Heill Haukr

yes, this would probably work well especially for people just coming
into the group. As it is, whenever I see a post that I feel might help
me later (even some of Keth's :{}), I forward it to my personal
e-mail address and file it for later use. That way I don't have to
sort through old letters to find it again.

Alice

--- In norse_course@..., Haukur Thorgeirsson <haukurth@...> wrote:
> Going through the archives I note that there are
> very informative letters now and then (an example
> of which is below).
>
> I wonder if it would be a good idea to take the good
> letters and put them on the home-page of the course.
>
> What do you think?
>
> Haukur
>
>
>
> >Old Norse and Old English poetry in general don't have a fixed
number
> >of syllables arranged in rigid "feet" or patterns like a lot of
> >English poetry does -- no iambic pentameter. What is usually
counted
> >are stressed syllables, and there can be a variable number of
> >unstressed syllables in a line. Skaldic poetry was more formal in
> >structure than Eddaic poetry, and there's where you get your more
> >rigid syllabic construction.
> >
> >Voluspa is Fornyrðislag, or "meter of ancient words", which is
> >composed both with and without a fixed number of syllables per
line,
> >usually 4 syllables, more or less.
> >
> >Other Old Norse meters:
> >
> >Malahattr or "meter of speeches" -- like fornyrðislag but has a
> >regular number of syllables per line, usually five syllables in
each
> >line.
> >
> >Kviðuháttr or "meter of discourse" -- a variant of fornyrðislag in
> >which syllables are closely counted and the lines alternate,
starting
> >with one line with three syllables, the next line with four.
> >
> >Ljoðaháttr "meter of chants" -- made up of pairs of lines, each
with
> >two stressed syllables and bound by alliteration, followed by a
third
> >line called "the full line" which has its own alliteration and
either
> >2 or 3 stressed syllables. Normally two segments of three lines
make
> >up a stanza.
> >
> >Galdralag "magic spell meter" -- a variant of ljoðaháttr, uses a
> >fourth line which echoes and varies the third line of the stanza.
> >
> >Dróttkvætt "noble warrior's meter" -- Uses a three-stress line,
> >normally of six syllables, always ending in a long stressed
syllable
> >followed by an unstressed one. The lines are linked in pairs by
> >alliteration, two intitial sounds in the first line matched by the
> >start of the first stressed syllable in the second line. There is
> >also a system of internal rhyme: in each line the last stressed
> >syllable must contain vowel and consonant that chime with those in
an
> >earlier syllable. In the first line a half-rhyme should be found
---
> >also called skothending or "glancing hit" --- and in the second
line
> >the rhyme should be full --- also called aðalhending or "full hit".
> >Each stanza contains eight lines, and there is usually a marked
> >syntactic division at the end of line four to make the whole into
two
> >balancing halves.
> >
> >Hrynhendr háttr "flowing meter" -- derived from dróttkvætt, and
uses
> >all the dróttkvætt rules with the addition of requiring that the
> >basic unit be extended from a three-stress, six-syllable line to a
> >four-stress, eight-syllable line.
> >
> >::GUNNORA::
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
> >norse_course-unsubscribe@egroups.com
> >
> >
> >