Sigvatr Þórðarson or Sighvatr Þórðarson or Sigvatr Thórðarson or Sigvat the Skald (995–1045) was an

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

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 ...

. He was a court poet to King

Olaf II of Norway Saint Olaf ( – 29 July 1030), also called Olaf the Holy, Olaf II, Olaf Haraldsson, and Olaf the Stout or "Large", was List of Norwegian monarchs, King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he w ...

, as well as

Cnut the Great Cnut ( ; ; – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rul ...

, Magnus the Good and Anund Jacob, by whose reigns his floruit can be dated to the earlier eleventh century. Sigvatr was the best known of the court skalds of King Olaf and also served as his marshal (''stallare''), even baptizing his son Magnus. Approximately 160 verses of Sigvatr's poetry have been preserved, more than from any other poet of this period. The style of Sigvat's poems is simpler and clearer than that which generally characterises older compositions. Although his verse is still dense, he uses fewer complex poetic circumlocutions than many of his predecessors, and as a Christian poet, he by and large avoids allusions to pagan mythology. Most of his surviving poems were texts that praised King Olaf. Many of the poems from St. Olaf's saga in '' Heimskringla'' are by Sigvatr. ''Víkingarvísur'', composed ''c''. 1014–15, is the oldest of the surviving long poems attributed to him. The poem tallies King Olaf's battles on his Viking expeditions until 1015, when he returned to Norway to carve out a kingdom for himself. In ''Nesjavísur'', the next oldest poem by Sigvatr, the skald describes the naval battle between Olaf and Sveinn Hákonarson at the Battle of Nesjar outside Brunlanes in 1016, the key moment in Olaf's ascent to power in

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 ...

. ''Nesjavísur'' (Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages)
/ref>

Preserved poetry

# '' Víkingarvísur'' (‘verses of a Viking-raid’) — on the early deeds of King

Olaf Olaf or Olav (, , or differences between General American and Received Pronunciation, British ; ) is a Dutch, Polish, Scandinavian and German given name. It is presumably of Proto-Norse origin, reconstructed as ''*Anu-laibaz'', from ''anu'' "ances ...

# '' Nesjavísur'' (‘verses of Nesjar’) — on the Battle of Nesjar # ''

Austrfararvísur Austrfararvísur (‘verses of an eastern journey’) is a skaldic poetry, skaldic poem composed by the Icelandic skald Sigvatr Þórðarson c. 1019. It is written in the meter dróttkvætt (‘courtly spoken’). Historical context Sigvat was a c ...

'' (‘verses of an eastern journey’) — on a diplomatic journey to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

# A drápa about King Olaf # '' Vestrfararvísur'' (‘verses of a western journey’) — on a journey to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

# Two poems about Erlingr Skjalgsson # '' Tryggvaflokkr'' (‘a flock about Tryggvi’) — on Tryggve the Pretender # A poem about Queen Astrid # ''Knútsdrápa'' (‘''Drápa'' of Knút’) — in memory of King

Canute the Great Cnut ( ; ; – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rul ...

# '' Bersöglisvísur'' (‘verses of plain-speaking’) — reprimand to King Magnus # ''Erfidrápa Óláfs helga'' (‘Saint Olaf's inheritance-''drápa''’) — in memory of King Olaf # Numerous '' Lausavísur'' # ''Brot'' - fragments

Notes

References

Other sources

*Whaley, Diana (editor) ''Poetry from the Kings' Sagas 1, From Mythical Times to c. 1035'' (Brepols Publishers. 2013) *O'Donoghue, Heather (2005) ''Skaldic Verse and the Poetics of Saga Narrative'' (Oxford University Press)

External links

Index of Sigvatr Þórðarson's poetry

Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages is a project which is editing the corpus of Old Norse-Icelandic skaldic poetry., along with all poetry written down in runes. The project will publish nine volumes and is supported by a website. The c ...

.
Index of Sigvatr Þórðarson's poetry
Jörmungrund. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sigvatr Thordarson Icelandic male poets 11th-century Icelandic poets 995 births 1045 deaths Skalds