Orð og tunga - 01.06.2010, Page 127

Kirsten Wolf: Green and Yellow
117
5. Grœnn
Classification Referent
Clothing kápa
kyrtill
ólpa
Number of examples
2 (Reykdœla saga ok Víga-Skútu
1774.13, Víga-Glúms saga 52.2)
3 (Flóamanna saga 236.13, [lauf-
grœnn] Hrafnkels saga 1403.41,
Víga-Glúms saga 64.3)
1 (Hallfreðar saga 40.6)
Once, in Fljótsdœla saga, the adjective describes the color of the giant
Geitir's burnished sword ("var þat grœnt at lit en brúnt með eggjun-
um" 681.2).
2.4 Green and yellow in the mythical-heroic sagas and the
romances
The prose sections of the mythical-heroic sagas (fornaldarsögur) and
the romances (riddarasögur) show a decidedly more frequent and less
restricted use of gidr and grœnn. The latter remains the more dom-
inant of the two color terms, but as in the Sagas and pættir of Ice-
landers, grœnn is rarely associated with pastures and vegetation. In
fact, the only example is in Konrdðs saga keisarasonar, where an emerald
is likened to the color of grass ("[h]ér er nú kominn hinn dýrligsti ok
fágætasti gimsteinn, er smaragdus heitir ok sigrar með sinni fegrð al-
lan blóma grasa, þeira er grœnst eru" 3:333.3).12 In the mythical-heroic
sagas and the romances, the term is used mostly to describe the color
‘ of stones:
uGrœnn is equated with grass also in, for example, Karlnmagnúss saga, where it is
stated that "sverðin váru grœn af stáli sem gras" (193.3) and "hjálmr þinn er gras-
grœnn [var.\ gerr af inu bezta stáli" (311.9), the Old Norwegian Homily Book, where it
is stated that "sú hin auma [sála var.] grœn sem graslaukr" (148.21-22), and Konungs
skuggsjá, where it is stated that "[t]ré þau er stóðu með frosnum rótum ok drjúpanda
kvistum, þá leiða þau nú fram af sér grasgrœnt lauf" (9.15).