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Litla Skálda – Islands Første Poetiske Avhandling?

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Litla Skálda – Islands Første Poetiske Avhandling? Litla Skálda – Islands første poetiske avhandling? Et forsøk på å etablere en relativ kronologi mellom Skáldskaparmál og Litla Skálda Inger Helene Solvin Mastergradsavhandling i norrøn filologi Instituttet for lingvisktiske og nordiske studier UNIVERSITETET I OSLO Vår 2015 Litla Skálda – Islands første poetiske avhandling? Et forsøk på å etablere en relativ kronologi mellom Skáldskaparmál og Litla Skálda Inger Helene Solvin Mastergradsavhandling i norrøn filologi Instituttet for lingvisktiske og nordiske studier UNIVERSITETET I OSLO Vår 2015 II © Inger Helene Solvin 2015 Litla Skálda – Islands første poetiske avhandling? Inger Helene Solvin http://www.duo.uio.no/ Trykk: Reprosentralen, Universitetet i Oslo III Sammendrag Snorres Edda, og med den Skáldskaparmál, har alltid høstet mye oppmerksomhet fra filologer og andre middelalderforskere, og Snorre regnes for å være den første til å systematisere det norrøne skaldespråket. I Skáldskaparmáls skygge har Litla Skálda stått, nesten fullstendig oversett i moderne forskning. Denne korte teksten, overlevert i to håndskrifter og med en ukjent forfatter, har lenge blitt regnet for å være yngre enn Snorres tilsvarende verk. Denne antakelsen har tilsynelatende blitt tatt a priori, og ingen har tidligere undersøkt dette med den grundighet som er nødvendig for å etablere en relativ kronologi. Målet for denne oppgaven har vært et forsøke på å etablere en slik datering, og utgangspunktet har vært en hypotese om at Litla Skálda er den eldste, og at Snorre derfor har hatt norrøne forbilder for begge de to siste delene av Eddaen, Háttalykill for Háttatal og Litla Skálda for Skáldskaparmál. For å finne svar på dette har jeg sammenlignet Litla Skálda med Skáldskaparmál, både struktur og innhold, og hatt et særlig fokus på kenningene som presenteres i Litla Skálda, men ikke i Skáldskaparmál. Disse har jeg sammenlignet med hele det overleverte skaldediktkorpuset, i enkelttilfeller også med eddadikt. Jeg har funnet ut at det er mye som taler for å plassere Litla Skálda først i kronologien. Den løse strukturen og den omskiftende formen tyder på manglende forbilder for hvordan et slikt verk kunne konstrueres. Det er også et fravær av begreper knyttet til skaldespråket som foreslår at begrepsapparatet som Snorre benytter ennå ikke er etablert da Litla Skálda ble skrevet. Fremstillingen av enkelte myter tyder på at forfatteren ikke har hatt den samme kunnskapen som presenteres i Skáldskaparmál, noe som gjør det usannynlig at forfatteren av Litla Skálda kan ha lest Snorres verk. Til slutt ser også en del av kenningtypene ut til å reflektere det poetiske språket slik det var før Snorres Edda. Det ble også aktuelt å se nærmere på visse skalder, hvorav én skilte seg ut som en mulig kandidat for en forfatterattribuering av teksten. IV V Forord Mitt første møte med Litla Skálda var under masterstudiets første semester. Dette var i undervisningen til Mikael Males, som året etter skulle bli min veileder. Det er altså ham jeg kan takke, ikke bare for å ha oppdaget denne teksten, som fra før av var totalt ukjent for meg, men også for at jeg med stor motivasjon og entusiasme kunne starte avhandlingsarbeidet med nettopp Litla Skálda som emne. Han skal også takkes for selv å ha vist mye entusiasme gjennom hele veiledningsperioden, og dessuten for å ha latt meg følge med til kenningkonferanse i Kiel og feltarbeid i Reykjavík. I den forbindelse ønsker jeg også å takke Stofnun Árna Magnússonar for lån av lesesalplass i hele mars, og for tilgang til håndskriftene. Jeg er sikker på at oppholder der ga oppgaven min et betydelig løft, og at det akademiske miljøet der stimulerte til viktige funn og fornyet motivasjon. Jeg vil også takke Klaus Johan Myrvoll for korrekturlesing av oppgaven, samt kommentarer til innholdet og hjelp med datering av skaldestrofer. Mine to lesesalkompanjonger, Sirje og Runa, skal også ha en stor takk for å ha bidratt til å gjøre de siste, intense arbeidsukene på lesesalen mye lettere å holde ut. Til slutt vil jeg takke familie og venner for all støtte og oppmuntring, og en spesiell takk rettes til André, som har vist stor tålmodighet når forloveden har vært bortreist og sittet sene kvelder på Blindern, og (nesten) aldri har han klaget over å ha måttet lage middag på egen hånd. VI VII Innholdsfortegnelse 1 Innledning ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Forskningshistorien ..................................................................................................... 2 2 Teori og metode ................................................................................................................. 8 2.1 Kilder ......................................................................................................................... 12 3 Litla Skáldas oppbygging og form ................................................................................... 14 4 Definisjon av begreper i LS, SkskM og 3GA .................................................................... 26 5 Mytologiske og religiøse referanser ................................................................................. 31 6 Særegne kenninger i Litla Skálda og i skaldediktene ...................................................... 47 6.1 Fra poesi til steiner .................................................................................................... 47 6.2 Kamp, våpen og blod ................................................................................................. 49 6.3 Sjø og ormer .............................................................................................................. 54 6.4 Gull ............................................................................................................................ 56 6.5 Arm og ring ............................................................................................................... 58 6.6 Horn og is .................................................................................................................. 62 6.7 Hunder, ulver, troll og vinter ..................................................................................... 63 6.8 Blod og åtselsfugler ................................................................................................... 65 6.9 Menn og kvinner ........................................................................................................ 66 6.10 Kroppskenninger .................................................................................................... 69 6.10.1 Hår og hode ........................................................................................................ 70 6.10.2 Ører og øyne ....................................................................................................... 71 6.10.3 Nese, munn og bryst ........................................................................................... 72 6.10.4 Tenner og tungen ................................................................................................ 74 6.10.5 Hjerte og nøtter ................................................................................................... 74 6.11 Verden, himmel og vann ........................................................................................ 76 7 Viktige skalder ................................................................................................................. 78 7.1 Einarr Gilsson og Þjóðólfr ór Hvini .......................................................................... 78 7.2 Egill Skallagrímsson .................................................................................................. 80 7.3 Kormákr Ǫgmundarson ............................................................................................. 83 7.4 Einarr Helgason skálaglamm og Gísli Súrsson ......................................................... 86 7.5 Sigvatr Þórðarson ...................................................................................................... 89 7.6 Haukr Valdísarson ..................................................................................................... 91 VIII 7.7 Einarr Skúlason, Snorre Sturluson og Sturla Þórðarson ............................................ 93 7.8 Rǫgnvaldr jarl Kali Kolsson og Hallr Þórarinsson .................................................... 98 7.9 Gunnlaugr Leifsson ................................................................................................. 101 7.9.1 Gunnlaugr og Þingeyrar ................................................................................... 109 8 Oppsummering og konklusjon ....................................................................................... 112 Litteraturliste .......................................................................................................................... 116 Vedlegg .................................................................................................................................. 120 IX 1 Innledning En av Nordens største litterære skatter fra middelalderen kan nok trygt regnes for å være Snorres Edda. Dette verket gir moderne forskere et unikt innblikk i og forståelse for den norrøne skaldediktningen, og det er samtidig en rik kilde til norrøn mytologi. Verket er først og fremst en poetikk, en lærebok i skaldskap, og i denne rollen står det ikke helt uten selskap. Snorres egen nevø, Óláfr Þórðarson, skrev også en poetisk avhandling, egentlig en grammatisk avhandling, men der andre
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