5. Biographies
Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘Biographies’ 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 [check printed volume for citation].
The purpose of this section is to give a brief overview of the lives of the kings of Norway and Denmark and other Scandinavian rulers and dignitaries who are commemorated in the poetry edited in SkP II (c. 1035-1280). The focus is primarily on events documented in the poetry, and the biographies are not exhaustive, but attempt to contextualise the poetic editions within their historical settings and to provide easy access to information about specific people and events. Because information about the lives of these persons is readily available in modern histories in a variety of languages, references are to primary prose sources in the vernacular and to English translations of these works. The poetry chronicling specific events is listed at the end of each biography, and additional information (historical and cultural) is provided in the Introductions, Contexts, and Notes to the respective stanzas. See also the Indices at the end of this volume. For the sigla of the individual sagas and compendia, see ‘General Abbreviations’ above.