IDRÓTTIR.—POETRY OR SCALDSHIP, MUSIC AND MENTAL EXERCISES.
Poetry a gift from the gods—The scald—Many sagas based on
poems—Honour paid to poets—Their moral power—Poets on the
battle-field—Recital of poems at feasts—Saga telling—Forms of
poetry—The harp—Parables and puzzles—Gest’s riddles.
Poetry (or _Scaldship_) was reckoned among the Idróttir, and was
considered a gift from the gods. The people looked to their poets to
perpetuate in songs and transmit to future generations the deeds of
their heroes, and the fame which was to cling to their names when they
had gone to Valhalla. From these poets, or _scalds_, we learn all we
know of the history of the earlier Norse tribes; from their songs the
people heard of the birth of their religion; of the creation of the
world, of the wisdom of the past, &c. Without them the history and deeds
of the race must have been lost to us, and we would only have had left
the antiquities of the early times to ponder over. These songs filled
the youth of the country who listened to them with ambition, urging them
to emulate the deeds of those whose praises were sung.
In no literature which has come down to us do we see dying heroes such
as Ragnar Lodbrok, Hjalmar, Orvar Odd, and others, singing the deeds
they had accomplished as life is ebbing away from them, and they are
ready to enter into _Hel_. Whether these heroes sang these songs at such
a time or not, or whether they were written by poets at a later time,
matters little. The people of the land believed in them.
In this peculiar branch of poetry the earlier Norsemen stand wholly
apart from those of other lands.
The figurative names given to scaldship[278] by the poets show how the
earlier traditions were impressed upon the mind—_Kvásirs blood_,
_Dvergar mead_, _Suttungs mead_, _Asar’s mead_, _Odreyris liquid_,
_Odin’s gift_, _Odin’s freight_, _The Dvergar’s sea_, _The Dvergar’s
ale_, _Jötnar’s mead_.
Bragi was supposed to be the most eloquent scald among the Asar.
The origin of poetry is given in Hávamál; but in the later Edda we have
a more minute account of how it was learned by the Asar.
When Hler of Hlessö, who was also called Ægir, came to Asgard to visit
the Asar, he made many inquiries, among which was the following:—
“Ægir said: ‘Whence has come the idrótt which you call scaldship?’ Bragi
answered: ‘The origin was that the gods (Asar) went to war with a people
called Vanir. They appointed a truce thus; both went to a vessel and
spat on it. When parting, the gods, unwilling to let this mark of truce
be lost, took it, and out of it shaped a man, Kvasir. He is so wise that
no one can ask him any question that he cannot answer. He travelled far
and wide about the world to teach wisdom to men. When invited home to
the Dvergar, Fjalar and Galar, they called him to a secret meeting and
slew him. They let his blood run into two tubs and a kettle called
_Odreyrir_ (song-rearer), but the tubs are called _Són_ (sacrifice), and
_Bodn_. They mixed[279] the blood with honey, and therefrom came the
mead of which whosoever drinks becomes a skald or a wise man. The
Dvergar told the Asar that Kvasir had been suffocated by too much
wisdom, because no one was so wise that he could put questions to him.
Thereupon these Dvergar invited to them a Jötun called Gilling and his
wife, and offered him to row out to sea with them. Rowing along the
shore they struck on hidden rocks, and the boat was upset. Gilling could
not swim, and was drowned. But the Dvergar turned over their boat and
rowed to the shore” (Later Edda 57, Bragarœdur).
Many of the sagas, if not all, were based upon the poetry which is often
quoted in them, and both were used and kept as historical records.
“Olaf had been king in Norway fifteen years, including the winter when
Svein Jarl and he were both in the land. Yule was past when he left his
ships and went on shore, as has been told. This record of his reign was
first written by the priest, Ari Thorgilsson, the wise, who was
truthful, had a good memory, and was so old that he remembered the
saga-telling of those who were so old that they could remember these
events. Ari has himself related this in his books, and has named the men
from whom he had this knowledge” (St. Olaf’s Saga, c. 189).
The scalds were honoured above all men, and married even mighty kings’
daughters, and many of them were great warriors.
“Thórolf, son of Herjolf Hornabrjot, and Olaf, his brother, were kings
in Upplönd; with them was the poet Flein Hjörsson, who was brought up in
Mæri on an island called Jösrheid where his father lived. Flein went to
Denmark to visit King Eystein, and there got so much honour on account
of his poetry that the king gave him his daughter” (Landnama v. ch. 1).
King Harald Fairhair had a feast for his friends and followers.
“Of all his hirdmen the king valued his scalds the most. They were
placed on the second high-seat bench (_annat ondvegi_). At the furthest
end from them sat Audun Illskœlda (thus called because he wrote
satirical songs). He was older than any of them, and had been the scald
of Halfdan Svarti (black), the father of King Harald. Next to him sat
Thorbjorn Hornklofi, and then Olvir Hnufa, and next to him Bard was
placed” (Egil’s Saga, ch. 8).
“Thereupon Gunnlaug sailed from England (London) with traders north to
Dublin. At that time King Sigtrygg Silkiskegg (silk-beard), son of Olaf
Kvaran and Queen Kormlöd, ruled Ireland; he had then ruled only a short
time. Gunnlaug went before him and greeted him well and honourably. The
king received him well. Gunnlaug said: ‘I have made a song about you,
and I want to get a hearing.’ The king answered: ‘No man has before
delivered a poem to me, and I shall certainly listen to it.’ Gunnlaug
then sang the _drapa_, and this is the refrain:
Sigtrygg feeds
The horse of Svara (the wolf) with corpses.
I know distinctly
Whom I will praise,
The kinsman of kings,
He is the son of Kvaran;
The king will not to me
(He is wont to be liberal,
The champion knows it)
Spare the gold rings;
Let the king tell me
If he has heard made
A more glorious song;
This is the lay of drapa.
“The king thanked him for the song, and asked his treasurer with what it
should be rewarded. He answered: ‘With what will you reward it, lord?’
The king said: ‘How will it be rewarded, if I give him two knerrir
(trading-ships)?’ The treasurer replied: ‘That is too much, lord; other
kings give costly things, good swords or good gold-rings, as rewards for
a song.’ The king gave him his own clothes of new scarlet, a
lace-ornamented kirtle, a cloak with the finest furs on it, and a gold
ring which weighed a mark. Gunnlaug thanked him, and stayed there for a
short time, and went thence to the Orkneys” (Gunnlaug Ormstunga’s Saga,
ch. 8).
The moral power of a renowned poet was often very great.
“Sindri, a high-born man, was renowned among Halfdan the Black’s
warriors; formerly he had been with King Harald, and was the greatest
friend of both. Guthorm was a great scald, and had made a song about
each. They had offered him a reward, but he refused it, saying that they
must grant him one request, and this they promised. He went to King
Harald (to reconcile him and Halfdan), and so much did the kings honour
him that they were reconciled at his request” (Olaf Tryggvason, Fms.,
vol. i. c. 12).
The scalds were always on the battlefield near the shieldburgh, in order
to witness the heroism of the combatants, and sing their victory or
glorious death. With their _vapnasong_ (weapon-song) they encouraged the
champions in battle, or with their _Sigrljod_ (lay of victory) praised
the bravery of the hero.
“It is said that King Olaf (before the battle of Stiklastad 1015–30)
arrayed his men, and then arranged the shieldburgh which was to protect
him in the battle, for which he selected the strongest and most valiant
men. He then called his scalds and bid them go into the shieldburgh.
‘You shall stay here,’ said the king, ‘and see what takes place, and
then no Saga is needed to tell you afterwards what you shall make songs
about’” (Fostbrœdra Saga, c. 47).
These rulers loved to be surrounded by men who could entertain them and
their guests during the long winter evenings, or at festivals, and took
great pride in having poems made about them.
“One summer an Icelander came to King Harald, who asked him what he
knew. He said he knew some sagas. The king said: ‘I will receive thee,
and thou shalt join my hird this winter, and always entertain my men
when they want it, whoever asks thee.’ He did so. He was soon well liked
by the hird; they gave him clothes, and the king himself gave him a good
weapon. This went on till near Yule, when the Icelander began to look
sad; the king saw it, and asked him for the reason, and he said it was
his variable temper. The king answered: ‘That is not the reason, but I
will guess it; I suspect that thy sagas are now all told, for thou hast
always entertained every man who asked thee this winter, and often by
night and day; now thou dost not like the sagas to be wanting during
Yule, but wilt not tell the same sagas again.’ The Icelander said: ‘Thy
guess is right; the only saga that remains is one which I dare not tell
here, for it is your Utfarar saga’ (saga of Harald’s voyage to the Holy
Land). The king answered: ‘That is a saga which I am most curious to
hear; now thou shalt not recite before Yule, for people are now very
busy, but the first Yule-day thou shalt begin this saga and tell part of
it; then there will be great drinking, and they cannot sit long
listening to it. I will manage that the saga shall last during Yule, and
thou wilt not find while thou tellest it whether I like it well or ill.’
Accordingly the Icelander began his saga first Yule-day, and after he
had told it a short while the king told him to stop. People then began
to talk much about this entertainment; some said it was very bold of the
Icelander to tell this saga, and had doubts how the king would like it;
some thought he told it well, others less well. The king took good care
that they listened well; he managed that it lasted as long as Yule. The
thirteenth day the king said: ‘Art thou not curious to know, Icelander,
how I like the saga?’ He answered: ‘I am afraid to hear, lord.’ The king
said: ‘I think it very well told, and nowhere is the truth deviated
from; but who taught thee?’ He answered: ‘I used in Iceland to go to the
Thing every summer, and every summer I learnt a part of the saga which
was told by Haldór Snorrason.’ The king said: ‘It is not strange that
thou knowest it well, as thou hast learnt it from him, and this saga
shall be of use to thee; thou art welcome to stay with me as long as
thou wilt.’ He stayed with the king that winter, and in the spring the
king gave him some good wares to trade in, and he became a thriving man”
(Harald Hardradi, c. 6).
Saga-telling seems to have taken place also in England.
“Then Játvard the good (Edward Confessor), son of King Adalrad
(Ethelred), was chosen king in England. He remembered the friendship of
his father Adalrad with King Olaf Tryggvason. He adopted the custom of
telling on the first Easter-day the Saga of King Olaf Tryggvason to his
chiefs and hirdmen” (Flateyjarbók, i. 506 (Olaf Tryggvason’s
Saga)).[280]
Some poets used poetry as their mode of speech.
“Sigvat scald had been a long time with King Olaf, who had made him his
marshal. Sigvat was not quick of speech in _unbound words_ (prose), but
poetry was so easy to him that song flowed from his tongue as fast as he
talked; he had made journeys to Valland, and during these he had come to
England and met Knut the powerful” (St. Olaf’s Saga (Heimskringla), ch.
170).
There were two well-known forms of poetry.
The _Drapa_, a heroic laudatory poem, generally written in memory of a
deceased man, and _Flokk_, a shorter poem.
The memory of some men was extraordinary; the blind scald Stuf recited
before King Harald Hardradi in one evening thirty songs; in answer to a
question he said that he knew at least half as many more longer drapas.
An Icelander, named Stuf, went to Norway, and stayed with a bondi in
Upplönd. To him came King Harald Hardradi on a visit, and sat talking to
Stuf.
“Then the bondi came into the stofa, and said the king must find it
dull. ‘It is not so,’ answered the king, ‘for this winter guest of thine
entertains me well, and I will drink to him this evening’; and thus it
happened. The king talked much to Stuf, and he gave wise answers; when
the men went to sleep the king asked Stuf to stay in the room where he
was to sleep, in order to entertain him. Stuf did so; when the king was
in his bed Stuf entertained him, and sang a flokk, and when it was
finished he asked him to sing more.
“The king was awake a long time, while Stuf entertained him, and at last
said: ‘How many songs hast thou sung now?’ Stuf answered: ‘I intended
that you should count them.’ ‘I have done it,’ said the king; ‘they are
thirty now, but why doest thou only sing flokks? Doest thou not know any
drapas?’ Stuf answered: ‘I know no fewer drapas than flokks, though many
flokks which I know are still unsung’” (Fornmanna Sögur, c. 6).
The harp is mentioned in Voluspa, and seems to have been used in early
times. Gunnar played his harp with such skill that even champions were
moved. He could also play with his toes, and charm snakes with its
tones, Rognvald also reckoned harp-playing among his Idróttir. Norna
Gest was very skilful on this instrument, and played famous tunes.
“Gest took his harp and struck it long and well that evening, so that
every one thought it pleasant to listen; he played Gunnar’s tune best;
finally he played the old _Gudrúnarbrögd_, which they had not heard
before; afterwards they went to sleep” (Norna Gest’s Saga, ch. 2
(Fornaldarsögur i.)).
King Hugleik’s orchestra consisted of harp[281] and other instruments,
and Olaf Skautkonung kept for his table regular performers.
We have no description of the shape or size of the harp. It was no doubt
a large instrument, as a little girl, Aslaug, wife of Ragnar Lodbrok,
could be hidden in it, and from Herraud and Bosi’s Saga we learn that a
man could stand in it upright. They sometimes had strings of silver and
gold.
The harp shown on the wood carvings give us an idea of its shape.
_Mental Exercises._—The unravelling of puzzles seems to have been one of
the most favourite pastimes among chiefs and other powerful men, and
deep penetration was required to understand them. Heidrek, a king of
Reidgotaland, was credited with having been able to unravel any riddle
that had ever been propounded to him.
“A man named Gest the blind was a powerful hersir in Reidgotaland, but
wicked and overbearing; he had kept back the tribute belonging to King
Heidrek, and there was great enmity between them. The king sent him word
that he must come to him and submit to the judgment of his wise men, or
fight. Gest did not like either of these terms, and became very uneasy,
for he knew that he had committed many offences; he then resolved to
sacrifice to Odin for help, and begged of him to look on his case, and
promised a large reward. Late one evening there was a knock at the door,
and Gest the blind went to open it; he asked the name of the man who had
come, and he answered his name was Gest; then they inquired of each
other about the tidings. The guest asked if anything grieved him; Gest
the blind told him everything carefully. The guest said: ‘I will go to
the king on thy behalf, and see how it will go; let us exchange
appearance and clothes;’ and thus they did. The bondi[282] went away and
hid himself while the guest went in and stayed there during the night,
and every one thought it was Gest the blind. Next day Gest went on the
journey to the king, and did not stop until he came to Arheimar
(Heidrek’s seat); he went into the hall and greeted the king well. The
king was silent and looked angrily at him. ‘Herra (lord),’ said Gest, ‘I
am here in order to be reconciled with you.’ The king asked: ‘Wilt thou
obey the judgment of my wise men?’ Gest replied: ‘Are there no other
terms?’ The king said: ‘There are; if thou wilt come with a riddle which
I cannot guess, and thus procure thyself peace.’ Gest answered: ‘I am
little able to do that, and besides the other part (the king) may be
heard about it.’ ‘Wilt thou rather submit to the decision of the wise
men?’ said the king. ‘I should prefer,’ said Gest, ‘to come with some
riddles.’ The king agreed, and two chairs were brought on which they sat
down. Gest then propounded his riddles’” (Hervarar Saga, ch. 15).
_Gest._
I should wish to have
That which yesterday I had;
Try to know what it was,
Peace-maker among men!
Tamer of words,[283]
And starter of words,
King Heidrek,[284]
Think of the riddle.
_Heidrek._
Good is thy riddle,[285]
Gest the blind!
It is guessed;
Ale changes the temper
And quickens prattle,
But in others the tongue is wrapped around the teeth.
_Gest._
I went from home,
I travelled from home,
I looked on the road of roads,
Road was above,
Road was beneath,
And road in every direction.
_Heidrek._
A bird flew above,
A fish swam beneath,
Thou walkedst on a bridge.
_Gest._
What kind of drink was it
I drank yesterday?
It was neither water nor wine,
Mead nor ale,
No kind of food.
However, I went thirstless thence.
_Heidrek._
Thou went’st into sunshine,
Hiddest thyself in the shade;
There fell dew in the valleys;
Then thou didst taste
The night-dew,
Cooling thy throat by it.
_Gest._
Who is the shrill one
That on hard roads walks
On which he has been before?
He kisses rather roughly,
Has two mouths;
And walks on gold only.
_Heidrek._
The hammer walks
On the fire of Rin,[286]
It sounds loudly
Falling on the anvil.
_Gest._
What wonder is that
Which I saw outside
Before the door of Delling?[287]
Two lifeless ones
And breathless,
Seethed wound-leek.[288]
_Heidrek._
There is neither breath nor heat
In the bellows of smiths,
They have neither life nor power;
However one can before them
Make a sword
By the wind they give.
_Gest._
What wonder is it
I saw outside
Before the doors of Delling?
It has eight feet,
Eyes four,
And bears its knee higher than its belly.
_Heidrek._
From east thou went’st
To the door of a house
To see the hall;
Thou earnest thereto
Where the king of webs[289]
Wove a web from its bowels.
_Gest._
What wonder is it
I saw outside
Before the doors of Delling?
It turns its head
On the way to Hel
And its feet to the sun.
_Heidrek._
The head of the leek turns
Towards the bosom of the earth
And its leaves into the air.
_Gest._
What wonder is it
I saw outside
Before the doors of Delling?
Harder than horn,
Blacker than raven,
Brighter than shield,
Straighter than shaft.
_Heidrek._
Now thy riddle-making
Begins to slacken;
Why should a ready man tarry?
Thou lookedst on the roads,
There lay raven-flint,
Glittering in a sunbeam.
_Gest._
Two bondwomen,
Light-haired maidens,
Carried ale
To the skemma;[290]
It was not touched with hand,
Nor with hammer shaped;
The wave-breasting one who made it
Was outside the islands.[291]
_Heidrek._
White-feathered skin
Have the swans
Which by islands
Sit on the sea;
Nests they built,
Had no hands,
With other swans
Eggs begat.[292]
* * * * *
_Gest._
What beast is that
Which defends the Danes?
It has a bloody back
And shelters men,
Meets the weapons,
Exposes its life,
Man lays his body
Against its palm.
_Heidrek._
The shields shine
In the battles,
And protect those who wield them.
_Gest._
Who are the play sisters
That pass over lands
And play much at will?
They wear a white shield
In winter,
But a dark one
In summer.
_Heidrek._
Ptarmigans call
The sons of men
Feather-wearing birds;
Their feathers become black
In summer-time,
But white during the bear’s night.[293]
_Gest._
Who are the maidens
That sorrowful go
To seek their father?
To many they have
Harm done,
Passing their life therein.
_Heidrek._
The evil-minded
Maidens of Eldir[294]
Slay many men.
_Gest._
Who are the maidens
Going many together
Seeking their father?
They have light hair,
These white-hooded ones,
Men cannot be safe against them.
_Heidrek._
Gymir[295] has
By Ran begotten[296]
Wise-minded daughters;
Billows they are called,
And also waves;
No man can be safe against them.
_Gest._
Who are the widows
That go all together
To seek their father?
They are seldom gentle
To men,
And they must be awake in the wind.
_Heidrek._
These are the waves,
Daughters of Ægir,
They let themselves fall heavily.
* * * * *
_Gest._
Who are the maidens
That walk over the reefs
And journey along the fjords?
These white-hooded women
Have a hard bed,
And make little stir in calm weather.
_Heidrek._
Billows and waves
And all breakers
At last lay themselves on skerries;[297]
Their beds are
Rocks and stone-heaps,
But the calm sea stirs them not.
* * * * *
_Gest._
Who lives on high mountains?
Who lives in deep dales?
Who lives without breath?
Who is never silent?
_Heidrek._
Ravens live on high mountains;
Dew falls in deep dales;
Fish live without breath in water,
But the sounding waterfall
Is never silent.
_Gest._
Four are walking,
Four are hanging,
Two showing the way,
Two keeping dogs off;
One lags behind
All his days,
That one is always dirty.
_Heidrek._
A cow is that beast
Which thou didst see
Walk on four feet,
Four teats hang,
And horns defend her:
Her tail hung behind.
_Gest._
What kind of wonder is it
I saw outside
Before the door of Delling?
It had ten tongues,
Twenty eyes;
Forty feet
That being moves forward.
_Heidrek._
If thou art the one thou sayest,
Then thou art wiser
Than I expected;
Thou talkest of
A sow outside
Which walked in the yard;
She was slaughtered
At the king’s will,
And she was with nine pigs.
_Gest._
Who are those two
That go to the thing?
They have three eyes both,
Ten feet,
And one tail have they both.
Thus they pass over lands.
_Heidrek._
It is Odin
When riding along on Sleipnir;
He has one eye,
His horse two,
The drösul[298]
Runs on eight feet,
Ygg[299] on two,
The horse has one tail.
_Gest._
Tell me that only,
As thou seemest to be
Wiser than any king;
What did Odin say
Into the ear of Baldr
Before he was carried on the pyre?
_Heidrek._
This is wonder and wickedness,
And cravenness only,
Jugglery and trickery only;
But no one knows those words of thine
Except thyself,
Thou evil and wretched being.
* * * * *
The king burnt with anger,
He drew Tyrfing[300]
And wanted to strike Gest;
But he turned himself
Into the shape of a hawk,
And thus saved his life.
The hawk attempted
To escape by the light-holes,
But the king struck after him;
He cut off the tip of his tail
And shortened his feathers,
Therefore the hawk has a docked tail.
“The sword hit the tail, and took off what it touched, and therefore the
hawk has a short tail ever after; then the sword hit a man of the hird,
and he was at once slain. Odin then said: ‘Because thou, King Heidrek,
drewest thy sword and wantedst to slay me, and thyself brokest the truce
which thou hadst set between us, the worst of thralls shall be thy
slayers.’ Then Odin flew away, and thus they parted” (Hervarar Saga, c.
15).
[Illustration:
Fig. 1349.—Gilt silver fibula, one-quarter real size—Zeeland.
]
-----
Footnote 278:
Skaldskap = scald-ship, derived from skald, a poet.
The leading poets were:—
Bragi Boddason the old (about 800). The earliest who appears within
historical periods.
Thjodolf of Hvin and Thorbjörn Hornklofi, Harald Fairhair’s scalds.
Eyvind Skaldaspillir, Hakon the Good’s greatest poet.
Egil Skallagrimsson.
Kormak Ogmundsson, famous for love songs.
Hallfred Vandrœdaskald, the troublesome scald, Olaf Tryggvason’s
greatest poet.
Sighvat Thordarson, St. Olaf’s greatest scald.
Thjodolf Arnorsson, Harald Hardradi’s scald.
The scalds who made songs on Knut the Great were: Thord Kolbeinsson,
Sighvat Thordarson, Ottar the black, Thorarin Loftunga
(praise-tongue), Hallvard Harekublesi, Bersi Skaldtorfuson.
The greatest masterpiece of scaldic art was composed in 1222–23 by
Snorri Sturluson on Hakon Hakonsson, King of Norway, and the jarl
Skuli, Bard’s son. Hattatal (the list of metres) is its title, and of
the 102 strophes each one is in a different metre.
Footnote 279:
Cf. mixing blood in foster-brotherhood.
Footnote 280:
Cf. Flateyjarbók, iii.
Footnote 281:
The harp is also mentioned in Atla Kvida, 31; Oddrunargrat, 29;
Atlamal, 62; Bard’s Saga.
Footnote 282:
Hersir is called here a bondi.
Footnote 283:
One who subdues words—an eloquent man—for every chief was trained to
be a good speaker.
Footnote 284:
These two lines, which are repeated in every stanza in the original
text, are omitted in subsequent stanzas here.
Footnote 285:
These three lines are repeated at the beginning of each stanza, but
are omitted in subsequent stanzas.
Footnote 286:
Rin = Rhine river, fire of Rhine = gold, because hidden in the river.
Footnote 287:
Door of Delling, a Dverg = the rock; before his door = on the ground.
Footnote 288:
A sword.
Footnote 289:
Spider.
Footnote 290:
Woman’s house.
Footnote 291:
On the sea.
Footnote 292:
The swans swim to their nests and lay eggs; the shell of the eggs is
neither made by hand nor shaped by hammer, but the swan with whom they
beget the eggs is breasting the waves outside the islands.
Footnote 293:
The bears of the North sleep all winter.
Footnote 294:
Ægir.
Footnote 295:
Ægir = the sea.
Footnote 296:
Ran, the wife of Ægir. According to the Prose Edda, Gymir is the same
as Ægir and Hlér.
Footnote 297:
Rocks.
Footnote 298:
Horse.
Footnote 299:
Odin.
Footnote 300:
His sword.