háttr

Old Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *hahtuz.

Noun

háttr m (genitive háttar, dative hætti)

1. habit, wont, custom
2. (poetry) a verse-form, meter
   • early 1200s, Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal

     Svá skal hendingar setja í dróttkvæðum hætti, at in síðari hending í hverju vísuorði, er heitir viðrhending, hon skal standa í þeiri samstöfu, er ein er síðar, en sú hending, er frumhending heitir, stendr stundum í upphafi orðs, köllum vér þá oddhending, stundum í miðju orði, köllum vér þá hluthending. Þetta er dróttkvæðr háttr. Með þeim hætti er flest ort, þat er vandat er. Þessi er upphaf allra hátta, sem málrúnar eru fyrir öðrum rúnum.

     One shall place hendings such in court-recited verse-form, that the latter hending in each line, which is called the withhending, should be placed in the next-to-last syllable. But that hending, which is called firsthending, at times stands in the beginning of the line, then we call it an oddhending; but at times in the middle of the line, then we call it a lothending. This is court-recited verse-form. In this verse-form most elaborate poetry is composed. This is the origin of all verse-forms, just as speech-runes come before other runes.

Declension

Derived terms

• Háttalykill (a poem, literally “key of meters”)
• Háttatal (a poem, literally “count of meters”)
• kviðuháttr (a poetic meter, wherein each odd line has three positions, and each even line four)

Descendants

• Icelandic: háttur m
• Faroese: háttur m
• Norn: hot
• Norwegian Nynorsk: hått m

References

• Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon — Íslensk orðsifjabók, (1989). Reykjavík, Orðabók Háskólans. (Available on Málið.is under the “Eldra mál” tab.)