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700 VESLA -- VETRARDAGR.
vesla, u, f. a well that never freezes; see vermsl. veslaðr, part. wretched, Nj. 124, v.l. veslask, að, to grow wretched, poor; segja at staðr þeirra mun ekki veslask við, þótt ..., Þiðr. 41; veslast upp, to pine away. veslingr, m. (veslingi, a, m., Art. 43). [Dan. usling, used in a bad sense] :-- a poor, puny person; hvat myndi veslingr þessi (this wretch) varða mér bátinn, Fms. vii. 32; sveinar tveir, veslingar, Fær. 42; Guðs veslingr, Mar.; mostly in a compassionate or charitable sense, like Engl. poor. 2. prefixing the gen. veslings-; veslings-barnið, poor child! veslings-konan, poor woman; veslings-maðrinn, poor man! Grett. 79 new Ed. veslugr, adj. poor, wretched, Nj. 194, v.l.; aum kona ok veslug, Stj. 428; fátækan ok veslugan, 212, Fas. iii. 525. vesning, f. [cp. Germ. wesen], a being, essence, MS. 677. 3, 10, Hom. (St.); hverjar greinir hans vesningar eru, id. vessi, a, m. [perh. akin to vatn or to varri; Dan. vædske], a watery humour, of the body, freq. in mod. usage. vessa-mikill and vessa-ríkr, adj. humorous, of the body. vé-stallr, m. the 'temple-stall,' i.e. the altar; vörðr véstalls, a priest and king, Ýt. vestan, adv. from the west; vestr eða vestan, Ld. 126; vestan ór Fjörðum, Nj. 14, passim: the phrase, vestan um haf, 'from west over the sea,' i.e. from the Western Islands, a special phrase for the British Isles across the North Sea, Fms. i. 26: or simply vestan, at hann var vestan kominn, viz. from Britain, Eg. 74; even used of a voyage from thence to Iceland, Ráðólfr ok Jólfgeir bræðr kómu vestan um haf til Íslands, Landn. 298. 2. of position without motion; fyrir vestan (with acc.), on the western side of; fyrir vestan vötnin, Nj. 196; fyrir vestan Heinabergs-sand Sóta nes, 158, Fms. i. 60, Landn. 194, passim; út um Álptafjörð fyrir vestan, in the west, Nj. 215. COMPDS: vestan-bæjar, f. west of the houses. vestan-ferð, f. a journey from the west, Fms. viii. 15 (from Faroe to Norway). vestan-fjarðar, west of the firth. vestan-lands, in the west. vestan-maðr, m. a man from the west, Sturl. ii. 204, iii. 86, Ísl. ii. 170, Gullþ. 45. vestan-veðr, n. a west wind, Eb. 234, Rb. 440. vestan-verðr, adj. westwards, western, Stj. 75, Eg. 135, Þorst. Síðu H. 7. vestan-vindr, m. a west wind, Sks. 39, Stj. 69. vestari, compar., as also vestri, more westerly; superl. vestastr, most westerly; vestri úbygð, Landn. 105; til vestri bygðar, 107; ena vestri leið, Nj. 281; um vestra stræti, Fms. ix. 22; eptir Rangá enni vestarri, ii. 208; inn vestasti farvegr, Pm. 42; liggja þessi lönd vestust, Fms. ix. 412; fór hann til vestasta Ásólfs-skála, Landn. 53. vestarliga, adv. westerly, Fb. i. 541, Bárð. 6 new Ed. Vest-firðingar, m. pl. the men from Vest-firðir, the West-fiords (in Icel.), Landn., Sturl.; vestfírðinga-fjórðungr, the West Quarter, Landn. 167. vest-firðis, adv. in the west of a fiord, Landn. 352. vest-firzka, u, f. a custom in the west (of Icel.), Sturl. ii. 167: an idiom, language of Western Iceland. vest-firzkr, adj. from the Vestfirðir, Sturl. i. 26. Vest-fyldir, m. pl. men from the Norse county Vest-fold, Fms. xii. vesti, n. [from the Engl. through Dan.], a waistcoat (mod.) Vest-maðr, m. a man from the West, GREEK one from the British Isles, esp. the Irish, Landn. 36, whence Vestmanna-eyjar, the Isles of the Westmen, i.e. of the Irish who were slain there, see Landn.; Hildir ok Hallgeirr vóru Vestmenn, Landn. 344. Vest-myst and Vest-musteri, n. Westminster (the Abbey), Játv. S. vestna = versna, Barl. 24 (according to pronunciation). VESTR, n., gen. vestrs, [A.S., Engl., and Germ. west; Dan. vester] :-- the west; sól í vestri, K.Þ.K., Landn. 276; til vestrs, Sks. 179; í vestri miðju, Rb. 92; í vestr, towards west. II. as adv. to the westward; ríða vestr eða vestan, Ld. 126; vestr til Breiðafjarðar, Nj. 1: of western Icel., þykki þér eigi gott vestr þar, 11; vestr, in the west, Bs. i. 4, 31. 2. westwards, towards the British Isles, a standing phrase (cp. the use of Hesperia in Lat.); sigla vestr um haf, to sail westwards over the sea, Fms. i. 22, Orkn. 144; sækja vestr til Eyja, west to the Orkneys (Shetland), Orkn. 136; vestr fór ek of ver, I journeyed westward over the sea, Höfuðl. 1; in which last passage it is even used of a voyage from Iceland to England; til ríkja þeirra er liggja vestr þar, Orkn. 144. vestr-álfa, u, f. = vestrhálfa. vestr-för and vestr-ferð, f. a journey to the west, Sturl. ii. 144 C. 2. esp. a journey to the British Isles, Orkn. 142, 240, Fms. iv. 219, passim. Vestrfarar-vísur, f. pl. a name of a poem by Sighvat, verses on a journey to England and Normandy, Ó.H. Vestr-Gautar, m. pl. the Western Goths, in Sweden, Ó.H. Vestra-Gautland, n. West Gothland, Orkn. 136. vestr-hálfa and -álfa, u, f. the western region, Stj. 68: of the ancient Neustria, Fms. x. 235: of Western Africa, Al. 157, 158; ætlaði hann Cham vestrhálfu, Edda (pref.); þaðan (from Spain) fór hann í vestrálfu heimsins, Bret. 30. 2. mod. of America. vestr-hérað, n. a western county (of western Iceland), Sturl. iii. 19 (cp. héruðin vestr, Skíða R. 31). Vestri, a, m. one of the dwarfs; see Norðri, Edda. Vestr-lönd, n. pl. the Western lands, of the British Isles, Grág. ii. 141, Ld. 82, Magn. 514: of Western Africa, 656 C. 24. 2. sing., Vestrland, Western Iceland. vestr-sveitir, f. pl. the western counties of Iceland, Skíða R. 16, Grett. 140 A, Bs. i. 912. vestr-vegir, m. pl. the 'western ways' the West, of the British Isles, Baut. 962; opp. to Austr-vegr, Suðr-vegr, Norðr-vegr, qq.v. Vestr-Vindr, m. pl. the Western-Wends, Fms. xi. 398. vestr-víking, f. a freebooting expedition to the West, i.e. to the British Isles (Normandy, etc.), Fms. i. 8, Eg. 513, Orkn., Korm. 2. Landn. 32, 108, 121, 133, 140, 174, 204, 205, 314; see víking. vestrænn, adj. westerly; v. vindr, Fms. ix. 135, Merl. 2. 44. vestr-ætt, f. the western quarter, of the heavens; líta í v., Nj. 194; stefna í v., Fb. i. 539; fljúga ór v., Ísl. ii. 196. Vest-Saxar, m. pl. the West-Saxons, Fms. i. 110, v.l. vesæla = vesla, to make wretched, Fms. vii. 186. vesæll = vesall, q.v. vesöld, f. (vesæld is never found), gen. vesaldar, [vesall], misery, Fas. iii. 129, MS. 677. 8, Hkr. iii. 288, Stj. 50; válaðs ok vesaldar, Clem. 135; víls ok vesaldar, Fms. iii. 95; eymdir ok vesaldir, Stj. 45: passim in old and mod. usage, vesaldar-maðr, a destitute person, Grett. 112 A. vetlingr, m. a dimin. from vöttr, a glove, gauntlet, Fms. iii. 176, the common word in Icel.; band-vettlingar, prjóna-v., sjó-vetlingr, sea-gloves, used by fishermen. vetna, prob. a gen. pl. from vetta = vettr or vættr, a weight (cp. the Lat. -cunque; Gr. GREEK; Engl. -ever); chiefly used in hvat-vetna, whatever, or hvar-vetna, wherever, everywhere; it hardly occurs except in composition, for Alm. 9 is inserted from paper MSS.; see vættr B. VETR, m., gen. vetrar, dat. vetri; pl., nom. and acc. vetr, gen. vetra, dat. vetrum: it was an assimilated form anciently written vettr or vittr, qs. vintr; vitrar or vittrar (gen.), Post. (Unger) 233; vettr is freq., esp. in N.G.L.; double consonants are in vellums difficult to distinguish from single, and so tt may well have been the current form, although the Edd. give the mod. form (vetr): in poets we find, mitt sextigu vittra, Glúm, (in a verse): vintr occurs in Icel. ballads of the 15th century, see Þryml., Völs. R., Skáld H.R., but here it is merely an imitation of Danish originals, for the word in Icel. always took the assimilated form: [Ulf. wintrus = GREEK and GREEK; A.S., Engl., and Germ. winter; Dan.-Swed. vinter, for the assimilation of nt into tt did not prevail in the south of Scandinavia, see Gramm. p. xxx, col. 1.] A. A winter; winter, like summer (see sumar), is a calendary period, containing 180 days, or six months of thirty days; the winter begins on the Saturday next before St. Luke's day (old style), or on St. Luke's day, if a Saturday. In the Gregorian style, for 1872 and 1873, vetrar-dagr fyrsti, the first winter day = Saturday, the 26th of Oct.; miðr vetr, mid-winter, the 24th of Jan.; síðasti vetrar dagr, the last winter day = Wednesday, the 23rd of April; Laugardagr skal fyrstr vera í vetri, en þaðan skal vera sex mánuðr þrjátigi nátta til sumars, K.Þ.K. 166; vetr kemr laugardaginn er næstr er fyrir Lúkas-messu, en hana sjálfa ef hlaupár ferr eptir, Rb. 490; Drottins-dagr inn fyrsti í vetri skal vera inn þriði frá messu-degi Cosmi ok Damiani, Rb. 434: as a general term, í vetr, this winter, Nj. 4; hafa blót hvern vetr, Ó.H.; Miðr vetr, Mid-winter, see above; miðs vetrar skeið, mid-winter time, Fb. i. 204; miðs vetrar blót, a sacrificial feast at mid-winter, see miðr B; á vetri, or í vetri, see prepp. á and í; mikill vetr, a cold winter, Bs. i. 873; harðr, kaldr, Kominn er kaldr vetr, initial words of a hymn. II. = a year; as in A.S. days were reckoned by nights (see nótt), so years were counted by winters; in Ulfilas (Matt. ix. 20, Luke ii. 42, viii. 42) GREEK is rendered by wintrus; and so at present in Icel., a person is so many 'winters' old; tólf vetra gamall, K.Þ.K. 134; sextán vetra gamall, Grág. i. 197; and ellipt. leaving out gamall, tólf vetra, Fms. i. 8; tíu vetrum síðarr, 61; sex tigi vetra konungr, Eg. 367; sjau vetr ena ársömu, Ver. 17 (of king Pharaoh's dream); þeirra var vetrar-munr, difference in age of one year, Dropl. 7; for more references, see tigr B. III. mythol., Vetr, a giant, the son of Vindsvalr or Vindlóni, Vþm., Edda i. 82. COMPDS: vetrar-blót, n. a winter-sacrifice; in miðs vetrar-blót, Ó.H. vetrar-bók, f. a winter-book, missal for the winter, Pm. 101. vetrar-braut, n. a winter-road, in winter time, Sturl. iii. 140, Dipl. ii. 5: cp. Dan. saying, 'vise en vinter-vejen,' to shew one the winter-way, i.e. leave one in the cold. 2. astron. the milky way, in Icel. called vetrar-braut, undoubtedly from old heathen times, although the word happens not to occur in old writers; Icel. weather-prophets use in the autumn to forecast the course of the winter, by the appearance of the milky-way; this is evidently a very old custom, whence probably the name, for in old times fortune-telling used to take place at the great autumnal feasts and sacrifices, see the references s.v. völva. vetrar-dagr, m. a winter day, N.G.L. i. 348; á vetrardag, in the winter, Fms. viii. 50, Bs. i. 324, v.l.; fyrsti vetrardagr,