Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1999, Page 196

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Part One
Although very little heroic poetry is preserved from this period, para-
phrases and Latin imitations in Saxo may give some idea of the pre-
ferred forms. The only actual heroic poetry ascribed to this period are
parts of the cycle on the youth of SigurSr, probably in particular didactic
stanzas in Ijodahåttr, in dialogue or monologue form, which, coinciden-
tally, are the forms attested by Saxo. But also parts of epic poetry in
fornyrdislag like Reginsmål st. 13-18 may be included. In this poetry
“the Viking air breathes”, de Vries stated. He thought that these frag-
ments probably belonged to a lOth-century poem on SigurSr’s revenge
for his father.111
Far more important is the religious poetry from this last period of
heathendom, overshadowed by the imminent transition to Christianity.
A deeper understanding of the old religion was required, and this might
be obtained both by means of poems preserving the patrimony of
mythological knowledge, and by poems of praise preaching faith in the
old gods. On the other hånd, the confrontation with the new religion
might also lead to a decline of heathendom, discemible in a certain scep-
ticism, allo wing for a new awareness of the less flattering aspects of the
gods.112
The poems Vafprudnismål, Grimnismål, parts of Håvamål and the
rune-stanzas of Sigrdrifumål serve the purpose of conserving religious
knowledge. Vafprudnismål in particular is a great work of art, which ap-
pears to be the culmination of a long poetic tradition (de Vries 1941:
153); while Grimnismål is less homogeneous and ultimately less succes-
ful. But the richness of mythological information is hardly conceivable
in an author who did not possess this knowledge as part of a living her-
itage. It has a flavour of Ragnargk, however, that seems to indicate the
period of late heathendom (de Vries 1941: 156). The parts of Håvamål
ascribed to this period are e.g. Ljodatal (st. 146-63)113 and at least some
of Obinn’s adventures (e.g. st. 104-110, 138-45). On the verge of the
more frivolous group is Skirnismål. The author of this poem does not in
111 “In diesen Strophen weht Wikingerluft. [Cf. Heusler, quoted p. 139 above.] Das Lied
von Sigurds Vaterrache wird deshalb wohl dem 10. Jahrhundert zugerechnet werden
durfen [...]” (de Vries 1941: 145).
112 “Die Lockerung des heidnischen Glaubens ruft eine gewisse Skepsis hervor, die sich
an den grobsinnlichen Seiten der alten Gottergestalten zu belustigen wagt” (de Vries 1941:
151).
113 In de Vries 1941: 157, erroneously: st. 111-63.