The Knútsdrápa by the skald

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...

 Óttarr svarti

Óttarr svarti

Óttarr svarti was an 11th century Icelandic skald. He was the court poet first of Óláfr skautkonungr of Sweden, then of Óláfr Haraldsson of Norway, the Swedish king Anund Jacob and finally of Cnut the Great of Denmark and England...

 (Óttar the Black) is one of the Old Norse poems composed for King Cnut

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...

. Knútsdrápur (plural of Knútsdrápa) are Old Norse

Old Norse poetry

Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in Old Norse, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century...

 skaldic compositions in the form of drápur which were recited for the praise of Cnut

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...

. Most of Óttarr's poem is cited in the 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....

, while one stanza is known only from other sources such as the 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...

. It has been debated whether strophe 9 truly belongs to Óttarr's Knútsdrápa or to a poem which Óttarr composed for Cnut's father Svein Haraldsson.

The focus is on the deeds of its subject as a prince, and as a king, with the climax of his conquest of England, at the Battle of Assandun, in 1016, and with the Battle of the Helgeå

Battle of the Helgeå

Battle of the Helgeå was a naval engagement which took place during 1026, between joint Danish and English forces and a combined Norwegian and Swedish force, at the estuary of a river called Helgeå in Sweden.King Olaf II of Norway and King Anund Jakob of Sweden took advantage of the commitment...

, in 1026, when he was victorious over the Norwegian and Swedish kings who were in alliance against him, amongst its events. This skaldic verse's style and metre have been cause for some controversy, on the point of Canute's age. It is often difficult to understand, let alone translate Old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 poems.

The poem

Hratt lítt gamall, lýtir

lögreiðar, framm skeiðum;

fórat fylkir œri

folksveimuðr þér heiman;

hilmir bjótt ok hættir

harðbrynjuð skip kynjum;

reiðr hafðir þú rauðar

randir Knútr fyr landi.

Út fylgðu þér Jótar,

auðmildr, flugar trauðir,

skauthreina bjótt skreytir

Skánunga lið Vánar;

váð blés of þér vísi,

vestr settir þú flesta í haf stafna.

Herskjöld bart ok helduð

hilmir ríkr af slíku;

hykkat þengill þekðusk

þik kyrrsetu mikla;

ætt drapt, Jóta dróttinn,

Játgeirs í för þeiri;

þveit rakt (þrár est heitinn)

þeim stillis konr illan.

Brunnu byggðir manna

buðlungr fyr þér ungum,

opt lézt, hús ok, heiptar

herkall búendr gerva.

Gunni lézt í grœnni

gramr Lindisey framða,

beldu viðr þeir 's vildu

víkingar því ríki;

bíða lézt í breiðri

borg Helminga sorgir

œstr fyr Úsu vestan

engst folk, Svía þrengvir.

Ungr fylkir lézt Engla

allnær Tesu falla,

flóði djúpt of, dauða,

dík Norðimbra líkum;

svefn brauzt svörtum hrafni

sunnarr, hvötuðr Gunnar,

ollir sókn hinn snjalli

Sveins mögr at Skorsteini.

Fjörlausa hykk Frísi

friðskerðir þar gerðu,

brauzt með byggðu setri

Brandfurðu, þik randa;

Játmundar hlaut undir

ættniðr göfugr hættar,

danskr herr skaut þá dörrum

drótt, en þú rakt flótta.

Skjöldungr, vant und skildi

skœru verk, hinn sterki, Assatúnum;

vátt, en valfall þótti

verðung, jöfurr sverði

nær fyr norðan stóru

nafn gnógt Danaskóga.

Bjóðr, vant brynjur rauðar,

blíðr stórgjafa, síðan fyr Norðvík innan.

Framm gekt enn þars unnuð við malma,

[knáttut] slæ [þars sóttuð]

sverð [kastala verja];

unnuð eigi minni rómu,

hnekkir hleypiblakka

hlunns, á Tempsar grunni.

Svíum hnekðir þú, sóknar

siklingr örr, en mikla

ylgr, þars á hin helga,

ulfs beitu fekk, heitir;

helt, þars hrafn né svaltat, láði,

ógnar stafr, fyr jöfrum,

ýgr, tveimr (við kyn beima).

Editions (external links)

• Matthew Towend (ed.), Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages.
• Jörmungrund. See here for sources.