[1, 2] svartir seggir ‘black men’: Svartr has connotations of both black in appearance and morally darkened, but the primary sense seems to be the literal. The epithet here echoes the more common svartir djöflar ‘black devils’ (see HómNo, 35; Mar 1871, 1082; and Unger 1877, 571 [wrongly cited in Fritzner as 511]). Cf. dökkvir flokkar ‘swarthy flocks’ 84/5. Lucifer was often portrayed as having a black complexion (see Link 1995, 52-3; Russell 1981, 190-1; Russell 1984, 132-3).
References
- Bibliography
- Unger, C. R., ed. 1877. Heilagra manna søgur. Fortællinger og legender om hellige mænd og kvinder. 2 vols. Christiania (Oslo): Bentzen.
- Russell, Jeffrey Burton. 1981. Satan: The Early Christian Tradition. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
- Russell, Jeffrey Burton. 1984. Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
- Fritzner = Fritzner, Johan. 1883-96. Ordbog over det gamle norske sprog. 3 vols. Kristiania (Oslo): Den norske forlagsforening. 4th edn. Rpt. 1973. Oslo etc.: Universitetsforlaget.
- HómNo = Indrebø, Gustav. 1931. Gamal norsk homiliebok, Cod. AM 619, 4°. Det norske historiske Kjeldeskrift Fond, Skrifter 54. Oslo: Dybwad. Rpt. 1966. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.
- Link, Luther. 1995. The Devil: The Archfiend in Art from the Sixth to the Sixteenth Century. New York: Abrams.