At 9:47:43 PM on Wednesday, February 17, 2010, Meghan
Roberts wrote:
> I realize we're not there yet, and it's really only luck
> that this is from Laxdaela, but:
> Can anyone shed any light on the word "blæju" used of a
> part of Guthrun's dress in ch 55? Are there other uses of
> this word in a context like this?
I've not found anything exactly comparable; in most of the
older instances the word refers to bedding.
> CV uses this passage as the eg.
Fritzner uses the same citation as an example of the
definition 'cloth to be cast over oneself or something'.
Here's the discussion in Fritzner:
blæja, (eller blægja), f. Klæde til at kaste over sig
eller noget; hon hafði knýtt um sik blæju ok voru í mörk
blá Laxd.55; om Klæde som man har over sig i Sengen: Eb.
50; koma undir eina blæju dvs. blive Ægtefolk (jvf
Schlyter74; da det til at blive Mand og Kvinde ikke var
nok, at þau voru leidd um kveldit í eina sæng, se Mag.
3^31 fgg) Fm. II, 49. &vl; þá er breiddo við eina blæju
dvs. levede sammen som Ægtefolk, Oddr. 23 (jvf Ríg. 20);
hann varði mey varmri blæju Oddr. 5; vitni beðr eða blæja
eða blóð ef á klæðu mer Frost. 4, 39. I den senere Tid,
da der navn ligen i Norge skjelnedes mellem ábreizl og
blæja ( DN. II, 147), maa sandsynligvis ved blæja
forstaaes Lagen DN. II, 147. IV, 217; ligesom El. 75^5.75
D^5. Fremdeles bruges blæja om Klæde, der kastes om eller
over Lig: vexa vel blæju ok verja þítt líki Am.101 jvf 15
fg; svipti hon blæju af Sigurði Gudr. 1, 13; hann skal
eigifinna meira af því fé (som den døde har efterladt sig)
en kaupa leg ok lík-söng ok blæju ok kistu Grg. I,
238^2; om Klæde, der ligger over Alteret (alta-risblæja)
Post. 683^33.
And here's the Lex. Poet. (1931):
blæja, f, egl. 'grovt tæppe', især sængetæppe, tæppe der
lægges over sængen (jfr ábreiða, senere isl. brekán), Am
15, Guðr I 13, breiða b-ju (om det ægteskabelige samliv)
Rþ 23, breiða b-ju eina (= fælles, om det samme) Oddrgr
25, verja b-ju (om det samme) Oddrgr 5, sofa und b-ju Örv
VII 8, bók ok b. Sigsk 49; om liglagen: vexa b-ju at verja
líki Am 103; om linned i det hele (jfr blæjulín), b-jur á
blik komnar Frþ I 1; þöll þunnrar b-ju, kvinde, Bjhit 2,
10; om skjold: Drv (XI) 6. Jfr A. Kock i Zs. f. deut. alt.
XL, 196 (hvor ordet afledes af blár) og Falk, Kleid 4, 63
(af blá = blár).
blæjulín, n, hovedbind, slör(?), búa of skör b-i Herv I 4.
(<Ábreiða> and <ábreizl> are 'bed-covering, counterpane'.)
> How did CV come to the definition 1 they give?
Probably a combination of context, meanings of cognates
(e.g., Langobard <blaio> is 'canvas'; Old High German
<blahun> (pl.) is glossed 'carbasa' (which may be either
'sails' or 'linen clothing'); Middle High German <blahe> ~
<blähe> is 'coarse linen'), and meanings of modern reflexes
of the word (e.g. modern Icelandic <blæja> 'veil', Faroese
<blæa> 'sheet', Dan. <ble> 'diaper'). (The etymology
suggested in CV, like those mentioned in the Lex. Poet.,
appears to be wrong. The word may be related to Latin
<floccus> 'a tuft of wool', though this is by no means
certain.)
I've the impression that <blæ(g)ja> originally referred to
fairly coarse cloth but over time came to signify finer
material, reaching an extreme with the modern 'veil'. In
this connection Fritzner's citations from Dipl. Norv. are
interesting. The relevant part of the first, from 1332, is:
Jn primis ii. bedi ok ii. teflinx hgende firir halfa
setto mork, jtem vj. blægior firir xii. aura, eit abreilz
firir mork, salun firir xii. aura, jtem grn mottul med
gram skinnum firir iii merkr.
Here <bedi> appears to be for ON <beðir> 'bolsters',
<teflinx hgende> is <teflings hgindi> 'bolsters or pillows
of checkered cloth', <abreilz> is <ábreilz> 'bed-covering,
counterpane', <grn mottul med gram skinnum> is <grnn
möttull með gráum skinnum> 'green mantle with grey fur', and
I've not identified <salun>. As Fritzner says, the fact
that a distinction is made between <ábreilz> and <blæjur>
suggests that the latter are sheets rather than blankets.
The relevant part of the second, from 1335:
jtem æin glitadr kodde ok silki kodde firir fim aura, jtem
sæx blæior firir tolf aura. jtem tuær glitadar blæior
firir tolf aura.
Here <æin glitadr kodde ok silki kodde> is <einn glitaðr
koddi ok silkikoddi> 'one brocaded pillow and silk pillow';
then we have six <blæjur> and two brocaded <blæjur>. These
bedclothes are apparently of pretty high quality, so here
again a finer rather than a coarser cloth seems indicated.
Brian