Þiðranda þáttr ok Þórhalls
Encyclopedia
Þiðranda þáttr ok Þórhalls ("the story of Þiðrandi and Þórhall") or Þiðranda þáttr Síðu-Hallssonar ("the story of Þiðrandi, son of Hall of Sida") is a short tale (or þáttr) preserved within the Saga of Olaf Tryggvason
in Flateyjarbók
. It tells how Þiðrandi, Hall of Sida's virtuous and humble eighteen-year-old son, ignores the warning of his father's friend Þórhall spámaðr (Thorhall Seer or the Prophet) at a Winter Nights
feast that a spámaðr is fated to die, and that in particular something terrible will happen if anyone goes outside that night; he responds to the third summons at the door, thinking it shameful that guests should be ignored, whereupon he sees nine women in black with drawn swords riding into the homefield from the north and nine women in light clothes and on white horses riding from the south, and is killed by those in black. Þórhall interprets them to Hall as the fylgjur of his family, or dísir
, the black-clad ones angry at the impending change of faith in Iceland and the light-clothed willing but as yet unable to defend Þiðrandi. Later Þórhall is again staying with Hall and wakes smiling because he has seen through the window that the hills have opened and the living creatures, great and small, are preparing to move out in anticipation of the coming of Christianity.
Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta
Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta or The Greatest Saga of Óláfr Tryggvasonis one of the kings' sagas, an extended biography of King Óláfr Tryggvason....
in Flateyjarbók
Flateyjarbók
The Flatey Book, is an important medieval Icelandic manuscript. It is also known as GkS 1005 fol. and by the Latin name Codex Flateyensis.- Description :...
. It tells how Þiðrandi, Hall of Sida's virtuous and humble eighteen-year-old son, ignores the warning of his father's friend Þórhall spámaðr (Thorhall Seer or the Prophet) at a Winter Nights
Winter Nights
Winter Nights or Old Norse Vetrnætr was a Norse winter festival that was initially celebrated in pre-Christian Scandinavia. It was said by Snorri Sturluson that Winter Nights is one of the three most important festivals. This festival also marks the end of the summer and start of the winter meaning...
feast that a spámaðr is fated to die, and that in particular something terrible will happen if anyone goes outside that night; he responds to the third summons at the door, thinking it shameful that guests should be ignored, whereupon he sees nine women in black with drawn swords riding into the homefield from the north and nine women in light clothes and on white horses riding from the south, and is killed by those in black. Þórhall interprets them to Hall as the fylgjur of his family, or dísir
Dísir
In Norse mythology, a dís is a ghost, spirit or deity associated with fate who can be both benevolent and antagonistic towards mortal people. Dísir may act as protective spirits of Norse clans...
, the black-clad ones angry at the impending change of faith in Iceland and the light-clothed willing but as yet unable to defend Þiðrandi. Later Þórhall is again staying with Hall and wakes smiling because he has seen through the window that the hills have opened and the living creatures, great and small, are preparing to move out in anticipation of the coming of Christianity.
Sources
- Flateyjarbók, ed. Guðbrandur VigfússonGuðbrandur VigfússonGuðbrandur Vigfússon, known in English as Gudbrand Vigfusson, was one of the foremost Scandinavian scholars of the 19th century.-Life:He was born of an Icelandic family in Breiðafjörður...
, Carl Rikard Unger, 3 vols., vol. 1 Christiania: Mallings, 1860, "Ólafs Saga Tryggvasonar" ch. 335, "Fra Þiðranda," pp. 419–21 - "Þiðranda þáttur ok Þórhalls" on is.wikisource (modernized Icelandic)