HISTORY | VIKINGS
What is a Skald?
Find out about the Viking poets!
In Old Norse, the word for poet was skald. Skalds were highly regarded oral storytellers operating in Viking society. They specialized in skaldic poetry, an elaborate form of verse that often praised whichever king they served.
Skaldic poetry was a complex system where words were woven together with skill and intricacy. This began with the poetic structure. The skalds used a form of verse called drottkvætt. A drottkvætt stanza was written in eight lines. Each line had six syllables: three were stressed, and the last was unstressed. Alliterating words would then connect each line; however, every other line would have two alliterating words instead of one. The skald would also pay close attention to the internal rhyme of their poem; in every line, there would be two internal rhyming words. Below, is an example from Egil Skargrimmson, a Viking age warrior (c. 910–990), farmer. and skald:
Títt erum verð at vátta,
vætti ber ek at ek hætta
þung til þessar gǫngu,
þinn, kinnalá minni.
Margr velr gestr þar er gistir,
gjǫld, finnumsk vér sjaldan,
Ármóði liggr, œðri,
ǫlðra dregg í skeggi.Modern English Translation:
Eager am I the meal to acknowledge,
witness I bear that I dared
heavy make this journey,
your…
