Orð og tunga - 01.06.2010, Síða 122

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Orð og tunga
color adjective is associated with vegetation or land(s) (earth, islands,
pastures, paths):5
1. Grœnn Classification Referent Number of examples
Land(s) braut 2 (Fáfnismál st. 41, Rígsþula st. 1)
ey 1 (Hárbarðsljóð st. 16)
jQrö 2 ([iðjagrœnn] VQluspá st. 59,
vQllr 1 [ígrœnn] Alvíssmál st. 10) ([algrœnn\ Atlakviða st. 13)
Vegetation laukr 2 (VQluspá st. 4, Guðrúnarkviða
Yggdrasill 1 II st. 2) (VQluspá st. 19)
The use of color terms in Snorri Sturluson's Edda is similar to that of
the eddic poems in that in the prose sections gidr does not appear, and
grœnn is used only once: to describe the color of the new earth that
will emerge from the sea after Ragnarokr (75.14).6 The use otgrœnn is
clearly symbolic, for green is typically thought of as a sign of regen-
eration, fertility, and immortality.7 That the symbolic meaning of the
color was generally known is clear from, for example, Knytlinga saga
(in Danakonunga sögur), which reports that according to the Danes, in
the open space, where Saint Knud Lavard was killed, there has since
been a light-green field both in winter and summer ("í rjóðri því, er
inn helgi Knútr lávarðr fell, sé jafnan síðan fagrgrœnn vgllr, hvárt
sem er vetr eða sumar" 255.23-24). The statement in Landnámabók that
Laugar-brekku Einarr's mound was always green both in winter and
summer ("ávallt grœnn vetr ok sumar" 108.21) may also be significant
in this context.
5As Zanchi (2006:1096) points out, "[t]he connection between the colour green and
the natural world is clearly represented in medieval Icelandic literature, where the
term is most often associated with plants, pastures, and the colour of the sea." This
association is clear also from the compounds grasgrænn and laufgrænn (see 2.4 and 2.5
below).
6According to the "scientists" at the famous medical school at Salerno in Italy,
green was the most beautiful color, the reason being that, in their view, color exists
on a spectrum beginning with white and ending with black, and green is the color
which mediates between the two extremes. See Hill (1987):523-527.
7Green is symbolic of hope, victory, and plenty. See Blanch (1967:46) and Lukiesh
(1918:115). Note in this connection the statement in Karlamagnúss saga: "þeir leitaðu
brott síðan þeir sá engan annan [+ sinn kost var.] grœnna" (212.28).