VIKINGS QUOTES

The poetry of medieval Scandinavia is generally divided into two categories, Skaldic Poetry which are by known skalds (poets) and a system of diction and metrics explained in Snorri’s Edda and Eddic Poetry, which is loosely defined as poems that are anonymous, possess a simple, flowing meter and deal with myths and legendary Viking heroes. However, there is a variety of opinion on what qualifies as ‘Eddic Poetry’  and the term is also traditionally used to refer to to refer to the Codex Regius, a collection of anonymous poems that deal with wisdom, mythology and heroic legend. Both categories have fairly fluid definitions and often there is overlap between the two genres.

Viking Poetry was derived from an oral tradition, distinguished by it’s use of alliteration and kennings (compound expressions with metaphorical meanings). Many of the sagas have stanzas of poetry inserted into the prose for dramatic function; this mixed prose-poetry model that is found in written sagas may have been inherited from previous oral traditions. In the sagas, one common characteristic of Viking heroes, besides bravery in battle, was the extemporary composition of verses. This demonstrates how the composition of poetry was viewed as an admirable skill and served an important function in Viking society and culture. In Egil’s sagas, the eponymous character composes a poem in order to express the grief of losing his sons; at the end he thanks Odin (who is attributed with granting mankind the knowledge of poetry) for the splendid gift of poetry. Egil describes poetry as being without blame or blemish; indicating that Old Icelandic poetry was considered morally and artistically perfect within the culture.

The subjects of these verses, besides the mythic and legendary narratives of eddic poetry, include grief, consolation, love, death and even poetry itself. However the most common of the poetry that has been preserved is one that is characteristic of Viking poetry: praise poetry, which is poetry composed for the living or recently dead in order to celebrate and perpetuate the name and glory of its subject. This is because throughout the 10th and 11th centuries, skalds would travel to the courts of kings and jarls to offer praise poetry with the expectation of reward.  This ritual legitimized the King’s claim to his position and affirmed the values of the warrior class (as the subject would be praised for the traditional virtues of generosity and valor). These poems were then passed down orally until they were recorded by Icelandic writers in the 12th-14th centuries, which is where nearly all (excluding the Codex Regius) of the preserved Viking poetry comes from. [x][x]