Eyjólfr dáðaskáld (''poet of deeds'') was a skald active in the early 11th century. He was the court poet of

Eiríkr Hákonarson Erik Hakonsson, also known as Eric of Hlathir or Eric of Norway, (, 960s – 1020s) was Earl of Lade, Governor of Norway and Earl of Northumbria. He was the son of Earl Hákon Sigurðarson and brother of the legendary Aud Haakonsdottir of Lade. H ...

for whom he composed the ''Bandadrápa'', his only known poem. Eight stanzas and a refrain are preserved of the ''Bandadrápa'' in the

kings' sagas Kings' sagas ( is, konungasögur, nn, kongesoger, -sogor, nb, kongesagaer) are Old Norse sagas which principally tell of the lives of semi-legendary and legendary (mythological, fictional) Nordic kings, also known as saga kings. They were comp ...

, primarily ''

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...

'', and in ''

Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'The Language of Poetry'; c. 50,000 words; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda''. The section consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bragi, the god of poetry, ...

''. The content of the poem is also summarized in ''

Fagrskinna ''Fagrskinna'' ( ; is, Fagurskinna ; trans. "Fair Leather" from the type of parchment) is one of the kings' sagas, written around 1220. It is an intermediate source for the ''Heimskringla'' of Snorri Sturluson, containing histories of Norwegian ...

''. The preserved parts of ''Bandadrápa'' relate Eiríkr's early deeds; his killing of Skopti, his becoming a

jarl Jarl is a rank of the nobility in Scandinavia. In Old Norse, it meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. ''Jarl'' could also mean a sovereign prince. For example, the rulers of several of the petty k ...

at a young age, his raids in the Baltic and his attack on Ladoga. Judging from the ''Fagrskinna'' summary the complete poem was much more extensive, going up to the battle of Svöldr and beyond. It may have been composed around the year 1010. Apart from what can be surmised from his poetry nothing is known about Eyjólfr. He may have been an Icelander like most known skalds of the period. The refrain of the ''Bandadrápa'' celebrates Eiríkr for conquering lands "according to the will of the gods", a phrase borrowed from Einarr skálaglamm's ''Vellekla''. This pagan reference in a poem about the ostensibly Christian Eiríkr may suggest that the poet was himself a pagan.

References

*Finlay, Alison (editor and translator) (2004). Fagrskinna, a Catalogue of the Kings of Norway. Brill Academic Publishers.
Eyjólfr dáðaskáld: Bandadrápa 1-9
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyjolfr Dadaskald Viking Age poets 11th-century poets Norwegian poets