2. Internal evidence
This is not currently part of the peer-reviewed material of the project. Do not cite as a research publication.
a. In individual verses, grandiose praise, apostrophes and other ‘formal’ features may suggest origins in an extended encomiastic poem.
b. The absence of features normally associated with lausavísur, such as present-tense verbs, direct speech, and ‘anticipation’ of events may be an indicator that a verse originally belonged to an extended poem. However, this is not necessarily a reliable criterion, since extended poems may also contain such features (Poole 1991, passim). Fidjestøl also suggested that some verses that appear to have the characteristics of lausavísur may have been loosely attached to praise poems, for instance as a framework (1982, 84-5).
c. Closely similar factual content or imagery may suggest that certain groups of verses originally belonged together.
d. Argument from general norms of overall structure is difficult, given that practically no extended poems are preserved complete before the Christian poems of C12th.
Overall, then, although the external and internal evidence will often be invaluable in distinguishing lausavísur from verses extracted from extended poems, it should be borne in mind that:
— Our idea of drápur may be too
restrictive, and
— Some supposed lausavísur may not be.
Meanwhile, rigorous scrutiny of the evidence (or the lack of it) may in some cases lead to the conclusion that belief in the make-up of certain skaldic poems has been over-confident in the past, and it is therefore likely that parts of the corpus will appear more fragmentary in the new edition.