Hallvarðr Háreksblesi
Encyclopedia
Hallvarðr Háreksblesi was one of the skald
s of Canute the Great
. Nothing is known about his life or family but eight fragments of his poetry on Canute have been preserved. While Hallvarðr's poetry resembles that of Canute's other poets in many respects it is unusual in its heavy use of pagan imagery.
section of Snorri Sturluson
's Prose Edda
. One additional fragment is quoted in Knýtlinga saga
and one in Heimskringla
and kings' sagas
derived from it. In Finnur Jónsson
's complete edition of skaldic poetry the fragments are conjectured to be all from the same poem, a Knútsdrápa ("Lay of Canute"), and arranged in a suggested order. The first complete English translation was published by Roberta Frank in 1994.
The extant fragments are mainly about Canute's expedition to England and his becoming king there in 1015-1016. Apart from what little can be conjectured from this, nothing is known about the poet's life or origin. Finnur Jónsson believed he became one of Canute's court poets after the king's conquest of Norway in 1028.
Hallvarðr's refrain is very similar to that composed by his fellow poet, Þórarinn loftunga
, who also compared the roles of Canute and God in his Höfuðlausn. It is also reminiscent of the refrain of Gunnlaugr Wormtongue's poem about king Ethelred and, to a lesser extent, to those in Þórarinn loftunga's Tøgdrápa and Sighvatr Þórðarson's Knútsdrápa, both about King Canute.
Like Canute's other skalds, Hallvarðr emphasizes Canute's Danish ancestry and how his rule benefits Danish interests. He, however, differs somewhat from the other poets in describing Canute with imagery derived from Norse mythology
, including references to valkyries, giants, the Midgard Serpent and the World Tree
. In his kennings, he even refers to Canute with the names of pagan gods.
for the breast (as seat of emotion and thought), based on the new religion; "the ship of prayer". Roberta Frank is more positive, describing Hallvarðr's poetry as "skaldic verse at its richest and most allusive, a startling blend of Christian and pagan imagery like that carved on the Gosforth cross
."
Skald
The skald was a member of a group of poets, whose courtly poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking Age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry .The most prevalent metre of skaldic poetry is...
s of Canute the Great
Canute the Great
Cnut the Great , also known as Canute, was a king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden. Though after the death of his heirs within a decade of his own and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, his legacy was largely lost to history, historian Norman F...
. Nothing is known about his life or family but eight fragments of his poetry on Canute have been preserved. While Hallvarðr's poetry resembles that of Canute's other poets in many respects it is unusual in its heavy use of pagan imagery.
Extant fragments
Six fragments of poetry by Hallvarðr are quoted in the SkáldskaparmálSkáldskaparmál
The second part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda the Skáldskaparmál or "language of poetry" is effectively a dialogue between the Norse god of the sea, Ægir and Bragi, the god of poetry, in which both Norse mythology and discourse on the nature of poetry are intertwined...
section of Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
's Prose Edda
Prose Edda
The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda or simply Edda, is an Icelandic collection of four sections interspersed with excerpts from earlier skaldic and Eddic poetry containing tales from Nordic mythology...
. One additional fragment is quoted in Knýtlinga saga
Knýtlinga saga
Knýtlinga saga is an Icelandic kings' saga written in the 1250s, which deals with the kings who ruled Denmark since the early 10th century....
and one in Heimskringla
Heimskringla
Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...
and kings' sagas
Kings' sagas
The kings' sagas are Norse sagas which tell of the lives of Scandinavian kings. They were composed in the 12th to 14th centuries in Iceland and Norway....
derived from it. In Finnur Jónsson
Finnur Jónsson (philologist)
Finnur Jónsson was an Icelandic philologist who made extensive contributions to the study of Old Norse literature.Finnur graduated from Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík in 1878 and went to Denmark for further studies at the University of Copenhagen. He received a doctorate in philology in 1884 with a...
's complete edition of skaldic poetry the fragments are conjectured to be all from the same poem, a Knútsdrápa ("Lay of Canute"), and arranged in a suggested order. The first complete English translation was published by Roberta Frank in 1994.
The extant fragments are mainly about Canute's expedition to England and his becoming king there in 1015-1016. Apart from what little can be conjectured from this, nothing is known about the poet's life or origin. Finnur Jónsson believed he became one of Canute's court poets after the king's conquest of Norway in 1028.
Hallvarðr and other poets
The refrain of Hallvarðr's Knútsdrápa compares Knútr's role on earth to that of the Christian God in Heaven.- Knútr verr jörð sem ítran
- alls dróttinn sal fjalla.
- Cnut protects the land as the Lord of all [does] the splendid hall of the mountains [Heaven].
Hallvarðr's refrain is very similar to that composed by his fellow poet, Þórarinn loftunga
Þórarinn loftunga
Þórarinn loftunga was an Icelandic skald active during the first half of the 11th century.He composed Tøgdrápa on King Canute. Like Sigvatr Þórðarson's poem in praise of the same king, Knútsdrápa, the Tøgdrápa is composed in the metrical form tøglag — perhaps invented at King Canute's court...
, who also compared the roles of Canute and God in his Höfuðlausn. It is also reminiscent of the refrain of Gunnlaugr Wormtongue's poem about king Ethelred and, to a lesser extent, to those in Þórarinn loftunga's Tøgdrápa and Sighvatr Þórðarson's Knútsdrápa, both about King Canute.
Like Canute's other skalds, Hallvarðr emphasizes Canute's Danish ancestry and how his rule benefits Danish interests. He, however, differs somewhat from the other poets in describing Canute with imagery derived from Norse mythology
Norse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
, including references to valkyries, giants, the Midgard Serpent and the World Tree
Yggdrasil
In Norse mythology, Yggdrasil is an immense tree that is central in Norse cosmology. It was said to be the world tree around which the nine worlds existed...
. In his kennings, he even refers to Canute with the names of pagan gods.
Critical reception
Finnur Jónsson described Hallvarðr's poetic expressions as strong but not very original and the surviving verses as formally quite good but not very individual in character. Despite this, he noted that one of Hallvarðr's poems has an apparently new kenningKenning
A kenning is a type of literary trope, specifically circumlocution, in the form of a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse and later Icelandic and Anglo-Saxon poetry...
for the breast (as seat of emotion and thought), based on the new religion; "the ship of prayer". Roberta Frank is more positive, describing Hallvarðr's poetry as "skaldic verse at its richest and most allusive, a startling blend of Christian and pagan imagery like that carved on the Gosforth cross
Gosforth cross
upright|thumb|Gosforth Cross outside St Mary's church in Gosforth.The Gosforth Cross is a large stone Anglo-Saxon high cross in the churchyard at Gosforth in the English county of Cumbria. Formerly part of the kingdom of Northumbria, the area was settled by Scandinavians some time in either the 9th...
."