Þjóðólfr Arnórsson
Þjóðólfr Arnórsson (
Life
Þjóðólfr was born in approximately 1010
He was in Norway between 1031 and 1035, when he composed a poem about
His last verse was composed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, so he is often believed to have died there with Harald.[1][2][5] According to the saga, the wounded king called to him, "Come here and support my head ...—long have I held up your head [i.e., supported and favored you]."[6]
Works
25 stanzas survive of a poem which Þjóðólfr composed in 1045 in
Fragments of four stanzas of a poem in runhent metre about Harald Hardrada survive.[5]
We also possess 35 stanzas of his Sexstefja, a poem about Harald's career composed some 20 years after the Magnúsflokkr, which must have been far longer, since the title implies that it had six burdens, or stefjur.[7][8] This must have been "a glorious piece of courtly panegyrics".[9] It can be noted that the term "Serkland" is mentioned in Sexstefja (verse 2), which is relatively rare in contemporary sources from the Viking Age.[10]
In addition, several single stanzas (
Þjóðólf's verse is notable for its metrical perfection,[5] so much so that it can give an impression of coldness or colourlessness.[14] (However, another anecdote in Morkinskinna has King Harald chide him for not rhyming correctly in another challenge verse.[15][16]) In the Magnúsflokkr, his style has "baroque" features: he emphasises the burning of farms, states that these were the greatest battles yet fought, and has the stormy waves rolling the skulls of the Danish slain across the sea-floor.[9] By comparison the Sexstefja shows a riper, more classical mastery,[9] which is also to be seen in his matching of imagery to subject in the later lausavísur.[17]
Much of his work is preserved as a record of historical events, as
References
- ^ OCLC 66725164, pp. 189–97, p. 189.
- ^ OCLC 611125485, p. 269 (in German)
- ^ Hollander, pp. 189–91.
- ^ de Vries, pp. 272–73.
- ^ ISBN 9783520490018, p. 348 (in German)
- ^ a b Hollander, p. 195; his translation from Hauksbók.
- ^ a b Hollander, p. 191.
- ISBN 9780631235026, pp. 479–502, pp. 493–94.
- ^ a b c de Vries, p. 270.
- ISBN 978-91-637-5727-3, pp. 60-61.
- ^ de Vries, p. 271.
- ^ Hollander, p. 192.
- ISBN 9780802038371, p. 32.
- ^ Hollander, pp. 191, 192.
- ^ de Vries, pp. 273–74.
- ^ Russell Poole, "Metre and Metrics", in A Companion to Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture, pp. 265–84, pp. 280–81.
- ^ de Vries, pp. 271–72.
- ISBN 9789004209893, pp. 73–74.
Further reading
- Bjarne Fidjestøl. Det norrøne fyrstediktet. Universitetet i Bergen, Nordisk institutts skriftserie 11. Øvre Ervik: Alvheim & Eide, 1982. ISBN 9788290359077(in Norwegian)
External links
- Magnússflokkr text at Skaldic Arts
- Sexstefja text at Skaldic Arts
- Runhent poem about Harald Hardrada text at Skaldic Arts
- Lausavísur at Skaldic Arts