Viking Poetry

Hi everybody!

Today I'm going to give some general info about various types of Old Norse literature. There are, in general, three main types of Viking poetry.

• The first is Eddaic poetry, which is found in the Poetic Edda. Two collections of Old Norse writings are known by the title of Edda. Together they form the most authoritative source for ancient Nordic mythology. The so-called "Elder Edda" or "Saemunder Edda", is more correctly referred to as the "Poetic Edda". It is a collection of 34 Icelandic poems, interspersed with prose. These anonymous poems use alliteration and a simple strophic form as their only formal devices. Most of them deal with Norse mythology and legend. The Poetic Edda can be divided into two sections, a mythical one and a heroic one. Eddaic verse is anonymous and is composed in relatively simple language and meters. The themes are mythical or drawn from heroic legends. Stanzas vary in number of lines within the same poem.

• The second type of Viking poetry is skaldic verse. Skaldic poems are usually attributed to named poets and many of them are praise poems made for a specific jarl or king. Skaldic meters follow strict rules and can be very complex in structure, and the language used is often complicated. A kenning is a riddling reference to one item or concept which does not name it directly, but rather suggests it by the elliptical way in which the subject is spoken of, which causes the listener or reader to visualize the intended concept. An example of a simple kenning is "wound-wand", which is a sword, or "raven's-mead", which is blood, usually of men slain in battle. 

• The third type of Viking poetry are the Rune Poems. The rune poems are usually composed with a stanza for each of the runes, and these stanzas explain a bit about the meaning the runes had in terms of divination. Three different poems have been preserved: the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem, the Norwegian Rune Poem, and the Icelandic Rune Poem. These poems were created for remembering the rune symbols, their names, meanings and properties. Because the runes changed slightly in each culture the three poems differ in some aspects.

Now, I'm going to show you the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem translated in Modern English, it is too long but it is interesting to know the meaning of runes: 

   Feoh

            Wealth is a comfort to all men;

            yet must every man bestow it freely,

            if he wish to gain honour in the sight of the Lord.

  Ur

            The aurochs is proud and has great horns;

             it is a very savage beast and fights with its horns;

            a great ranger of the moors, it is a creature of mettle.

  Thorn

            The thorn is exceedingly sharp,

            an evil thing for any knight to touch,

            uncommonly severe on all who sit among them.

Os

          The mouth is the source of all language,

          a pillar of wisdom and a comfort to wise men,

          a blessing and a joy to every knight.

Rad

         Riding seems easy to every warrior while he is indoors

         and very courageous to him who traverses the high-roads

         on the back of a stout horse.

Cen

       The torch is known to every living man by its pale, bright flame;

        it always burns where princes sit within.

Gyfu

        Generosity brings credit and honour, which support one's dignity;

        it furnishes help and subsistence

        to all broken men who are devoid of aught else.

Wynn

       Bliss he enjoys who knows not suffering, sorrow nor anxiety,

       and has prosperity and happiness and a good enough house.

Haegl

       Hail is the whitest of grain;

       it is whirled from the vault of heaven

       and is tossed about by gusts of wind

       and then it melts into water.

Nyd

        Trouble is oppressive to the heart;

        yet often it proves a source of help and salvation

        to the children of men, to everyone who heeds it betimes.

 Is

       Ice is very cold and immeasurably slippery;

       it glistens as clear as glass and most like to gems;

       it is a floor wrought by the frost, fair to look upon.

Ger

      Summer is a joy to men, when God, the holy King of Heaven,

      suffers the earth to bring forth shining fruits

      for rich and poor alike.

 Eoh

      The yew is a tree with rough bark,

      hard and fast in the earth, supported by its roots,

      a guardian of flame and a joy upon an estate.

Peordh

        Peorth is a source of recreation and amusement to the great,

       where warriors sit blithely together in the banqueting-hall.

Eolh

       The Eolh-sedge is mostly to be found in a marsh;

       it grows in the water and makes a ghastly wound,

       covering with blood every warrior who touches it.

 Sigel

     The sun is ever a joy in the hopes of seafarers

     when they journey away over the fishes' bath,

     until the courser of the deep bears them to land.

Tir

      Tiw is a guiding star; well does it keep faith with princes;

      it is ever on its course over the mists of night and never fails.

 Beorc

     The poplar bears no fruit; yet without seed it brings forth suckers,

     for it is generated from its leaves.

     Splendid are its branches and gloriously adorned

     its lofty crown which reaches to the skies.

Eh

     The horse is a joy to princes in the presence of warriors.

     A steed in the pride of its hoofs,

     when rich men on horseback bandy words about it;

     and it is ever a source of comfort to the restless.

Mann

      The joyous man is dear to his kinsmen;

     yet every man is doomed to fail his fellow,

     since the Lord by his decree will commit the vile carrion to the earth.

Lagu

     The ocean seems interminable to men,

     if they venture on the rolling bark

     and the waves of the sea terrify them

     and the courser of the deep heed not its bridle.

 Ing

     Ing was first seen by men among the East-Danes,

     till, followed by his chariot,

     he departed eastwards over the waves.

    So the Heardingas named the hero.

 Ethel

     An estate is very dear to every man,

     if he can enjoy there in his house

    whatever is right and proper in constant prosperity.

 Dæg

    Day, the glorious light of the Creator, is sent by the Lord;

    it is beloved of men, a source of hope and happiness to rich and poor,

    and of service to all.

Ac

     The oak fattens the flesh of pigs for the children of men.

     Often it traverses the gannet's bath,

     and the ocean proves whether the oak keeps faith

     in honourable fashion.

 Æsc

     The ash is exceedingly high and precious to men.

     With its sturdy trunk it offers a stubborn resistance,

     though attacked by many a man.

 Yr

      Yr is a source of joy and honour to every prince and knight;

      it looks well on a horse and is a reliable equipment for a journey.

Ior

      Iar is a river fish and yet it always feeds on land;

      it has a fair abode encompassed by water, where it lives in happiness.

 Ear

     The grave is horrible to every knight,

     when the corpse quickly begins to cool

     and is laid in the bosom of the dark earth.

     Prosperity declines, happiness passes away

    and covenants are broken.