Anonymous, Fjölsvinnsmál

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), Kjerstin Moody (Gustavus Adolphus College), Sven Hakon Rossel (Universitat Wien), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen (University College London)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 1650

Places

Iceland (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poem

Resources

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Fjölsvinnsmál

[Fjölsvinnr’s sayings] is a mythological eddic poem composed in

ljóðaháttr

[song meter]. The poem is divided into 50 stanzas.

Fjölsvinnsmál

is associated with

Grógaldr

[Gróa’s chant] in terms of content and transmission: In

Grógaldr

a story begins that concludes in

Fjölsvinnsmál

and the two poems appear alongside one another in at least 46 manuscripts (Larrington). The close association has resulted in the two poems occasionally being considered as the single poem

Svipdagsmál

[Svipdagr’s sayings].

Fjölsvinnsmál

, like

Grógaldr

, is not preserved in any medieval manuscript. The oldest surviving versions of the poem are found in paper manuscripts from the seventeenth century, including Stockh. papp. 8vo nr. 15, an Icelandic manuscript written in the second…

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2660 words

Citation: McGillivray, Andrew. "Fjölsvinnsmál". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 July 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=41644, accessed 08 September 2024.]

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Anonymous, Fjölsvinnsmál

Dates

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Resources

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