[2] brúðkonur ‘the bridesmaids’: Usually the term brúðkona refers to the woman who sits next to the bride on the bench. Here, on the other hand, all female members of the household are addressed as potential ‘brides’ of Vǫlsi (cf. Näsström 2002, 153). It has also been suggested that brúðkonur refers to the Maurnir either as an equivalent (Olrik and Ellekilde 1926-51, I, 167; Ström 1954, 28) or in terms of a ritual role-play (Steinsland and Vogt 1981, 98-9, 102). For the possibility that Maurnir is pl., see Note to st. 4/5.
References
- Bibliography
- Ström, Folke. 1954. Diser, nornor, valkyrjor. Fruktbarhetskult och sakralt kungadöme i Norden. Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademiens Handlingar, Filologisk-filosofiska serien 1. Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell.
- Näsström, Britt-Mari. 2002. Blot: Tro och offer i det förkristna norden. Stockholm: Norstedts Förlag.
- Olrik, Axel and Hans Ellekilde, eds. 1926-51. Nordens gudeverden. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Gad.
- Steinsland, Gro and Kari Vogt. 1981. ‘“Aukinn ertu Uolse ok vpp vm tekinn”. En religionshistorisk analyse av Vǫlsa þáttr i Flateyjarbók’. ANF 96, 87-106.