4. Kviðuháttr
Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘Kviðuháttr’ 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].
This metre is a catalectic variant of fornyrðislag, in which the odd lines have three metrical positions and the even lines correspond to the even lines of fornyrðislag, as in the anonymous Nóregs konungatal (Anon Nkt, c. 1190). Consider the following half-stanza from that poem (st. 4/1-4):
Tók kappsamr
við konungsnafni
Haraldr brátt
inn hárfagri.
Kappsamr Haraldr inn hárfagri tók brátt við konungsnafni. ‘Vigorous Haraldr inn hárfagri (‘the Fair-haired’) at once received the title of king.’
In addition to Anon Nkt, Sturla Þórðarson’s Hákonarkviða (Sturl Hákkv, c. 1264) and two lausavísur by Oddi inn litli (Oddi Lv 4-5) are also composed in kviðuháttr.
References
- Internal references
- Kari Ellen Gade 2009, ‘ Anonymous, Nóregs konungatal’ 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. 761-806. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1035> (accessed 22 November 2024)
- Judith Jesch (ed.) 2009, ‘Oddi inn litli Glúmsson, Lausavísur 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. 618.