Note to Hildigunnr Lv 1VIII (Ǫrv 30)
[1] tuttr ‘tot’: This is the only instance of tuttr in Old Icelandic, but the probable alternative form tottr occurs more frequently (six citation slips in the ONP database). The sense of the Old Icelandic word is ‘dwarf, adult of small stature’ (cf. ModDan. tommel-tot ‘Tom Thumb’); according to the OED, the ModEngl. tot, meaning a tiny child, cannot be connected to the Scandinavian words and does not appear in English before the C18th.
References
- Bibliography
- OED = Murray, J. A. H. et al., eds. 1884-1928. The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon. 2nd edn 1989. Simpson, J. A. and E. S. C. Weiner, eds. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- ONP = Degnbol, Helle et al., eds. 1989-. A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose / Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog. 1-. Copenhagen: The Arnamagnæan Commission.