BLÓT

n.

1) sacrifice, sacrificial feast or banquet (efna, efla blót);

2) idol worship in general;

3) idol, = blœti (öll blót braut hann niðr);

4) swearing, cursing.

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n. [Ulf. renders λατρεία and σέβασμα by blutinassus, cp. also A. S. compd words such as blôtmônad]:—gener. worship, and worship including sacrifice, spec. a sacrificial feast or banquet, used freq. in pl. when in general sense; the feasts were, esp. the three great annual feasts, when the winter set in (Oct.), at Yule time and mid-winter (Dec. or Jan.), and when the summer began (April), Ó. H. ch. 94–96, Hkr. i. 139 sqq., Hák. S. G. ch. xvi sqq., and the verse of Kormak, Hafit maðr ask né eski, id., Hkr. (Ó. T.) i. 272, Fms. x. (Ó. T.) ch. 50, Fas. (Hervar. S.) i. 531, 512. Hervar. S. the last chapter, Eb. ch. 10, Eg. 257, Fb. i. 22; at Uppsölum vóru blót svá mikil í þann tíma, at hvergi hafa verit meiri á Norðrlöndum, Fas. i. 255; þann vetr fékk Ingólfr at blóti miklu ok leitaði sér heilla um forlög sín, Landn. 33, cp. Hým. 1, Vsp. 62; þar vóru áðr blót ok hörgar, Bs. i. 20 (Kr. S.), Fms. i. 131, Eb. 4; there are mentioned álfa-blót, dísa-blót, etc.

2. blót, or more correctly blœti, n. an idol, amulet, engi maðr skal hafa í húsum sínum, stalla, vit eðr blót (blœti) … nú ef blot (blœti) er funnit í húsi láslausu, mat-blót (dough idol) eðr leir-blót (clay idol) gört í mannslíki af leiri eðr deigi, þá …, N. G. L. i. 383, 389; cp. Fs. (Hallfr. S.) 97.

II. metaph. in Christian times the name of the heathen worship became odious, and blót came to mean swearing, cursing, freq. in Sturl. and Bs., and in mod. usage, Sturl. ii. 106, 152, iii. 101, Fs. (Vd.) 36, Gísl. The terms for swearing in the heathen times were ‘troll, gramir,’ etc., q. v.