Krákumál
Krákumál or the Lay of Kraka is a skaldic poem, consisting of a monologue in which Ragnar Lodbrok is dying in Ælla's snake pit and looks back at a life full of heroic deeds. It was composed in the 12th century, "almost certainly" in the Scottish islands.[1] It is composed in a kind of háttlausa with stanzas of ten lines.
In moving and forceful language, the poem deals with the joys of the life of a warrior, the hope that his death will be followed by a gory revenge, and the knowledge that he will soon know the pleasures of Valhalla.
Translation
The poem has been translated into several languages and it has contributed to the modern image of a Viking warrior.
Excerpt:
- Hjoggum vér með hjörvi.
- Hitt vas æ fyr löngu,
- es á Gautlandi gengum
- at grafvitnis morði;
- þá fengum vér Þóru,
- þaðan hétu mik fyrðar,
- es lyngölun lagðak,
- Loðbrók at því vígi;
- stakk á storðar lykkju
- stáli bjartra mála.(Northvegr's edition)
|
- We swung our sword;
- that was ever so long ago
- when we walked in Gautland
- to the murder of the dig-wulf.
- Then we received Þóra;
- since then
- (at that battle when I killed the heather-fish)
- people called me Furry-pants.
- I stabbed the spear
- into the loop of the earth."(Haukur Þorgeirsson's translation)
|
Notes
- ^ Ó Corráin (1979) p. 289
References
- Waggoner, Ben (2009), The Sagas of Ragnar Lodbrok, The Troth, ISBN 978-0-578-02138-6
- Ó Corráin, Donnchadh (Mar 1979) "High-Kings, Vikings and Other Kings". Irish Historical Studies 22 No. 83 pp. 283–323. Irish Historical Studies Publications.
Primary sources
Other external links