Víðblindi Explained

Víðblindi or Viðblindi ("Very blind") is a jötunn in Norse mythology.

Attestations

The skald Hallar-Steinn uses the kenning "Viðblindi's boar" (Norse, Old: Viðblinda gǫltr) for whale in a stanza quoted by Snorri Sturluson in his Skáldskaparmál. Snorri explains it as follows:

Here the whale is called Boar of Viðblindi; this Viðblindi was a giant who drew whales out of the sea like fishes.

—Skáldskaparmál (XLVI), Brodeur's translation

A similar kenning for whale, "Víðblindi's pig" (Norse, Old: Víðblinda svín), can be found in an anonymous stanza from the 13th century preserved in Laufás-Edda.^[1]

Víðblindi is also listed among the Norse, Old: jötnar in the þulur.

Interpretation and discussion

Rudolf Simek noted that the only Norse, Old: jötunn known for fishing whales is Hymir,^[2] but he is never called Víðblindi / Viðblindi.^[3]

Notes

1. http://skaldic.arts.usyd.edu.au/db.php?table=verses&id=1501 Online
2. Hymiskviða 21.
3. Simek 1996.

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 Verlag, 1984. Cambridge: D. S. Brewer. .