blót

See also: Appendix:Variations of "blot"

English

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Old Norse blót.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /bloʊt/
  • Rhymes: -əʊt
  • Homophone: bloat

Noun

blót (plural blóts)

  1. A Norse (and modern Heathen) ceremonial offering.
    • 2001, John Lindow, Handbook of Norse Mythology, ABC-CLIO, page 35:
      These show us the importance of verbal activity at a blót, specifically verbal activity aimed at producing a result, presumably by means of intervention by the deities.
    • 2005, Galina Krasskova, Exploring the Northern Tradition: A Guide to the Gods, Lore, Rites, and Celebrations from the Norse, German, and Anglo-Saxon Traditions, Career Press, page 151:
      In the past, before Christianity spread across Europe, the average blót would generally have involved some sort of animal sacrifice.
    • 2006, Anders Andrén, Kristina Jennbert, Catharina Raudvere, Old Norse Religion in Long-term Perspectives: Origins, Changes, and Interactions : an International Conference in Lund, Sweden, June 3-7, 2004, Nordic Academic Press, page 75:
      He soon comes back to land, makes a largely undescribed blót sacrifice to Óðinn, and receives confirmation of his god's approval in the flight of two cawing ravens.
    • 2009, The Ásatrú Edda: Sacred Lore of the North, The Norroena Society, page 5
      Do you know how to blót? / Do you know how to slaughter?

Anagrams

Old Norse

FWOTD – 17 July 2014

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *blōtą (“offering, sacrifice”). Cognate with Old English blōt and the first part of Old High German bluozhūs (“heathen temple”).
Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlād- (“to offer, sacrifice”).

Pronunciation

  • (12th century Icelandic) IPA(key): /ˈbloːt/

Noun

blót n (genitive blóts, plural blót)

  1. (Germanic paganism, especially in the plural) offering
    • Kristni saga 11, in 1858, J. Sigurðsson, G. Vigfússon, Biskupa sögur, Volume I. Copenhagen, page 20:
      […] fyri norðan, þar voru áðr blót ok hörgar.
      […] to the north, there were up to now offerings and personal shrines.
  2. (Germanic paganism) sharing of food of an offering in a ceremony, feast
    • Separate Saga of St. Olaf 96, in 1853, P. A. Munch, C. R. Unger, Saga Olafs konungs ens Helga. Copenhagen, page 104:
      En þat er siðr þeirra at hafa blot a havst oc fagna þa vetri, […]
      But it is a custom for them to have a feast at fall and celebrate the winter, […]
  3. (Germanic paganism) offering site, a place to make offerings
    • Borgarthings-Christenret 24, in 1846, E. Hertzberg, Norges gamle love indtil 1387, Volume I. Christiania, page 383:
      Engi maðr ſkal hafa i huſi ſinu ſtaf eða ſtalla, vit eða blot, […]
      No man shall have in his house a staff or an altar, a charm or an offering site, […]
  4. cursing, an offering for the purpose of seeking vengeance against an other
    • Sturlunga saga, chapter IV, 50, in 1817, Þ. E. Rangel, Sturlunga-Saga edr Íslendínga-Saga hin mikla, Volume I. Copenhagen, page 101:
      […] snéri hann til dura ok sá fimm menn úti, heyrdi hann þá blot, […]
      […] he turned to the doors and saw there five men, and then heard cursing, […]

Declension

Declension of blót (strong a-stem)
neuter singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative blót blótit blót blótin
accusative blót blótit blót blótin
dative blóti blótinu blótum blótunum
genitive blóts blótsins blóta blótanna

Derived terms

  • blótan (“sacrificing”)
  • blótauðigr (“rich in sacrifice”)
  • blótbað (“sacrificial bath”)
  • blótbiskup (“heathen priest”)
  • blótbolli (“sacrificial bowl”)
  • blótdrykkja (“sacrificial feast”)
  • blótdómr (“idolatry”)
  • blótfé (“sacred goods”)
  • blótgoði (“heathen priest”)
  • blótgrǫf (“sacrificial den”)
  • blótguð (“heathen god”)
  • blótgyðja (“heathen priestess”)
  • blóthaugr (“sacrificial mound”)
  • blóthof (“heathen temple”)
  • blóthús (“heathen house of worship”)
  • blóthǫrgr (“sacrificial altar”)
  • blótkalfr (“the golden calf”)
  • blótkelda (“sacrificial fen”)
  • blótklæði (“sacrificial garments”)
  • blótkona (“idolatress”)
  • blótlundr (“sacred grove”)
  • blótmatr (“food eaten at sacrificial feast”)
  • blótmaðr (“idolater”)
  • blótnaut (“sacrificial ox”)
  • blótnaðr (“idolatry”)
  • blótprestr (“heathen priest”)
  • blótrisi (“giant worshipped as an idol”)
  • blótskapr (“heathenry, idolatry”)
  • blótskógr (“sacred forest”)
  • blótspánn (“chip used in divination”)
  • blótstallr (“sacrificial altar”)
  • blótstaðr (“place of sacrifice”)
  • blóttrygill (“sacrificial trough”)
  • blóttré (“sacred tree”)
  • blótveizla (“sacrificial feats”)
  • blótvilla (“heathen heresy”)
  • blótviðr (“sacred wood”)
  • blótvǫllr (“sacrificial field”)
  • goðablót (“sacrifice to the gods”)
  • blóta (“to worship”)
  • blóthús (“heathen temple, sacrificial hut”)
  • blǿti (“idol”)

Descendants

  • Icelandic: blót
  • → Faroese: blót
  • → Norwegian Nynorsk: blót
  • Old Swedish: blot
  • Old Gutnish: blót
  • → Danish: blot

Further reading

  • Richard Cleasby, Guðbrandur Vigfússon (1874) “blót”, in An Icelandic-English Dictionary, 1st edition, Oxford: Oxford Clarendon Press, page 70
  • Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “blót”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 60; also available at the Internet Archive
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.