| The Runhent - FRIDRIKR TOMASSON | |
Did you ever read one of the poems based on Old Icelandic form & wonder whatever happened to rhyme schemes? You know, those nice sound-alike words that end lines of your most memorable poems? That nice "a,a,b,b,c,c" scheme that your 7th grade English teacher drilled into your skulls? Well, in Old Icelandic & eddaic poetry, end rhyme scheme is seldom considered necessary. Indeed, in drottkveitt, or Court Poetry, end rhyme is never used purposefully. However, there is a form of poetry common to Iceland that does use end rhyme, runhent. In The Structure of Old Norse Drottkvætt Poetry, Kari Ellen Gade says, "Not until the end of the tenth century, in Egil's [Skallagrimsson] "Hoflauðsen" [Head-Ransom] does end rhyme play a constitutive part in skaldic metrics. This new meter, runhent, which consists of lines with four syllables dispenses with the internal rhymes altogether and replaces it with end rhymes..... It is clear that runhent meter represented a bold break with the established norms for the composition of skaldic poetry, and that this innovation was most likely the result of foreign [most likely English or Irish] influence.” (Gade: 10) In the Háttatal, his work on poetic form, Snorri Sturlusson identifies several different variants of the runhent. These include a variety of line lengths, ranging from the standard four out to seven or eight, and a variety of rhymes schemes. In Snorri’s runhent variants, you can find rhymed couplets (2 lines), quadruplets (4 lines) or octets (8 lines). He gives the schemes a variety of names. Following are a few examples from the Háttatal (all from http://www.vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Edda-3.pdf): Fluttak frœði*of frama grœði (tunga tœði) með tolu rœði; stef skal stœra stilli Mœra (hróðr dugir hrœra) ok honum fœra. In this verse, the rhyme scheme is in four line segments. In the next example, Snorri uses the same rhyme to end all eight lines in the form he calls runhendir: Naðrs gnapa ógn alla, One final example shows the form Snorri calls mintz runhenda which uses rhymed couplets: Slíkt er svá, Moving away from the poetic form, I’d like to address the subject matter of runhent meter. In many Old Norse poems, the poet praises a particular king or nobleman. Anther type is the “shield poem.” Turville-Peter, in Scaldic Poetry, says, “Some the most striking poems are those based on pictures painted on a shield or wainscot and probably carved in relief. Bragi the Old and Þjolðolfr of Hvin give fine examples of shield poems.... The picture poems which I have mentioned are rather more than plain descriptions. The poet sees more than could have been depicted on the shield or wainscot; he enlarges the myths which inspired the artist...” (Turville-Peter: xvii) Perhaps the most famous runhent is the Hoflauðsen (Head-Ransom) by Egil Skallagrimsson. Reputedly written in one night, it praises King Eric. According to Lee Hollander, in The Skalds, it is the first example of runhent meter (Hollander: 66-67). A verse, with Hollander’ translation, follows: Vestr fór ek of ver, I sailed to the West (Hollander: 68). In the runhent meter poem that I’ve written, I take considerable freedom with the line length, but not with the rhyme schemes. As you’ll see, I use rhymed couplets, quadruplets, and octets. The poem s a shield poem, describing a legendary occurrence in the history of Aethelmearc (somewhere around Pennsic 14), the “charge of the half-ton of angry pot roast” , a line composed of Boris Dragon’s Bane, Haakon Oaktall, Morguhn Sheridan, and Wilfred Altmarker, who together weighed in excess of 1,000 pounds (hence the nickname). They actually did break the Calontir shield-wall at the bridge battle by themselves. Works Cited Gade, Kari Ellen. The Structure of Old Norse Drottkvætt Poetry. Cornell: 1995.Hollander, Lee M. The Skalds. Princeton: 1947. Skalla-grimsoon, Egil. Hofluðsen. <http://www.home.no/norron-mytologi/sgndok/kvad/hofud.htm>. Last visited: 23 May 2008. Sturlussn, Snorri. Háttatal. < http://www.vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Edda-3.pdf> Last visited: 23 May 2008. Turville-Petre, E. G. G. Scaldic Poetry. Oxford: 1976. |
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The Four at the Bridge At Coopers pond we set our scene four heroes joined the martial throng To battle dwarvelords here Thru battle's din they stood On three, charge! Morguhn said |
bodies from bridgehead flew thru that pile our heroes tore thrice-king rose without sound the battle quit, bridge lay red Even comes & battles ends |