ÆGIR1
nafnorðkarlkyn
m., thus, not œgir, as is shewn both by the spelling of vellums and by ancient rhymes, as ægir and frægr in a poem on king Canute: [ægir is an old mythical word, the root of which is not to be sought for in the Norse languages, for it is much older; it may be akin to the Gr. ὠκεανός, both being derived from some Indo-European root; A. S. eagor, the sea; it still survives in provinc. Engl. for the sea-wave or Bore on rivers, ‘have a care, there’s the Eager coming,’ Carlyle’s Heroes, p. 198]:—the sea, ocean, main; hver eru sævar heiti?—heitir marr ‘ægir,’ etc., Edda 100; ægi lægja, to calm the sea, Rm. 40; eldr, veðr, ægi, jörðu, 625. 178; sér hón upp koma öðru sinni jörð ór ægi, Vsp.: gold is ægis bál, eldr, see Lex. Poët.: the word is a favourite with poets, ancient as well as modern, esp. in the ballads and rímur; in prose it only survives in a few phrases and compds, sól gengr í ægi, the sun sets in the sea (cp. ganga til viðar), Fms. ii. 302, v. 169; sól skundar í æginn, Al. 67.
II. mythol. the giant Ægir, the husband of Ran (answering both to Okeanos and Poseidon of the Gr. legends), Edda: Ægis-dætr, the daughters of Æ. = the nine Okeanidae, Edda 101, Hkv. 1. 26; as to the banquet at Ægir, cp. esp. the poem Lokasenna and Hým.: Ægis-bróðir, the brother of Æ., i. e. Wind, Fire, or Sea. all three being the sons of the giant Fornjót: in local names, Ægi-síða, in the north of Icel., Landn.