Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1954, Page 70

76
Lámh dhearr í føroyekum máli
baskiskt, albanskt shtermak romanskt (av rótini manc-, sbr.
spanskt og italienskt manca »vinstra hond«). Orðini, ið
merkja »hogri«, eru harímóti innlendsk. Henda nýtslan av
útlendskum orðum ufm tað, sum vinstrumegin er, hevur sam-
band við gamla trúgv, eitt evni, sum eg ikki seti mær føri
á at skriva um við skili. Ætlan mín her er at siga frá upp-
runanum at orði, sum higartil hevur verið gátuført, bæði
hjá mær sjálvum og øðrum — og so at VÍsa á samband
ok'kara við londini fyri sunnan í víkingatíðini.
SUMMARY
In the Viking Age the West Norse Ianguages borrowed the
Gaelic word for »hand«: Old Ir. lám, Mod. Ir. 'lámh, Slcots Gaelic
lámh, the word appearing in Norse as lámr m. In Snorra Edda
(I 542) we hear that lam (i. e. lám, aoc. of lámr) could be used
in poetry for »hand«. In a jmla (mnemonic verse) there oocurs
among the heiti handar (ipoetic synonyms for hand) the word
lámr (see 'Finnur Jónsson, Den norsk-islandske Skjaldedigtning A
I 689; MS. AM 748 I 4to, from ahout 1300). The Icelandic
poet Einarr Gilsson (the 14th century) has the line: lími geck
med láámum / lundstorum gudmundi translated by Finnur Jóns-
son as »f‘erlen bøhandlede den storsinđede Gudmunds hænder«
(see Skjaldedigtn. A II p. 397; MS. iAM 396, 4to, from ahout
1400). The word is also found in Fljátsdæla hin meiri, occurring
on p. 21 of the edition (Kr. Kálund, København 1883): iatunin
breider fra sier lámana (thus here used of a giant’s paws). The
MS. in question is from the first half of tlhe 17th century and
was likely written in North Ioeland. The word exists in Modern
Icelandic, but the weak form lámi seems to he the chief form.
However this may be, Blondals dictionary has the following: lámi
m. (pop.) Lah, Grabbe, lámuir m. (pop) = lámi, lámur f. pl.
(pop.) Grahher. The word is unknown in Norwegian, hut Shet-
land Nom lamek i»paw, big clumsy hand; handfuk (see Jakoh
Jakobsen, Etymologisk ordbog over det norrøne sprog ipá Shet-
land) is most likely the same word, and so is Orkney Norn
lawmo (Jakohsen: lomo) »the hand etc.« (see Marwiok, The
Orkney Norn). In Faroese the word is correct as to form, but