Knútsdrápa — Hallv Knútdr^III

Hallvarðr háreksblesi’s poem in honour of Knútr inn ríki ‘the Great’ Sveinsson (Hallv Knútdr) is found predominantly in Skm (SnE; five helmingar and an apparent stef). Mss R and Tˣ contain sts 1-2, 4-5, 7-8, W has sts 1, 4, 8, U sts 4 and 8, A sts 1-2, 4-5, B (and 744ˣ) sts 7-8, and sts 2, 4-5 and 7 are preserved in C. Ms. R is chosen as base ms. in this edition, though A also offers a good text for those stanzas which it contains. Stanza 3 is preserved in Knýtl (mss JÓ (main ms.), 20dˣ, 873ˣ, 41ˣ) and st. 6 in ÓH and Hkr (see mss there); it is Knýtl that gives the poem the title of Knútsdrápa ‘Drápa about Knútr’ (ÍF 35, 103). All stanzas are attributed to Hallvarðr (but see Note to st. 5 [All]). The sequence of the stanzas is inevitably conjectural: the sequence followed here is Jesch’s (2000) slight modification of Skj, rather than Fidjestøl’s (1982, 172) more radical re-ordering (which is followed in Frank 1994b). Metrically, Hallvarðr’s poem is unusual in being composed in the dróttkvætt variant skjálfhent ‘tremble-rhymed’ (see RvHbreiðm Hl 81-2; SnSt Ht 28, 35). According to Snorri (SnE 2007, 18), in skjálfhent the first and third syllables alliterate in the third line of each helmingr. Snorri also draws a distinction between in forna skjálfhenda ‘the ancient tremble-rhyme’ (SnSt Ht 35) and in nýja skjálfhenda ‘the new tremble-rhyme’, which seems to be that in the former the skjálfhent line has aðalhending, whereas in the latter it has skothending (see SnE 2007, 16, 18-20). In Knútdr Hallvarðr uses both forms (for discussion of skjálfhent, see Hofmann 1955, 98-100, Faulkes in SnE 2007, 56-9, 81 and Gade 1995a, 57-9; see also HSt Rst^I). The likely date for Hallvarðr’s Knútsdrápa is c. 1029, as it postdates Knútr’s annexation of Norway in 1028 and his return to England in 1029, but st. 6 suggests that Norway is only a recent addition to Knútr’s empire (see Townend 2001, 151-2). Hallvarðr’s Knútsdrápa thus comes late in the body of poems composed about the king, and, as will be seen from some of the Notes below, draws on earlier panegyrics for Knútr by poets such as Óttarr svarti ‘the Black’ (Ótt Knútdr^I) and Þórarinn loftunga ‘Praise-tongue’ (Þloft Hfl^I). In terms of content, the poem as preserved, and as reconstructed here,  presents Knútr’s voyage westwards to England (sts 1-3), a battle scene (st. 4), Knútr’s dominion over England, Denmark and Norway (sts 5-6), his piety and generosity (st. 7) and his Christian kingship (st. 8, probably the poem’s stef ‘refrain’). Stanzas 1-3 are in the past tense, 4-8 in the present tense (though see Note to 6/1, 2). One of the most remarkable features of the poem is Hallvarðr’s juxtaposition of Christian idioms and ideas with kennings and properties drawn from Norse pagan mythology (see e.g. sts 5, 6, 7) – all the more remarkable when one considers that Knútr was a king famed for his Christian piety, and that Hallvarðr’s poem may well have been performed in the ecclesiastical city of Winchester (see Townend 2001, 168-78). Helpful parallel texts and discussions of the poem can also be found in Frank (1994b) and Jesch (2000).

References

1. Bibliography
2. Gade, Kari Ellen. 1995a. The Structure of Old Norse dróttkvætt Poetry. Islandica 49. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
3. Jesch, Judith. 2000. ‘Knútr in Poetry and History’. In Dallapiazza et al. 2000, 243-56.
4. ÍF 35 = Danakonunga sǫgur. Ed. Bjarni Guðnason. 1982.
5. Hofmann, Dietrich. 1955. Nordisch-englische Lehnbeziehungen der Wikingerzeit. BA 14. Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
6. Frank, Roberta. 1994b. ‘King Cnut in the Verse of his Skalds’. In Rumble 1994, 106-24.
7. Townend, Matthew. 2001. ‘Contextualising the Knútsdrápur: Skaldic Praise-Poetry at the Court of Cnut’. ASE 30, 145-79.
8. SnE 2007 = Snorri Sturluson. 2007. Edda: Háttatal. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2nd edn. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
9. Internal references
10. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
11. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Heimskringla’ 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=4> (accessed 3 May 2024)
12. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Knýtlinga 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=19> (accessed 3 May 2024)
13. (forthcoming), ‘ Unattributed, Óláfs saga helga’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=53> (accessed 3 May 2024)
14. Matthew Townend 2017, ‘(Biography of) Hallvarðr háreksblesi’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 230.
15. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=112> (accessed 3 May 2024)
16. Matthew Townend 2017, ‘(Biography of) Óttarr svarti’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 335.
17. Matthew Townend 2012, ‘(Biography of) Þórarinn loftunga’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 848.
18. Rolf Stavnem 2012, ‘ Hallar-Steinn, Rekstefja’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 893. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1237> (accessed 3 May 2024)
19. Matthew Townend 2012, ‘ Óttarr svarti, Knútsdrápa’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 767. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1341> (accessed 3 May 2024)
20. Matthew Townend 2012, ‘ Þórarinn loftunga, Hǫfuðlausn’ in Diana Whaley (ed.), Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 1: From Mythical Times to c. 1035. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 1. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 849. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1453> (accessed 3 May 2024)
21. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Rǫgnvaldr jarl and Hallr Þórarinsson, Háttalykill 81’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1092.
22. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 28’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1134.
23. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2017, ‘Snorri Sturluson, Háttatal 35’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 1142.