@article{Wolf_2013, title={The Colors of the Rainbow in Snorri’s Edda}, volume={99}, url={https://ojs.novus.no/index.php/MOM/article/view/267}, abstractNote={In the second part of his Edda, the Gylfaginning, Snorri Sturluson<br />gives a systematic account of Norse mythology from the creation of the<br />world to its end. The story is presented in the form of a dialogue, which<br />involves three kings, who answer questions put to them by a certain<br />King Gylfi of Sweden, who wishes to find out about the Æsir.<br />One of Gylfi’s many questions concerns the way to heaven from<br />earth. It is explained to him that BifrÆ’st, the rainbow, is what links<br />earth and heaven, that is has three colors, and that one of the colors<br />is red (rau›r). The two other colors are not named in Snorri’s Edda nor<br />are they specified anywhere else in Old Norse-Icelandic literature with<br />the exception of Hauksbók, which describes the appearance of the<br />rainbow in rather unclear terms.<br />The article seeks to determine through an examination of Old<br />Norse-Icelandic color terminology and an analysis of studies of the<br />rainbow by medieval writers what Snorri might have had the three<br />kings tell Gylfi, if Gylfi had asked for an identification of the other two<br />colors of the rainbow. It is demonstrated that Snorri’s idea of the three<br />colors of the rainbow is most likely derived ultimately from Aristotle’s<br />Meteorologica and that the two unidentificed colors in the Edda are<br />probably green (groenn) and blue (blár).}, number={1}, journal={Maal og Minne}, author={Wolf, Kirsten}, year={2013}, month={mar.} }