ÆTT can mean two distinctive things: 1) family, family group;
2) direction, point of the compass. (In modern language it
usually means only "family".)

ÁTT can mean two distinctive things: 1) family, family group;
2) direction, point of the compass. In modern language it
usually means only "direction".)

Exactly how this came about, and exactly how ÁTT is related
to ÆTT, whether they are originally the same or different, all
of this is disputed. But we know what the words mean, and most
etymologists think that both words originate in the verb "eiga".

Possibly the ætt/átt as "direction" originated in the fact
that your family would have lived in one place, close to each
other. So you could point in a direction, towards your home
region and say: my family lives that-a-way, in that direction,
ætt mín er í þessa átt.

The meaning "family" passes easily into "group", as with the
runes. Possibly the runes may also have been placed on points
of the compass, and this would equate them with "áttir", i.e.
the points of the compass. There are 4 "höfuðáttir", i.e.
"cardinal points", norðurátt, austurátt, suðurátt, vesturátt.
There are 4 other mid-points, making 8 basic direction all in
all. (Some believe that they are symbolized by Óðinn's 8-legged
horse, and connect them to the eight winds of classical lore.
Interestingly, the number "eight" is "átta" in Icelandic. Is
this a coincidence? I don't know. There are 16 (2*8) runes in
the younger futhark, 24 (3*8) in the older futhark, so the
number "átta" seems to be very prominent in runic systematics.
Whether this has any relevance to anything, I have no idea. I
guess it depends upon your world-view.

Regards,
Eysteinn


--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Patricia Wilson"
<originalpatricia@...> wrote:
>
> In one of the many books I have on Runes they are (older futhark)
divided into three
> ætts so I thought ætt might be "a group" but it could be translated
as place or position this is interesting, I have had good replies to
my quibbling session
> Kveðja
> Patricia
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Eysteinn Bjornsson
> To: norse_course@yahoogroups.com
> Sent: Friday, February 16, 2007 10:41 PM
> Subject: [norse_course] Re: móðurætt ???
>
>
> It is true that the expression has often been
> interpreted as referring to death (i.e. a "falling"
> to (mother) earth), but as Einar Ólafur Sveinsson
> has pointed out (in the ÍF edition) this is not at
> all necessary. Also, it is rather difficult to see
> how the expression could really mean that.
>
> In fact the expression is well known in modern
> Icelandic (at least it was well known to me when
> I was a child), and means "to lie on one's back"
> as opposed to "í föðurætt", which means to lie on
> one's stomach. I hardly need to explain to the
> group why mother lies on her back and father on
> his stomach.
>
> If we accept this, then Skarphéðinn is simply saying:
> "you're going to lie on your back (like a woman) ere
> I'm through with you!"
>
> Personally I don't for a minute think this has anything
> to do with "Mother Earth" or "ancestors in the mountain".
> I have, since I was a child, understood this instinctively
> to refer to a position "appropriate to the mother", i.e
> the "submissive" position. Think of "ætt" as "átt", and
> I think you'll come to the same conclusion. There's a
> couplet in a ríma, which goes:
>
> Bersi féll í brúðar átt [i.e. on his back]
> og bar sig lægra,
>
> where "brúðar átt" (the bride's direction) is synonymous
> with "móðurætt". It's about lying on one's back, nothing
> more, nothing less.
>
> Regards,
> Eysteinn
>
> --- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "llama_nom" <600cell@> wrote:
> >
> > --- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Patricia Wilson"
> > <originalpatricia@> wrote:
> > >
> > > There were a couple of words new to me - that seemed to be
> composed
> > of other words - moðurætt - I could piece enough of it together
to
> > make Weak or flattened but I am not satisfied with the
definition -
> > MM&HP have given it as flat on your back but I don't like that
> either
> > - I am quibbling of course
> > >
> > > "Laust þú mér nú," segir Skarphéðinn, "en þó skalt þú í
móðurætt
> > falla áður
> > > við skiljum."
> > > "You have struck at me now" says Skarpheðin "but even so
(just the
> > same) you will fall weak and tired before we part / are finished
> >
> > The use of 'móðurætt' here seems to be a bit mysterious, so
you're
> > right to quibble. The word itself normally means: móður + ætt =
the
> > mother's side (of a family). But as far as I know, this
> expression 'í
> > móðurætt falla' is peculiar to Njáls saga. CV interprets it "to
> fall
> > mother earth, to die" [
> > http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/png/oi_cleasbyvigfusson/b0435.png ].
> > Fritzner is less sure:
> >
> > en þó skaltu í móður ætt falla áðr vér skiljum Nj.45 (7019), af
> > hvilken Sætning Ordene "í móður ætt" Nj. II, 1368 er oversat
ved de
> > latinske Ord: in gremium matris (ad avos maternos), uden at den
> rette
> > Forstaaelse af disse dunkle Ord derved erbleven lettet.
> >
> > "...from which sentence, the words 'í móður ætt' are translated
by
> > Latin 'in gremium matris' ('ad avos maternos'), without thereby
> > clarifying the true understanding of these dark (mysterious)
words."
> >
> > http://www.edd.uio.no/perl/search/search.cgi
> >
> > in gremium matris = in one's mother's lap/bosom/womb
> > ad avos maternos = to one's maternal ancestors
> >
> > So, I don't know... Could it mean, "now you're going to your
> > ancestors" (i.e. die)? But then why the mother's ancestors in
> > particular? Or has it been garbled from some other word. MM &
HP's
> > interpretation "flat on your back" makes me wonder if they've
> > connected it with the adjective 'móðr' "tired" (thinking of
MnIc.
> > lá-réttur, adj. "horizontal"??) -- but I'm just guessing there.
Or,
> > could this be an obscure reference to something Sigmund's
mother's
> > family were known for, or something that happened to one of
them,
> some
> > lost anecdote, and now Sigmund will follow their example? But
> then, I
> > don't think the saga tells us anything about his mother or her
> > ancestors, does it?
> >
> > LN
> >
>