''Glymdrápa'' ("'' Drápa'' of din") is a skaldic poem composed by Þorbjörn Hornklofi, the court poet of King

Harald I of Norway Harald Fairhair no, Harald hårfagre Modern Icelandic: ( – ) was a Norwegian king. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, he reigned from 872 to 930 and was the first King of Nor ...

(''Haraldr hárfagri''). Composed toward the end of the 9th century, the poem recounts several battles waged by King Harald, mostly as he was uniting

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Composed in '' dróttkvætt'', only seven stanzas and two half-stanzas are preserved, chiefly in the ''

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 ...

'' (''Haralds saga hárfagra''). ''Glymdrápa'' is the oldest praise poem to a king (''konungsdrápa'') which has come down to us. The poem has few clear geographical or historical points of reference, and the two sagas which quote it, ''Heimskringla'' and ''

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 k ...

'' interpret it differently. In ''Heimskringla'', the poem is said to recount Harald's fight against the people of

Orkdal Orkdal is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 2020 when it joined Orkland Municipality. It was part of the Orkdalen region. The administrative centre of the munici ...

Oppdal is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is part of the Dovre region and the traditional district of Orkdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Oppdal. Other villages in the municipality include Løn ...

forest (''Uppdalsskógr''), first against

Huntiof, King of Nordmøre Huntjov was according to Snorri Sturlasson king in Nordmøre before and during Harald Fairhair's wars of conquest. Together with his son Solve Klove and his father-in-law, king Nokkve of Romsdal, he led an army to stop king Harald from advancing ...

(''Húnþjófr''), his son Solve Klove (''Sölvi'') and his father-in-law King Nokkve (''Nökkvi''), king of

Romsdal Romsdal is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal comprises Aukra, Fræna, Midsund, Molde, Nesset, Rauma, Norway, Rauma, Sandøy, and V ...

; second against Sölvi and his allies Arnviðr, king of

Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, en, South- Møre) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities ( no, kommuner) of Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Norddal, ...

, and Auðbjörn, who ruled over the Fjords in the districts of

Nordfjord Nordfjord ( en, Northern fjord—in contrast to Sunnfjord) is a traditional district of Norway. Geography The region is located in the northern part of Vestland county in Western Norway. It centers on the Nordfjorden and it comprises the muni ...

and

Sunnfjord Sunnfjord ( en, the southern fjord - in contrast to Nordfjord) is a traditional district in Western Norway located in Vestland county. It includes the municipalities of Askvoll, Fjaler, the southernmost parts of Kinn, Sunnfjord, and the s ...

. ''ca 863 - Slaget ved Solskjel'' (Middelalder på Sunnmøre)
/ref> Lastly Harald's battles in

Gotland Gotland (, ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a province, county, municipality, and diocese. The province includes the islands of Fårö and Gotska Sandön to th ...

and finally his expedition westwards to fight

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

, which led him to the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = " O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europ ...

. According to ''Fagrskinna's'' account, part of the poem relates events of the

Battle of Hafrsfjord The Battle of Hafrsfjord ( no, Slaget i Hafrsfjord) was a great naval battle fought in Hafrsfjord sometime between 872 and 900 that resulted in the unification of Norway, later known as the Kingdom of Norway. After the battle, the victorious Viki ...

, the decisive battle in King Harald's unification of Norway.

References

Primary Sources

*
Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway
', translated Lee M. Hollander.(Austin: University of Texas Press, 1992) *''Fagrskinna: A Catalogue of the Kings of Norway'', translated by Alison Finlay (Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2004)

Other sources

* Boyer, Régis (1990) ''La Poésie scaldique''. Paris: Éd. du Porte-glaive. . * Faulkes, Anthony (ed.) (1998) ''Snorri Sturluson: Edda. Skáldskaparmál''. Vol. 2, ''Glossary and Index of Names''. London: Viking Society for Northern Research.

External links

Two editions of ''Glymdrápa''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glymdrapa Skaldic poems Cultural depictions of Harald Fairhair

See also

References

Primary Sources

Other sources

Related Reading

External links