Old Norse poetry

Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in Old Norse, during the period from the 8th century (see Eggjum stone) to as late as the far end of the 13th century. Most of the Old Norse poetry that survives was preserved in Iceland, but there are also around 122 verses preserved in Swedish rune inscriptions, 54 in Norwegian and 12 in Danish.

Poetry played an important role in the social and religious world of the Vikings. In ''Skáldskaparmál'' (1), Snorri Sturluson, recounts the myth of how Odin brought the mead of poetry to Asgard. Poetry is referred to in such terms as 'the drink of the raven-god (= Odin)' even in the oldest preserved poetry, which is an indicator of its significance within the ancient Scandinavian culture.

Old Norse poetry developed from the common Germanic alliterative verse, and as such has many commonalities with Old English, Old Saxon, and Old High German poetry, including alliteration, poetic circumlocutions termed kennings, and an expansive vocabulary of poetic synonyms, termed heiti.

Old Norse poetry is conventionally, and somewhat arbitrarily, split into two types: Eddaic poetry (also sometimes known as ''Eddic'' poetry) and Skaldic poetry. Eddaic poetry refers to poems on themes of mythology or ancient heroes, composed in simpler meters (see below) and with anonymous authors. Most of the Eddaic poems are preserved in the Codex Regius manuscript, but a few others survive in manuscripts like the fragmentary AM 748 I 4to. On the other hand, Skaldic poetry was usually written as praise for living kings and nobles, in more intricate meters and by known authors, known as skalds.

Metrical forms

Old Norse poetry has many metrical forms ( non, hættir). They range from the ancient and relatively simple fornyrðislag ('air of ancient utterings'), closely related to the Old English meter, to the innovative and complex dróttkvætt ( non, dróttkvæðr háttr 'court-spoken meter').

Eddaic poetry

In Eddaic poetry, the metric structures are generally simple, and are almost invariably in fornyrðislag or ljóðaháttr ('meter of songs'). Because of its structure, which comprises clearly defined rhythmic stanzas, ljóðaháttr lends itself to dialogue and discourse. Fornyrðislag is the more commonly used of the two, and is generally used for narrative poems. Also used is Málaháttr ('meter of speeches'), closely related to fornyrðislag, but with longer lines, similar to the meter of the Old Saxon Heliand, and Galdralag ('the tune of galdrar'), a ljóðaháttr variant which contains a fourth line which echoes and varies the third line.

Skaldic poetry

In Skaldic poetry, the structures used are much more complex, and quite far removed from the common Germanic poetic tradition. Around a hundred meters are known, many only from Snorri Sturluson's Háttatal. Some of the more important ones are
* Kviðuháttr, a variant of fornyrðislag with alternating lines of 3 and 4 syllables, used in geneaological poems such as Þjóðólfr ór Hvínis Ynglingatal and Eyvindr Skáldaspillir's Háleygjatal
* Hrynhenda, a variant of dróttkvætt, where each line comprises four metrical feet rather than three, giving a more flowing feel.

See also

* Alliterative verse
* Kennings
* List of kennings
* Skald

References

Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning
ved Finnur Jónsson, 1912–1915

Carmina Scaldica
udvalg af norske og islandske skjaldekvad ved Finnur Jónsson, 1929

{{Poetry of different cultures and languages

Sources of Norse mythology
Poetry by language
Old Norse literature
Icelandic literature