Olsen, Alexandra Hennessey. The Heroic World: Icelandic Sagas and the Old-English “Riming Poem”

• Author: Olsen, Alexandra Hennessey
• Title: The Heroic World: Icelandic Sagas and the Old-English “Riming Poem”.
• Published in: Pacific Coast Philology 14
• Year: 1979
• Pages: 51-58
• E-text:
• Reference: Olsen, Alexandra Hennessey. "The Heroic World: Icelandic Sagas and the Old-English “Riming Poem”." Pacific Coast Philology 14 (1979): 51-58.

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• Key words: intertextuality (textatengsl)

Annotation

The 87-line Riming Poem can be seen as a juxtaposition not of youth and old age but rather of heroic/pagan and Christian worldviews and values; its bipartite structure is similar to that seen in the Wanderer and the Seafarer as well as a number of Icelandic sagas. Egils saga is a good analogue to the first part of the Riming Poem, which deals with the heroic world and its mutability – the speaker can indeed be compared to Thórólf Kveld-Úlfsson, whose good fortune brings about his downfall when it exceeds that of his king. Whereas death is treated as the end of a man’s story in the heroic sagas, however, the Riming Poem ends with a shift to the theme of life after death and the immutable Christian world.

Lýsing

Það má líta svo á að Rímkvæðið (The Rime Poem), sem telur 87 línur, tefli saman andstæðum, ekki æsku og elli, heldur fremur hetjulegrar/heiðinnar og kristinnar heimsmyndar og gildismats. Tvískipt uppbygging þess minnir á Flakkarann (The Wanderer) og Sæfarann (The Seafarer), sem og fjölda Íslendingasagna. Egils saga er ágæt hliðstæða við fyrri hluta Rímkvæðisins, sem fjallar um hinn hetjulega heim og hverfulleika hans. Ljóðmælandann má bera saman við Þórólf Kveld-Úlfsson en lífslán hans dregur hann til dauða þegar það er orðið meira en lán konungsins. Í hetjusögunni markar dauðinn endalok mannsins en Rímkvæðinu lýkur á því að athyglin beinist að lífinu eftir dauðann og hinum óumbreytanlega heimi kristninnar.

References

Chapter 11: sást konungur um og roðnaði: "It is not, however, merely a Christian idea that great good fortune can bring about the downfall of its possessor ... For Þórólfr, as for the protagonist of the Riming Poem, “sinc searwade” – the treasure which was made of skill was deceitfull" (p. 55).

Links

• Written by: Katelin Parsons
• Icelandic translation: Jón Karl Helgason