Have you ever seen a piece of Iceland spar big enough (or clear enough)
to use for navigation? There are indeed references in the sagas to
"sun-stones" whose purpose and appearance are, however, unknown.
They are not mentioned in connection with navigation.
As Alan Binns notes in his entry on "navigation" in Medieval Scandinavia:
An Encyclopedia (Garland, ed. Pulsiano et al.): "the ... sun-stone to find
the sun's position from polarization even when it was hidden by cloud ...
are
all imaginary modern creations."
No
such thing as a "seeing stone" exists in saga literature to my knowledge -
though later icelandic
folklore has wishing stones of all kinds, some of which might be useful
for finding treasure. in general, though, they grant wishes.
Meg
> Dear Christopher,
> Iceland spar, the mineral calcium floride, is a transparent mineral which
> polarizes light. The are references to it's use to determine the location of
> the sun in overcast weather. It was used by the Vikings to locate the sun.
> Perhaps this is the origin of your "eynstein" which foretells.
> Regards, Jim
Margaret Cormack [log in to unmask]
Dept. of Philosophy and Religion fax: 843-953-6388
College of Charleston tel: 843-953-8033
Charleston, SC 29424-0001
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