The Colour Green in Medieval Icelandic Literature: Natural, Supernatural, Symbolic?

Anna Zanchi

(University College London, Dept. of Scandinavian Studies)

According to Cleasby-Vigfússon, the Old Norse adjective grænn stems from the verb gróa (‘to grow’, of vegetation). The connection between the colour green and the natural world is clearly represented in medieval Icelandic literature, where the term is most often associated with plants, pastures and the colour of the sea. References to green slopes and meadows appear passim in the corpus in question, often in the form of place-names. Finnbogi rammi is said to have dwelled at Grænmór (‘Green Moor’) during his stay in Hálogaland, Norway (Finnboga, 272), while Hrafns þáttr Guðrúnarsonar refers to the trading of a certain Grœnateigr (‘Green Paddock’) between two Icelandic farmers (Hrafns, 320). Perhaps the most famous occurrence of the toponomastic use of grænn is provided by the Norse colony Grænland, which, according to Íslendingabók, was so named by Eiríkr inn rauði since he kvað menn þat myndu fýsa þangat farar, at landit ætti nafn gótt (‘said that people would be more willing to journey there, if the land had a promising name’) (Íslendingabók,
http://www.dur.ac.uk/medieval.www/sagaconf/zanchi.htm