Hvítr

As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:

hvítr Old Norse word can mean:

hvítr

adj. [Ulf. hweits = λευκός; A. S. hwít; Engl. white; Hel. huît; O. H. G. hwîz; Germ. weiss; Swed. hvit; Dan. hvid]:—white; hvít skinn, white fur, 4. 24; h. motr, a white cap, Ld. 188; h. skjöldr, a white shield, FmS. x. 347; hit hvíta feldarins, Fbr. 148; hvítt blóm, white blossom, 4. 24; hvítt hold, white flesh (skin), id.; hvít hönd, a white band, Hallfred; h. háls, a white neck, of a lady, Rm.; h. hestr, a white horse, FmS. ix. 527; hvítr á har, white-haired, vi. 130; h. maðr (fair of hue) ok vænn í andliti, x. 420; hvítan mann ok huglausan, Ld. 232; hvít mörk, white money, of pure silver, opp. to grátt (grey) silver, B. K. 95; hvítr matr, white meat, i. e. milk, curds, and the like, opp. to flesh, in the eccl. law, K. Þ. K. 126; hvítr dögurðr, a white day meal, Sighvat; hvíta-matr, id, K. Þ. K. 102; mjall-hvítr, fann-h., snjó-h., drift-h., white as driven snow; al-h., white allover.

hvítr

B. eccl. use of the word white:

hvítr

I. at the introduction of Christianity, neophytes in the week after their baptism used to wear white garments, called hvíta-váðir, f. pl. white weeds, as a symbol of baptism cleansing from sin and being a new birth; a neophyte was called hvít-váðungr, m. a ‘white-weedling,’ one dressed in white weeds, Niðrst. 111: the Sagas contain many touching episodes of neophytes, esp. such as were baptized in old age, and died whilst in the white weeds; þat er sögn flestra manna at Kjartan hafi þann dag görzt handgenginn Ólafi konungi er hann var færðr ór hvíta-váðum ok þeir Bolli báðir, Ld. ch. 40; síðan hafði konungr þá í boði sínu ok veitti þeim ena virðuligustu veizlu meðan þeir vóru í hvítaváðum, ok lét kenna þeim heilög fræði, FmS. i. 230; Glúmr (Víga-Glúm) var biskupaðr í banasótt af Kol biskupi ok andaðisk í hvítaváðum, Glúm. 397; Bárðr tók sótt litlu síðar enn hann var skírðr ok andaðisk í hvítaváðum, FmS. ii. 153; Ólafr á Haukagili var skírðr ok andaðisk í hvítaváðum, FS. (Vd.) 77; var Tóki síðan skírðr af hirðbiskupi Ólafs konungs, ok andaðisk í hvítaváðum, Fb. ii. 138; síðan andaðisk Gestr í hvítaváðum, Bárð. (sub fin.) Sweden, but above all Gothland, remained in great part heathen throughout the whole of the 11th century, after the neighbouring countries Denmark and Norway had become Christian, and so we find in Sweden Runic stones referring to Swedes who had died in the white weeds, some abroad and some at home; sem varð dauðr íhvítaváðum í Danmörku, Baut. 435; hann varð dauðr í Danmörku í hvítaváðum, 610; þeir dó í hvítaváðum, 68; sem dó í hvítaváðum, 271; hann varð dauðr í hvítaváðum, 223, 497. Churches when consecrated used to be dressed out with white; var Kjartan at Borg grafinn, þá var kirkja nyvígð ok í hvítaváðum, Ld. 230.

hvítr

II. the white garments gave rise to new words and phrases amongst the first generation of northern Christians:

hvítr

1. Hvíta-Kristr, m. ‘White-Christ,’ was the favourite name of Christ; hafa láti mik heitan Hvíta-Kristr at viti eld, ef…, Sighvat; another poet (Edda 91) uses the word; and in prose, dugi þú mér, Hvíta-Kristr, help thou me, White-Christ! FS. 101; ok þeir er þann sið hafa taka nafn af þeim Guði er þeir trúa á, ok kallaðr er Hvíta-Kristr ok því heita þeir Kristnir, mér er ok sagt at H. sé svá miskunsamr, at …, FmS. i. 295; en ef ek skal á guð nacquat trúa, hvat er mér þá verra at ek trúa á Hvíta-Krist en á annat guð? Ó. H. 204; Arnljótr svarar, heyrt hefi ek getið Hvíta-Krists, en ekki er mér kunnigt um athöfn hans eða hvar hann ræðr fyrir, 211; en þó trúi ek á Hvíta-Krist, Fb. ii. 137.

hvítr

2. the great festivals, Yule (see Ld. ch. 40), Easter and Pentecost, but especially the two latter, were the great seasons for christening; in the Roman Catholic church especially Easter, whence in Roman usage the first Sunday after Easter was called Dominica in Albis; but in the northern churches, perhaps owing to the cold weather at Easter time, Pentecost, as the birthday of the church, seems to have been specially appointed for christening and for ordination, see Hungrv. ch. 2, Thom. 318; hence the following week was termed the Holy Week (Helga Vika). Hence; Pentecost derived its name from the white garments, and was called Hvíta-dagar, the White days, i. e. Whitsun-week; frá Páskadegi inum fýrsta skulu vera vikur sjau til Drottins-dags í Hvítadögum; Drottinsdag í Hvítadögum skulu vér halda sem hinn fyrsta Páskadag, K. Þ. K. 102; þváttdag fyrir Hvítadaga = Saturday next before Whitsunday, 126, 128; Páskadag inn fyrsta ok Uppstigningar-dag ok Drottinsdag í Hvítadögum, 112; þá Imbrudaga er um Hvítadaga verða, 120; vóru afteknir tveir dagar í Hvítadögum, BS. i. 420; um várit á Hvítadögum, Orkn. 438: Hvítadaga-vika, u, f. White-day week = Whitsun-week, K. Þ. K. 126: in sing., þeir kómu at Hvítadegi (= Whitsunday) til Björgynjar, FmS. x. 63, v. 1.: Hvítadaga-helgi, f. the White-day feast, Whitsuntide, FmS. viii. 373, xi. 339, Sturl. iii. 206: Hvítadaga-hríð, a snow storm during the White days, Ann. 1330: Hvít-Drottins-dagr, m. the White Lord’s day, i. e. Whitsunday, the northern Dominica in Albis, Rb. 484, FmS. vii. 156, BS. i. 62, where it refers to the 20th of May, 1056, on which day Isleif the first bishop of Iceland was consecrated. The name that at last prevailed was Hvíta-sunna, u, f. Whitsun, i. e. White-sun, D. n. ii. 263, 403: Hvítasunni-dagr, m. Whitsuday, Fb. ii. 546, FmS. viii. 63, v. l.: Hvítasunnudags-vika, u, f. Whitsun-week, Fb. ii. 546; Páskaviku, ok Hvítasunnudagsviku, ok þrjár vikur fyrir Jónsvöku, ok svá fyrir Michials-messu, n. G. l. i. 150; hvítasunnudagshátíð, Thom. 318. As the English was the mother-church of that of Norway and Iceland, the Icelandic eccl. phrases are derived from the English language. See Bingham’s Origg. S. vv. White Garments, and Dominica in Albis, where however no reference is given to Icel. writerS. In modern Denmark and Norway the old name has been displaced by Pindse, i. e. Pfingsten, derived from the Greek word, whereas in Icel., as in Engl., only the name Hvítasunna is known, ☞ In Denmark the people make a practice of thronging to the woods on Whitsun morning to see the rising of the sun, and returning with green branches in their hands, the trees being just in bud at that season.

hvítr

C. COMPDS: hvítabjörn, hvítadagar, hvítagnípa, hvítalogn, hvítamatr, Hvítasunna, hvítaváðir, hvítavalr, hvítarmr, hvítbránn, hvítbrúnn, hvítdreki, Hvítdrottinsdagr, hvítfaldaðr, hvítfjaðraðr, hvítflekkóttr, hvítfyrsa, hvítfyssi, hvíthaddaðr, hvíthárr, hvítjarpr, hvítklæddr, hvítmelingar, hvítröndóttr, hvítskeggjaðr, hvítskinn, hvítváðungr.

hvítr

II. as pr. names, Hvítr, Engl. White, Dan. Hvid, Landn.; esp. as a surname, Hvíti, the White, Óláfr Hvíti, Þorsteinn Hvíti, Landn.: Hvít-beinn, m. White-hone, a nickname, Landn.; as also Hvíta-skáld, Hvíta-ský, Hvíta-leðr, Hvíta-kollr, Landn.: in local names, Hvíta-býr, Whitby; Hvíta-nes, Hvíta-dalr, Landn.; Hvít-á, the White-water, a name of several Icel. rivers flowing from glaciers, Hvítár-vellir, Hvítár-síða, Landn.; Hvítramanna-land, White-men’s-land, old name of the southern part of the present United States, Landn.

Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᚼᚢᛁᛏᚱ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements

Also available in related dictionaries:

This headword also appears in dictionaries of other languages descending from Old Norse.

• Old Danish - Otto Kalkar's Dictionary
• Old Icelandic - Geir Zoëga's Dictionary
• Old Norwegian - Johan Fritzner's Dictionary