Mistil-teinn

Signification du mot vieux norrois "mistil-teinn"

Comme défini par le dictionnaire vieux norrois-anglais de Cleasby & Vigfusson :

mistil-teinn

m. [O. H. G. mistil; Germ. mistel; A. S. mistel or mislel-tâ; Engl. mistletoe]:—the mistletoe or mistle-twig, the fatal twig by which Balder, the white sun-god, was slain, see Vsp. 36 sqq., and the legend in Edda 36, 37. After the death of Balder the Ragnarök (the last day of the heathen mythology) set in. Balder’s death was also symbolical of the victory of darkness over light, which comes every year at midwinter. The mistletoe in English households at Christmas time is, no doubt a relic of a rite lost in the remotest heathenism, for the fight of light and darkness at midwinter was a foreshadowing of the final overthrow in Ragnarök. The legend and the word are common to all Teutonic people of all ageS.

Inscription runique possible en futhark jeune :ᛘᛁᛋᛏᛁᛚ-ᛏᛁᛁᚾᚾ
Les runes du futhark jeune ont été utilisées du 8ème au 12ème siècle en Scandinavie et dans leurs colonies à l'étranger