öræfi
nafnorðhvorugkynör-æfi
n., qs. ör-hœfi, Mork. l. c.; in old writers used in sing.; [from its use in old writers it seems as if it were derived from ör- neg. and höfn, a haven]:—an open, harbourless coastland, in old writers used almost exclusively in this sense; fyrir hafnleysis sakir ok öræfis, Landn. 276; ef skip er í öræfi komit, Jb. 381; hann lét göra þar virki ok höfn er áðr var öræfi, Fms. vii. 100; örhœli ok hafnleysur, Mork. l. c.; ok veita strandir þar í mörgum stöðum hafnir er fyrr var örœfi, Sks. 11 new Ed.; sandar, örœfi ok brim mikit fyrir útan, Hkr. i. 229.
2. a wilderness; komast um síðir ór öræfi þessu, of a mountain, Bs. i. 200: in mod. usage plur. a desert, wilderness.
II. in local names, Öræfa-jökull or Öræfi, n. pl., is the local name of the open, unsheltered coastland of southern Iceland, the present Skaptafells-sýsla.