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NATALIE M. VAN DEUSEN
IN PRAISE OF WOMEN
An Edition of “Sprundahrós”1
“sprundahrós” (In Praise of Women) is an eighteenth-century viki-
vakakvæði in 22 stanzas. It praises the virtues of a total of 25 noteworthy
women, who may be grouped into one of three categories: 1) biblical
women; 2) female rulers (in general, and then more specifically from
Scandinavia and the British Isles); and 3) women from old norse-Icelandic
literature. Probably due both to its late composition and the fact that it sur-
vives in only three manuscripts, “Sprundahrós” has received scant scholarly
attention and has never been edited.2 However, it is one of several Icelandic
poems from the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, which
praise groups of noble and honourable women (e.g. Magnús Ólafsson
á Laufás’s “Kvennadans” [1619], Árni Böðvarsson’s “Íslands kvennalof”
[ca. 1750], and the so-called “Kvendæmaþáttur” [1816] in Lbs 4795 8vo).3
“Sprundahrós” is also closely linked to the kappakvæði written in vikivaka
metre, and its relationship to these poems forms an interesting discourse
on ideals of gender in early modern Iceland.
this article presents an introduction to and preliminary analysis of
“Sprundahrós”, focusing on its content, authorship, and style. this is then
1 I wish to express my most heartfelt gratitude to Margrét Eggertsdóttir, who answered my
many questions regarding the transcription of this poem, and who reviewed the normal-
ized text. I would also like to thank the anonymous peer reviewers, whose comments and
suggestions greatly strengthened the article.
2 the poem is briefly mentioned in general overviews of late poetry in: Jón Árnason and
ólafur Davíðsson, Íslenzkar gátur, skemtanir, vikivakar og þulur, 4 vols. (Copenhagen:
Møller, 1887–1904), 3; 342–43; Jón Samsonarson, Kvæði og dansleikir, 2 vols. (reykjavík,
almenna bókafélagið, 1964), 2: 170; Jón Helgason, Íslenzk fornkvæði. Islandske folkeviser,
8 vols., Editiones arnamagnæanæ, B: 10–17 (Copenhagen: Munksgaard and reitzel,
1962–1981), 8: 120; and Shaun Hughes, “Late Secular Poetry,” A Companion to Old Norse-
Icelandic Literature and Culture, ed. rory Mcturk (oxford: Blackwell, 2005), 205–22 at
217.
3 for an edition of “Kvennadans,” see anthony faulkes, ed., Magnúsarkver: The Writings of
Magnús Ólafsson of Laufás, rit 40 (reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar á Íslandi, 1993),
27–82. “Kvendæmaþáttur” has not yet been edited.
Gripla XXVIII (2017):197–225