AUÐR
nafnorðkvenkyn
1. f. [Swed. ôde, fatum], fate, destiny, only used in poetry in the phrase, fá auðar, to die, Ísl. ii. 389 (in a verse); haga til auðar, to avail towards one’s happiness, Gísl. 59 (in a verse). Auðr is also a fem. pr. name.
2. adj. [Ulf. auþs = ερημος; O. H. G. odi; Hel. odi = inanis: cp. A. S. ydan and édan, vastare; Germ, öde and öden: the root is rare in A. S. and lost in Engl.]:—empty, void, desert, desolate; húsin voru auð, uninhabited, Ld. 96; koma at auðu landi, of the first colonists when coming to Iceland, Landn. 316, opp. to ‘koma at bygðu landi,’ or ‘land numið;’ auð búð, Eg. 727; auð borð, void of defenders, of ships that have lost their men in fight, Fms. ii. 329; auð skip (= hroðin), all the crew being slain or put to flight, Hkr. iii. 126.
β. metaph., auðr at yndi, cheerless, distressed, Stj. 421; sitja auðum höndum, now used of being idle: in the Ad. 22, með a. hendr means empty-handed, without gifts; so also in Stj. 437. I Sam. vi. 3, answering to ‘empty’ in the Engl. text.
3. s, and poët. ar, m. [Goth. auds = μακαρία is suggested; it only appears in Ulf. in compds or derivatives, audags adj. beatus, audagei f. beatitudo, audagian, beare; A. S. eâd, n. means opes; Hel. od = bonum, possessio: it is probably akin to óðal; cp. also feudal (A. S. feoh = fee), alodial]:—riches, wealth, opulence; auð fjár (only in acc.), abundance, is a freq. phrase; also, auð landa ok fjár, Edda 15; oss er þar mikit af sagt auð þeim, Band. 8, Fms. ii. 80, 623. 21; draga saman auð, id. In proverbs, margan hefir auðr apat; auðrinn er valtastr vina, wealth is the ficklest of friends, Hm. 77 etc.