FÓLK
nafnorðhvorugkyn
n., prop. folk with a short vowel, cp. fylki; [A. S. folc; Engl. folk; Germ. volk: Dan. and Swed. folk]:—folk, people: skjótt fjölgaðisk fólkit, Grett. 88:—people indefinitely, til at hræða fólk, to frighten folk, Bs. i. 764: curiously Icel. say, kvenn-fólk (as in Engl.). woman-folk; but karl-fólk never, only karl-menn.
2. in Icel. chiefly the people of a household, community, or the like; kirkju-fólk, the church-folk, i. e. people assembled in church; boðs-fólk, the guests at a banquet; sóknar-fólk, the parish folk; heimilis-fólk, house-folk, the people of a household; allt fólkið á bænum, all the folk; vinnu-fólk, servant-folk; grasa-fólk, people gathering fell-moss; meðal annars fólksins, Nj. 66, v. l.; Njáll gékk inn ok mælti víð fólkit, 200; mik ok fólk mitt skortir aldri mat, Band. 13; hott, hott og hæt hér sé Guð í bæ, sælt fólkið allt, Stef. Ól.; fæddi varla búféit fólkit, Ísl. ii. 68; var eigi fólk upp staðit, Hrafn. 20; this sense is to the present day very common in Icel.; while the Germ. sense of people, nation (Dan. folket) is strange to Icel.; even lands-fólk is rare, better lands-menn.
3. kinsfolk; hans fólk ok foreldismenn, his ‘folk’ and forefathers, Stj. 139; allt yðart f., Karl. 328: so Icel. say, vera af góðu fólki kominn, to come of good folk, be well born.
II. a host = fylking, and hence battle, but only in old poets, cp. Edda 108; fjórtán fólk, fourteen divisions, troops, Hkv. 1. 49; ok í fólk um skaut, Vsp. 28; ef ek sék flein í fólki vaða, Hm. 151; þótt í fólk komi, 159; í fólk, in battle, Ýt. 10; fara með fólkum, to wage war, Gm. 48; öndvert fólk, the van of the host, Fas. i. 46 (in a verse); and in many compds: adj. a valiant man ii called fólk-bráðr, -djarfr, -eflandi, -glaðr, -harðr, -prúðr, -rakkr, -reifr, -skár, -snarr, -sterkr, -þorinn, etc.: weapons, folk-hamla, -naðra, -skíð, -svell, -vápn, -vöndr: armour, fólk-tjald, -veggr: a warrior, fólk-baldr, -mýgir, -nárungar, -rögnir, -stjóri, -stuðill, -stýrir, -valdr, -vörðr: the battle, fólk-roð, -víg, Vsp. 28: in prose rarely, and only in poët. phrases, fólk-bardagi, a, m. a great battle, battle of hosts; and fólk-orrusta, f. id., Flov. 40, Orkn. 94; fólk-land, n. = fylki, Hkr. i. 209, paraphrase from the Vellekla; fólk-vápn, n. pl. (vide above), weapons, N. G. L. i. 101: metaph., Fms. iii. 167.