''Bjarkamál'' (''Bjarkemål'' in modern Norwegian and Danish) is an Old Norse poem from around the year 1000. Only a few lines have survived in the

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

version, the rest is known from Saxo's version in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

. The latter consists of 298

hexameter Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek as well as in Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of s ...

s, and tells the tale of Rolf Krake's downfall at Lejre on the isle of Sjælland, described in a dialogue between two of Rolf Krake's twelve

berserker In the Old Norse written corpus, berserkers () were Scandinavian warriors who were said to have fought in a trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the modern English adjective ''wikt:berserk#Adjective, berserk'' . Berserkers ...

s, Bodvar Bjarke (hence the name of the poem), the most famous warrior at the court of the legendary Danish king Rolf Krake, and Hjalte (= hilt). The poem opens with Hjalte waking up his fellow berserkers, having realized they are under attack. In 1030, King Olav had the

bard In Celtic cultures, a bard is an oral repository and professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's a ...

Tormod Kolbrunarskald recite the ''Bjarkamál'' to rouse his outnumbered army in the morning before the start of the Battle of Stiklestad, according to '' Fóstbrœðra saga''. In ''Bjarkamál'', Rolf Krake has subdued the

Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

enough to make them pay him tax. Instead, they destroy his court at Lejre with a trick reminding us of

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

Trojan horse In Greek mythology, the Trojan Horse () was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer, Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending ...

: The wagons, bringing the valuables to Lejre, are filled with hidden weapons instead. When the Swedes, led by Hjartvar, arrive at Lejre, they are invited to a party, but unlike the Danes, they make sure to stay sober. Saxo has combined motives from the original Danish poem with motives from the second song in the '' Æneid'', known as the ''nyktomakhi'', where Æneas tells Dido about the battle between the

Greeks Greeks or Hellenes (; , ) are an ethnic group and nation native to Greece, Greek Cypriots, Cyprus, Greeks in Albania, southern Albania, Greeks in Turkey#History, Anatolia, parts of Greeks in Italy, Italy and Egyptian Greeks, Egypt, and to a l ...

and the Trojans in

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

. The ''nyktomakhi'' is of about the same length as ''Bjarkamál'', and containing the same elements: The Trojan horse/the smuggling of Swedish weapons; Danes/Trojans are sound asleep when Swedes/Greeks attack them; plus the climax: The

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

informs Æneas that it is the will of the gods themselves (that is,

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

, Juno,

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

and

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

) that Troy shall fall, and so he can honourably flee. Correspondingly, Rolf Krake's sister Hrut shows Bjarke the war god

Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...

, albeit the sight of Odin constitutes the moment when Bjarke and Hjalte die. In Axel Olrik's rewrite of Bjarkemål, the mortally wounded Bjarke calls on Hrut to show him Odin, only to say that if Odin shows himself, Bjarke will take revenge (for the death of Rolf). He then lies down next to his dead king, because it is appropriate of a king's man to honour him so, when the king has been mild and just ("dådherlig"). The postscript of Roar Skovmand emphasises the rejection of Odin and that the king is honoured with loyalty, even after he is dead. A well-known example of the old Norse faith in fylgjur, is Bjarke in ''Bjarkamál'' lying fast asleep in the hall, while his fylgja (

doppelgänger A doppelgänger ( ), sometimes spelled doppelgaenger or doppelganger, is a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its own fleshly counterpart. In fiction and mythology, a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or p ...

in animal shape), the

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

, is fighting on his behalf outside. When eventually Bjarke gets up and starts fighting, the bear has disappeared. The

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...

"Sol er oppe" (= Sun is up) from 1817 is Grundtvig's version of the poem.

Body

Most of the poem is lost. Only fragments of it are preserved in ''

Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'Poetic Diction' or 'The Language of Poetry'; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda'', compiled by Snorri Sturluson. It consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bra ...

'' and in '' Heimskringla''. In

Saxo Grammaticus Saxo Grammaticus (), also known as Saxo cognomine Longus, was a Danish historian, theologian and author. He is thought to have been a clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, the main advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. He is the author ...

' '' Gesta Danorum'' a Latin translation of the poem is found but it probably does not closely follow the original. The following example may illustrate the difference between the original terse

and Saxo's elaborate translation.

References

The Old Lay of Biarki
Translation and commentary by Lee M. Hollander, includes translation of Axel Olrik's reconstruction

The remnants of the original text, two editions

Saxo's Latin version (starting with "Ocius evigilet")

Translation of Saxo's version {{DEFAULTSORT:Bjarkamal Skaldic poems