æ

I)

interj. ah! o! oh! (denoting pain).

II)

adv.

1) aye, ever, always (við vín eitt Óðinn æ lifir); æ ok æ, for ever and ever; æ jafnan, forever and aye;

2) with compar.; gljúfrin vóru æ því breiðari er ofarr dró, the ravine became ever the broader the higher one went up; æ sem fyrst, the soonest possible;

3) never (æ menn hann sjálfan um sjá).

* * *

interj. dolentis; the oldest form was ai (aï), q. v.; [Germ. au, au au; but also ai, so used by Goethe, ich sterbe ai! exactly as in old Icel., cp. Grimm’s Dict. i. 199; cp. Gr. αἴ αἴ]:—ah! hann braut rif sín ok lesti öxlina, ok kvað við, ai ai! crying ah ah! Þorf. Karl. 390, v. l.; göróttr er drykkr inn, ai! Sæm. 118 (certainly so, see p. 41, col. 1 at the bottom); æ þat er veinon, Skálda 171: there is a curious play on the words á, sounded ā (ovem) and aï,—‘hrútr’ segir hann—þó mun eigi of skipat til ánna (the ewes, gen. pl.) þeirra er þer nefndut í gær, jarls-menn, þá er þér fenguð áverka, Fms. xi. 149: at the present day the sound made by Icel. crying out from pain is written æ, sounded aï; whereas the Dan. is aü, as in Germ.