3. Fornyrðislag

Fornyrðislag ‘old story metre’ is the Old Norse version of the Germanic alliterative long-line, with four metrical positions in each half-line, with alliteration but without internal rhyme, as in the following half-stanza from Haraldr harðráði ‘Hard-rule’ Sigurðarson’s Lv 13 (Hharð Lv 13/1-4):

Framm gǫngum vér        í fylkingu
brynjulausir    und bláar eggjar.

Vér gǫngum framm í fylkingu, brynjulausir, und bláar eggjar. ‘We go forth in battle ranks, without byrnies, beneath dark sword-blades.’

Fornyrðislag is an eddic metre,^[28] and in SkP II it is usually found in more informal poetry (lausavísur), such as Þflekk Lv, Hharð Lv 13, SnH Lv 2, 7, Hjǫrtr Lv 2-3, Anon Harst, Anon (Ólkyrr) 2 (all from the eleventh century), Ingimarr Lv, Eiríkr Lv, Anon (Msona) 2, Anon (Sv) 1, 6 (all from the twelfth century) and Snæk Lv (from the thirteenth century). During the twelfth century, three longer encomia were composed in fornyrðislag, namely, Gísl Illugason’s poem about King Magnús berfœttr  ‘Bare-legs’ Óláfsson (Gísl Magnkv, c. 1102), Halldórr skvaldri’s Útfararkviða (Hskv Útkv, after 1111) and Ívarr Ingimundarsson’s Sigurðarbálkr (Ív Sig, c. 1139).

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. Matthew Townend 2009, ‘ 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. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1081> (accessed 22 November 2024)
5. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Gísl Illugason, Erfikvæði about Magnús berfœttr’ 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. 416-30. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1201> (accessed 22 November 2024)
6. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Ingimarr af Aski Sveinsson, Lausavísa’ 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. 497-8. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1278> (accessed 22 November 2024)
7. Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Ívarr Ingimundarson, Sigurðarbálkr’ 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. 501-27. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1282> (accessed 22 November 2024)
8. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Anonymous Lausavísur, Lausavísur from Sverris saga 1’ 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. 842-3.
9. Kari Ellen Gade (ed.) 2009, ‘Sneglu-Halli, Lausavísur 2’ 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. 325.