Breiðskeggsdrápa — Blakkr BreiðdrII
Blakkr
Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Blakkr, Breiðskeggsdrápa’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 647-51. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1126> (accessed 6 May 2024)
Blakkr composed a poem in memory of Þorleifr breiðskeggr ‘Broad-beard’, a Norw. royal pretender who claimed to be the son of King Eysteinn Haraldsson (d. 1157). Þorleifr had been a monk, and after his death in 1191 there were rumours of his sanctity (most likely prompted by the fact that he had a scar in the shape of a cross on his back). One st. and this refrain are transmitted in
Sv (327, Flat, 8, 81a and 325VIII 4 a), and the refrain is explicitly assigned to Breiðskeggr’s
erfidrápa ‘memorial
drápa’ (
Breiðskeggsdrápa ‘
Drápa about Breiðskeggr’ (
Breiðdr) is a modern title). The other st. is not said to be part of that encomium, but its content, which is highly sarcastic, is in keeping with the tenor of the refrain. The sts are unique, because memorial poems otherwise always emphasise the positive aspects of the person commemorated. Stanza 1 is complete in 8 only, and 8 is the main ms. for that st., while 327 is the main ms. for the refrain.
References
- Internal references
- (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Sverris saga’ in Kari Ellen Gade (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 2. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=2> (accessed 6 May 2024)
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