--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Fernando Guerrero"
<cualfer@...> wrote:

> Also found in Fritzner the very interesting "TANNFÉ" which as yu

may imagine was maybe the Norse for the money hat the tooth-fairy
left ider the pillow. Unfortunatey he does not provide a word for
tooth-fairy

Hey, Fernando,

Argh, Viking tooth fairy. Now there's a disturbing thought.
Princess Melkorka gets a gold ring from her father (Laxdoela saga
20); Freyr is given his hall by the other gods--"Álfheim Frey gáfo i
árdaga tívar at tannfé" (Grímnismál 5); but the prize for the most
well-thought teething-gift must surely go to Earl Herrauðr, who
finds a gold-coloured baby snake in a vulture´s egg, while off on a
quest in perilous magical lands--"ok gaf Herrauðr konungr hann
dóttur sinni í tannfé, en hún lét leggja gull undir hann, ok óx hann
svá mikit, at hann lá í hring um skemmu hennar ok varð svá grimmr,
at engi þorði nærri honum at koma nema konungr ok sá, er honum
foerði mat. Uxa gamlan þurfti ormrinn í mál, ok þótti hann in mesta
meinvættr." A lesson there to anyone who´s thinking of buying their
child a pet this Christmas...

> Modern Icelandic for fang is also, (I believe) "tannrót", but I

could not find it in Fritzner, soooo...


Or wouldn't that be the "root" of a tooth?
MnIc. 'tannrótargöng' "root canal". Thinks: any mention of
dentistry in the sagas? Another 'tannrot' [
http://www.kristvi.com/flora/T/tannrot.htm ], the plant "coral
root", Cardamine (Dentaria) bulbifera in Norwegian and Swedish.

Llama Nom