Ǫgmundardrápa — VSt Erf^III

In Skm (SnE 1998, I, 13, 86) Vǫlu-Steinn is credited with two helmingar (VSt Erf) composed in dróttkvætt metre. These fragments are likely to be remnants of a poem composed in honour of Vǫlu-Steinn’s deceased son, Ǫgmundr, who, according to Landnámabók (Ldn, ÍF 1, 159-60), was killed at the Þorskafjarðarþing c. 1002. Vǫlu-Steinn is said to have mourned his son so intensely that his other son, Egill, sought help from a wise man, Gestr Oddleifsson, who composed the opening of an Ǫgmundardrápa ‘Drápa about Ǫgmundr’ (ÍF 1, 184). It is generally assumed that the two surviving stanzas attributed to Vǫlu-Steinn were part of this Ǫgmundardrápa. Because the first of these stanzas bears all the marks of being the opening stanza of this poem, it ought to be attributed to Gestr Oddleifsson according to Ldn (loc. cit.). Yet, Skm (SnE 1998, I, 13) nonetheless ascribes this stanza to Vǫlu-Steinn. Various explanations for this discrepancy have been put forward (see Konráð Gíslason 1874, 26; Guðmundur Þorláksson 1882, 72; Konráð Gíslason 1892, 115; LH I, 511; Frank 1978, 95). Jakob Benediktsson (ÍF 1, 184-5 n. 4) assumes that Gestr indeed composed the upphaf ‘beginning’ and that Vǫlu-Steinn then composed the rest of the poem. But because the surviving st. 1, beginning with heyr, Egill …‘Listen, Egill …’, shows clear characteristics of being the first stanza of the poem, it cannot be a continuation. It is impossible to ascertain whether our st. 1 is indeed the Gestr stanza or whether Vǫlu-Steinn made his own, new upphaf. It is, of course, also possible that the story in Ldn is just an invented anecdote. The problem posed by the account of Ldn cannot be solved satisfactorily, and this edn follows Skm in ascribing both stanzas to Vǫlu-Steinn.

Landnámabók’s account of how the poem originated is reminiscent of the episode in Egils saga (Eg ch. 78, ÍF 2, 243-5) that describes how Egill Skallagrímsson came to compose his Sonatorrek (Egill St^V; dated to c. 960) in an attempt to overcome his grief at the loss of his son, Bǫðvarr. Finnur Jónsson (LH I, 511) regarded Ǫgmundardrápa as a counterpart to Egill’s Sonatorrek, and the kennings in the first stanza (see Note to st. 1 [All]) show that Sonatorrek, as well as other poetry by Egill, served as a model for Vǫlu-Steinn’s poem. It is noteworthy that both Ǫgmundardrápa and Sonatorrek are laments that diverge from the typical erfidrápur ‘memorial drápur’, whose primary topic is the glorification of the deceased.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Frank, Roberta. 1978. Old Norse Court Poetry: The Dróttkvætt Stanza. Islandica 42. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press.
3. ÍF 1 (parts 1 and 2) = Íslendingabók; Landnámabók. Ed. Jakob Benediktsson. 1968. Rpt. as one volume 1986.
4. LH = Finnur Jónsson. 1920-4. Den oldnorske og oldislandske litteraturs historie. 3 vols. 2nd edn. Copenhagen: Gad.
5. ÍF 2 = Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar. Ed. Sigurður Nordal. 1933.
6. SnE 1998 = Snorri Sturluson. 1998. Edda: Skáldskaparmál. Ed. Anthony Faulkes. 2 vols. University College London: Viking Society for Northern Research.
7. Konráð Gíslason, ed. 1892a. Udvalg af oldnordiske skjaldekvad, med anmærkninger. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.
8. Guðmundur Þorláksson. 1882. Udsigt over de norsk-islandske skjalde fra 9de til 14de århundrede. SUGNL 8. Copenhagen: Møller.
9. Konráð Gíslason. 1874. Om navnet Ýmir. Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskabs skrifter, ser. 5. Historisk og filosofisk afdeling IV, 11. Copenhagen: Luno.
10. Internal references
11. 2022, ‘ Anonymous, Egils saga Skalla-Grímssonar’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, pp. 162-389. <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=14> (accessed 4 May 2024)
12. (forthcoming), ‘ Anonymous, Landnámabók’ in Guðrún Nordal (ed.), Poetry on Icelandic History. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 4. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=25> (accessed 4 May 2024)
13. Not published: do not cite (Egill^V)
14. (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 4 May 2024)
15. Margaret Clunies Ross (forthcoming), ‘ Egill Skallagrímsson, Sonatorrek’ in Margaret Clunies Ross, Kari Ellen Gade and Tarrin Wills (eds), Poetry in Sagas of Icelanders. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 5. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=1166> (accessed 4 May 2024)