# Icelandic: ægðarlæti



## Silver_Biscuit

Hey everybody,

Any clues what this word means? It's not in the dictionary, and there are only three examples in the Ritmálssafn Orðabókar Háskólans so it's hard for me to guess... The sentence I have is: 


> […] ægðarlætin eru fylgifiskur Breiðafjarðarillskunnar, þessa undarlega heilkennis sem hefur hrjáð konur í móðurfjölskyldu Eyju langt aftur í aldir og hlýtur að hafa bjargað þeim frá ísbjörnum og þurftafrekum eiginmönnum fyrir vestan.


I know what læti is of course, but I can't even find the first part of the compound in the dictionary, so I'm really feeling around in the dark here. If I had to take a guess I'd say maybe something like _lunacy_ or _frenzy_, based on the limited context I have, but it's not too confident a guess. 
Any help very welcome!
Thanks


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## Alxmrphi

Is it not related to _ægja_? The fear aspect with _læti_ as a sort of nominal suffix (the behaviour type of _læti - _but from fear)?
It can be a syndrome (heilkenni). So the extreme/weird behaviour out of fear or being too precautious that can save you from polar bears (due to being so overly cautious).
I know _overprecatiousness_ isn't a word (but you know what I mean). Maybe that's fitting (if you can find a better way to express it)?


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## Silver_Biscuit

That's an interesting idea, but it's not making a lot of sense to me with the first two Ritmálssafn sentences: "Það eru meiri andskotans *ægðarlætin* í sumum mönnum að ná í peninga", "Það vantar ekki *ægaðarlætin* í suma menn"...
The first one sounds to me like the men are particularly anxious to get money?

Maybe it's worth quoting a bit more, since the way they save themselves from polar bears is hitting them over the head with a frying pan!


> […] ægðarlætin eru fylgifiskur Breiðafjarðarillskunnar, þessa undarlega heilkennis sem hefur hrjáð konur í móðurfjölskyldu Eyju langt aftur í aldir og hlýtur að hafa bjargað þeim frá ísbjörnum og þurftafrekum eiginmönnum fyrir vestan: ýmist á eyjunum í Breiðafirði, búsældarlegum jörðum á Barðaströnd eða harðbýlinu í Djúpinu. Breiðarfjarðarillskan fær konu til að slá ísbirni og eiginmenn eldsnöggt í hausinn með pönnu, vafningalaust, til að lenda ekki í kjaftinum á þeim. Þessar kerlur treystu aldrei körlunum til að vinda íshrönglana úr þvottinum því þeir þóttu ekki nógu handsterkir. Eins og langamma Eyju sem var alin upp við útgerð á heimili þar sem systrunum lá lífið á þegar það var prúttað um eina olíugallann á heimilinu áður en þær réru til fiskjar.


These are really tough women, basically, maybe even aggressive in a defensive way, if that makes sense. Perhaps it is related to fear (the fear-related words beginning with _æg_ seem to be the closest fit to _ægðar_), but then I think it would have to be more like the fight reflex in the fight or flight response to fear. 

But this is all conjecture and I can't really turn in a guess, so I am in a pickle.


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## Alxmrphi

*ægð* - kv. (19. öld) 'óhof, mikið af e-u'.
Líkl < * ogiðo sk. ægja (1) og ægu; sbr. nno. øgd, ødd kv. (k.)
'ákafi, asi', þar sem tvær merkingarlíkar en óskyldar orðmyndir virðast
hafa ruglast saman (øgd af øgja og ødd af od 'óður'). Sjá ógn (1),
ægja (1) og ægða(r)læti.

Ta-daa.


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## Silver_Biscuit

Ah sweet! Thanks! Where did you find that??


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## Alxmrphi

Silver_Biscuit said:


> Ah sweet! Thanks! Where did you find that??


Biblían.


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## Silver_Biscuit

They really ought to put that on Snara. Does it have an actual entry for ægðarlæti, by any chance? Since it says "Sjá ægða(r)læti"?

If I'm understanding it right, ægðar is like an intensifying prefix, right? So it means læti but more so, like super-læti.


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## Alxmrphi

Ha, it was right underneath it. How did I miss that?

*ægða(r)læti *h.ft. (nísl) 'ólæti; ákafi; fíkn, ...'.
Orðið er efalítið leitt af_ ægð_, sbr. nno. øgd 'ákafi,
asi'. Tæpast frb.mynd fyrir *agðalæti, abr. agði (1);
ath. _agðast_ og _ægðast_.


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## Silver_Biscuit

Man I have to get this book.


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## Alxmrphi

Silver_Biscuit said:


> Man I have to get this book.


Has to be back in the library by the 17th. Feel free to check it out after I've returned it. 
I will invest in my own copy in the near future, hopefully.


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## Segorian

Some of us call it "the best book in the world".


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