The following glossary collects terms relevant for those studying disability in the context of Old Norse-Icelandic writing. Many of the terms refer to various kinds of mental, physical, and sensory differences. Others refer to more general perceptions of the body, including terms relating to different states of health, illness, injury, and pain. Because the society/societies that used these terms did not defer to a biologically defined hegemonic body image, these latter terms remain highly relevant for approaching Old Norse-Icelandic material from a disability studies perspective. The overall intention behind the glossary is to give researchers a starting point from which to develop more thorough investigations of some of these terms and others related to them.
In the glossary, headwords contain links to corresponding entries in the The Dictionary of Old Norse Prose (ONP), which provide specific citations of the terms as they appear in surviving medieval manuscripts. Other digital resources listed here (e.g. the Íslenskt textasafn) can be used to locate instances of the terms not included in the ONP. The definitions provided have mainly been taken from Richard Cleasby and Guðbrandur Vigfússon’s An Icelandic-English Dictionary (1874), Johan Fritzner’s Ordbog over Det gamle norske sprog (1886-96), and/or Geir T. Zoëga’s A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic (1910), although several have been expanded upon or modified for clarity; see also the content warning below. Many of the terms in the glossary have multiple meanings, but only those meanings directly relevant to disability studies have been included below, which have generally been simplified for the sake of convenience. Researchers can and should explore the full spectrum of meanings associated with these terms using the corresponding ONP entries, as well as the dictionaries and other digital resources linked to above.
Some terms in the glossary that share very close etymological and semantic connections and are the same parts of speech have been gathered together in the same listing. Conversely, for the sake of brevity, the glossary typically does not include entries for compound words that specify some of the more general terms. For example, compound words relating to the term verkr (pain), such as augnaverkr (eye-pain), brjóstverkr (chest-pain), hǫfuðverkr (head-pain/-ache), etc., are not listed below as they can easily be found within the ONP entry for the term verkr. The case is similar for terms like hǫgg (a hit, stroke, cut with a weapon), mein (a harm, injury, disease, sore), sár (a wound, injury), sjúkr (ill), etc. Additionally, entries may not contain every varied spelling or synonym of the headword, particularly when one variation of a given term is far more common than all others. These variations and synonyms can similarly be found easily within the ONP entries for the respective terms.
The glossary is not exhaustive and will likely see ongoing updates. As mentioned above, it is meant to be a starting for further research of disability in the context of Old Norse-Icelandic writing. Please do not hesitate to contact me at cwe1 [at] hi.is with any feedback or suggestions for terms that you feel should be included in the glossary.
*** Content warning: As alluded to above, please note that several definitions below contain ableist, derogatory, and/or offensive language. Where such connotations are not present in the original terms, I have endeavoured to use more neutral English language terms than those used in the Cleasby-Vigfússon, Fritzner, and/or Zoëga dictionaries. However, where they are present in the original language, I have made use of corresponding English terms that convey the same ableist, derogatory, and/or offensive connotations. This includes, for example, terms such as afglapi, fífl, fóli, and glópr, which are derogatory labels commonly and often synonymously used to refer to people with what today would likely be called cognitive and/or intellectual disabilities. The overall intention of the glossary is to avoid presenting the society or societies that used these terms as any more or less accommodating of mental, physical, and sensory differences than they actually were as reflected in the language they used.
Note: If you make significant use of the glossary in your research, please be sure to cite it so that others are able to find and use it.
afglapi (n.): a fool, idiot, simpleton
bamlaðr (adj.): bent, crooked, deformed
beinlauss (adj.): boneless, without bones
blinda (vb.): to blind, deprive of sight
blindi (n.): blindness
blindr (adj.): blind
daufr (adj.): deaf
dumba / dumbi / dumbr (adj.): non-speaking
dvergr (n.): a dwarf, person with restricted growth
eineygðr / eineygr (adj.): one-eyed
einfætr (adj.): one-footed, one-legged
einhendr (adj.): one-handed, one-armed
fífl (n.): a fool, idiot, simpleton
fóli (n.): a fool, idiot, simpleton
fótlauss (adj.): footless, legless
galinn (adj.): mad, enchanted
gjalti (n.): mad
glópr (n.): a fool, idiot, simpleton
haltr (adj.): limping, having difficulty walking
haltra (vb.): to make one limp
hamstola / hamstoli / hamstolinn (adj.): distressed, frenzied, mad, out of one’s mind
handlauss (adj.): handless, armless
heilendi / heilsa (n.): good health, healing
heill / heilendr (adj.): healed, healthy, whole
heimskr (adj.): foolish, idiotic, simple
hugarválað / hugsótt (n.): anxiety, distress, mental illness
hugsjúkr (adj.) : anxious, distressed
hǫgg (n.): a hit, stroke, cut (with a weapon)
hǫggva (vb.): to hit, strike, cut (with a weapon)
knýta (vb.): to become crooked, knotted
krjúpa (vb.): to creep, crawl
kroppinbakr / kryppubakr (n.): a hunchback
kroppna (vb.): to become crippled
kryppa (n.): a hump, hunch
kryppill / krypplingr (adj.): a cripple
krǫm (n.): a long, wasting, chronic illness
lama / lami / lamr (adj.): limping, maimed
mállaki (n.): a lack of speech
mállauss (adj.): non-speaking
mein (n.): a harm, injury, disease, sore
meinliga (adv.): painfully
meinligr (adj.): painful, harmful
óðr (adj.): mad, frantic, furious, eager
óheill (adj.): unhealthy, not whole
ómagi (n.): a dependent, one unable to help themselves
óvígr (adj.): unable to fight
sár (n.): a wound, injury
sárleikr (n.): pain, soreness
sárliga (adv.): painfully, sorely
sárligr (adj.): painful
sjónlauss (adj.): blind, visually impaired
sjónleysi (n.): blindness, vision loss, a visual impairment
sjúkdómr / sjúkleiki / sjúkleikr / sjúknuðr (n.): an illness, disease
sjúkr (adj.): ill
sótt (n.): an illness, disease
sóttarfar (n.): the condition, course of an illness
staðleysi (n.): unsteadiness, instability, a restlessness of mind
stǫng (n.): a staff, pole
sút (n.): illness, grief, sorrow, affliction
sútligr (adj.): painful
tréfótr (n.): a wooden leg
vanfærr (adj.): unable, incapable, infirm
vanheilendi / vanheilsa (n.): failing health, a chronic illness
vanheill (adj.): unhealthy, ill
vanmátta / vanmáttugr (adj.): weak, ill, sore
vanmáttr (n.): failing strength, an illness
vanmegin / vanmeginn / vanmegn (adj.): feeble, powerless, weak
vanmegn (n.): feebleness, powerlessness, weakness
vanmegna (vb.): to grow weak, faint
vanmenna (n.): an incompetent, worthless person
verkja (vb.): to feel pain
verkr (n.): pain
vitfirring / vitleysa / vitleysi (n.): madness, witlessness
vitlauss / vitstola / vitstoli / vitstolinn (adj.): mad, foolish, witless, out of one’s mind
vitleysingr (n.): a mad, foolish, witless person
æða, œða / æra, œra (vb.): to madden, make furious, frantic, mad
æði, œði / ærsl, œrsl / ærsla (n.): fury, frenzy, madness, rage
æriliga, œriliga (adv.): furiously, madly
ærr, œrr / æriligr, œriligr (adj.): mad, furious, insane
Christopher W. E. Crocker 