Víðblindi

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

The skald Hallar-Steinn uses the kenning "Viðblindi's boar" (Viðblinda göltr) 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" (Víðblinda svín), can be found in an anonymous stanza from the 13th century preserved in Laufás-Edda.[1]

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

Víðblindi is also listed among the giants in the þulur.

Notes
  1. Online at Skaldic Arts.
  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. ISBN 0-85991-513-1.
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