Víðblindi
Figure in Nordic mythology
Víðblindi or Viðblindi ("Very blind") is a jötunn in Norse mythology.
Attestations
The skald Hallar-Steinn uses the kenning "Viðblindi's boar" (Viðblinda gǫltr) for whale in a stanza quoted by Snorri Sturluson in his Skáldskaparmál. Snorri explains it as follows:
- Here the whale is called Boar of Viðblindi; this Viðblindi was a giant who drew whales out of the sea like fishes.
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- —Skáldskaparmál (XLVI), Brodeur's translation
A similar kenning for whale, "Víðblindi's pig" (Old Norse: Víðblinda svín), can be found in an anonymous stanza from the 13th century preserved in Laufás-Edda.[1]
Víðblindi is also listed among the jötnar in the þulur.
Interpretation and discussion
Rudolf Simek noted that the only jötunn known for fishing whales is Hymir,[2] but he is never called Víðblindi / Viðblindi.[3]
Notes
- ^ Online at Skaldic Arts.
- ^ Hymiskviða 21.
- ^ Simek 1996.
References
- Brodeur, Arthur Gilchrist (trans.). 1916. Snorri Sturluson: The Prose Edda. New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation.
- Simek, Rudolf. 1996. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. Translated by Angela Hall. First published: Alfred Kröner Verlag, 1984. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. ISBN 0-85991-513-1.
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Old Norse religion and mythology
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- Germanic paganism
- Heathenry (new religious movement)
- Nordic Bronze Age
