What are defining features of skaldic poetry?

What are defining features of skaldic poetry?

It is often characterised by its complex metrical structures, its riddling syntax, and the liberal application of an idiosyncratic form of metaphor known as the kenning. For the most part, skaldic poetry deliberately courts obscurity, reveling in word-‐play, irony, ambiguity and surreal imagery.

What is the meaning of skaldic?

skaldic poetry, skaldic also spelled Scaldic, oral court poetry originating in Norway but developed chiefly by Icelandic poets (skalds) from the 9th to the 13th century. Skaldic poetry was contemporary with Eddaic poetry but differed from it in metre, diction, and style.

What are the Kennings that are used in skaldic poetry?

The skalds also employed complex kennings in which the determinant, or sometimes the base-word, is itself made up of a further kenning: grennir gunn-más “feeder of war-gull” = “feeder of raven” = “warrior” (Þorbjörn Hornklofi: Glymdrápa 6); eyðendr arnar hungrs “destroyers of eagle’s hunger” = “feeders of eagle” = ” …

How do you write a skaldic poem?

Each stanza has eight lines, and each line has six syllables. Three syllables in each line must be stressed, and the last syllable must be unstressed. The lines are linked in alliterating pairs, and the first line of each pair must have two alliterating syllables. All lines must have internal rhyme.

What does Edda mean?

Edda is a term used to describe two Icelandic manuscripts that were copied down and compiled in the 13th century CE. Together they are the main sources of Norse mythology and skaldic poetry that relate the religion, cosmogony, and history of Scandinavians and Proto-Germanic tribes.

What were Viking storytellers called?

Viking Skalds
In this community, the storytellers, singers, and poets are called Griots. Like the Viking Skalds, the Griots are highly revered as they are the record keepers of important dates such as births, deaths, and marriages.

Where is Skàld from?

A Skáld is an old Scandinavian and Icelandic poet, performer and singer dating back to the Viking Age and early Middle Ages, performing at the court of chieftains and kings alike. As such, they often delved deep into the history and mythology surrounding them, writing songs about Norse Mythology and Nordic heroes.

What are examples of kennings in Beowulf?

Some of the kennings found in Beowulf include ‘battle-sweat’ for blood, ‘raven-harvest’ for corpses, ‘whale-road’ for the sea, and ‘sleep of the sword’ for death. Grendel, the monster, has several wonderful kennings to describe him: ‘Hell’s captive,’ ‘sin-stained demon,’ and ‘God-cursed brute’

What are some examples of Kennings?

Modern Examples of Kennings

• Ankle biter = a very young child.
• Bean counter = a bookkeeper or accountant.
• Bookworm = someone who reads a lot.
• Brown noser = a person who does anything to gain approval.
• Fender bender = a car accident.
• First Lady – the wife of the president.
• Four-eyes = someone who wears glasses.

What is an Old Norse poem called?

Eddaic poetry
Old Norse poetry is conventionally, and somewhat arbitrarily, split into two types—Eddaic poetry (also sometimes known as Eddic poetry) and skaldic poetry. Eddaic poetry includes the poems of the Codex Regius and a few other similar ones. Skaldic poetry is usually defined as everything else not already mentioned.

How many eddas are there?

I’m glad you asked. Briefly, there are only two eddas; they’re poetic (one is in poetry, one is all about poetry), and tell myths and legends about gods and heroes. There are hundreds of sagas, all in prose; some are history, some are legend – but even the legends are still about mortal heroes, not gods.

Why do Vikings say Skol?

It is the team’s Viking war chant and comes from the Swedish, Danish and Noreigian word “Skål.” A Skål was a bowl that was often filled with beer and shared among friends so the word became a way of saying “Cheers!”

What do Vikings say when they drink?

Skål!
Spelled variably as Skål, Skál, Skaal, Skoal, or Skol (depending on country and how it’s transliterated in English), it’s the ubiquitous Scandinavian “cheers” that no drink of aquavit would be complete without.

Are kennings metaphors?

A kenning is a metaphorical compound phrase that replaces a single, concrete noun. A kenning employs figurative language to represent the simpler concept, such as using the phrase “battle-sweat” to refer to blood. Kennings are plentiful in Old Norse and Old English poetry and prose.

What is the Vikings prayer?

Lo, they do call to me. They bid me take my place among them, In the halls of Valhalla! Where the brave may live forever!”

What did the Norse call their epic poems?

The Poetic Edda is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems, which is distinct from the Prose Edda written by Snorri Sturluson. Several versions exist, all primarily of text from the Icelandic medieval manuscript known as the Codex Regius, which contains 31 poems.