HEIÐ
nafnorðhvorugkyn
1. n. brightness of the sky; heið ok sólskin, Ó. H. 108, Bs. i. 339; sólina, ef í heiði mætti sjá, K. Þ. K. 96: in plur., frost fylgði mikit veðrinu, ok vóru stundum heið í himininn upp, the gale was followed by sharp frost, and now and then there were bright spots up in the sky, Bjarn. 54; veðr var bjart ok skein sól í heiði, Fms. v. 77; tunglið þá það skín í heiði, Rb. 108; sem þá er roðar fyrir upprennandi sólu í hinu fegrsta heiði, Karl. 111, v. l.; sem röðull renni upp í heiði, Arnór: in poetry the heaven is called heiðs há-rann, the high hall of brightness, Lex. Poët.
2. f. a fee, stipend, payment, an obsolete word only found in poets; the phrase, haptsœnis heið, the atoning fee of the gods = poetry, a song, in a verse of Kormak, seems to refer to the tale in Edda 47 (Skáldskapar-mál, ch. 3); whence heið-fé, n. a fee, stipend, Edda (Gl.): heið-frömuðr, m. an epithet of a king: heið-gjöf, f. a gift of fee: heið-launaðr, part. paid, granted in fee, N. G. L. i. 91: heið-maðr, m. a king’s man, who holds land in fee from the king: heið-menningr, m. a nickname, Landn.: heið-mærr, adj. open-handed: heið-sær, adj. sowing gold, open-handed, Lex. Poët.: heið-þegi, a, m. = heiðmaðr, esp. of a king’s man, answering to the mod. soldier; for all these words vide Lex. Poët.
II. hence metaph. worth, value; lítils heiðar, of small worth, of small repute, Fms. vi. 130 (in a verse); Daniel sá einskis heiðar á Bel, D. saw naught of worth in Bel, Blanda: whence the mod. compds, heiðar-liga, adv. worthily; heiðar-ligr, adj. worthy, honourable; vide heiðr below.