staþolfæstnes

Old English

Alternative forms

• staþolfæstnys, steaþulfæstnis
• staðolfæstnes, staðolfæstnys, steaðulfæstnis — edh spelling

Etymology

Equivalent to staþolfæst +‎ -nes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈstɑ.θolˌfæst.nes/, [ˈstɑ.ðolˌfæst.nes]

Noun

staþolfæstnes f

1. steadfastness, stability
   • c. 992, Ælfric, "The Nativity of St. Andrew the Apostle"

     Swa swa hī ǣr mid nette fixodon on sǣlicum yðum, swa dyde Crist þæt hī siððan mid his heofonlican lāre manna sawla gefixodon; forðan ðe hī ætbrudon folces menn fram flæsclicum lustum, and fram woruldlicum gedwyldum to staðolfæstnysse lybbendra eorðan, þæt is to ðam ecan eðle, be ðam cwæð se witega þurh Godes Gast, "Ic asende mine fisceras, and hī gefixiað hī; mine huntan, and hī huntiað hī of ælcere dune and of ælcere hylle."

     As they before with a net had fished on the sea waves, so Christ caused them afterwards by his heavenly lore to fish for the souls of men; for they withdrew the people from fleshly lusts, and from worldly errors to the stability of the earth of the living, that is, to the eternal country, of which the prophet, through God's Spirit, said, "I will send my fishers, and they shall fish for them; my hunters, and they shall hunt them from every down and from every hill."

Declension

Declension of staþolfæstnes (strong ō-stem)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	staþolfæstnes	staþolfæstnessa, staþolfæstnesse
accusative	staþolfæstnesse	staþolfæstnessa, staþolfæstnesse
genitive	staþolfæstnesse	staþolfæstnessa
dative	staþolfæstnesse	staþolfæstnessum

Derived terms

• unstaþolfæstnes f (“instability, inconstancy”)

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “STAÞOLFÆSTNESS”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[1], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.