hnúka

Likely related to hnakki (“nape of the neck”), of a group of *hn- words ultimately related to Proto-Germanic *hnakkô.

hnúka (singular past indicative hnúkti)

1. to sit cowering

• Icelandic: hnúka

• Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989) Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, →ISBN (Available at Málið.is under the “Eldri orðabækur” tab.)
• “hnúka” in Dictionary of Old Norse Prose (ONP) at University of Copenhagen
• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “hnúka”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 206; also available at the Internet Archive
• Pokorny, Julius (1959) “558-59”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, pages 558-59