The skald was a member of a group of courtly poets, whose poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry. They often acted, at the same time, as bard, councillor, and warrior. Until the twelfth century, when the onset of Christianity, monks and the art of writing gradually foreclosed on the fundamentally oral form of Skaldic art, these poets travelled from country to country, welcomed as the honored guests of kings, (normally) receiving in return for their songs gifts such as rings and jewels of great value, although occasionally payment was in cash. A poet is some one who writes poetry. ... Scandinavia is a region in Northern Europe. ... The Viking Age is the name of the period between 793 and 1066 AD in Scandinavia and Britain, following the Germanic Iron Age (and the Vendel Age in Sweden). ... Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in a number of Nordic languages, embraced by the term Old Norse, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... This article is becoming very long. ... A Roman Catholic monk A monk is a person who practices monasticism, adopting a strict religious and ascetic lifestyle, usually in community with others following the same path. ...

In the 13th century Snorri Sturluson compiled the Prose Edda to preserve an appreciative understanding of their art, which was then at the point of dying out. Snorri's Heimskringla also preserves many poems. Snorri Sturluson (1178 – September 23, 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet and politician. ... The Younger Edda, known also as the Prose Edda or Snorris Edda is an Icelandic manual of poetics which also contains many mythological stories. ... Heimskringla is the Old Norse name of a collection of sagas recorded in Iceland around 1225 by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (1179-1242). ...

The technical demands of the skaldic form were equal to the complicated verse forms mastered by the Welsh bards and Irish ollaves, and like those poets, much of the skaldic verse consisted of panegyrics to kings and aristocrats, or memorials and testimonials to their battles. The kings and nobles, for their part, were not only intelligent and appreciative audiences for gifted skalds; some of them were poets in their own right. Welsh redirects here, and this article describes the Welsh language. ... A bard is a poet or singer, in religious or feudal contexts. ... Ollam, also known as Ollamh, Ollave and Ollav, is a master in a particular trade or skill. ... A Panegyric is a formal public speech delivered in high praise of a person or thing, a generally high studied and undiscriminating eulogy. ... Look up monarch in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Aristocracy is a form of government in which rulership is in the hands of an upper class known as aristocrats. ... Generally, a battle is an instance of combat in warfare between two or more parties wherein each group will seek to defeat the others. ...

Skaldic Poetry

Most Nordic verse of the Viking time came in one of two forms: eddic or skaldic. Eddic verse was usually simple, in terms of content, style and metre, dealing largely with mythological or heroic content. Skaldic verse, conversely, was complex, and usually composed as a tribute or homage to a particular Jarl or king.

Attribution

Unlike many other literary forms of the time, much skaldic poetry is attributable to an author, and these attributions may be relied on with a reasonable degree of confidence. Many skalds were men of influence and power, and were thus biographically noted.

Forms of skaldic poetry

One prominent sort of incidental verse found in the sagas is the drápa usually containing a refrain. Lighter skaldic verse was called flokkr. Other incidental skaldic verse found in the sagas and histories includes the lausavísur, which is a single stanza of dróttkvætt said to have been improvised impromptu for the occasion it marks. Skalds also composed satire (níðvísur) and very occasionally, erotic verse (mansöngr). A refrain (from the Old French refraindre to repeat, likely from Vulgar Latin refringere) is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the chorus of a song. ... 1867 edition of the satirical magazine Punch, a British satirical magazine, ground-breaking on popular literature satire. ... Mansöngr were erotic verses written by skalds in Scandinavia, around the time of the Vikings. ...

Metre

The skalds wrote their verses in variants and dialects of Old Norse languages. Technically, their verse was usually a form of alliterative verse, and almost always using the dróttkvætt stanza (also known as the Court or Lordly Metre). Dróttkvætt is effectively an eight line form, with a split in the middle of each line. Old Norse is the Germanic language spoken by the inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300. ... The Old English epic poem Beowulf is written in alliterative verse. ... The Old English epic poem Beowulf is written in alliterative verse. ... In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. ...

Kennings

The verses of the skalds contain a great profusion of kennings, the fixed metaphors found in most northern European poetry of the time. Kennings are devices ready to supply a standard image to form an alliterating half-line to fit the requirements of dróttkvætt; but the substantially greater technical demands of skaldic verse required that these devices be multiplied and compounded in order to meet its demands for skill and wordplay. These images can therefore become somewhat hermetic, at least to those who fail to grasp the allusions that lie at the root of many of them. In literature, a kenning is a compound poetic phrase, a figure of speech, substituted for the usual name of a person or thing. ... The word hermetic is commonly applied to literary or graphical symbolism that is exceedingly obscure, convoluted, or esoteric. ... Allusion is a stylistic device in which one references an object or circumstance that has occurred or existed in an external context. ...

Notable skalds

Some notable skalds include:

• Bragi Boddason "the Old", author of Ragnarsdrápa (possibly the basis for the mythical god Bragi, the god of poetry)
• Þorbjörn hornklofi
• Þjóðólfr of Hvinir - author of Haustlöng and Ynglingatal
• Einarr Skúlason, author of Geisli
• Eyvindr Finnsson, known also as Eyvindr skáldaspillir, or Eyvindr the Plagiarist, the author of Hákonarmál and Háleygjatal
• Eilífr Goðrúnarson author of Þórsdrápa
• Tindr Hallkelsson one of Hákon Sigurðarson's court poets
• Egill Skallagrímsson author of Sonatorrek, Höfuðlausn and Arinbjarnarkviða
• Einarr Helgason "Skálaglamm", "of the gleaming coins" - author of Vellekla
• Gunnlaugr Illugason nicknamed "Ormstunga", "Worm-tongue", on account of his propensity for satire and invective
• Úlfr Uggason author of the Húsdrápa
• Kormákr Ögmundarson the main character of Kormáks saga
• Hallfreðr Óttarsson court poet of King Óláfr Tryggvason
• Arnórr Þórðarson, "Jarlaskald", the Earls' Skald
• King Haraldr Harðráði
• Sigvatr Þórðarson
• Snorri Sturluson
• Þórarinn loftunga
• Þórir Jökull Steinfinnsson
• Þórvaldr Hjaltason, a skald of king Eric the Victorious
• Óttarr svarti, a skald at the court of king Olof Skötkonung and Olaf the Stout

Bragi, in Norse mythology, is the god of poetry. ... Ragnarsdrápa is a skaldic poem composed to the Scandinavian hero Ragnar Lodbrok. ... The Chinese poem Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain by Emperor Gaozong (Song Dynasty) Poetry (from the Greek , poiesis, making or creating) is a form of art in which language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its ostensible meaning. ... Þorbjörn hornklofi was a 9th century Norwegian poet. ... Þjóðólfr of Hvinir was a skald. ... Loki strikes Þjazi with a rod in this picture from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript. ... Ynglingatal is a poem listing the kings of the House of Ynglings. ... Einarr Skúlason was an Icelandic priest and skald. ... Eyvindr Finnsson Skáldaspillir was a 10th century Norwegian skald. ... Hákonarmál is a skaldic poem which the skald Eyvindr Skáldaspillir composed about the fall of the Norwegian king Haakon the Good and his reception in Valhalla. ... Háleygjatal is a skaldic poem by Eyvindr skáldaspillir. ... Eilífr Goðrúnarson was a late 10th century skald, considered to be the author of the poem Thorsdrapa. ... The Thorsdrapa or Þórsdrápa (Hymn to Thor) is a skaldic poem of Norse mythology usually attributed to Eilífr Goðrúnarson (11th century). ... Tindr Hallkelsson was an Icelandic skald active around the year 1000. ... An impression of Jarl Hákon by Christian Krohg. ... Picture of Egill in a 17th century manuscript of Egils Saga Egill Skallagrímsson (sometimes given as Egil Skallagrimsson) was a viking and a skald. ... Sonatorrek (loss of sons) is a skaldic poem in 25 stanzas by Egill Skallagrímsson (ca. ... Höfuðlausn or the Heads Ransom is a skaldic poem by Egill Skalla-Grímsson in praise of king Eirik Bloodaxe. ... Arinbjarnarkviða is a skaldic poem by Egill Skalla-Grímsson in praise of his friend Arinbjörn. ... Einarr Helgason or Einarr skálaglamm was a 10th century Icelandic skald. ... Gunnlaugr ormstunga was an Icelandic champion and skald who was born c. ... Úlfr Uggason was an Icelandic skald who lived in the last part of the 10th century. ... Thor goes fishing for Jörmungandr in this picture from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript. ... Kormákr Ögmundarson was a 10th century Icelandic skald. ... Kormáks saga is an Icelandic saga telling of the 10th century Icelandic poet Kormákr and Steingerðr, the love of his life. ... Hallfreðr Óttarsson or Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld (Troublesome Poet) (ca. ... Olaf Tryggvason has been elected king, a painting by Peter Nicolai Arbo Olaf Tryggvason (born ca. ... Arnórr Þórðarson jarlaskáld (Poet of Earls) (ca. ... Harald III Sigurdsson (1015 – September 25, 1066), later surnamed Harald HardrÃ¥de (Old Norse: Haraldr harðráði, roughly translated as Harald stern council or hard ruler) was the king of Norway from 1047[1] until 1066. ... Sigvatr Þórðarson was a court poet to the kings Olaf II of Norway, Canute the Great and Magnus the Good, by whose reigns his floreat can be dated to the earlier eleventh century. ... Snorri Sturluson (1178 – September 23, 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet and politician. ... Þórarinn loftunga was an Icelandic skald active during the first half of the 11th century. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... Þórvaldr Hjaltason was an Icelandic skald in the service of the Swedish king Eric the Victorious. ... Eric the Victorious (VI), or Erik Segersäll, (985?- 995), was king of the Swedes during the last two decades of the 10th century. ... Óttarr svarti (The Black) was an 11th century Icelandic skald. ... Coin minted for Olof Skötkonung in Sigtuna Olof of Sweden or Olof Skötkonung/Skottkonung (the meaning of the cognomen is disputed) was the son of Eric the Victorious and Sigrid the Haughty. ... Olaf II Haraldsson (995 – July 29, 1030), king from 1015–1028, (known during his lifetime as the Stout and after his canonization as Saint Olaf), was born in the year in which Olaf Tryggvason came to Norway. ...

External links

• Carmina Scaldica Old Norse poetry from «Kulturformidlingen norrøne tekster og kvad» Norway.

See also

• Old Norse poetry
• Alliterative verse
• Skaldic poetry
• Rök Stone
• War poet

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	Sources: Poetic Edda | Prose Edda | The Sagas | Volsung Cycle | Tyrfing Cycle | Rune stones | Old Norse language | Orthography | Later influence
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