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worldbuilders-blog · 1 year

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Scandinavia - Old Norse Poetry - Literature and Oral Tradition

The following post describes the literature and oral traditions of Scandinavian peoples during the times of the Vikings. I describe the difference between skaldic and eddic poetry and define kennings.

A later post will have my resources and advice on writing imitations of both types of poetry. (Find it here!)

There are few primary sources of Scandinavian history and stories from the times of “Vikings”, or from the late 8th century to the late 11th century. There are artifacts with runic writing, but these are short and few in number. Most of the documents about Scandinavians written during their time are from outside sources (and often they are biased against the Norsemen) (source).

In the late 11th and early 12th centuries, Christianity and its method of writing in Latin was introduced to Scandinavia. After Latin was introduced, the oral traditions began to be recorded by a variety of authors, though the most notable is Snorri Sturluson (who compiled the Prose Edda) (source).

The most important to study of the Old Norse languages and the mythos of these peoples are the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda.

“The Poetic Edda is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems” (source). There are several versions, and the most notable is an Icelandic text called Codex Regius from the 1270s CE which has 31 poems. These poems were not written by any one poet, but were collected and recorded from oral tradition. The exact age of these poems are unknown, but are considered to be the only direct records of Norsemen from their times.

The Prose Edda “is an Old Norse textbooks written in Iceland during the 13th century”. Its major and most well known contributor is Snorri Sturluson, a scholar and historian. The contents of the book are accounts of Old Norse mythology. Many of its sources are the same poems documented in the Poetic Edda.

Now, more on Old Norse poetry. For the most part, history and stories of the time of Vikings were passed down orally in two types of poetry.

Skaldic poetry (named for their creators: skald, or court poets) mostly regarded history and celebrated kings and jarls. It typically included little dialogue and recounted battles in detail. In comparison to Eddic poetry, Skaldic verse tends to be more complex in style and uses dróttkvætt. It also uses more kennings. While not proven, there is some speculation that skald accompanied their verse with a harp or lyre (source). It is mostly recorded in sagas.

Eddic poetry (named for the book they are compiled in: the Poetic Edda) is narrative, where there is both a narrator and characters speaking. They are characterized by their focus on mythology, ethics, and heroes, as well as a simpler way of verse (using fornyrðislag, ljóðaháttr, and málaháttr). It uses kennings, but less extensively than Skaldic poetry. It is mostly dialogue (source 1, source 2).

Kennings are figures of speech strongly associated with Old Norse-Icelandic and Old English poetry. It is a “type of circumlocution, a compound employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun” (source).

Now, when I first read that, I had zero clue what the hell that meant. But this is my current understanding: a poetic device where you dance around using a single noun by describing it with other words. It is similar to the poetic device of parallelism.

- “bane of wood” = fire (Old Norse kenning)

- “sleep of the sword” = death (Old English kenning)

- Drahtesel = “wire-donkey” = bicycle (modern German kenning)

- Stubentiger = “parlour-tiger” = house cat (modern German kenning)

- Genesis 49:11 “blood of grapes” = wine

- Job 15:14 “born of woman” = man

In a later post I will go into further details of the exact format of the two types of poetry. But it will be in the context of writing imitations.

Posted: 2023 May 29

Last edited: 2023 May 30

Writing and research by: Rainy

#vikings #poetic edda #prose edda #snorri sturluson #viking poetry #skald #skaldic poetry #kennings #kenning #eddic poetry #edda #old norse #old norse poetry #norse poetry

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garadinervi · 11 days

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Lola Ridge, Red Flag, Viking Press, New York, NY, 1927 [Between the Covers, Gloucester City, NJ]

#graphic design #typography #poetry #book #cover #book cover #lola ridge #viking press #1920s

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eirikr-inn-rowdy · 2 months

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#völuspa #voluspa #seeress #norse mythology #scandinavian mythology #old norse #paganism #viking #mythology and folklore #mythology #poetry #poetic edda #volva #völva

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martinsfrancisco · 1 year

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I’ve always been mesmerised by the movement of long hair in the wind.

As a photographer, I love to explore how dramatic and poetic a picture can be whenever the wind blowing the hair in a graceful way.

A few years ago i started a project Called Long is Beautiful, dedicated to long hair. These photos are a few samples from this project.

More pictures on IG.

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📷 Photography & post-production: @franciscomartinsphotography

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I am the author of this photo and all content in my blog is entirely created by myself - the Photographer. Please visit my photography links for more photos:

www.instagram.com/franciscomartinsphotography www.martinsfrancisco.tumblr.com

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voxpraxis · 6 months

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The oldest known written description of North America, from the Viking voyages circa 1000 CE.

Eirik the Red's Saga (Penguin Classics)

#vikings #the vinland sagas #eirik the red's saga #history #poetry #literature #my highlight & screenshot #op

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thelirofnorthlands · 9 months

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Raise hell 🙌

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ragnarokepic · 18 days

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Surt v1

ragnarokepic.wordpress.com – original poetry about Ragnarök Check us out! Amazon Website YouTube FaceBook

View On WordPress

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bear1997 · 8 months

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Thanks to @seriously-pump-up-the-volume for taking this picture of me while I was live looks amazing can wait for us to meet up and run some pictures. Really appreciate it. Everyone go give him some love. ( he has cute kittens)

#tattoos #meaning #viking #pagan witch #space #trucks #gothic #barefoot guys #guys that smoke #guys with tattoos #guys with beards #better now #norse gods #dir en grey #witchhouse #dark synth #dark poetry

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the-noir-poet · 2 months

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The felling of empires is a poem about how empires rose and fell, seeming all mighty and infailable at their peak. Well, can you ask them what they became now.

#poem #empires #romans #vikings #war #poems #poet #poetry #poetrygram #darkpoem #darkpoetry #war

Follow for more poetry like this

#war #poetry #empires #poet #poem #my poem #romans #Vikings #nazis #poets on tumblr #dark poetry #poetic #writers and poets #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #writeblr #writing

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joniferous · 2 months

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I cannot tell you how many times you've crossed my mind

Only that it is plenty more than you should

That if you were to cross half those times

Your soles would have been long worn out

I cannot count the number

Only how many pages I have turned in this book

Where the characters all have your name, your face, your smile

And the story ends with the same betrayal

I cannot guess how often you think of me

Only wish that it were more than once

That my skin is burned into your memory

With the sound of my voice saying your name aloud

I cannot say how much longer I will live without you

Only how dark those days will be

Until I find the courage to end it

A thin red line from hope to heart

#poems on tumblr #original poem #poetry #breakup #love #my viking

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viking-writing · 1 year

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🇧🇻Nynorsk Dikt/poem "Eg står"

(🇬🇧English below)

Eg står i kvit snø.

Eg står i grønt gras.

Eg står i grått regn.

Men eg vandrar i solas gull.

Poem: "I stand"

I stand in white snow

I stand in green grass

I stand in gray rain

But I wander in the gold of the sun

#this poem doesnt really reflect how I feel...not at all...i am depressed #but i thought it might cheer someone else up #i know when this poem was originally written ...you dont #my poetry my poem #the viking writes #poetry #nynorsk #norwegian

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ancientorigins · 2 years

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Kvasir was born of a truce between the warring Norse gods and embodied the best of both factions, becoming the wisest man and creator of poetry. Alas, his desire to help humanity ended gruesomely, with his slain body transformed into the mead of poetry.

#poetry #knowledge #gods #Norse #Nordic #Norse mythology #Odin #dwarf #Vikings

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thoughtportal · 1 year

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What can Viking poetry reveal about the era in which it was written, and the people that wrote it? And why are ships, love and death some of its most common recurring motifs? Judith Jesch and Carolyne Larrington shared their expert insights with Matt Elton, tackling listener questions and reading excerpts from some of their favourite examples

#What Norse poetry reveals about the Viking age #history extra podcast #history extra magazine #history extra #podcast #podcasts #history #vikings #poems #poetry #poem #literary history

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blogtib · 6 months

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