VARGR
nafnorðkarlkyn
m. [A. S. wearg; Hel. warag; the root-word is preserved in Germ. er-würgen, whence virgull, q. v., and Engl. worry; vargr and úlfr are said to be from the same root]:—a wolf; berr björn, bítr vargr, N. G. L. i. 341; riða á vargi, Hkv. Hjörv.; trollkona sat á vargi, Fms. vi. 403; marga varga, Nj. 95; vaða vargar með úlfum, a saying, Fas. i. 11; sem menn viðast varga reka (prop. allit. varga vreka), as wide as wolves are hunted, Grág.: sem vargr í sauða-dun, Sd. 164: poët. of any beast of prey, varga vinr, Hkv. 1. 6 (of ravens); hann barg fjörvi varga, Vellekla: the saying, sjaldan vægir vargrinn, the wolf spares not; vargarnir etask þar til er at halanum kemr, Band.; vargs-hamr, -hár, -hold, a wolf’s skin, hair, flesh, Str. 32, Fas. i. 199, Fms. i. 273; vargs-líki, -rödd, Edda 8, Fas. i. 130; varga flokkr, a flock of wolves, iii. 77; varga matr, i. 139; varga-þytr, a howling of wolves, 205: varga leifar, a ‘wolf’s homestead’(see leif), i. e. the wood, the wilderness, Gkv. 2. 11: in Icel. vargr is used of the fox.
II. a law phrase, metaph. an outlaw, who is to be hunted down as a wolf, esp. used of one who commits a crime in a holy place, and is thereon declared accursed; hann hafði vegit í véum ok var hann vargr orðinn, Eg. 259; vargr í véum, a wolf in the sanctuary, Fms. xi. 40 (goð-vargr): also of a truce-breaker, hann skal svá víða v. heita2 sem veröld er bygð, Grág. (cp. grið-vargr); armr er vára vargr, Sdm.; eyða vörgum, to destroy miscreants, Fms. xi. (in a verse); úvísa-vargr, see p. 667.
2. in mod. usage, a violent, ill-tempered person; hón er mesti vargr, a fury of a woman; geð-vargr, skap-vargr, a fury: poët. compds, varg-fæðandi, -fæðir, -hollr, -nistir, -teitir, a feeder, … cheerer of the wolf, i. e. a warrior, Lex. Poët.