Runic Dictionary

Matthew Townend 2009, ‘(Introduction to) Anonymous, Haraldsstikki’ 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. 807-8.

stanzas: 1

Skj: Anonyme digte om historiske personer og begivenheder [XI]: [5]. Haraldsstikki, o. 1066 (AI, 424, BI, 394); stanzas (if different): [v]

in texts: H-Hr, Hkr, HSig

SkP info: II, 807-8

notes: Skj has 'Har. 66, Hr' also

old edition introduction edition manuscripts transcriptions concordance references search files

The battle of Fulford, in which Haraldr harðráði ‘Hard-rule’ Sigurðarson defeated the Anglo-Saxon forces defending York, was fought on 20 September 1066 (see De Vries 1999; Jones 2007). The one extant st. of the anonymous Haraldsstikki (Anon Harst), composed in fornyrðislag and preserved in mss Kˣ, 39, F, E, J2ˣ of Hkr and in H-Hr (H, Hr), celebrates this Norw. victory, and offers potentially significant information concerning the battlefield site and the Engl. defenders. Hkr (ÍF 28, 181) introduces the st. with þessa getr ok í Haraldsstikka ‘this is also told in Haraldsstikki’, and H-Hr (Fms 6, 408) with þessa mannfalls getr ok í Haraldsstikka ‘this slaughter is also told in Haraldsstikki’. The meaning of the element stikki in the poem’s title is unclear, though it appears to denote a particular type of poem or verse-form (see LP: stikki; SnE 1999, 145). See also Anon (Knýtl) 1. The battle of Fulford is also commemorated in Arn Hardr 7-9 and Steinn Óldr 1-3.

Runic Dictionary

Anonymous Poems (Anon)

2.1: Haraldsstikki (‘Harald’s stikki (a type of poem or verse-form?)’) — Anon HarstII

2.1: Haraldsstikki (‘Harald’s stikki (a type of poem or verse-form?)’) — Anon Harst^II