Gripla - 20.12.2011, Page 83

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Hefir þetta sáttmaals mark milli guds ok mannkynsins. sem uęr
kall um regnboga. i séér teikn ok mark tueggia hinna mestu guds
doma her i uerolldinni. annars fyrir uatnit þess sem umlidinn er.
at enginn þurfi þann hedan af ottaz. þess annars sem um elldinn
kemr. þa er uerolldin skal brigdaz. Ok þo at hann syniz hafa .vi. litu
i ser. þa hefir hann allt at eins .ii. skyrazta af þeim aullum. þat er
dckgrænn litr næst hinum yzta kompasinum. til marks um þann
dominn er uatnit geck yfir uerolldina. ok fyrir þann skylld er hann
utarr meirr skipadr at hann er umlidinn. ok raudan er innarr meirr
stendr. til marks um þann dominn sem at sidurstunni kemr um
elldinn aa iardriki. Finnz ok sua i heilagra manna bokum ok fra-
saugnum. at hann man .xl. daga fyrir domsdagh alldregi seenn verða.
hvat er aungum mun sidr synir eptir loptzins natturu þurkanina þa
þegar til hafa tekit.
“Here is that sign of the covenant between God and mankind,
which we call rainbow. In that you see the token and sign of both
God’s supreme judgements here in the world, the first by water,
which is past and nobody has ever to fear it again; the second that
comes through fire, when the world shall burn. And though it is
shown that it has six colours in itself, it appears that only two are
the most evident of them all. The dark green colour is the nearest
to the external side of the arch, as a sign of the judgement when the
water went upon the world, and for this sake it is arranged more
at the outer side, because it is past. And red is placed more at the
inner side, as a sign of the judgement which is going to come at last
through fire on the kingdom of earth. It is also found in books and
narratives, that it will never be seen during the forty years preceding
Doomsday; and this will not be a common sight for anyone after
the natural drying of air that will take to next.”40
Now, Peter Comestor’s Latin text is much more concise and does not
mention, for instance, the six colour tradition at all;41 so, this elaboration
40 Cf. Stjorn. Gammelnorsk Bibelhistorie, 62. Here and below, any English translation from Old
Icelandic, Latin and Old German texts is my own.
41 Cf. Petrus Comestor, Historia scholastica. Liber Genesis, in PL 198, col. 1086 D: Et est signum
duorum judiciorum. Judicii per aquam praeteriti, ne timeatur, et futuri per ignem, ut exspectetur.
THE RAINBOW ALLEGORY