- Víðblindi
Víðblindi or Viðblindi ("Very blind") is a giant in
Norse mythology .The
skald Hallar-Steinn uses the "kenning " "Viðblindi's boar" ("Viðblinda göltr") for whale in a stanza quoted bySnorri Sturluson in his "Skáldskaparmál ". Snorri explains it as follows::Here the whale is called Boar of Vidblindi; this Vidblindi was a giant who drew whales out of the sea like fishes.:::—"Skáldskaparmál" (XLVI), [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/pre/pre05.htm Brodeur's translation]
A similar "kenning" for whale, "Víðblindi's pig" ("Víðblinda svín"), can be found in an [http://skaldic.arts.usyd.edu.au/db.php?table=verses&id=1501 anonymous stanza from the 13th century] preserved in "
Laufás Edda ".Rudolf Simek noticed that the only giant known for fishing whales is
Hymir ["Hymiskviða " 21.] , but he is never called Víðblindi / Viðblindi [Simek 1996.] .Vídblindi is also listed among the giants in the "
þulur ".Notes
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 Verlang, 1984. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. ISBN 0-85991-513-1.
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