Skaldic Poetry

Embedded within Scandinavian history, the theme of extensive long-distance journey stands as a defining motif. Predominantly embodied by the Viking Age, spanning approximately two and a half centuries, this proclivity saw Scandinavians emerge as conquerors, raiders and traders across Europe and the British Isles -effecting considerable spatial traversals. As the Viking Age started to wane, the motif of longdistance journey persisted, yet transformed in character. Evolving from roles as marauders and settlers, a shift occured toward mercenary engagements under Russian princes, Varangian Guards service, and pilgrimages signifying a nuanced metamorphosis. This research focalises on three prominent elevent-century figures: Yngvarr víðförli, Haraldr Sigurðarson, and Eiríkr inn góði. Each emblematic of distinct categories of extensive peripatetic undertakings, their selection ensures a comprehensive portrayal of medieval Scandinavia, culled from the Icelandic sagas

This Thesis studies the relationship between mythological elements in the Eddic Poem “Vǫluspá” and The Lord of the Rings “The Mirror of Galadriel”by exploring their contests of speech, narrative roles, and unique character traits. The main argument of this Comparative Literature Study is that J.R.R. Tolkien is a conscious translator of old myths into modern fantasy who reworks the conversation between Óðinn and the Vǫlva into the meeting of Frodo and Sam with Lady Galadriel. Both Prophetesses bestow prophetic visions of the world’s impending doom, with revelations of the æsir gods and the elves vanishing alongside their magical crafts, leaving Middle-Earth to be rebuilt under the dominion of men. These echoing elements present themes of fatalism and decadence in the Vǫlva’s verses and the Lady of Lórien’s mirror. Furthermore, these Prophetesses behold the decay and rebirth of the old mythical domain, illustrating an overarching narrative of ‘eucatastrophe’ in the cataclysmic end of Ragnarǫk and The War of the Ring through the finality of a resurrection. Overall, this research aims to analyze how the author reconstructs ‘The Nature of the Vǫlva, the Patriarch, and Prophecy,’ translating these mythological elements from Eddic Poetry by adapting them into a high fantasy novel.

Icelandic poet Gerður Kristný's Blóðhófnir (2010) retells the myth of the god Freyr, his servant Skírnir, and the giantess Gerðr in the words of the giantess alone. In the myth, Freyr sends Skírnir to seduce Gerðr on his behalf. The mission is successful, though only after Skírnir has suppressed Gerðr's resistance using violent threats. This article examines how, in Blóðhófnir, voice and silence interact with structures of patriarchal power and violence to animate the ideology of feminine self-sacrifice. The poem encourages readers to reflect on the patriarchal tenets that place sacrificial demands upon women in both the past and present.

https://doi.org/10.18261/edda.112.3.4

A brief note on spelling and pronunciation I n this book, I have tried to be consistent in so far as avoiding Anglicization, so, for example, the use of þ, the thorn symbol, instead of the familiar 'th'. Wherever practical, I have used the spellings that are most authentic and widely accepted by Norse scholars. The Old Norse and Old English languages used letters that are no longer found in modern English. The most commonly used ones were: AE or lower case ae ('eye'), Ð or lower case ð (the 'th' in 'the'), Þ or lower case þ (the 'th' in 'thing'), and Ö or lower case ö (rounded form of 'ea' in 'earth'). The letter g is hard (as in 'go'), except before i, y, where it is like y (as in 'yeast'). The letter s is always surd. The letter j before a vowel is semi vocalic, as for example in Björn. Note that all personal and place names are stressed on the first syllable. The acute accent serves to mark long vowels, as for example in Knútr. I have not dropped the -r ending denoting the nominative singular ending for personal and place names, thus Haraldr not Harald. Nicknames are a common feature of Old Norse texts and these are given in the original throughout but when first encountered are translated when the meaning is clear and makes sense.

Cette traduction de Drap Niflunga, poème tardif rattaché au cycle héroïque de l’Edda, s’appuie sur l’édition critique de Guðni Jónsson, respectée pour son exactitude philologique et sa fidélité aux manuscrits conservés.
Composé en vers fornyrðislag, le Drap Niflunga (la « Drápa des Niflungar ») fait office de pont narratif entre la mort de Sigurðr et les épisodes ultérieurs impliquant Guðrún et Atli. Son style allusif et lapidaire témoigne d’une tradition orale encore vivace, où les événements tragiques sont évoqués avec une concision dense.
Ce travail de traduction a pour but d’offrir aux lecteurs francophones un accès fidèle à ce texte bref mais essentiel, en restituant son rythme archaïque, sa tension narrative et ses échos sombres, à l’image du destin funeste qui s’abat sur les descendants de Gjúki.

This translation of Drap Niflunga, a late poem from the heroic cycle of the Edda, is based on the critical edition by Guðni Jónsson, known for its philological precision and adherence to extant manuscripts.
Composed in fornyrðislag meter, Drap Niflunga (“The Niflungar Drápa”) serves as a narrative bridge between the death of Sigurðr and the later episodes involving Guðrún and Atli. Its terse and allusive style reflects a still-vivid oral tradition, in which tragic events are recounted with dense conciseness.
This translation seeks to provide French-speaking readers with faithful access to this brief yet pivotal text, preserving its archaic rhythm, narrative tension, and the somber resonance of the doom that befalls the descendants of Gjúki.

Saxo’s versions of Old Norse poetry represent a virtually untapped source to a material that has mostly been lost. This dissertation aims at examining all fifty of his poems, along with several prose passages that appear, wholly or partly, to be based on Old Norse compositions. The analysis has reinforced nearly all proposed links to Old Norse poems, while also disproving some. New interpretations and suggestions have also been formulated. By comparing Saxo’s work with the surviving sources, I attempt to identify the principles for his free translation and thereby distinguish the traits that characterize his own innovations and changes. In many cases, Saxo seems to retain certain stylistic features, likely intending for his Latin poetry to convey an impression of his sources’ poetic tradition. The translation method varies from poem to poem, which means that nearly every passage raises new questions. In the final chapter, I summarize my attempts at answering these, while drawing conclusions regarding Saxo’s selection of poems, the distribution of poetry within the work, the attributes and content of his source material, his translation methods, adaptation of Old Norse stylistic features, meter and fixed expressions, as well as affirming the likelihood that poems lacking direct parallels are in fact based on Old Norse sources.

This article offers several theses on the natura deorum and the formation of pantheons in Old Norse religion, engaging the debate (e.g., Gunnell) over whether pre-Christian Scandinavia possessed a coherent pantheon or primarily local/tribal gods later systematized by Snorri. It argues that this debate presupposes a prior question: how Norse gods functioned and what their nature was. The study critiques Snorri’s concretising and didactic reworking of myth, which encourages an anachronistic search for narrative consistency (“who is Óðinn’s real consort?”), and proposes that the lived tradition was kaleidoscopic, with overlapping variants and situational identifications (interpretatio at local levels).

Drawing on comparative cases from Mesopotamia, Greece, Egypt, and Hinduism, the article models pantheon-building as a recurrent historical synthesis: elites and broader communities integrate local deities into wider constellations as societies cohere, rather than presuming a fixed, original “family of gods.” It further advances a theoretical view of deities as emergent entities—“strange attractors” constituted by collective experience and expressed through genre-specific representations (epic anthropomorphism versus hymn-like vagueness), with Old Norse materials compared to Homeric registers. Case illustrations (e.g., Heimdallr/Rígr/Óðinn identifications; the Vodník analogy) ground the model.

The conclusion formulates four theses: (1) gods and pantheons arise from synthetic, similarity-based processes; (2) gods are emergent integrators of social, cosmic, and intrapsychic domains; (3) narrative personifications must not be equated with the deities’ operative nature; and (4) plurality and analogy, not identity and exclusion, structure the tradition.

The title *Edda*, associated with both Snorri Sturluson's *Prose Edda* (c. 1220) and the mythological anthology later known as the *Poetic Edda*, remains etymologically uncertain. Traditional explanations connect it to Old Norse *edda* "great-grandmother" (attested once in *Rígsþula*), to *óðr* "poetry, inspiration," or to Oddi, the Icelandic cultural center where Snorri studied. This paper advances a new hypothesis: that *Edda* may derive from, or have been influenced by, Gaelic linguistic traditions. Gaelic words such as *éitheach* ("lineage"), *athaid* ("forefather"), *éideadh* ("raiment, poetic clothing"), and *sinnsear*/*sinsir* ("ancestors") provide both phonological and semantic parallels. In contrast to the solitary Norse attestation, the Gaelic lexicon offers a robust semantic field consistent with the cultural functions of the *Eddas*. This hypothesis is further supported by the strong presence of Gaelic loanwords, names, and traditions in Iceland. The paper argues that the Gaelic interpretation does not negate the "grandmother" reading, but subsumes it, reframing *Edda* within the North Atlantic cultural hybridity of the Viking Age.

This paper reexamines the semantic origins of several major figures in Old Norse mythology whose names are often regarded as opaque. By returning to manuscript spellings and contextualizing the figures within their narratives, it proposes new readings that align nomenclature with function: Loki as the lurer (from lokka), Baldr as light/hope, Týr as the original 'god', Heimdallr as compressing the world through superhuman senses, Frigg linked to frijjō / frýgð (intimacy, desire, festivity, magnificence), Skaði as damage/vengeance, and Ratatöskr as the bellow that finds its way (rata + öskr).

Þessi grein er skrifuð í tilefni af viðburði í Breiðholtskirkju þann 12. júní, á vegum Listahátíðar í Reykjavík 2024. Þar voru fluttar tónsmíðar eftir Þuríði Jónsdóttur undir heitinu "Raddir úr blámanum." Á efnisskránni var einnig hvítasunnusálmurinn "Veni Creator Spiritus" með íslenskum texta frá 13. öld sem er varðveittur í einu af handritum Snorra-Eddu frá um 1400. Þuríður hafði þar samið viðbót við sálminn og útsett fyrir tenór og nokkur hljóðfaeri. Benedikt Kristjánsson söng fimm erindi úr sálminum og Adapter-hópurinn lék með. Þýðandinn er óþekktur en sálmurinn er eignaður Hrabanus Maurus frá 9. öld. Með þessum flutningi sýndu Þuríður og Benedikt að með nútímaframburði er haegt að flytja þýðinguna með gregorísku lagi eins og vanalegt er að flytja latneska sálminn. "Veni Creator Spiritus" er meðal þekktustu og mest sunginna kaþólskra sálma. Sálmurinn ákallar heilagan anda og biður um "andagiftir," í formi leiðsagnar, dómgreindar og fleira. Lúterskir menn þýddu hann á þjóðtungur sínar og tóku inn í sálmabaekur; meðal annars var það gert á Íslandi. Þeir vildu með þýðingum sínum faera uppsprettur trúarinnar naer almenningi. Þýðingin frá 13. öld er merkileg fyrir að vera eldri en lútersku þýðingarnar. Hún er raunar elsta íslenska sálmaþýðingin, 1 og eina daemið um dróttkvaeða ljóðaþýðingu að fornu. 2 Þýðingin lagar sálminn að dróttkvaeðum haetti og að fornri skáldskaparhefð. Í þeirri hefð er notað sérstakt skáldskaparmál, þar sem strangar reglur gilda um setningaskipan í upphafi hvers vísuhelmings, 3 en setningar mega fleyga hver aðra innan vísuhelmings. Hingað til hafa menn talið að sálmurinn vaeri lítið innskot í langt helgikvaeði um heilagan anda "Heilags anda vísur," en þessi grein er öðrum þraeði skrifuð til að vekja athygli á að það sem

Vikings commonly feature in the Íslendingasögur (Sagas of Icelanders). The words víking (the act of raiding) or víkingr (a raider) appear over 180 times across the forty-some texts of the corpus. Here, they are a ubiquitous part of the cultural landscape of the late ninth-to mid-twelfth-century North Atlantic. The Íslendingasögur are not contemporary sources such as those from England and Francia that report experiences of viking raids. The sagas do, however, represent stories of the societies from which the vikings came. Here there are nuances to the depictions of the raiders that contrast with the accounts of their victims. This article examines the intersection of viking activity and the Icelandic conversion in the year 1000 (kristnitaka) in the Íslendingasögur. It posits that while, in the saga worldview, víking could be lauded prior to kristnitaka, with the coming of Christianity, Icelandic heroes could no longer easily pursue víking without censure.

T he village of Ekshärad (pronounced eks-hair-rod) lies in a deep, winding river valley in the heart of the western Swedish province of Värmland. Ages ago, prior to the arrival of Christianity and the formation of the Swedish state, a pagan chieftain named Höök made his home here along with a small community. Höök towered over others-some thought him more than human; some thought him a giant. He had long braided hair and a body covered in tattoos, and he and his people were skilled hunters. Höök was still subject to the law, however, and one day he was summonsed to appear before a court in Norway. When that court delivered him an unfavorable judgment, he lost his temper and started to swing his axe. He killed at least one person. Höök fled toward his home in Ekshärad, knowing the Norwegians would seek to punish him. But rather than exposing his people to harm, he decided he would best defend himself-and his people-by setting up a camp at a distance from the village. He made a hut, built a fire in it to signal his location, and using stones made a decoy of his own body lying underneath covers in a bed. Then, Höök hid himself a short distance off in the trees and waited.

The nature of life after death is only tentatively sketched out in the canonical writings of the Christian Church, yet it represents one of the most prominent literary subjects in medieval Europe. The so-called Visiones represent a genre that enjoyed a particularly broad dissemination between the fourth and thirteenth centuries. This study aims to assess the impact of this Latin tradition on Norse-Icelandic authors and processes of cultural appropriation evident in medieval vernacular adaptations of the genre. The first chapter outlines the historical and theological conditions surrounding the genre’s dissemination in Western Scandinavia and identifies the primary corpus of vernacular adaptations of the genre to be analysed in this study. Chapter II considers the literary contexts in which Visio-conventions have been integrated, highlighting the distinctive generic and creative diversity exhibited in the primary corpus. Chapters III and IV are concerned with the literary motif of th...

El presente artículo observará los textos literarios icónicos de la literatura medieval anglosajona en su traducción del inglés antiguo o anglosajón al inglés moderno, y describirá el concepto de espiritualidad en el contexto medieval para evaluar de qué manera esta definición se aplica a diversos elementos del imaginario narrativo. No se busca evaluar la traducción, empresa que podrá iniciarse en un periodo posterior. No obstante, se prefieren las traducciones que enfatizan el significado y uso de imágenes en el texto a la preservación del ritmo literario. Ejemplo de lo anterior es la traducción del texto Beowulf realizado por el poeta irlandés Seamus Heaney. Se realizará entonces una evaluación de la literatura de la época Anglo-sajona en Britania incluyendo los textos The Seafarer, The destruction of Anglo-saxon temples y Caedmon de Bede, y finalmente Beowulf. Los hechos políticos, sociales e intelectuales se considerarán para análisis a través de las selecciones de los textos. L...

This article analyses how Jómsvíkinga saga, one of the earliest of
sagas, uses objects as literary devices. It proposes that objects are employed
not only to be physically used within the plot, but also to subvert
expectations, as some personal names are claimed to be derived from
objects – a clear misinterpretation, perhaps with an ironic note to it. In
other cases, bynames of clearly fictional characters incorporate objects
with which they share close affinity. In some instances, objects are used to
highlight the unique traits of a character. Jómsvíkinga saga additionally uses
objects on a compositional level to connect important narrative points via
the presence of objects. Such connections alleviate the strain on the reader
memory caused by several interlinking plot levels, by employing objects as
narrative points of reference. The article argues that objects are important
tools in the narrator’s arsenal which can provide clues for how to read the
saga.

This article deals with the management of narrative expectations in the Íslendingasögur. Through an analysis of how objects with suprahuman capacities are presented, it argues that these play an influential role in how saga audiences are able to decode such narratives. In the Íslendingasögur, such objects and their possible effects on the narrated worlds are often either undermined or have their agency expressed through resistance against a protagonist’s intentions. While Kormákr Ǫgmundarson disregards the magical properties of the sword Sköfnungr to improve his situation, Vatnsdæla saga’s Ingimundr inn gamli tries his best to evade the agency of his talisman which leads him to Iceland. Equally, in Gísla saga’s M-version, the supposedly doom-laden role of the sword Grásíða is cast as doubtful and hardly necessary for the narrative to develop the way it does. Through this analysis, I argue that the narrative handling of such objects is used to pluralize interpretive options and problematize readings focussed on the notion of ›fate‹. Instead of presenting finalized plot motivations, the Íslendingasögur exhibit a strategy of introducing competing explanations for why certain events happen. This invites both intradiegetical characters and audiences to reflect on their understandings of ›fate‹.

This article addresses the notion of formulaicity and the question of its applicability to the Old Norse skaldic corpus, a substantial part of which belongs to the preliterate period of poetic composition (c. 850-1150). With few exceptions, scholars maintain that formulaicity, intended as an aid in versification, played a limited role in the composition of Old Norse poetry and the term 'formula' is thus generally limited to stylistic stereotypies or traditional collocations. Even so, assumptions based on oral-formulaic theory remain widespread, and concern, primarily, the conventionality of poetic expression and an alleged lack of authorial control on the text. Such features are not compatible with the profile of Old Norse verse. More importantly, however, the resort to a vaguely defined notion of formulaicity tends, in effect, to impair the discussion of intertextual phenomena, such as close verbal echoes and partial or fullline repetitions. Even in the most radically anti-formulaic of the Old Norse genres, skaldic verse, such phenomena are far from a rarity, but their significance has yet to be properly assessed. In this article, a definition of the term 'formula' and of its relevance for skaldic practice is critically discussed. Lines or textual passages showing an apparently 'formulaic' profile are explained intertextually, as manifestations of authorial agencies actively engaging with the poetic tradition.

Resumen: En esta comunicación presentamos el trabajo de lectura, traducción al español e incipiente edición del poema conocido como La Batalla de Maldon, una obra anónima escrita en inglés antiguo que narra los hechos ocurridos en la batalla entre los anglosajones y los daneses (vikingos) hacia 991. El abordaje del texto se llevó adelante en el marco del grupo de estudio sobre la lengua inglesa antigua, iniciado por el Dr. Santiago Disalvo, y con continuidad en varias ediciones como seminario de grado y en el PID "De la traducción a la edición: materialidad, tradiciones simbólicas, procesos de traducción y edición de la literatura medieval y renacentista". La exposición está orientada en tres partes centrales. En primer lugar, presentaremos la contextualización sobre el poema y el período anglosajón y las motivaciones detrás del trabajo de traducción realizado. En un segundo momento, retomaremos el abordaje del texto, haciendo hincapié en las imágenes, los aspectos literarios y simbólicos que son recurrentes en el poema. Finalmente, consideraremos algunas de las dificultades encontradas en el proceso de traducción y algunas de las cuestiones lingüísticas más salientes del texto. Palabras clave: inglés antiguo-Batalla de Maldon-traducción-literatura inglesa medieval

This paper examines the character of Loki in Norse mythology, analyzing his complex and multilayered role within the mythological tradition. Loki, often perceived as a figure of deception and chaos, transcends simplistic villainy, embodying forces of transformation and renewal. His actions, ranging from the theft of Sif's golden hair to the orchestration of Balder's death, demonstrate his profound influence on Norse mythology. A psychological analysis positions Loki within the Jungian archetype of the Sacred Trickster, a symbol of destabilization, boundary transgression, and transformation. Through a multidisciplinary approach-drawing from literary, psychological, and philosophical perspectives-this study explores Loki's paradoxical nature, illustrating how he mirrors the human psyche, in which the boundaries between good and evil, truth and deception, and order and chaos remain in constant flux.

Considering the Vǫluspá, related eddic and skaldic witnesses, and their adaptation in Snorri's rhetorical treatise (under the pervasive influence of late antique erudition and Christian lore on their written fixation), this contribution aims to assess the convenience of adopting ecocriticism, a discipline of sociological matrix, to the analysis of texts from the Old-Icelandic manuscript tradition and Swedish runology. Advanced techniques of scientific investigation (like volcanology and dendrochronology) and new methodologies and theoretical frameworks (like geosemiotics) appear capable of achieving fascinating results, claimed to be relevant to Old-Icelandic mythography and the reconstruction of underlying beliefs in Scandinavian pre-Christian oral culture. Under the impact of the current climatic emergency, these have been applied with the re-reading of the Rök Stone, where, in the runic inscription, a series of riddles referring to the death of the sun is deemed to be derived from the apocalyptic fears aroused by the memory of a climatic catastrophe, the fimbulvetr (Great Winter). The volcanic winter of 536 has been linked to the poetic invention of the fimbulvetr, the myth of which is actually documented in Iceland from the half of the 13th c. onwards, with a simple reference in the Vafþrúðnismál and a short report in the Gylfaginning, where the fimbulvetr is the triggering event of the Ragnarök. The paper will reassess the development and variability of the Great Winter narrative in the written sources and the soundness of the ecocritical approach to its philological interpretation.

Embracing the Digital Age and Preserving North American Icelandic Heritage In a rapidly evolving world of media and information dissemination, The Icelandic Connection, a journal dedicated to preserving the uniquely North American Icelandic culture and history, has embarked on a transformative journey. This venerable publication, which has long been a staple in the Icelandic diaspora, has transitioned from a traditional print format to an exclusively online platform. This shift marks a crucial turning point in ▪ Timely Updates: Online publication enables more frequent updates, keeping readers informed about the latest research, events, and stories relevant to North American Icelandic culture and history. ▪ Digitization of Archives: By digitizing historical archives and records, The Icelandic Connection can help preserve and protect valuable documents, photographs, and artifacts that might otherwise deteriorate over time. The transition of The Icelandic Connection from print to an online-only publication marks an important step in its journey to preserve North American Icelandic culture and history for future generations. By embracing open access publication and inviting contributions from a diverse range of individuals, the journal ensures that the rich heritage of this unique community remains alive and accessible to all who wish to explore it. This transformation not only propels the journal into the digital age but also strengthens its role as a guardian of North American Icelandic heritage, providing an enduring connection to the past for generations to come.

This is the original Swedish text of the work, which has been published in Esnglish translation (by Charles Phillimore) under the title "The Uppsala Kings. Narrative - Tradition - Reality" in Viking Dynasties: The Royal Families of Lejre and Uppsala Between Archaeology and Text, ed. Tom Christensen, John Ljungkvist & Neil Price, Jutland Archaeological Society Publications Vol. 127, 2024.

This study begins by providing a background on binomials and introducing syndetic constructions (SyndeCs) as a superordinate category encompassing a broader range of syntactic and structural complexities beyond binomials. Building on the results of the analysis conducted in Basciu 2025, it argues that SyndeCs adhere to a consistent grammatical pattern and to a number of recurring metrical patterns, a circumstance which aligns with Russo’s definition of structural formula (1966). The study argues, therefore, that SyndeCs can potentially be formulaic not only in the traditional sense, but also in the structural sense, positing that these patterns facilitated recitation by offering pre-established verbal configurations. The ubiquity of these structural patterns in Old Norse poetry and early Germanic verse in general hints at roots in earlier oral traditions, highlighting their enduring productivity as they became part and parcel of Old Norse poetic diction even in the age of literacy.

Bl 1 's London location or J's SE Midlands scribe, is suggestive. Or, again, the differences between those manuscripts in formal book hands, usually versions of Anglicana formata, and those in (often untidy) secretary hands or the particular items with which Astrolabe is bound -Houghton Library English 920 appears with a Latin essay on palmistry while Thompson Collection 1 binds Astrolabe with short Latin treatises on magnetism, the art of measurement and constructing a quadrant -allow some speculation on the classification of the work. Towards the end of the Prologue, the 'lewde/ compilator' avers that he has 'translated [the treatise] in myn Englisshe oonly for thy doctrine' (l. 51) but this variorum edition of Astrolabe demonstrates, at every turn, that what once passed for doctrine is enormously pleasurable. In part, such pleasure derives from reading the science, attempting the mathematical conclusions and marvelling at the complexity of the instrument, but the same pleasure is also due, in no small part, to the impeccable scholarship and generous intelligence that imbue this book from the first illustration to the very last page. The scale of this edition evidences dedication to a long-term project: it has set the standard in scholarship on Astrolabe and established the reliable textual basis on which all critical writing depends. We are privileged to have this book; I hope libraries will subscribe to the series and that interested scholars may find a place for 'this litel/ tretys' on their own shelves -as others have done since it was first copied. We can all be grateful to Sigmund Eisner for his honest perseverance, his impressive capabilities and his sheer love of learning. This edition will ensure a future readership for Chaucer's Astrolabe: one can ask no more of such a book.

and Þorsteinn Saemundsson † for kind assistance, and I am grateful to my professor Dr. Ólafia Einarsóttir † and her husband Dr. Bent Fuglede †. 2 Nils Lithberg, Computus, p. 4, referring to: Guillaume Durand (d. 1334) Rationale divinorum officiorum, book 8 ch. 1: "computus est scientia certificandi tempus secundum Solis & Lune progressum". 3 The lunar-month is: 29 days 12 hours and 44 minutes; the solar tropical year is: 365.242199 days, or 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes. Martin P:n Nilsson, p. 1-2 in Nordisk Kultur XXI. 4 H. F. Schepelern: Museum Wormianum. 1971.

Tror du at latin var et språk som ble brukt side om side med norrønt i Norge i middelalderen? Eller tenker du at latin hadde lite med vanlige folk å gjøre og var forbeholdt kirken og aristokratiet? Sannheten ligger midt imellom disse to ytterpunktene.

Термин старонордијска (норенска) књижевност у себи обједињује усменопоетске традиције и књижевно стваралаштво на норенском језику, који је био у употреби од оквирно 800. до 1350. године н. е, превасходно на тлу данашње Норвешке и Исланда. Током овог периода, који се у скандинавским земљама протеже од викиншког доба до позног средњег века, старонордијска књижевност изнедрила је мноштво нових жанрова и дала свој оригинални допринос светској књижевној баштини. У њене најпознатије, уједно и најзначајније жанрове, убрајају се едичка и скалдичка поезија (код нас познате и под називом едска и скалдска поезија), као и исландске саге, које представљају прозна дела поникла на вишевековним усменопоетским традицијама. С полазиштем у старонордијској поезији, овај текст настоји да пружи преглед класификација старонордијске књижевности и да укаже на параметре и теоријска разматрања на основу којих су се оне успостављале.
Кључне речи: књижевни жанрови, класификација, старонордијска књижевност, едичка поезија, скалдичка поезија, исландске саге

This article focuses on a lausavísa found in chapter 49 of Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar, concerning a sea-battle between Egill and a villain named Eyvindr skreyja. The lausavísa contains several indications of being a product of the saga author, rather than of the historical Egill, to whom it is attributed. The stanza is first compared to other sources about the elusive figure of Eyvindr skreyja, including poetic ones, namely lausavísur 3–5 by Eyvindr skáldaspillir Finnsson, first attested in Fagrskinna. It follows a formal and metrical analysis of the stanza, which contrasts its features with the ones observed in other pseudonymous stanzas in Egils saga. The analysis reveals traits that are typical of this pseudonymous poet (here called Pseudo-Egill), including a fondness for the word víkingr and a creative use of echoes from earlier poems. The article thus sheds light on several aspects of the saga-author’s modus operandi when composing poetry for the saga, including his capacity of reproducing archaic metric-linguistic features, and the nature of his poetic sources. Finally, these traits are evaluated in light of the wide-spread scholarly assumption that the author of Egils saga and of the pseudonymous poetry contained in it was Snorri Sturluson.

This chapter argues that later political events influenced the preservation of poetry and considers the interaction between the Viking and Norman diasporas. It is likely that more Norse skaldic verse was produced and performed in the Hebrides and Ireland but that it does not survive due to the weakening of the diaspora and decreased connections with Iceland. This contrasts to the earldom of Orkney’s strong skaldic tradition. There is limited French material from the study area as it was overtaken by English. The two main French poems from Ireland, La geste des Engleis en Yrlande, chronicling the Anglo-Norman invasion, and The Walling of New Ross represent a new community establishing itself. The only French poem from Scotland in this period, the Roman de Fergus, allows an outsider to join an aristocratic community, but at the expense of his previous identity and independence. The literary merits of this French poetry are only recently being recognised by modern scholars.

La vida de Hélinand de Froidmont transcurre durante los reinados de Luis VII (1) (1120-1180), rey entre 1137 y 1180, y de su hijo Felipe II Augusto (2) MIGUEL IBÁÑEZ RODRÍGUEZ 17 (1) Luis VII el Joven, hijo de Luis VI, inició su reinado con un grave conflicto con el papa Inocencio III (1141), a propósito de la elección del obispo de Bourges. El conde de Champaña apoyó al obispo elegido por el capítulo de Bourges, Pierre de la Châtre, en contra de la voluntad del rey, quien fracasó en el intento de invadir Champaña y tuvo que aceptar la decisión papal. En 1147 partió con la segunda cruzada; la expedición se frustró, y Luis regresó a Francia en 1149. Se dedicó con especial interés al desarrollo de comunidades rurales, labor en que contó siempre con la colaboración del clero; ello le permitió intervenir en numerosos asuntos del reino, en especial en Auvernia, Borgoña y Languedoc. Sus excelentes relaciones con la Santa Sede le llevaron a refugiar en sus dominios a Eugenio III y a Alejandro III, a quien apoyó firmemente frente a Federico Barbarroja. Cometió el grave error político de repudiar a Leonor de Aquitania; al casar ésta en segundas nupcias con Enrique II Plantagenet, conde de Anjou, duque de Normandía y rey de Inglaterra (1154), estalló el conflicto entre ambas monarquías por el dominio territorial de una parte importante de la actual Francia. Luis no logró debilitar a su adversario, pese a apoyar a Tomás Becket y la rebelión de los hijos del Plantagenet. En su lucha contra éste logró la alianza de Felipe de Alsacia, conde de Flandes, y del conde de Champaña, con cuya hermana Adela casó en terceras nupcias. De este matrimonio nació Felipe II Augusto. (2) Felipe II Augusto nació en París en 1165 y murió en Mantes en 1223. Se casó con Isabel de Hainaut, sobrina del conde de Flandes que le aportó el Artois, pero se enemistó con los flamencos y tuvo que hacer frente a una peligrosa rebelión feudal, que dominó (tratado de Boves, 1185). Luchó contra el imperio de los Plantagenet, cuyo poderío era una constante amenaza para los Capetos, y apoyó la rebelión de los hijos de Enrique II contra su padre, al que obligó a entregarle una parte del Vermandois y a consentir el matrimonio de su hijo Juan sin Tierra con su propia hija. Se alió a Ricardo, el futuro Corazón de León, y, aunque se enemistó con él, ambos participaron en la tercera cruzada, de la que se retiró (1191), humillado por Ricardo. Ya en Francia conspiró con Juan sin Tierra. Cuando Ricardo pudo regresar reanudó los hostilidades contra Francia. Felipe Augusto fue vencido en Fréteval (1194) y en Courcelles (1198), y, cuando estaba a punto de ser derrotado definitivamente, Ricardo fue muerte en el Limousin (abril 1199). Felipe Augusto atacó de nuevo al rey de Inglaterra Juan sin Tierra, al que reconoció el título real a cambio de la cesión de parte del Vexin normando, del país de Evreux y del Berry (paz de Goulet, 1200). En 1202 confiscó los feudos del rey de Inglaterra y emprendió la conquista de Normandía, del Maine, de Anjou, de Turena y de la mayor parte del Poitou, y organizó el desembarco de su hijo en Inglaterra (1213). Para vengarse, Juan sin Tierra suscitó una vasta alianza, en la que intervinieron el emperador Otón de Brunswick, el conde de Flandes y el de Bolonia, pero fue derrotado en Rocheaux-Moines, y sus aliados en Bouvines (julio 1214). En 1216 Felipe trató de nuevo de apoderarse de Inglaterra, pero fracasó debido a la oposición del papa, aunque conservó los territorios conquistados en el continente, a los que ya había añadido Auvernia (1189) y Champaña (tratados de 1201 y 1213). También apoyó a Simón de Montfort contra el conde de Tolosa y los albigenses. Cuando murió, era el más poderoso señor de Francia, había destruido el imperio de los Plantagenet y afianzado la autoridad de los Capetos en el reino. A consecuencia de su divorcio tuvo serias dificultades con la Santa Sede: en 1193, tres años después de la muerte de Isabel de Hainaut, se casó con una princesa danesa, Isambur, pero inmediatamente después de la ceremonia, por razones desconocidas, decidió separarse de ella, y obtuvo de una asamblea de obispos la disolución. Poco después volvió a casarse con la hija de un señor bávaro, Inés de Méran, con la que tuvo tres hijos. Inocencio III lanzó el interdicto sobre Francia en 1200 y el capeto fingió reconciliarse con Isambur, a la que acabó de aceptar después de la muerte de Inés. Durante su reinado concedió numerosas cartas de franquicia a las ciudades, especialmente a París; mantuvo buenas relaciones con el clero (autorizando a los canónigos para elegir a los obispos). Con él se crearon los bailíos y senescales. Dispuso de un tesoro abundante, que administraron los templarios, y que le serivió para mantener un fuerte ejército y multiplicar los castillos y fortalezas.

Cette traduction du prologue de la Völuspá, extrait de l'Edda Poétique, s'appuie sur l'édition du philologue islandais Guðni Jónsson, reconnue pour sa fidélité aux manuscrits médiévaux et sa rigueur scientifique. La Völuspá, récit prophétique ouvrant l'Edda Poétique, retrace le cycle cosmique de création et destruction, jusqu'au Ragnarök, mêlant mythes, divinités et symbolisme. Ce travail vise à rendre ce texte accessible aux francophones tout en honorant son héritage culturel et poétique.

This translation of the Völuspá prologue, from the Poetic Edda, is based on the edition by Icelandic philologist Guðni Jónsson, renowned for its fidelity to medieval manuscripts and scholarly precision. The Völuspá, a prophetic tale opening the Poetic Edda, narrates the cosmic cycle of creation and destruction up to Ragnarök, blending myths, deities, and symbolism. This work aims to make the text accessible to French readers while honoring its cultural and poetic heritage.

The topic of this dissertation and screenplay is the story of a queer,
disabled immortal woman. How can changing the identifiers of an immortal protagonist, from a heterosexual and able-bodied man to a queer and disabled woman, change the story, if at all? Using an immortal woman as a protagonist can lead to a few questions, such as can an immortal female character be as compelling as an immortal male character? Can she save the day, get the romantic lead, and live happily ever after? The challenge, though, is in taking that classic immortal heterosexual, able-bodied
male protagonist and changing him not just into a female protagonist, but into a disabled and
queer female protagonist.

Sigfrido, bello e coraggioso, dopo molte gloriose avventure, sposa Crimilde, la bellissima principessa burgunda; ma viene ucciso a tradimento dal perfido Hagen, d'accordo con i fratelli della sposa. Crimilde allora lascia il suo paese per sposare Attila, re degli Unni, l'uomo che l'aiuterà a compiere la sua vendetta. Dopo molti anni, riesce ad attirare in un tranello i fratelli e Hagen, che pagano con la vita la colpa del loro delitto.

This chapter focuses on the question of the pectoral model of emotions and its representation in Old Norse skaldic poetry from a historical linguistic perspective. It demonstrates that it is possible to trace the evolution of conceptual models of breast (and heart) throughout the corpus of skaldic poetry, and to assign them with relative accuracy to specific periods and to specific poets or poetic communities, thus introducing a new methodology for the dating of this material. https://hdl.handle.net/10578/38104