''Liðsmannaflokkr'' ("

household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...

troop's

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

") is the title of a

skaldic poem A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditionally ...

in ten stanzas describing the capture of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Cnut the Great Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norwa ...

in 1016, preserved in ''

Óláfs saga helga ''Óláfs saga helga'' or the ''Saga of St. Olaf'', written in several versions, is one of kings' sagas (''konunga sǫgur'') on the subject of King Olaf Haraldsson the Saint. List of saga versions *'' Oldest Saga of St. Olaf'', ca. 1190, mostly ...

'' and ''

Flateyjarbók ''Flateyjarbók'' (; "Book of Flatey") is an important medieval Icelandic manuscript. It is also known as GkS 1005 fol. and by the Latin name ''Codex Flateyensis''. It was commissioned by Jón Hákonarson and produced by the priests and scribes ...

'' (fol. 186v), and in a shorter version in ''

Knýtlinga saga ''Knýtlinga saga'' (''The Saga of Cnut's Descendants'') is an Icelandic kings' saga written in the 1250s, which deals with the kings who ruled Denmark since the early 10th century.Ármann Jakobsson, "Royal biography", p. 397-8 There are good rea ...

''. ''Óláfs saga'' attributes the poem to

Olaf Olaf or Olav (, , or British ; Old Norse: ''Áleifr'', ''Ólafr'', ''Óleifr'', ''Anleifr'') is a Scandinavian and German given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed as ''*Anu-laibaz'', from ''anu'' "ancestor, grand-father" a ...

himself, while according to ''Knýtlinga saga'', the poem was composed by members of Canute's household troops during the London campaign. According to Poole (1991), the latter version is more credible. Stanza 7 praises Cnut's actions in battle, :''Knútr réð ok bað bíða,'' :''baugstalls, Dani alla,'' :''lundr gekk rǫskr und randir,'' :''ríkr, vá herr við díki;'' :''nær vas, sveit þars sóttum,'' :''syn, með hjalm ok brynju,'' :''elds, sem olmum heldi'' :''elg Rennandi kennir.'' "Cnut decided and commanded all the Danes to wait; the 'mighty tree of the ring support' (''baugstalls lundr ríkr'') went bravely under the shields; the army fought by the

moat A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that is dug and surrounds a castle, fortification, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive ...

. Lady, where we sought out the enemy with helmet and mail-shirt, it was nearly as if the 'master of the fire of Rennandi' (''elds Rennandi kennir'') were holding a maddened elk.""Skaldic verse" (readingbeowulf.com)

References

*Russell Gilbert Poole, ''Viking Poems on War and Peace: A Study in Skaldic Narrative'', issue 8 of Toronto medieval texts and translations, University of Toronto Press (1991), 86-115. *Russell Gilbert Poole, "Lidsmannaflokkr" in: ''Medieval Scandinavia. An encyclopedia'' (1993), p. 391. *Jana Krüger, ''"Wikinger" im Mittelalter: Die Rezeption von ''víkingr'' m. und ''víking'' f. in der altnordischen Literatur'', vol. 56 of ''

Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde ''Germanische Altertumskunde Online'', formerly called ''Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde'', is a German encyclopedia of the study of Germanic history and cultures, as well as the cultures that were in close contact with them. The first ...

- Ergänzungsbände,

Walter de Gruyter Walter de Gruyter GmbH, known as De Gruyter (), is a German scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature. History The roots of the company go back to 1749 when Frederick the Great granted the Königliche Realschule in Be ...

(2008)
pp. 52-55

External links

Pre-Christian Religions of the North: Sources

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

.
The Skaldic Project

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lidsmannaflokkr Skaldic poems Cnut the Great 11th-century poems

See also

References

External links