þögn

Ógn is a noun in Icelandic meaning fear, dread, or threat. It can refer to an internal experience of fear as well as to external danger posed by a person, situation, or event. In contemporary Icelandic, the term is common in both everyday speech and more formal or literary contexts, and it often appears in phrases describing peril or moral seriousness.

The semantic range of ógn covers both personal fear and external danger. It can be used to denote existential anxiety as well as immediate hazards. In literature and poetry, it can convey a sense of looming peril or the weight of a threatening situation.

Historically, ógn is attested in Old Norse and other medieval North Germanic texts with a similar sense. The word forms part of the Nordic lexicon for fear and danger, and it has cognates across North Germanic languages. The term retains a comparable meaning in modern Icelandic, where it remains one of the primary words for threat and fear.

See also: Icelandic language; Old Norse; North Germanic languages; fear; danger.