þrymm

Old English

FWOTD – 28 July 2013

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *þrumi, from Proto-Germanic *þrumjaz, akin to Old Norse þrymr.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /θrymm/, [θrym]

Noun

þrymm m

  1. host, army
    • 10th century, The Wanderer:
      Hwǣr cōm mearg? Hwǣr cōm mago? · Hwǣr cōm māþþumġyfa?
      Hwǣr cōm symbla ġesetu? · Hwǣr sindon seledrēamas?
      Ēalā beorht bune! · Ēalā byrnwiga!
      Ēalā þēodnes þrym! · Hū sēo þrāg ġewāt,
      ġenāp under nihthelm, · swā hēo nō wære.
      Whither did the horse come? Whither did the man come? Whither did the treasure-giver come?
      Whither did the seats of feasts come? Where are the hall-joys?
      Alack and alas, bright cup! Alack and alas, mailed warrior!
      Alack and alas, the army of the king! How did the time pass,
      grow dark under the cover of night, as if it never did.
    • Homilies of the Anglo-Saxon Church
      Þā besēah Martinus wið þǣs sċeoccan lēoht, ġemyndiġ on mōde hū sē Metoda Drihten cwæð on his godspelle þe his godcundan tōcyme, and cwæð tō ðām lēasan mid ġelǣredum mūðe, "Ne sǣde ūre Hǣlend þæt hē swā wolde bēon mid purpuran gehīwod, oððe mid helme scīnende, þonne hē eft cōme mid engla ðrymme." Đā fordwān sē deofol drēoriġ him fram, and sēo stōw ðā stanc mid ormǣtum stenċe, æfter andwerdnysse þǣs eġeslīċan gāstes.
      Then Martinus beheld the demon's light, mindful of what the Lord God said in his gospel about his divine coming, and said to the false one with learned mouth, "Our Savior did not say that he would be habited in purple, or that he would have a shining crown, when he came again with a host of angels." Then the sad devil disappeared, and the place stank with a powerful stench after the presence of the horrible spirit.
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:here
  2. force, power, glory
    • c. 950, Maxims II, Lines 4-5
      [...] þunar byð þragum hludast. Þrymmas syndan Cristes myccle.
      Wyrd byð swiðost, winter byð cealdost
      [...]
      [...] thunder is sometimes loudest. Christ’s glories are great.
      Fate is strongest, winter is coldest [...]

Declension

Strong a-stem:

singular plural
nominative þrymm þrymmas
accusative þrymm þrymmas
genitive þrymmes þrymma
dative þrymme þrymmum

Derived terms