Hallvarðr Háreksblesi
Hallvarðr Háreksblesi was one of the
Extant fragments
Six fragments of poetry by Hallvarðr are quoted in the
The extant fragments are mainly about Canute's expedition to England and his becoming king there in 1015-1016.[3] Apart from what little can be conjectured from this, nothing is known about the poet's life or origin. Finnur Jónsson believed he became one of Canute's court poets after the king's conquest of Norway in 1028.[4]
Hallvarðr and other poets
The refrain of Hallvarðr's Knútsdrápa compares Knútr's role on earth to that of the Christian God in Heaven.
- Knútr verr jörð sem ítran
- alls dróttinn sal fjalla.
- Cnut protects the land as the Lord of all [does] the splendid hall of the mountains [Heaven].
Hallvarðr's refrain is very similar to that composed by his fellow poet,
Like Canute's other skalds, Hallvarðr emphasizes Canute's Danish ancestry and how his rule benefits Danish interests.
Critical reception
Finnur Jónsson described Hallvarðr's poetic expressions as strong but not very original and the surviving verses as formally quite good but not very individual in character. Despite this, he noted that one of Hallvarðr's poems has an apparently new
Notes
- ^ Eysteinn Björnsson.
- ^ Frank 1994:119-121.
- ^ Faulkes 1998:180.
- ^ a b Finnur Jónsson 1920:601; Hallvarðr Háreksblese. Om denne digters herkomst og liv vides intet. Han har opholdt sig hos kong Knud i England, efter at denne havde erobret Norge i 1028, han tiltaler kongen i versene. Af hans Knútsdrápa (navnet findes i Fms. XI, 187), er endel vers bevarede (Skj. digtn. B I, 293-94). De handler om Knuds tog til England i 1016, om hans store magt, krigerske færd og lykke i temmelig stærke, men egenlig ikke originale udtryk: "Knud værger sit land, som alverdens herre bjærgenes herlige sal" er omkvædet; det minder om Gunnlaugs stef i Aðalsteins dr. Der er ikke meget karakteristisk ved disse vers; de er i formel henseende ret gode. Særlig kan vi lægge mærke til, at vi hos Hallvarðr finder en - ny - omskrivning for brystet, hæntet fra den nye tro. Han kalder nemlig brynjen for en "bönnens skibs (brystets) bark". Dette er åbenbart en nýgjörving.
- ^ Frank 1994:116.
- ^ Frank 1994:109-111.
- ^ Frank 1994:121.
- ^ Frank 1994:121.
References
- Hallvarðr háreksblesi, Knútsdrápa:
- ed. Matthew Townend, Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages.
- ed. Eysteinn Björnsson, Hallvarðr Háreksblesi: Knútsdrápa 1-8, Jörmungrund.
- Faulkes, Anthony (1998). Snorri Sturluson : Edda : Skáldskaparmál. 1. Introduction, Text and Notes. Viking Society for Northern Research, London. ISBN 978-0-903521-36-9
- Finnur Jónsson (1920). Den oldnorske og oldislandske litteraturs historie. Anden udgave. Første bind. G. E. C. Gads forlag, København.
- Frank, Roberta (1994). "King Cnut in the verse of his skalds" in The Reign of Cnut, pp. 106-124. ISBN 0-7185-0205-1