Krákumál
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Krákumál or the Lay of Kraka is a skaldic poem, consisting of a monologue in which Ragnar Lodbrok is dying in Ælla's snake pit and looks back at a life full of heroic deeds. It is probably composed at the end of the 12th century on Iceland. It is composed in a kind of háttlausa with stanzas of ten lines.
With a moving and forceful language, the poem deals with the joys of the life of a warrior, the hope that his death will be followed by a gory revenge, and the knowledge that he will soon know the pleasures of Valhalla.
The poem has been translated into several languages and it has contributed to the modern image of a Viking warrior.
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[edit] Source
- Krákumál in Old Norse from «Kulturformidlingen norrøne tekster og kvad» Norway.
- Nordisk familjebok on Krákumál
- Haukur Þorgeirsson on the poem with a recording
