Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1999, Page 201
VI From the tum of the century to Jan de Vries
181
logue, where psychology prevails over action, supplants the old lay of
incident. Ballad motifs are also found, such as the frequent embroidery
scenes.
The second of the three Gudrunarkvidur, which aims at giving an
answer to the psychological enigma of why Gudrun married Atli after
her husband was slain, is in the manuscript called en forna; but “old”
it is only in comparison to the other Gudrunarkvidur, for it probably is
from about 1150. The ballad-like Gudrunarkvida I, probably from
about 1200, is the diametric opposite to the lay of incident, as it ex-
pands on one single situation, depicting Gudrun’s sorrow after the
death of her husband. Gudrunarkvida III, Oddrunargråtr, Helreid
Brynhildar and, in particular, Gudrunarhvgt, all belong to the very
latest poems in this group. Only Sigurdarkvida in skamma seems to be
younger still (de Vries 1942: 150, 152). This poem is set with borrow-
ings from other poems of the same cycle, and, “overflowed by the
Bengal lights of post-classical poetry”, it partakes in the sentimental
feelings of the ballad.119 Finally, At lamål has reworked the old Atla-
kvida in order to make Gudrun’s cruelty psychologically more under-
standable (de Vries 1942: 157). Tuming to the spiritual side of man,
the poem pays its tribute to the post-classical Christianisation of emo-
tional life.120
The influence from the import of younger Nibelungen poetry in its
tum inspired poems in the same vein on Scandinavian themes. In the
fornaldarsogur there is a number of retrospective poems where a hero
meditates over his former life in monologue form, sometimes at the very
moment of death. Examples are Vlkarsbålkr, Hildibrandskvida (Hildi-
brands Sterbelied) and Hjålmarskvida (Hjalmars Sterbelied). Retro-
spective poetry seems to be characteristic of this period; which was
1,9 “[...] die Gefiihlswelt der Ballade, aber jetzt mit dem bengalischen Licht der nach-
klassischen Heldenpoesie iiberflutet” (de Vries 1942: 156). - Heusler had characterized
Prymskvida as the most ballad-like of ail Eddie poems (Heusler 1902: 246 = 1969:
657).
120 “Diese ‘Durchtrankung mit Reflexionselementen’, wie Hempel richtig bemerkt hat,
beweist die Christianisierung des Empfindens und die damit einhergehende Wendung auf
das Geistige im Menschen. Hierin zeigt sich das jiingere nachklassische Stilempfinden am
deutlichsten: der Dichter versteht eigentlich die Figuren der Heldendichtung nicht mehr
und versucht sie mit seiner empfindlichen Seele in Einklang zu bringen” (de Vries 1942:
158).