/ · 1894 Brewer’s · T · True-lovers Knot
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is the Danish trolovelses knort, “a betrothment bond,” not a compound of true and lover. Thus in the Icelandic Gospel the phrase, “a virgin espoused to a man,” is, er trulofad var cinum mannë.
“Three times a true-love’s knot I tie secure;
Firm be the knot, firm may his love endure.”
Gay’s Pastorals: The Spell.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.