https://doi.org/10.31261/SPiP.2013.09.02
The status of skaldic poetry as a reliable historical source, and thus its usefulness in studies of Scandinavian history in the 10th and 11th centuries, has long been a subject of debate among researchers. Due to the late state of preservation and the nature of the poems, caution is rightly advocated when relying on information provided by poets. However, this does not mean that this category of sources is irretrievably lost to historians, a good example of which is research on the presence of Scandinavians in England at the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries. The situation is similar with the poetry composed at the court of Magnus the Good, King of Norway and Denmark (ca. 1035–1047). This applies primarily to the manner in which skalds addressed the ruler in poems composed in his honor. A detailed analysis of three poems (Magnúsflokkr by Þjóðólf Arnórsson, Hrynhend-Magnúsdráp, and Magnúsdráp by Arnór Þórðarson) indicates the skalds' care in designating the king by appropriate names, so that they fully reflected his efforts to legitimize his position in Denmark, especially in the face of the conflict with Sven Ulfsson, a claimant to the throne. The poetry in Magnus's honor indicates this, which is also confirmed by other contemporary sources. Magnus based his rule over Denmark on the memory of his father, Olaf the Holy, and a way to gain an effective advantage in the struggle for the throne was to seize control of the key region of the country, namely Scania.
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Vol. 5 (2013)
Published: 2013-12-31
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