geirr

Merkingar

m. [A. S. gâr; Hel. gêr; O. H. G. keir, whence kesja, q. v.; cp. also Lat. gaesum, a Teut.-Lat. word]:—a spear, Edda 41, Fms. i. 177, Hm. 15, 37, Hkv. 1. 15, Hbl. 40; Odin is represented wielding a geir, called Gungnir, as are also the Valkyrjur; marka sik geirs-oddi, to mark oneself in the breast with a spear’s point, so as to make blood flow, was a heathen rite whereby warriors on their death-bed devoted themselves to Odin; it was the common belief that a man who died a natural death was not admitted into Valhalla after death; this rite is only mentioned in mythical Sagas such as Yngl. S. ch. 10; cp. also Gautr. S. ch. 7.—þá stakk Starkaðr sprotanum á konungi ok mælti, nú gef ek þik Óðni: the origin of this rite is in Hm., where Odin himself is represented as hanging on the tree Yggdrasil ‘wounded with a spear and given to Odin, myself to myself;’ some trace it to a Christian origin, which is not very likely. Again, the cruel blóðörn (q. v.) is no doubt connected with this kind of sacrifice to Odin.

1. II.

   a pr. name, and also in many compds, Sig-geirr, Þór-geirr, Ás-geirr, Vé-geirr (the holy spear), and Geir-hildr, Geir-ríðr, Geir-mundr, Geir-laug, Geir-röðr, and many others, vide Landn. Geira, u, f. a pr. name, Landn.