blóta

• blóte (e and split infinitives)

From Old Norse blóta, from Proto-Germanic *blōtaną.

blóta (present tense blótar, past tense blóta, past participle blóta, passive infinitive blótast, present participle blótande, imperative blóta/blót)

1. (historical) to sacrifice

blóta n

1. definite plural of blót

• “blóta” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

From Proto-Germanic *blōtaną.

blóta (singular past indicative blét, plural past indicative blétu, past participle blótinn)

1. (Germanic paganism, transitive) to worship (with sacrifice) [with accusative]

   Rauðgrani taldi heiðni ok forneskju fyrir mǫnnum Gests, ok taldi þat bezt at blóta til heilla sér.

   Raudgrani related heathendom and ancient practice to the men of Gest, and said it was best to sacrifice for one's luck.

   • Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar (AM 61 fol manuscript, normalised orthography)

     Gestrinn svarar: "Ǫgvaldr var konungr ok hermaðr mikill. Hann blótaði mest kú eina, ok hafði hana með sér hvar sem hann fór, á sjá eðr landi. Þótt honum heilsamligt at drekka jafnan mjǫlk hennar. Ok er sá orðskviðr þaðan er margir hafa, at allt skal fara saman karl ok kýr."

     The guest answers: "Ǫgvaldr was a king and a great warrior. He foremost worshipped a single cow and had her with him whereever he travelled, on sea or on land. He thought it wholesome to constantly be drinking her milk, and thereof is the saying which many know, that 'man and cow should always go together.'

2. (Germanic paganism, transitive) to sacrifice [with dative]

The accusative refers to that which is worshipped, and the dative refers to that which is sacrificed.

• blót n (“ritual feast; sacrifice”)

• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “blóta”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 60; also available at the Internet Archive