GÍSL

hostage

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(pl. -ar), m.

1) hostage;

2) bailiff (g. keisarans); warder.

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m. [A. S. gîsel; lost in Engl.; Germ. geissel; Swed. gislan; Dan. gidsel; to be distinguished from geisl; mod. Germ. and Dan. confound the two forms, one of which has ei and the other î as root vowel; mid. H. G. retained a distinction]:—a hostage, Ls. 39, Fms. v. 171, ix. 359, passim.

II. a king’s officer, a bailiff; gísl keisarans, Fms. i. 151, cp. Bs. i. 9, i. e. of the German emperor:—a warder, watchman, þeir höfðu sett til gísla at gæta hans (of a prisoner), Fms. viii. 23; konungr lagði fe til höfuðs honum ok setti hvervetna fyrir hann gísla (viz. to catch him) hvar sem hann kynni fram at koma, vi. 16:—this sense is very rare, and in Icel. never occurs except in metaph. phrases.

III. a pr. name, Gísl and Gísli; in many compds, Þor-gísl, Spá-gísl, Auð-gísl, Her-gísl, but usually by metathesis -gils, e. g. Þor-gils, etc.