Hárbarðsljóð

"Hárbarðsljóð" [The name can be anglicized as "Hárbardsljód", "Hárbarthsljóth", "Hárbardhsljódh", "Harbardsljod" and variations on this.] ("Lay of Hárbarðr") is one of the poems of the "Poetic Edda", found in the Codex Regius and AM 748 I 4to manuscripts. It is a flyting poem with figures from Norse mythology

ynopsis

In the conventional interpretation of this poem the deities Odin and Thor compete with each other. Odin, disguised as Hárbarðr ("Greybeard"), a ferry man, is rude and obnoxious towards Thor who is returning to Asgard after a journey in Jötunheimr, the land of the giants. Hárbarðr boasts of his sexual prowess, his magical powers, his "gambantein", and his tactical abilities. Thor then tells of how he defeated the Giants.

tructure

The poem is significantly less structured than most Eddic poems, and is predominantly written in a metric form known as "málaháttr" or "conversational style". However, other metrical forms are also to be discerned, while some of the text is pure prose.

Theories

The early commentators F. W. Bergmann and Viktor Rydberg argued that there is doubt to be cast on assigning the persona of Odin to Hárbarðr, since many of the characteristics of Hárbarðr were alleged to be more akin to those of Loki than Odin. [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/rydberg/116.php] For example, Hárbarðr repeatedly boasts of his prowess among women, as do both Odin in "Havamal" and Loki in "Lokasenna"; and the speakers in both "Lokasenna" and "Hárbarðsljóð" accuse Thor's wife Sif of adultery. This theory was forcefully rejected before the end of the 19th century by Finnur Jónsson, Fredrick Sander, and Felix Niedner, and has not been accepted by Eddic scholars since their time. [Klaus Von See, et al., editors, "Kommentar zu den Liedern der Edda", ISBN3825305341, 2:155; Carol Clover, "Hárbardsljóð as Generic Farce", in "The Poetic Edda, Essays on Old Norse Mythology". Edited by Paul Acker and Carolyne Larrington, 2002, ISBN 0815316607, pp. 117-18, n.55.]

References

External links

English translations

* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/poe/poe08.htm Harbarthsljoth] Translation and commentary by Henry A. Bellows
* [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/poetic2/010_01.php Harbarðslióð] Translation by Benjamin Thorpe
* [http://home.earthlink.net/~wodensharrow/harbards.html Hárbarzljóð] Translation by W. H. Auden and P. B. Taylor
* [http://home.earthlink.net/~asatru/thor/harbard.html Hárbarzljóð] Translation by Lee M. Hollander
* [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/poetic3/011.php The Song of Harbard] Translation by A. S. Cottle

Old Norse editions

* [http://etext.old.no/Bugge/harbards.html Hárbarðsljóð] Sophus Bugge's edition of the manuscript text
* [http://www.heimskringla.no/original/edda/harbardsljod.php Hárbarðsljóð] Guðni Jónsson's edition of the text with normalized spelling