Senna is a form of

Eddic poetry The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems in alliterative verse. It is distinct from the closely related ''Prose Edda'', although both works are seminal to the study of Old Norse ...

consisting of an exchange of insults between participants, ranging from the use of expletives to accusing an opponent of moral or sexual impropriety. It traditionally existed in an oral form, with the

skald 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 ...

Þórarinn Stuttfeldr once describing the poetry of his opponent as being like ''leirr ens gamla ara'', 'the mud of the old eagle', literally claiming that his poetry was like dung. Moreover, Þórarinn Stuttfeldr makes a reference to the myth of the

Mead of Poetry In Norse mythology, the Poetic Mead or Mead of Poetry, also known as Mead of Suttungr, is a mythical beverage that whoever "drinks becomes a skald or scholar" able to recite any information and solve any question. This myth was reported by Snorri ...

, in which

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 ...

, in shape of an eagle, defecates a part of the stolen mead which becomes the mead of the rhymesters, and thus stands for bad poetry in general. There are also numerous written examples of ''senna'' in Old Norse-Icelandic literature, including '' Ölkofra þáttr'' (''The Tale of the Ale-Hood'') in which a carpenter is accused of setting fire to the wood of six powerful chieftains while burning charcoal, and the eddic poem ''

Lokasenna ''Lokasenna'' (Old Norse: 'The Flyting of Loki', or 'Loki's Verbal Duel') is one of the poems of the ''Poetic Edda''. The poem presents flyting between the gods and Loki. It is written in the ljóðaháttr metre, typical for wisdom verse. ''L ...

'', which consists of a duel of words between

Loki Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...

and several other Norse gods, and in which Loki accuses the other gods of sexual misdeeds.

References

External links

Lokasenna (translation)
Eddic poetry Verse contests {{poetry-stub