Anonymous, Hymiskviða [Hymir’s poem]

Andrew McGillivray (University of Winnipeg)

Ed. by Ármann Jakobsson, University of Iceland
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.3.4: Icelandic Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Ármann Jakobsson (University of Iceland), Sven Hakon Rossel (Universitat Wien), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen (University College London)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1100 - 1200

Places

Iceland (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poem

Resources

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Hymiskviða

[Hymir’s poem] is a mythological eddic poem composed in

fornyrðislag

[old story meter]. The poem is divided into 39 stanzas. The oldest version of

Hymiskviða

survives in a vellum manuscript from c. 1260-1280, Konungsbók eddukvæða (Codex Regius of Eddic Poetry; GKS 2365 4to). A second version of the poem is found in AM 748 I a 4to, a vellum manuscript from c. 1300. In Konungsbók eddukvæða the poem is titled

Þórr dró Miðgarðsorm

[Thor catches Midgard serpent], whereas in AM 748 I a 4to the poem is titled

Hymiskviða

Hymiskviða relates the story of one of Þórr’s adventures to the land of the giants. The form is primarily narration with some direct speech interspersed. The narrative structure is that of a double-frame, the exterior frame set in Ásgarðr [Home

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2131 words

Citation: McGillivray, Andrew. "Hymiskviða". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 July 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=41002, accessed 21 November 2024.]

Anonymous, Hymiskviða [Hymir’s poem]

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