vargr
Old Norse
Alternative forms
- *wargʀ — Old East Norse
Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *wargaz, from Proto-Indo-European *werǵʰ-. Compare Old English wearh, wearg.
Noun
vargr m
Usage notes
- Unlike ulfr (“wolf”), which is frequently found in names and thus seems to have had some positive connotations, this is not the case with vargr, suggesting its sense was thoroughly negative.
Declension
| masculine | singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| indefinite | definite | indefinite | definite | |
| nominative | vargr | vargrinn | vargar | vargarnir |
| accusative | varg | varginn | varga | vargana |
| dative | vargi | varginum | vǫrgum | vǫrgunum |
| genitive | vargs | vargsins | varga | varganna |
Derived terms
- goðvargr m (“someone who offends the gods; a blasphemer”)
- griðvargr m (“truce-breaker; someone outlawed for breaking a truce”)
- morðvargr m (“someone outlawed for murder”)
- vargdropi m (“son of an outlaw”, literally “wolf-dropping”)
- varghamr m (“wolf-skin”)
- vargljóð n pl (“wolf-songs, the howling of wolves”)
- vargr í véum (“someone who commits violence in a religious shrine”)
- vargtré n (“outlaw-tree; gallows”)
Descendants
- Icelandic: vargur
- Faroese: vargur
- Norn: varg
- Norwegian Nynorsk: varg
- Elfdalian: warg
- Old Swedish: vargher
- Swedish: varg
- Danish: varg
- Norwegian Bokmål: varg
- → English: warg (learned)
Further reading
- Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “vargr”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press; also available at the Internet Archive