burðr

burðr is a term found in Old Norse texts as a masculine noun meaning a burden, load, or weight, and by extension the act or state of bearing. In usage it covers both literal physical cargo and more abstract notions such as obligation, responsibility, or hardship.

In literature and legal or economic contexts, burðr appears in passages describing what is carried or endured, as well as in figurative expressions that speak of moral or social burdens. It also occurs in poetry and kennings, where weight and carrying are used symbolically to convey concepts such as duty, obligation, or the weight of authority.

Orthography and phonology in Old Norse render the form burðr with the letter ð representing a voiced dental fricative. The word is typically analyzed as a firm, productive root within the noun class that yields related terms in other Germanic languages.

Etymology and relatives: burðr is linked to a Proto-Germanic root associated with carrying or bearing. Its cognates are found across Germanic languages, including English burden and German Bürde, reflecting a common semantic field of weight and obligation.

Overall, burðr exemplifies how Old Norse vocabulary encodes both physical and moral dimensions of carrying—weight as a tangible thing and as a metaphor for responsibility or hardship. The term and its derivatives illuminate broader patterns of Old Norse lexicon related to movement, obligation, and social duties, and connect Norse usage to related Germanic languages.