''Hákonarmál'' (

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

: 'The Song of Hákon') is a

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

which the

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

Eyvindr skáldaspillir composed about the fall of the Norwegian king Hákon the Good at the battle of Fitjar and his reception in

Valhalla In Norse mythology, Valhalla ( , ; , )Orchard (1997:171–172) is described as a majestic hall located in Asgard and presided over by the god Odin. There were five possible realms the soul could travel to after death. The first was Fólkvang ...

. This poem emulates '' Eiríksmál'' and is intended to depict the Christian Hákon as a friend to the

pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

gods. The poem is preserved in its entirety and is considered to be of great beauty. These are the last three stanzas. The last stanza is clearly related to a stanza from ''

Hávamál ''Hávamál'' ( ; Old Norse: ''Hávamál'',Unnormalised spelling in the Codex Regius:''Title'': hava mal''Final stanza'': Nv ero Hava mál q''ve''ðin Háva hꜹ''l''lo i ..classical pron. , Modern Icelandic pron. , ‘Words of Hávi [the H ...

''. The traditional view is that ''Hákonarmál'' borrowed from that poem but it is also possible that the relation is reversed or that both poems drew on a third source.

References

Bibliography

External links

Hákonarmál
in Old Norse from heimskringla.no

by Lee M. Hollander
Samuel Laing's translation
(within its Heimskringla context)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hakonarmal Skaldic poems Ladejarl dynasty