Note to FriðÞ Lv 2VIII (Frið 2)
[4] í miðjum Baldrshaga ‘amidst Baldrshagi’: According to the A redaction of Frið (Frið 1914, 3), Baldrshagi ‘Baldr’s pasture’ was the name of a griðastaðr ok hof mikit ‘a place of peace and a great temple’ near the residence of King Beli. The B redaction adds (Frið 1901, 1-2) that there was a large paling fence (skíðgarðr) around the sanctuary, and that inside many gods (presumably images of gods) were venerated, though Baldr was the most important of them. No injury was to be done to man or beast there and men and women should not have intercourse (viðskipti) there. Frið’s presentation of a temple dedicated to Baldr is unique in Old Norse literature, and there is little clear evidence to support this god’s cult in Viking-Age Scandinavia. Theophoric place names incorporating the element Baldr are either non-existent or dubious in Norway (Olsen 1924, 169; Brink 2007a, 120-2) and Frið’s representation of his cult and cult house may be an antiquarian fiction (cf. Lindow 1997, 29 n., 132-3).
References
- Bibliography
- Brink, Stefan. 2007a. ‘How Uniform Was the Old Norse Religion?’. In Quinn et al. 2007, 105-36.
- Frið 1901 = Larsson, Ludvig, ed. 1901. Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna. ASB 9. Halle: Niemeyer.
- Frið 1914 = Wenz, Gustaf, ed. 1914. Die Friðþjófssaga in ihrer Überlieferung untersucht und der ältesten Fassung kritisch herausgegeben. Halle: Niemeyer.
- Lindow, John. 1997. Murder and Vengeance Among the Gods: Baldr in Scandinavian Mythology. FF Communications No. 262. Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia.
- Olsen, Magnus. 1924. ‘Om Balder-digtning og Balder-kultus’. ANF 40, 148-75.
- Internal references
- 2017, ‘ Anonymous, Friðþjófs saga ins frœkna’ in Margaret Clunies Ross (ed.), Poetry in fornaldarsögur. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 8. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 190. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=8> (accessed 25 April 2024)