2. Hrynhent

Hrynhent ‘flowing rhymed’ is an expanded version of dróttkvætt in which each line consists of eight rather than six metrical positions. Alliteration and internal rhymes are distributed as in dróttkvætt, as is shown by the following couplet from Arnórr’s Hrynhenda (Arn Hryn 3/1-2):

Magnús, hlýð til máttigs óðar;
manngi veit ek fremra annan;

Magnús, hlýð til máttigs óðar; ek veit manngi annan fremra. ‘Magnús, hear a mighty poem; I know no other [to be] more outstanding.’

That poem, a panegyric in the honour of King Magnús inn góði ‘the Good’ Óláfsson (r. 1035-47), is the first poem in hrynhent metre that is edited in SkP II, and this metre was also used in Markús Skeggjason’s Eiríksdrápa (Mark Eirdr, c. 1105), Óláfr Þórðarson’s Hrynhenda (Ólhvít Hryn, c. 1240), Sturla Þórðarson’s Hrynhenda (Sturl Hryn, c. 1262), as well as in an anonymous encomium to King Magnús lagabœtir ‘Law-mender’ Hákonarson (Anon Mlag, c. 1280) and in three anonymous lausavísur from Sverris saga (Anon (Sv) 4-5, 1198) and Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar (Anon (Hák) 3, 1236).

References

1. Bibliography
2. SkP II = Poetry from the Kings’ Sagas 2: From c. 1035 to c. 1300. Ed. Kari Ellen Gade. 2009.
3. Internal references
4. (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 29 November 2024)
5. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Anonymous, Poem about Magnús lagabœtir’ 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. 809-11. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1093> (accessed 29 November 2024)
6. Jayne Carroll 2009, ‘ Markús Skeggjason, Eiríksdrápa’ 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. 432-60. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1301> (accessed 29 November 2024)
7. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Sverris saga 4’ 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. 845.
8. Valgerður Erna Þorvaldsdóttir 2009, ‘ Sturla Þórðarson, Hrynhenda’ 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. 676-98. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1398> (accessed 29 November 2024)
9. Diana Whaley (ed.) 2009, ‘Arnórr jarlaskáld Þórðarson, Hrynhenda, Magnússdrápa 3’ 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. 185-6.