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Matteo Tarsi: On the origin of Christian terminology 91
abbadís: The oldest occurrence of
this word (E. ‘abbess’) in Icelandic is
found, allegedly, in a lausavísa by the
skald Einarr Skúlason7 (12th c.), pre-
served in GKS 1009 fol. (36r15–17),
from the second half of the 13th centu-
ry, also known as Morkin skinna (SkP
II, 2:571–572). In the manuscript, the word is abbreviated as abıſſa,
with a nasal stroke running through both ascenders of the b junc-
tion. Finnur Jónsson, in his Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning (Skjald,
A–I:483), gives a diplomatic reading of the word as “abbatissa”. The
abbess who is referred to in the poem is that of Bakke, a Benedictine
cloister near Trondheim.
The three main etymological dictionaries for Icelandic give two
paths for the borrowing: from Lat. abbatissa/abbadissa via MLG. abba-
disse (AeW, IeW, ÍOb) or directly from Vulg.Lat. abbadissa (AeW, ÍOb).
AeW also proposes OE. abbudesse as an intermediary between Latin
and Old Icelandic, but this hypothesis should be discarded due to
phonemic diffi culties in explaining OE. /u/ > OIc. /a/ since OE. /u/
would more reasonably have been adapted as OIc. /y/. Moreover,
Finnur Jónsson’s interpretation of the abbreviation is doubtful, al-
though kept unchanged by the editors of The Skaldic Project (cf. SkP
II, 2:571–572). In fact, according to ONP, the word form abbatissa, i.e.
with <t> instead of <d>, is not att ested. It is therefore most probable
that Finnur Jónsson thought that the word was a direct loan from
Latin, although in LP the citation form where the aforementioned line
by Einarr Skúlason is quoted, is indeed abbadissa.
The oldest occurrence of the modern word form, abbadís, is from
the late 13th century (ONP). The form arises from a paraetymological
parallel with OIc. dís ‘goddess’ (IeW), thanks to the metonymical se-
mantic extension of this noun, chiefl y in the poetic language, where
dís is a common heiti for ‘woman’.
7 Oss lét abbatissa / angri fi rð of svangan, / dugðut víf en vígðu / víti fyr þat gyrða; / en til
áts með nunnum / (ógnar rakks) á Bakka / (drós gladdit vin vísa) / vasat stallari kallaðr
(Skjald, B–I:455). The abbess, removed from worries, made us [me] tighten the belt
around the fl ank, although men may reproach the faithful consecrated women
[for that]. And the marshal was not summoned to eat with the nuns at Bakke; the
lady did not cheer the friend of the batt le-brave leader. (Transl. Kari Ellen Gade,
The Skaldic Project.)
Figure 1. abıſſa in GKS 1009 fol., 36r15
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