stigr

(also sounded stígr, stíg and víg make rhyme in old poems), m., gen. stigs, dat. stig; n. pl. stigar, stiga, which forms seem older and better than stigir, stigu, which also occur: [A. S. stíg; Early Engl. stie; Engl. stair; Dan. sti; Germ. steg; cp. North. E. stye or stie, a steep ascent or pass, as in stye-head Pass]:—a path, footway; sveinarnir hljópu þegar á stiginn er heim lá til bæjarins, Fms. ii. 100; sá er stigana hafði bannat, Fs. 5; dreif liðit af hverjum stig (dat.). Anal. 88; ok ferr þá stigu, Edda 44; taka úkunna stiga, to walk in unknown paths, Fms, viii. 30; kanna ókunna stigu, to visit unknown paths, i. e. foreign lands; ganga þessa stigu, Fs. 32; þóttú lafir á stigum, id.; hylr stigu alla, of snow, Gísl. 28 (drífr í stigu alla, 112. l. c.); stemma stiga fyrir e-m, to bar one’s way, cut one off, Róm. 213; vega ok stiga, ways and paths, Sks. 625 B; götu ok stigu, Greg. 31; ryðja stiginn, to rid or clear the way, Eg. 289; af-stigr, Fs. 5; hjá-stigr, a by-path; leyni-stigr (q. v.), a hidden path; gagn-stígr, a ‘gain-path,’ short cut; glap-stigr, vil-stigr, stafkarls-stigr, ein-stigi, q. v. stiga-maðr, m. a highwayman. Eg. 537, Fs. 8, Gullþ. 10, Fms. v. 46; stigamenn ok ránsmenn, Hkr. ii. 336.