''Glymdrápa'' ("''

Drápa A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry in alliterative verse, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally comp ...

'' of din") is a

skaldic poem A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry in alliterative verse, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally compo ...

composed by Þorbjörn Hornklofi, the court poet of King

Harald I of Norway Harald Fairhair (; – ) was a Norwegian king. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, he reigned from 872 to 930 and was the first King of Norway. Supposedly, two of his sons, Eric Bl ...

(''Haraldr hárfagri''). Composed toward the end of the 9th century, the poem recounts several battles waged by King Harald, mostly as he was uniting

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Composed in ''

dróttkvætt Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in the Old Norse language, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century. Old Norse poetry is associated with the area now referred to as Scandinav ...

'', only seven stanzas and two half-stanzas are preserved, chiefly in the ''

Heimskringla () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (117 ...

'' (''Haralds saga hárfagra''). ''Glymdrápa'' is the oldest praise poem to a king (''konungsdrápa'') which has come down to us. The poem has few clear geographical or historical points of reference, and the two sagas which quote it, ''Heimskringla'' and ''

Fagrskinna ''Fagrskinna'' ( ; ; trans. "Fair Leather" from the type of parchment) is one of the kings' sagas, written around 1220. It is assumed to be a source for what is known as the '' Heimskringla'', containing histories of Norwegian kings from the 9th ...

'' interpret it differently. In ''Heimskringla'', the poem is said to recount Harald's fight against the people of

Orkdal Orkdal may refer to: Places *Orkdal Municipality, a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway *''Orkdal'' or Orkdalen, a valley and traditional district in Trøndelag county, Norway * Orkdal Fjord, a fjord in Trøndelag county, Norway * Ork ...

Oppdal Oppdal may refer to: Places *Oppdal Municipality is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Dovre region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Oppdal ( ...

forest (''Uppdalsskógr''), first against Huntiof, King of Nordmøre (''Húnþjófr''), his son Solve Klove (''Sölvi'') and his father-in-law King Nokkve (''Nökkvi''), king of

Romsdal Romsdal is a Districts of Norway, traditional district in the Norwegian county Møre og Romsdal, located between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. The district of Romsdal traditional comprises the areas that are part of Aukra Municipality, Molde Municipal ...

; second against Sölvi and his allies Arnviðr, king of

Sunnmøre Sunnmøre (, ) is the southernmost traditional district of the western Norwegian county of Møre og Romsdal. Its main city is Ålesund. The region comprises the municipalities () of Fjord, Giske, Hareid, Herøy, Sande, Haram, Stranda Mu ...

, and Auðbjörn, who ruled over the Fjords in the districts of

Nordfjord Nordfjord (—in contrast to Sunnfjord) is a traditional district in Vestland county, Norway. Geography The region is located in the northern part of Vestland county in Western Norway. It centers on the Nordfjorden and it comprises Stad Muni ...

and

Sunnfjord Sunnfjord ( - in contrast to Nordfjord) is a traditional district in Western Norway located in Vestland county. It includes the municipalities of Askvoll, Fjaler, the southernmost parts of Kinn, Sunnfjord, and the southernmost parts of Brem ...

. Lastly Harald's battles in

Gotland Gotland (; ; ''Gutland'' in Gutnish), also historically spelled Gottland or Gothland (), is Sweden's largest island. It is also a Provinces of Sweden, province/Counties of Sweden, county (Swedish län), Municipalities of Sweden, municipality, a ...

and finally his expedition westwards to fight

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

, which led him to the

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

. According to ''Fagrskinna's'' account, part of the poem relates events of the

Battle of Hafrsfjord The Battle of Hafrsfjord () was a naval battle fought in Hafrsfjord sometime between 872 and 900 that resulted in the unification of Norway, later known as the Kingdom of Norway (872–1397), Kingdom of Norway. After the battle, the victorious Vi ...

, the decisive battle in King Harald's unification of Norway.

References

Primary Sources

*
Heimskringla: History of the Kings of Norway
', translated Lee M. Hollander.(Austin: University of Texas Press, 1992) *''Fagrskinna: A Catalogue of the Kings of Norway'', translated by Alison Finlay (Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2004)

Other sources

* Boyer, Régis (1990) ''La Poésie scaldique''. Paris: Éd. du Porte-glaive. . * Faulkes, Anthony (ed.) (1998) ''Snorri Sturluson: Edda. Skáldskaparmál''. Vol. 2, ''Glossary and Index of Names''. London: Viking Society for Northern Research.

External links

Two editions of ''Glymdrápa''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glymdrapa Skaldic poems Cultural depictions of Harald Fairhair

See also

References

Primary Sources

Other sources

Related Reading

External links