hauss

From Proto-Germanic *hausaz, cognate with Lithuanian kiáušė, Latvian kaûss. See also hús.

hauss m (genitive hauss, plural hausar)

1. skull

   Ymis hauss ― Ymir’s skull; the world

   • 10th c., Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, Hákonarmál, verse 5:

     Svá beit þá sverð / ór siklings hendi
     váðir Váfaðar, / sem í vatn brygði.
     Brǫkuðu broddar, / brotnuðu skildir,
     glumruðu gylfringar / í gotna hausum.

     Then the sword / in the sovereign’s hand bit
     the garments of Váfuðr <=Óðinn> [ARMOUR], / as if it were cutting through water.
     Points clanged, / shields burst,
     swords clattered / in men’s skulls.

• haussprengir (“skull-splitter”)

• Icelandic: haus
• Norwegian: haus

• skalli

“hauss”, in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press