watch”), Old Saxon warda (“guard, post”) and Old High German warta (“watch, lookout”).^[2][4] Orel relates the Germanic noun to Proto-Germanic *wardaz (“guard”),^[2] and Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon groups it with varði, vǫrðr (“guard, watchman”) and varr (“aware”).^[5] The root is Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to notice, heed”).^[6]

The noun first named a guard post or lookout; such posts were often marked by cairns, and the word passed to the cairns themselves.^[1] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon compares Faroese vørða, Norwegian Nynorsk vorde (“mountain ridge”), Middle Low German warde (“watch, lookout”) and Swedish vård (“memorial”).^[5] De Vries adds place-names in northern England such as Warcop and Warbreck, and vord in Shetland, as borrowings from the Norse word.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Menota's only record of the noun is the spelling varðu, an oblique case, in the Norwegian manuscript DG 8 II of 1225–1250.^[7] IcePaHC first has vörðu in the Sturlunga saga text it dates to 1250.^[8] In the sagas the cairn is often a memorial: hann reisti þar vörðu hjá dysinni “he raised a cairn there beside the burial mound”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Cleasby and Vigfússon give “beacon” first and then the cairns of stone set up on heights and wastes to show travellers the way, which is how the word is used in Iceland; they note that it is frequent in place-names such as Vörðufell and Holtavörðuheiðr.^[9] Fritzner describes a pyramid- or cone-shaped pile of stones built as a mark, and Baetke a heap of stones marking a road in Iceland.^[10][11] Cairns named for the time of day, dagmálavarða and náttmálavarða, marked the hours by the sun's position.^[9] Modern Icelandic keeps the noun for a heap of stones or earth built as a guide, and has made from it a verb varða “to build cairns”.^[5]

Timeline

• 1225–1250 – varðu in the Norwegian manuscript DG 8 II.^[7]
• 1250 – vörðu in Sturlunga saga, by IcePaHC's dating.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. a cairn of stones built as a landmark or guide for travellers.^[9][10][11]
2. a cairn raised as a memorial, as by a grave.^[9][10]
3. a beacon; a lookout post.^[9][11]

Descendants

• Icelandic varða^[1]
• Faroese vørða^[5]
• Norwegian Nynorsk vorde^[5]
• Swedish vård^[1]

varða² to warrant; to concern; to guard

Forms

varða weak verb (past varðaði, past participle varðat)^[12][13]

Etymology

The word for “to warrant, guard” is inherited from Proto-Germanic *wardōną (“to guard”),^[3] the verb behind Old English weardian (“to guard, keep”), Old Frisian wardia (“to wait, observe”), Old Saxon wardōn (“to beware”) and Old High German wartēn (“to watch, wait”).^[4][2] De Vries takes it as an “-ōn”-verb made to the “u”-stem vǫrðr (“guard”);^[4] Orel derives the Germanic verb from Proto-Germanic *wardaz or from the noun *wardō.^[2] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon sees it as made both to that noun and to a lost feminine noun matching Old High German warta and Old English weard (“watch”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

IcePaHC first has varða in the Icelandic Homily Book, which it dates to 1150.^[8] Menota's earliest dated forms are varðar in the Norwegian manuscript Me II 2 of 1260–1270 and varðar and varðaðe in AM 243 bα fol of 1270–1280.^[14][15]

Semantic evolution

The old sense “to guard, keep watch over” is common in poetry: Finnur Jónsson lists it in Skírnismál, Fjǫlsvinnsmál and Sólarljóð and in skaldic verse for kings defending their lands.^[16] From guarding came keeping something from someone, varða e-m e-t, and forming a boundary.^[10][11] In the laws the verb means to answer for, to stand surety, and to be punishable: Cleasby and Vigfússon treat “to warrant, guarantee” as chiefly a law term, and Faulkes glosses the legal use “to be the penalty”.^[9][13] The sense “to concern, be of importance”, as in varða miklu “to matter much”, is the main one in modern Icelandic.^[12][5]

Swedish vårda (“to look after”) and Norwegian Nynorsk varda continue it, and Finnish and Sami borrowed it.^[4]

Timeline

• 1150 – varða in the Icelandic Homily Book, by IcePaHC's dating.^[8]
• 1260–1270 – varðar in the Norwegian manuscript Me II 2.^[14]
• 1270–1280 – varðar and varðaðe in AM 243 bα fol.^[15]
• 1320–1350 – varðaði in the Laxdæla saga text of AM 132 fol.^[17]

Meanings

Verb

1. to warrant, guarantee, answer for;^[12][9] varða fyrir e-n to stand bail for someone.^[12][9]
2. to bargain for, secure the purchase of.^[12][11]
3. to be of importance, to concern;^[12] varða miklu, litlu, engu to matter much, little, not at all.^[12]
4. to guard, watch, defend;^[12][10] varða e-m e-t to keep something from someone, prevent someone.^[12][10]
5. to form the boundary of.^[10][11]
6. (law) to be punishable, to carry a penalty.^[11][13]

Descendants

• Icelandic varða^[5]
• Faroese varða^[5]
• Norwegian Nynorsk varda^[4]
• Swedish vårda^[4]