Yrða

lyritr

nafnorðkarlkyn
, or better lýritr or lýrittr, lyritar (but lyrits, ii. 233), lyriti, lyritar. ii. 94, 193; the quantity cannot be ascertained because the vellums do not distinguish between long and short vowels; it is spelt with one t throughout the (); the alliterative phrase lagalyritr, as also the invariable spelling in the Grágás, shew that the word had no initial h. Former attempts at an etymology, from læ and rifta ( á Skarðsá), hlýrar and réttir (Pal ), lygi and rift (Fritzner), must be dismissed; tiie spelling lyriftar, which once or twice occurs in Norse of the 14th century ( i. 394, ii. 94, 19), is probably a mere corruption. Lyritr is a compd word from lög, law, and rör or reyr, a landmark, which word in the old law exactly answers to lyrit in the Norse law; lyrit is thus lý-ryr-ti, by assimilation and by weakening the y into i, lyritti; the t being inflexive: its literal sense, therefore, is a lawful rör or landmark. In Sweden there were often five mark-stones, but it is added (Schlyter iii. rör)—fiuri stenar oc þri stenar mughu rör heta = four stones and even three stones may be called rör, make a ‘law-rör,’ a lawful landmark, a lyrit; this, we believe, is the etymology of this much-contested word. About the gender (, not ) there can be no doubt, from the numerous instances in the Grágás; but in the 13th century the word began to become neuter, thus we have lyritit, () i. 103, lines 14 and 21, but lyritinn several times in the same page: lyriti in () ii. 226; and elalausu lyriti, passim.
B. SENSE:
I. when the boundary of a field or estate was to be drawn, the law prescribed that a mark-stone (mark-steinn) should be raised on the spot, and three other stones laid beside it; these three stones were called landmark-stones (lyrit-steinar or lyritar); by their number and position they were distinguished from all other stones in the field, see ii. 94, note 19 ( 193).II. in the law, a full title of possession, lawful claim to right or property; thus defined by Konrad Maurer—‘Lyrit bedeutet in der Grágás und in den ältern Sagas, das volle Eigentums-recht, oder auch den Bann, der dem Grunde gentümer zum Schutze seines Eigentumes, dem Goden aber Kraft seiner Amtsgewalt zusteht:’
1. the earliest kind was probably the land-lyrit or ‘land-ban;’ this law term was originally borrowed from the mark-stones themselves, and then came to mean a full title to land, field, pasture, or estate, ii. 224, 225:—eignar-lyritr, full lawful possession, a legal title of ownership; hafa eignar-lyrit fyrir landi, 204, 222.2. a veto; Goða-lyritr, the veto of a Goði (Priest), forbidding the court or neighbours to deliver a sentence or verdict in a case, and thus quashing the suit. A Goði alone, by virtue of his office, was entitled to stop a court in this way, whether personally or by one of his liegemen, so that if any one else wished thus to stop a suit, he had first to go to his liegelord (Goði) and be authorised by him to do so; the phrases, taka lyrit af Goða, selja lyrit, ef Goði færir lyrit sinn sjálfr fram, and similar law phrases, i. 109–111, Þ. Þ. 38; neglect of this was contempt of court, punishable by the lesser outlawry. The word lyritr occurs at every step in the Grágás, in the phrase, verja lyriti, or verja e-t lyriti, to defend through a lyrit, to put under veto, to vindicate one’s right, forbid, or the like; eigi varðar hagabeit, nema lyriti sé varið, ii. 224; verja lyriti haga, 225; þótt maðr veri fleirum lyriti (), 226, ; láta lyrit koma fyrir sök, to stop on a case, i. 109; kaupa land lagn kaupi ok lyritar, to buy land by a lawful bargain and with full tide of possession, ii. 213; eptir þat nefndi Þorkéll sér vátta, ok setti (varði?) þeim lyriti, ok fyrirbauð þeim at dæma, 31; ok er únýt stefna hans eðr lyriti (lyritr?), ii. 226; hann (the Goði) skal nefna sér vátta, áðr hann færi lyrit fram, í þat vætti, at ek ver lyriti, goða-lyriti, löglyriti fullum dómendum at dæma um sök þá … enda skal hann svá verja kviðmönnum lyriti, at bera kviðu um hann, i. 111; ek ver lyriti mínum, löglyriti dómendum at dæma, id.; færa lyrit sinn fram, to utter one’s veto, id.; fara með land-lyriti, ii. 225.
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Skammstafanir og tilvitnanir
  • m.karlkyn (e. masculine)
  • gen.eignarfall (e. genitive)
  • dat.þágufall (e. dative)
  • plur.fleirtala (e. plural)
  • MSS.manuscript, manuscripts.
  • v. l.varia lectio.
  • Swed.Swedish.
  • qs.quasi.
  • s. v.sub voce.
  • i. e.id est.
  • masc.karlkyn (e. masculine)
  • fem.kvenkyn (e. feminine)
  • nom.nefnifall (e. nominative)
  • prop.proper, properly.
  • cp.compare.
  • metaph.metaphorical, metaphorically.
  • Icel.Iceland, Icelander, Icelanders, Icelandic.
  • esp.especially.
  • ch.chapter.
  • COMPDSsamsett orð (e. compounds)
  • Grág.Grágás. (B. I.)
  • N. G. L.Norges Gamle Love. (B. II.)
  • Jb.Jóns-bók. (B. III.)
  • Kb.Konungs-bók. (B. I, C. I, etc.)
  • BjörnBiörn Halldórsson.
  • Vídal.Vídalíns-Postilla.
  • Sb.Staðarhóls-bók. (B. I.)
  • Nj.Njála. (D. II.)
  • Lv.Ljósvetninga saga. (D. II.)