marespjeld

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

• muruspjeld, muruspjell, murruspjeld (dialectal)

Etymology

From mare +‎ spjeld

Noun

marespjeld n (definite singular marespjeldet, indefinite plural marespjeld, definite plural marespjelda)

1. (folklore) a symbol, often similar to a chessboard, used against nightmare demons
2. a chess pattern (e.g. on a tapestry)

Usage notes

In contrast to Arabic magical squares, the squares inside the Norwegian symbol do not contain any letters or numbers, but instead they are meant to scare away the evil spirits solely by their repetative sequences.