''Liðsmannaflokkr'' ("
household
A household consists of one 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 (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
") is the title of 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 ...
in ten stanzas describing the capture of
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
by
Cnut the Great
Cnut ( ; ; – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rul ...
in 1016, preserved in ''
Óláfs saga helga'' and ''
Flateyjarbók
''Flateyjarbók'' (; "Book of Flatey, Breiðafjörður, Flatey") is an important medieval Iceland, Icelandic manuscript. It is also known as GkS 1005 fol. and by the Latin name ''Codex Flateyensis''. It was commissioned by Jón Hákonarson and p ...
'' (fol. 186v), and in a shorter version in ''
Knýtlinga saga''.
''Óláfs saga'' attributes the poem to
Olaf
Olaf or Olav (, , or differences between General American and Received Pronunciation, British ; ) is a Dutch, Polish, Scandinavian and German given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed as ''*Anu-laibaz'', from ''anu'' "ances ...
himself, while according to ''Knýtlinga saga'', the poem was composed by members of Cnut'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 bÃða,''
:''baugstalls, Dani alla,''
:''lundr gekk rǫskr und randir,''
:''rÃkr, vá herr við dÃki;''
:''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 rÃkr'') went bravely under the shields; the army fought by the
moat
A moat is a deep, broad ditch dug around a castle, fortification, building, or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. Moats can be dry or filled with water. In some places, moats evolved into more extensive water d ...
.
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)
See also
*Battle of Assandun
The Battle of Assandun (or Ashingdon) was fought between Danish and English armies on 18 October 1016. There is disagreement whether Assandun may be Ashdon near Saffron Walden in north Essex, England, or, as long supposed, Ashingdon near R ...
* Knútsdrápa
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 ''vÃkingr'' m. und ''vÃking'' 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.
The Skaldic Project
Aberdeen University.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lidsmannaflokkr
Skaldic poems
Cnut
11th-century poems