- Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld
Hallfreðr Óttarsson or Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld ("Troublesome Poet") (ca. 965 – ca. 1007) was an Icelandic
skald . He is the protagonist of "Hallfreðar saga " according to which he was the court poet first ofHákon Sigurðarson , then ofÓláfr Tryggvason and finally ofEiríkr Hákonarson . A significant amount of poetry by Hallfreðr has been preserved, primarily in "Hallfreðar saga" and thekings' sagas but a few fragments are also quoted in "Skáldskaparmál ".In his "
lausavísur " Hallfreðr was an unusually personal skald, offering insight into his emotional life and, especially, his troubled and reluctant conversion from paganism to Christianity under the tutelage of king Óláfr. The following is an example.The "
Bergsbók " manuscript attributes an "Óláfsdrápa Tryggvasonar " to Hallfreðr but this attribution is rejected by modern scholars.References
* [http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/skindex/hfr.html Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld] All extant poetry
* [http://www.snerpa.is/net/isl/hallf.htm Hallfreðar saga vandræðaskálds] Version fromMöðruvallabók
* [http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/medieval/saga/pdf/556-whaley.pdf Myth and Religion in the Poetry of a Reluctant Convert] Article by Diana Whaley
* [http://www.heimskringla.no/original/skaldekvad/erfidrapa.php Erfidrápa Óláfs Tryggvasonar] Text of "Erfidrápa" with short notes on the poet in Norwegian
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