The group I’m in had a discussion about Whitest/Brightest being a descriptor for Heimdall and I just wanted to break it down on my own
Literally “hvítastr “ does mean white and has described an eggshell and snow before, but also hvíta described the whitness of rivers and bodies of water as well, which of course they aren’t as literally white as snow or eggshells. Because Norse is full of kennings and play on words, brightest would probably be accurate to the context in which it described Heimdallr:
Þrymskviða 15: “Þá kvað þat Heimdallr, hvítastr ása, vissi hann vel fram sem vanir aðrir: (...)”
Literally: “Then he sang, that Heimdallr, the whitest As, as/if he well/easily goes forth (future) as/like the vanir others”
Word for word: Þá -Then kvað - he/she/it sings þat Heimdallr - that Heimdall hvítastr - the whitest ása - Aesir, As, etc
vissi - usually "if" but more like a state of being I guess? hann - he vel - well, contextually means easily or good (to do something well) fram - forth or future I think sem - as, like, or same as vanir aðrir - vanir others (the other vanir)
The bottom sentence literally translated sounds like garbage, you’d have to make it grammatically correct for English, but it just means he knows the future as well as the other Vanir.
Bellow’s translation says “Then Heimdall spake, | whitest of the gods, Like the Wanes he knew | the future well (...)"
So, calling him the whitest would probably be a descriptor, as most things that are white are usually also bright, such as snow or light, so I think that’s why Thorpe called him brightest instead of whitest, bright as in both a descriptor of whiteness, but also like... A double meaning play on words for how wise/intelligent he is being able to see the future. It's ridiculous how many hoops there are for Norse kennings to make sense, but also fun.
