''Hǫfuðlausn'' ( ) or ''‘Head-ransom 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 ...

attributed to

Egill Skalla-Grímsson Egil or Egill is a masculine given name derived from Old Norse. It may refer to: Characters *Egil (Hymiskvida), farmer in the poem ''Hymiskvida'' *Egil, brother of Volund, hero of Völundarkviða and the Thidreks saga *Egil One-Hand, hero from the ...

in praise of king

Eirik Bloodaxe Eric Haraldsson ( , ; c.930−954), nicknamed Bloodaxe ( , ) and Brother-Slayer (), was a Norwegian king. He ruled as King of Norway from 932 to 934, and twice as King of Northumbria: from 947 to 948, and again from 952 to 954. Sources His ...

. It is cited in

Egils Saga ''Egill's Saga'' or ''Egil's saga'' ( ; ) is an Icelandic saga (family saga) on the lives of the clan of Egill Skallagrímsson (Anglicised as Egill Skallagrimsson), an Icelandic farmer, viking and skald. The saga spans the years c. 850–1000 ...

(chapter 61), which claims that he created it in the span of one night. The events in the saga that lead up to the composition and recitation of the poem can be summarized in the following way. Egil falls into king Eirik's hands after being shipwrecked in

Northumbria Northumbria () was an early medieval Heptarchy, kingdom in what is now Northern England and Scottish Lowlands, South Scotland. The name derives from the Old English meaning "the people or province north of the Humber", as opposed to the Sout ...

. Faced with the decision to either dishonorably flee and risk being exposed as a coward or to directly face his adversary and ask for reconciliation, Egil chooses the latter. The two men are enemies during the saga, which makes Egil's decision especially bold. Earlier in the saga Egil goes as far as to construct a

Nithing pole A nithing pole (), sometimes normalized as ''nithstang'' or ''nidstang'', was a pole used for cursing an enemy in Germanic pagan tradition ( nīþ, nith). Historical use A nithing pole consisted of a long, wooden pole with a recently cut hors ...

, a sign of disrespect in medieval Scandinavian society. For this and other reasons King Eirik tells Egil not to expect any outcome other than death for his arrival in his court. This would be the end for Egil, however, one of his allies, who has allegiance to Eirik, intercedes on Egil's behalf. Arinbjǫrn hersir tells the king that it would be dishonorable to kill his enemy under such circumstances. Furthermore he states that Egil, also a renowned poet, "can make recompense with words of praise that will live for ever." This argument along with it being considered scornful to kill during the night, convinces Eirik to delay his judgement until the next day. During the night Egil composes and memorizes the entire poetic drápa known as the Head Ransom. He recites it in the presence of the king Eiríkr and receives his freedom, but not any sort of reconciliation. The two remain enemies and Egil continues on his original journey to visit king

Æthelstan Æthelstan or Athelstan (; ; ; ; – 27 October 939) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 924 to 927 and King of the English from 927 to his death in 939. He was the son of King Edward the Elder and his first wife, Ecgwynn. Modern histori ...

of England. If the poem is authentic it constitutes the second use of end-rhyme in the northern artistic tradition. The first time was a stanza by Egil's father, which is widely believed to have been written by Egil himself.

References

External links

Hǫfuðlausn
from heimskringla.no *''Höfuðlausn'' in Icelandic at Wikisourc
Höfuðlausn
*Egill, ''Höfuðlausn'', ed. Margaret Clunies Ross
Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages
Skaldic poems 10th-century poems {{poetry-stub

References

Further reading

External links