The King is dead, long live the King: commemoration in skaldic verse of the Viking age

Thesis

This thesis examines the function of commemorative skaldic verse at the Viking-age court. The first chapter demonstrates that the commemoration of past kings could provide a prestigious genealogical record that was used to legitimize both pagan and early Christian rulers. In the ninth and early tenth centuries, poets crafted competing genealogies to assert the primacy of their patrons and of their patrons’ religions. The second chapter looks at the work of tenth-century poets who depict th...

Expand abstract

Authors: Goeres, E

• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: Oxford University, UK
• Language: English
• Keywords: Viking age literature; kings' sagas; Skaldic verse; Old Norse
• Subjects: Literatures of Germanic languages