prim-signa

d and að, [Lat., an eccl. word], to give the ‘prima signatio’ or ‘signaculum crucis’ a religious act, preliminary to christening; persons thus signed with the cross were catechumens, and if adults they could join in the social life among Christians; they were also admitted to a special part of the mass (primsigndra messa = the mass for the ‘prime-signed’), whereas all intercourse with heathens was forbidden. An infant who died, having received the prima signatio, but not baptism, was to be buried in the outskirts of the churchyard, where the consecrated and unconsecrated earth meet, and without burial service,—ef barn andask primsignt, ok hefir eigi verit skírt (primsignt ok hefir eigi meiri skírn, Sb. l. c.) ok skal þat grafa við kirkju-garð út, þar er mætisk vígð mold ok úvígð, ok syngva eigi legsöng yfir, K. Þ. K. (Kb.) 7. A monster-shapen infant was to receive the prima signatio, but not baptism, and then to be left to die (exposed) at the church door—þat barn (a monster-child) skal ok til kirkju bera, láta primsigna, leggja fyrir kirkju-dyr, gæti inn nánasti niðr til þess er önd er ór, N. G. L. i. 339; í þessi efan primsigni prestr ok skíri, iii. 251; hann primsignaði hann fyrst ok skírði hann síðan eptir siðvenju, Barl. 147. The words in the English Prayer Book—‘and do sign him (her) with the sign of the cross’—are remains of the ‘signaculum crucis’ of the ancient church. During the heathen age the Scandinavian merchants and warriors who served among Christians abroad in England or Germany used to take the prima signatio, for it enabled them to live both among Christians and heathens without receiving baptism and forsaking their old faith; ek em primsigndr at eins en eigi skírðr, I am ‘prime-signed,’ but not baptized, Fms. ii. 240, Valla L. 205, Kristni S. ch. 1, 2, Fb. i. 346, 357, ii. 137, 243; England var Kristið ok hafði lengi verit þá er þetta var tíðenda, Aðalsteinn konungr var vel Kristinn … hann bað Þórólf ok þá bræðr at þeir skyldi láta primsignask, þvíat þat var þá mikill siðr, bæði með kaupmönnum ok þeim er á mála gengu með Kristnum mönnum, þvíat þeir menn, er primsigndir vóru, höfðu allt samneyti við Kristna menn ok svá heiðna, en höfðu þat at átrúnaði er þeim var skapfeldast, Eg. 265, Gísl. 96: see also Vita Anscarii, ch. 24. These ‘prime-signed’ men, returning to their native land, brought with them the first notions of Christianity into the heathen Northern countries, having lived among Christians, and seen their daily life and worship, and they undoubtedly paved the way for the final acceptance of the Christian faith among their countrymen. It may even be that some strange heathen rites of the last days of paganism, such as the bjannak (q. v.), the sprinkling of infants with water, were due to this cause.