Haustlǫng — Þjóð Haustl^III

Haustlǫng ‘Autumn-long’ (Þjóð Haustl) is one of only three extant Old Norse dróttkvætt drápur of any length that belong to the genre of ekphrasis or poetry descriptive of pictures. The other two are Bragi Boddason’s Ragnarsdrápa ‘Drápa about Ragnarr’ (Bragi Rdr) and Úlfr Uggason’s Húsdrápa ‘House-drápa (ÚlfrU Húsdr). They date from the second half or the very end of the ninth century (Rdr, Haustl) and c. 1000 (Húsdr); the first two were composed by Norwegian skalds, the third by an Icelander. In the case of both Rdr and Haustl the skalds have apparently received gifts of painted or decorated shields from their patrons, and their reciprocating task is to compose a poem about the splendid objects and the myths or legends depicted on them. On the genre, see Fuglesang (2007), Clunies Ross (2006b) and (2007).

All three ekphraseis have been preserved in mss of SnE. The 20-stanza Haustlǫng is extant in mss R, Tˣ and W, with R containing all stanzas, Tˣ all but st. 4 and W all but sts 11/6-13/8. Ms. R has been selected as the main ms. for this edition, although its preservation of sts 1-2 is not good. In many places, too, W has a better text than either R or Tˣ. Like SnE’s citation of stanzas from Bragi Rdr, Haustl stanzas are quoted in two continuous sequences, and in each case the prose of SnE names the poem Haustlǫng ‘Autumn-long’ (SnE 1998, I, 22, 30) and attributes it to Þjóðólfr. The origin of the poem’s name is unknown, but the general surmise is that it refers to the time it took Þjóðólfr to compose it. The first sequence, cited in Skm (sts 14-20, SnE 1998, I, 22-4) to illustrate Snorri Sturluson’s account of the myth of the god Þórr’s single combat with the giant Hrungnir, has been considered by all editors to be the second subject of the drápa, while the first (sts 1-13), the myth of the dealings of three Æsir, Óðinn, Hœnir and Loki with the giant Þjazi, and the latter’s abduction of the goddess Iðunn, is presented later in Skm (SnE 1998, I, 30-3), at a point where names for Iðunn are listed, although Snorri’s prose narrative of this myth occurs near the beginning of Skm (SnE 1998, I, 1-2). The drápa’s stef or refrain occurs at the end of each of the poem’s two sections at sts 13/7-8 and 20/7-8.

The drápa has been edited many times, both separately and in anthologies. For details of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century editions, see textual note to st. 1 in Skj A. There are also a number of significant studies of the poem, the most important of which are Holtsmark (1949) (for sts 1-13 only) and Marold (1983, 153-210). These and other studies will be referred to, where relevant, in the Notes. The edition and translation of North (1997a) and the study of Kiil (1959), although interesting, are somewhat unreliable and have not been cited here.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj A = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15a. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. A: Tekst efter håndskrifterne. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1967. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. Kiil, Vilhelm. 1959. ‘Tjodolvs Haustlǫng’. ANF 74, 1-104.
4. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
5. Marold, Edith. 1983. Kenningkunst: Ein Beitrag zu einer Poetik der Skaldendichtung. Quellen und Forschungen zur Sprach- und Kulturgeschichte der germanischen Völker, new ser. 80. Berlin: de Gruyter.
6. Fuglesang, Signe Horn. 2007. ‘Ekphrasis and Surviving Imagery in Viking Scandinavia’. Viking and Medieval Scandinavia 3, 193-224.
7. Holtsmark, Anne. 1949. ‘Myten om Idun og Tjatse i Tjodolvs Haustlǫng’. ANF 64, 1-73.
8. North, Richard, ed. and trans. 1997a. The Haustlǫng of Þjóðólfr of Hvinir. Enfield Lock: Hisarlik Press.
9. Clunies Ross, Margaret. 2006b. ‘The Cultural Politics of the Skaldic Ekphrasis Poem’. In Evans et al. 2006, 227-40.
10. Internal references
11. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
12. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=112> (accessed 3 May 2024)
15. Margaret Clunies Ross 2017, ‘ Bragi inn gamli Boddason, Ragnarsdrápa’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 27. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1130> (accessed 3 May 2024)
16. Edith Marold with the assistance of Vivian Busch, Jana Krüger, Ann-Dörte Kyas and Katharina Seidel, translated from German by John Foulks 2017, ‘ Úlfr Uggason, Húsdrápa’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. 402. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1492> (accessed 3 May 2024)