sporðr
Old Norse
Etymology
Cognate to Old High German sporte and German Sporte (“tail”).
Probably related to (potentially via analogy or folk etymology) Old Norse spraðka (“flounder, flail”), Icelandic sprikla (“flounder, flail”), Swedish sprätta, sprada (“flail, kick”); Norwegian sprala, Swedish sprala (“flounder, move convulsively”), Old English spreawlian (“move convulsively”), English sprawl (“spread out in a disorderly fashion”), Swedish sprattla (“flounder, flail”), Low German spratteln (“flounder, flail”), Old High German sprazalōn (“sprinkling”), German spratzeln (“sizzling”), English sprattle (“scrambling”), further back also Ancient Greek σπυρθίζω (spurthízō, “sputters, splashes”).
To the sense of dried fish, cognate to Middle Low German sporden, sporten (“collective name for dried pieces of fish”), Low German Spurden, Spurten, Spurren.
Noun
sporðr m
- tail for swimming, such as that of a: fish, seal, whale, serpent, crawfish, beaver
- 13th century, Bjarnar saga Hítdœlakappa:
- Síðan grípur Björn í sporðinn drekans annarri hendi en annarri hjó hann fyrir aftan vængina og gekk þar í sundur og féll drekinn niður dauður.
- Then Bjorn grabbed the dragon's tail with one hand, and with the other he slashed at the wings, which broke and the dragon fell down dead.
- 14th century, Ketils saga hængs:
- Hann hafði lykkju ok sporð sem ormr, en vængi sem dreki.
- He had a coil (body) and tail like a serpent, but wings like a dragon.
- (by extension) fin, such as a dorsal fin or fluke (compare Swedish ryggspol, “back fin”)
- dried pieces of fish, including tail and fins