Orð og tunga - 01.06.2013, Page 135

Susanne M. Arthur: Are Oranges Yellow?
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aurantium, malum aureum), English (orange), German (Pomeranze, Ap-
felsine, Orange), Danish (appelsm, pomerans) or other Scandinavian
forms (appelsin/apelsin). The oldest Icelandic term eyjarepli occurs only
once, in Kirialax saga,7 a saga whose composition is dated to the mid-
fourteenth century, but it is doubtful that the term in fact refers to
oranges or that the fruit was known in Iceland at that time (Heizmann
2005:42-43, 47-48).8
Mention of the fruit appears in the mid-seventeenth century and
becomes more frequent from the first half of the eighteenth century
onwards. The earliest examples - listed in Table 3 - are derived from
the Latin pomum aurantium, German Pomeranze and Danish pomerans.
Quite often the term appears in texts translated from German or Dan-
ish (see Table 3).
In three cases (Gudmund Thorgrimsen 1784:25; Magnús Stephens-
en 1797:266; Steingrímur Thorsteinsson 1886:199-200, 229), pomerans
is used parallel to the Icelandic term gullepli 'golden apple' (see Table
3 and Table 4), likely a translation of the Latin malum aureum (see fn.
5). Ritmálssafn Orðabókar Háskólans (ROH) lists seventeen occurrences
of gullepli from the mid-eighteenth century to the late twentieth cen-
tury. The term is problematic, since it may not necessarily just refer
to the fruit orange, but cóuld also describe an apple made of gold.
The oldest example is in Jón Jónsson's Meditationes triumphales. Edur
Sigurhrooss Hugvekiur (1749). It is doubtful that the term refers to an
orange in this case, since the phrase reads "Þu ert O IEsu sem eitt
Gull-Eple i Silfur-Skaal" (Jón Jónsson 1749:95) ['You are, oh Jesus, like
a golden apple in a silver bowl'];9 here the author is clearly contrast-
ing the gold of the apple with the silver of the bowl. The second old-
est example of gullepli (Gudmund Thorgrimsen 1784:25), on the other
7 "hennar höfuð var því líkt sem eyjar epli með gulligum lokkum" (Konráð Gísla-
son 1860:406; Kálund 1917:75-76) [Her head was like an 'island apple' with gold-
en curls.] - The quote is from the description of Florencias, the daughter of king
Lotharius of Byzantine and includes comparisons to plants and minerals. See also
Heizmann (2005:42).
8 Kálund notes in his edition of Kirialax saga that the term is a shortening of Sikiley-
iar epli 'apple from Sicily' and means appelsin (1917:76). His etymology has since
been adopted (see for example íslensk orðabók (IO 2007:196) 'eyjarepli,' or Wikipedia.
Frjálsa alfræðiritið: 'appelsína.'). In her English translation of Kirialax saga, Alenka
Divjak (2009:338) translates the term with 'orange/ without suggesting that the
term might be questionable. Heizmann (2005), however, convincingly challenges
Kálund's assumption.
9 See Vulgate, Prov. 25.11 "Mala aurea in lectis argenteis."