avugher (OSw) avigh (ODan) öfugr (ON) adj.

Literally, ‘backwards’. The principal use of this word is in speaking of enemies of the king, those who were hostile to him. It alludes to the fact that shields facing the king, or ‘backwards’, were those of an enemy. Several other expressions, however, include this word. In the expression ganga avugh or ætt sinni, referring to a free woman marrying a slave, it implies that she is ‘backing out’ of her inheritance. The word also appears in the expression elda afgum brandum (literally ‘start a fire with backward firebrands’), referring to an inheritance that takes a step, or throws a glance, backwards (i.e. makes a reversion to ascendant inheritance) in the case in which there are no direct or co-lateral heirs. The ascendant inheritance would go right back as far as to a maternal aunt. The closest single relative took the full inheritance. If there were no living relatives of that order, the inheritance was divided equally between the paternal and maternal kin — the nearest on each side taking an equal share. The rules about the precise division of the inheritance are complex and not entirely consistent. In some cases, the division was according to the distance from the deceased, but in others, this did not apply.

backwards OSw UL Äb
OSw VgL Äb
deformed ONorw EidsL 5
hostile OSw UL Mb
of the butt side of a weapon ONorw GuL Mhb
Expressions:

avugher skiolder (OSw) avighskjold (ODan)

averse shield OSw SdmL Mb

hostile shield OSw HL Mb UL Mb

shield-brandishing ODan ESjL 2

elda afgum brandum (OSw)

take a step backwards OSw VmL Äb

ganga avugh or ætt sinni (OSw)

relinquish her birthright OSw UL Äb VmL Äb

Refs:

KLNM s.v. arveret; Schlyter 1877, s.v.v. avugher, brander, skiolder; SL DL, 87 note 33; SL VmL, 61−62 notes 67−71; Tamm and Vogt, eds, 2016, 313