The Nordic Way

by S. L. P. Van der Veer

Summer 2000

Norse poetry derived from an oral tradition, composed to be spoken and listened to, and having by necessity a fluid nature, which allowed a poem to be “composed” repeatedly without losing its identity. Old Norse literature covers roughly the period between 850 and 1300, with the height occurring between 875 and 1100. After 1100 came the sagamen, the scholars who collected the stories and put them in writing. Most of what we now have of Old Norse literature was written between 1150 and 1250, when political instability combined with pestilence and famine to disrupt documentation.

The Poetic Edda (also known as the Elder Edda, or Saemund’s Edda) is composed of 34 mythological and heroic poems. Twenty-nine of them are from a single manuscript called the Codex Regius, with the remaining poems, being of similar character, were subsequently added to the collection. They represent nearly all Old Norse poetry of this type that has survived, differing considerably in style and subject matter from the rest of extant Old Norse poetry.

One distinguishing feature is the poets’ use of alliteration -- repetition of individual, usually initial, sounds for artistic effect {eg. rambling rose, “the music of the minstrel and his magic mandolin”, sword and shield}. It is also characterized by kennings -- phrases which, instead of directly stating an idea, suggest it subtly, leading the listener, or reader, to visualize it {eg.“wave-traveler” or “chariot of the ocean” for boat, “goddess of hostilities” for valkyrie}.

Norse poetry falls into two categories: eddaic (or eddic) and skaldic. Eddaic poems are typically anonymous and relatively simple in terms of language and meter. Their subjects are generally drawn from myths and legends. This type of verse has been termed “folk-poetry”, although this does not infer primitivity or lack of skill on the part of the poets, as they, and many of their listeners, had made a study of the art of poetry.

Skaldic poems, in contrast, are attributed to named poets (or skalds). These were composed to praise a particular jarl or king, to sing of love, of triumph, to lament. The language is usually convoluted and rich in kennings, and the meters are structurally complex, following strict rules. They generally deal more with the skalds’ emotions than the more impersonal eddaic poems.

There are a number of meters found in Norse poetry, some used only for a particular purpose. In the Poetic Edda, three are primarily used, each generally grouping lines in four-line stanzas. The difference lies in the length of each line, and the number and placement of accented syllables.

In the ‘Fornyrthislag’ (meaning “old verse”), the lines all have the same structure, each being divided by a pause into two half-lines. Each half-line then has 2 accented syllables and two or three unaccented syllables. The half-lines are joined by alliteration of two or three of the accented syllables.

In the ‘Ljothahattr’ (“song measure”), the first and third lines follow the above description, while the second and fourth are shorter, with no pause and three accented syllables. The second and fourth lines also alliterate two accented syllables.

In the ‘Malahattr’ (“speech measure”), which is the least commonly used, each line is divided by a pause and each half-line has two accented syllables and three or four unaccented syllables. Each line alliterates three accented syllables.

                 Beo-Hoot

                    by S.L.P Van der Veer

 

Shallowbirch-born        bard of renown,

     minstrel with the       magic mandolin,

  wooer of women,       but the bird is wise~

      music flies swift      on silent wings.

 

For Additional Information

The Poetic Edda, with various translators including Henry Adams Bellows (used in composing this article). Obviously a good source for eddaic poetry. For those who have read Tolkien, a lot of his dwarf names can be found in ‘Voluspo’.

The Skalds: A Selection of their Poems with Introduction and Notes. Translated by Lee M. Hollander. A good source for skaldic poetry.

Egil’s Saga, along with any number of other sagas available in various translations. Although the sagas are in prose form, they often include poems as well, in addition to providing some of the background and language used in Norse poetry.

And, of course, Beowulf is a fine example. Seamus Heaney's version preserves much of the verse form.

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