Why did the Vikings call Jesus the White Christ?
Dear Viking Answer Lady:
Jesus is often refered to by the Vikings as the "White Christ". Thor was called "Red Thor." Thor is easily enough figured out. He has a red beard. But Christ? Certainly not all that "white". He was a Palestinian! I've heard Christ got his nickname "White Christ" for the white robes Christian converts wore. Is that true?
(signed) Questioning the Color Controversy
Gentle Reader:
The term for "White Christ" or Hvítakristr
came into currency among the heathen Icelanders at the time when pagan
and Christian religions were in conflict with each other. A direct
reference to this is made in the Flateyjarbók: "Þeir sem þann sið hafa, taka nafn af þeim guði, er þeir trúa á, er heitr Hvítakristr."
That the Christian god was called Hvítakristr was originally probably due to the fact that the newly baptized converts were obliged to wear white robes (i hvítaváðum) during the first week after the baptism.
The adjective hvítr when applied to Christ was
not meant to describe his physical appearance. At one time in the
development of Old Norse, the term was used of either sex to denote
someone who was blonde and/or pale-complected.
However, by the Viking Age, the term hvítr had acquired a perjorative connotation. To call a man hvítr was to say that he was cowardly, effeminate, and guilty of argr. (See the Viking Answer Lady's article on homosexuality in the Viking Age for more information on the term argr
and how it was related to to the concept of cowardice by the Vikings).
A related phrase was to say, "your liver is white" meaning again, a
coward... which is almost identical to modern English usage,
"lily-livered" with the same meaning. (Modern usage also uses "yellow"
in this sense.)
In stark contrast to the peace-loving Hvítakristr,
who was considered by a pagan warrior culture to be effeminate or
cowardly, the Vikings revered their manly, virile god Red Thórr, red
not only for his red beard and flashing red eyes, but likewise for the
blood that a warrior spills.
The conflict between pagan and Christian views crystallized around the dichotomy of Hvítakristr
and Red Thórr, becoming a recurring theme in saga events near the time
of the Conversion, as in this scornful poem by Steinunnn, mother of Refr
Gestasson, describing how Thórr wrecked the ship of a Christian priest,
Thangbrand, showing to Steinunn that Christ therefore was the weaker
god:
|
Þórr brá Þvinnils dýri Þangbrands ór stað longu, hristi borð ok beysti barðs ok laust við jorðu; munat skíð um sæ síðan sundfært Atals grundar, hregg því at hart tók leggja, hánum kennt, í spánu. |
[Thórr altered the course of Thangbrand's long horse of Thvinnil 1, he tossed and bashed the plank of the prow 2 and smashed it all down to the solid ground; the ski of the ground of Atall 3 won't later be buoyant on the sea since the baleful gale caused by him splintered it all into kindling. |
|
Braut fyrir bjollu gæti (bond ráku val strandar) mogfellandi mellu móstalls vísund allan; hlífðit Kristr, þá er kneyfði knorr, málfeta varrar; lítt hygg ek at Guð gætti Gylfa hreins at einu. |
The killer of ogresses' kin 4 pulverized fully the mew-perch bison 5 of the bell's guardian 6 (the gods chased the steed of the strand 7) Christ cared not for sea-shingle stepper 8 when cargo-boat crumbled; I think that God hardly guarded the reindeer of Gylfi 9 at all. |
|
|
It was during this period of conflict between religions
that amulets of Thórr's hammer, Mjollnir, increased in popularity as
ornaments,perhaps in response to Christians weraing the symbol of the
cross. Jewellers at this time were hedging their bets by making molds
for casting crosses and Thórr's Hammer's simultaneously, as is shown by
this tenth-century soapstone mold, found at Trendgården, Jylland,
Denmark.
Other amulets were hybrids representing the Cross and
the Hammer simultaneously, as in the silver pendant, found near Fossi in
Iceland, shown below.
The perjorative sense which became attached to hvitr was not associated with other words meaning white, including bjartr, "bright", bleikr, "wan, pale" or ljóss, "light".
For a full discussion, see:
Sturtevant, Albert M. "The Contemptuous Sense of the Old Norse Adjective Hvítr, 'White, Fair'." Scandinavian Studies 24(3): 119-121, 1952.
No comments:
Post a Comment