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MARGR

lýsingarorð
adj., fem. mörg. neut. margt, usually spelt and pronounced mart; compar. fleiri, q. v.; superl. flestr; [Ulf. manags = πολύς; A. S. manig; Engl. many: O. H. G. manag; Dutch mennig; Germ. manche; the n is found in all South-Teutonic languages, and the word is explained by Grimm as a compd from mann (homo) and the suffix -gi (-cunque); the Norse margr is the same word, having only changed the n into r, for the n remains in a few derivatives, as mengi (a crowd), menga (to blend), manga, q. v.: in mod. Swed. and Dan. the n has been resumed from intercourse with the Germ.; Dan. mange; early Swed. marger, but mod. Swed. mânga]:—many; munu margir þess gjalda, Nj. 2; meiri er veiðr í Flosa en mörgum öðrum, 232; marga þína muni, Ld. 102; særðr mörgum sárum … mörgum mönnum, … margir menn, Fms. x. 370; margir slíkir, many such. Nj. 6; marga penninga, Dipl. ii. 10.
2. sing. in a collect. sense, both as subst. and adj.; mart man, Fms. i. 185; margr maðr, Fb. i. 241; margr sá fróðr þvkkisk, Hm. 29; þviat margr man þik öfunda, þvíat margr mun þar at þér víkja, Nj. 47; skipask margr vel við góðan búning, Fms. vi. 208; hefir þó margr hlotið um sárt at binda, Nj. 54; hann hafði látið slá skipa-saum margan, a great quantity of, Fms. ix. 377: margr er knár þó hann sé smár; ber mér jafnan mart á góma, vi. 208; margs vitandi, Vsp. 20; mart er mér vel hent at göra, Nj. 54; tala mart, 194; heyra mart en tala fátt, Hallgr.; spyrja mjök margs, Ld. 88; fyrir margs sakir, for many reasons, Fms. vi. 215; ok þykkir lítt fyrir (í) mörgu þat at tala, xi. 108; mart manna, many people, Eg. 134, Nj. 194: í mörgu, in many respects, in many things, 625. 82, Fb. iii. 246; fróð at mörgu, Nj. 194; margs alls, quite great, adverb., Am. 8, 92.
II. metaph. friendly, communicative (cp. fár); höfum vit nú hvarttveggja reynt, at mart hefir verit um með okkr ok fátt, Gísl. 17; ekki var mart með þeim, Fms. x. 78; svá er, frændi, at með okkr hefir verit ekki mart, Ld. 106; þó var hann margr við Árna biskup ok fréttinn af Íslandi, Bs. i. 776.
III. margr is used as a subst., in the saying, eigi má við margnum, no one can stand against many, against odds; en þó mátti hann eigi við marginum um síðir, at last he was overthrown, Bær. 14; kom at því sem mælt er, at ekki má við margnum, Fs. 89, Fms. xi. 278. margs-konar and margs-kyns, adv. of many kinds, various, Fs. 63, Edda 38, Hkr. i. 5, Fms. i. 185, Eg. 517, passim.