Toponymic and Folklore Roots of the Selþórisþáttr

State Academic University of the Humanities (GAUGN)

Financing: The article is prepared in the State Academic University for Humanities as a part of the state project of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (theme FZNF-2023-0003 «Traditions and values of the society: mechanisms of formation and transformation in the context of global history», no. 1022040800353-4-6.1.1;5.9.1).

For citation: Litovskikh, Еlena V. Toponymic and Folklore Roots of the Selþórisþáttr // Drevneishie gosudarstva Vostochnoi Evropy (The Earliest States of Eastern Europe). 2024: In memoriam Alexandr V. Nazarenko / Editors of the volume Т.V. Guimon, P.V. Lukin, Е.А. Мelnikova, А.V. Podossinov. Мoscow: GAUGN-Press, 2024. S. 326–335.

DOI: 10.32608/1560-1382-2024-45-326-335

Abstract: Selþórir, or Þórir the Seal, Grímsson, descended from the nobility of southwestern Norway, is one of the most famous first settlers of the Western Quarter of Iceland. A þáttr about him (original manuscripts caption “Frá Selþori”) is included in the second part of the medieval Icelandic historical work “The Book of the Settlements” (Landnámabók). The þáttr speaks not only of Þórir receiving a nickname, but also reveals the meanings of toponyms included in his possessions. As in many other þættir of the Landnámabók, in the one we are studying there are motives for predicting the place of a future settlement (in our case, the prediction is merman) and irrational determination of the place of settlement (in this þáttr with the help of a horse). However, the rich concentration of supernatural beings (not only the merman, but also the troll and the helper horse act in the þáttr) and events (predictions, posthumous “going uphill”) distinguishes it from a number of other þættir of the Landnámabók. At the same time, discrepancies in the editions of the Landnámabók (they are few in relation to the entire volume of the þáttr, but they are significant and reflect the rethinking of the text by the authors of the earlier editions) reveal the desire of the author of the Hauksbók edition, Haukr Erlendsson, to level the folklore component. It is also noteworthy that the folklore elements present in the þáttr can be attributed to fairly common Western Scandinavian motifs. Tracing the Celtic influence on the images of characters and plot twists, in our opinion, looks like a stretch. In addition, most of the plots of the þáttr are toponymic legends. Within the framework of this single þáttr, the meanings of five Icelandic toponyms are revealed at once: Grímsey (“Grim’s Island”), Skálmarnes (“Skalm’s Ness”), Skálmarkelda (“Skalm’s Well”), Rauðamel (“Red Sandbank”), Borgarhraun (“Wilderness of Castle”) and Þórisberg (“Þórir’s Mount”). Thus, it turns out that the Selþórisþáttr is present in the Landnámabók as a toponymic tradition, most likely of oral origin.