Hiort

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

Unknown. Several theories exist:

  1. From Old Norse hirtir (“deer”, plural of hjǫrtr), possibly referring to the island's jagged outlines resembling stags. This is supported by the mention of “Hirtir” in the 13th-century Prestssaga Guðmundar Arasonar as a name for Hebridean islands.[1]
  2. From an ancient Celtic root *(h)irt (“death”), possibly referring to the dangers of living on the island rather than any mythological connection to the afterlife.[2]
  3. From (na) h-iartìre (“(the) western land”), though this etymology presents linguistic difficulties.[3]
  4. From Ì Àrd (literally “high island”), as suggested by Rev Neil Mackenzie who lived there from 1829 to 1844.[4]
  5. From Old Norse hirð (“herd”), though this is more speculative.[5]

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /hɪrˠʃt̪/

Proper noun

Hiort

  1. Hirta (an island the largest in the St Kilda archipelago in the westernmost part of the Outer Hebrides, Scotland)
  2. (by extension) St Kilda (an archipelago in the westernmost part of the Outer Hebrides, Scotland)
  3. (figurative) a proverbially distant or remote place
    rach a Hiort! thalla a Hiort! ― get lost! go to Halifax!
    cuiridh mi a Hiort thu air muin mairt! ― I'll send you to St Kilda on the back of a cow!

References

  1. ^ Taylor, A. B. (1968), “The Norsemen in St. Kilda”, in Saga-Book‎[1], volume 17, JSTOR/Viking Society for Northern Research, →JSTOR, retrieved 24 March 2024, pages 120–123
  2. ^ Watson, William J. (1926), The History of the Celtic Place-Names of Scotland‎[2], Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, page 97
  3. ^ Coates, Richard (1990), The Place-Names of St Kilda: Nomina Hirtensia, Lewiston, New York: Edwin Mellen Press, →ISBN, pages 44–49
  4. ^ Steel, Tom (1988), The Life and Death of St. Kilda, London: Fontana, →ISBN, pages 26–27
  5. ^ Murray, W.H. (1966), The Hebrides, London: Heinemann, pages 196, 236
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