Primsigning
Primsigning f. (Verb: prímsigna , old Swedish. Prim-, brim-, brym-, brömsigna , old Danish. Primsigne, -segne, primsigning , old French. Primsignier, primseigner ) is an old Scandinavian expression for the act of acceptance into the catechumenate . In old English there is no special expression. But Beda Venerabilis also reports of a catechesis before baptism, which was connected with an explicit rejection of the old gods. The Latin cathecizare is used in Altengl. reproduced by cristnian . The Middle English has the word primseinen .
The ceremony consisted of the laying on of hands (impositio manuum) and the inscription with the cross (obsignatio crucis). Early testimony can be found in Rimbert about Ansgard's stay in Haithabu : " ... The number of those who ascended to heaven in their white baptismal robes is innumerable. To become catechumens, the pagans often let themselves be marked with the cross so that they could They were allowed to enter the church and attend the Holy Sacraments. They only postponed baptism because they considered it useful to be baptized at the end of life ... "And in the Egils saga Skallagrímssonar it says:
"Konungur bað Thorolf og þá bræður, að þeir skyldu Lata prímsignast, því að það var þá mikill sidur, bæði með kaupmönnum og theim mönnum he á Mála Gengu með kristnum mönnum, því að þeir menn he prímsignaðir voru, höfðu allt samneyti við kristna menn og svo heiðna, en Höfðu það að átrúnaði, er þeim var skapfelldast. "
“The king asked Þorolf and his brothers to accept the primsigning, because at that time it was common practice among merchants and those who served Christians. The men who bore the sign of the cross had free intercourse with both Christians and Gentiles and professed the faith that pleased them. "
The last quotation shows that there was no religious change or conversion here, but rather a formal act under aspects of utility. A preoccupation with the new faith after the Primsigning cannot be assumed. Rather, the Egils saga emphasizes the non-binding nature of the act in the overall context of the quote. So it is not the beginning of a time of instruction, but a variety of the syncretism that was often found in Scandinavia at the time .
There are two versions of the Christianization decision of the Allthings in Iceland in the year 1000. The Kristni saga reports that all those present were immediately baptized. In contrast, the Ólafs saga Tryggvasonar says that uoru þa allir menn primsignndir þeir á þinginu (all men on the thing who received primsigning ..). The evidence for the primsigning is not numerous: In the Icelandic sagas there are 9 records.