Editing Alliterative verse (section)

==Old Norse and Icelandic==
{{main article|Old Norse poetry|Icelandic Literature}}

=== Types of Old Norse alliterative verse ===
Essentially all Old Norse poetry was written in some form of alliterative verse. It falls into two main categories: [[Eddaic poems|Eddaic]] and [[Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages|Skaldic]] poetry. Eddaic poetry was anonymous, originally orally transmitted, and mostly consisted or legends, mythological stories, wise sayings and proverbs.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1002/9780470776063 |title=Old Norse-Icelandic Literature |date=2004 |last1=O'Donoghue |first1=Heather |isbn=978-0-631-23625-2 }}{{page needed|date=December 2023}}</ref> A majority of the Eddaic poetry appears in the [[Poetic Edda]]. Skaldic poetry was associated with individual poets or skalds, typically employed by a king or other ruler, who primarily wrote poems praising their patron or criticizing their patron's enemies. It thus tends to be more elaborate and poetically ambitious than Eddaic poetry.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ross |first1=Margaret Clunies |title=Style and Authorial Presence in Skaldic Mythological Poetry |journal=Saga-Book |date=1978 |volume=20 |pages=276–304 |jstor=48612121 }}</ref>

=== Formal features ===
The inherited form of alliterative verse was modified somewhat in Old Norse poetry. In Old Norse, as a result of phonetic changes from the original common Germanic language, many unstressed [[syllable]]s were lost. This lent Old Norse verse a characteristic terseness; the lifts tended to be crowded together at the expense of the weak syllables. In some lines, the weak syllables have been entirely suppressed. As a result, while we still have the base pattern of paired half-lines joined by alliteration, it is very rare to have multiple-syllable dips. The following example from the ''[[Hávamál]]'' illustrates this basic pattern:{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}
{{Verse translation|
{{lang|non|Deyr fé 
{{pad|1em}} deyja frændr}}
|
Cattle die; 
{{pad|1em}} kinsmen die...}}

==== Meter and rhythm ====
The terseness of the Norse form may be linked to another feature of Norse poetry that differentiates it from common Germanic patterns: In Old Norse poetry, syllable count sometimes matters, and not just the number of lifts and dips.<ref name="Poole 2005 Metre and Metrics">{{cite book |last1=Poole |first1=Russell |chapter=Metre and Metrics |pages=265–284 |editor1-last=McTurk |editor1-first=Rory |title=A Companion to Old Norse-Icelandic Literature and Culture |date=2005 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-631-23502-6 }}</ref> That depends upon the specific verse form used, of which Old Norse poetry had many. The base, Common Germanic alliterative meter is what Old Norse poets termed ''fornyrðislag'' ("old story meter"). More complex verse forms imposed an extra layer of structure in which syllable count, stress, alliteration (and sometimes, assonance and rhyme) worked together to define line or stanza structures.<ref name="Poole 2005 Metre and Metrics"/> For example, in kvi''ðuhattr ("lay form")'', the first half line had to contain four, and the second half-line, three syllables, while in ''ljóðaháttr'' ("song" or "[[ballad]]" meter), there were no specific syllable counts, but the lines were arranged into four-line stanzas alternating between four- and three-lift lines. More complex stanza forms imposed additional constraints.<ref name="Poole 2005 Metre and Metrics"/> The various names of the Old Norse verse forms are given in the [[Prose Edda]] by [[Snorri Sturluson]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=Prose Edda |publisher=Penguin books |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-140-44755-2 |language=Old Norse |translator-last=Byock |translator-first=Jesse}}</ref> The ''[[Háttatal]]'', or "list of verse forms", contains the names and characteristics of each of the fixed forms of Norse poetry.<ref>Nordal, Guðrún, and Nordal Guðrún. ''Tools of literacy: the role of skaldic verse in Icelandic textual culture of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries''. University of Toronto Press, 2001.{{page needed|date=December 2023}}</ref>

==== Rules for alliteration ====
Old Norse followed the general Germanic rules for alliteration, but imposed specific alliteration patterns on specific verse forms, and sometimes rules for assonance and internal rhyme. For example, ''drottkvætt'' ("courtly meter") not only required alliteration between adjacent half-lines, but imposed requirements for consonance and internal rhyme at specific points in each stanza.<ref name="Poole 2005 Metre and Metrics"/>

==== Diction ====
Old Norse was rich in poetic synonyms and kennings, where it closely resembled Old English.<ref name="Kennings in Old English Verse and i"/><ref>Townend, Matthew. ''Antiquity of diction in Old English and Old Norse poetry''. University of Cambridge, Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic, 2015.{{page needed|date=December 2023}}</ref> Norse poets were sometimes described as creating "riddling" kennings whose meaning was not necessarily self-evident to the audience, perhaps reflecting competition among skalds.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Burrows |first1=Hannah |title=Riddles and Kennings |journal=European Journal of Scandinavian Studies |date=26 April 2021 |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=46–68 |doi=10.1515/ejss-2020-2017 |s2cid=233186205 }}</ref>

===Example===
The following poem from Egil's Saga illustrates the basic principles of Old Norse alliterative verse. For convenience, the 'b' verses (the lines containing the critical last alliteration in the line, or ''headstave'') are indented and alliterating consonants are bolded and underlined.
{{Verse translation|
{{lang|is|
Nús <u>'''h'''</u>ersis <u>'''h'''</u>efnd{{pad|1em}}
{{pad|1em}}{{pad|1em}}við <u>'''h'''</u>ilmi efnd;{{pad|1em}}
gengr <u>'''u'''</u>lfr ok <u>'''ö'''</u>rn{{pad|1em}}
{{pad|1em}}{{pad|1em}}of <u>'''y'''</u>nglings börn;{{pad|1em}}
flugu <u>'''h'''</u>öggvin <u>'''h'''</u>ræ{{pad|1em}}
{{pad|1em}}{{pad|1em}}<u>'''H'''</u>allvarðs á sæ;{{pad|1em}}
grár <u>'''s'''</u>lítr undir{{pad|1em}}
{{pad|1em}}{{pad|1em}}ari <u>'''S'''</u>narfara.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Egil's Saga - Icelandic Saga Database |language=en |work=Icelandic Saga Database |url=https://www.sagadb.org/egils_saga.is |access-date=2023-12-02}}</ref>}}
|
'For a noble warrior slain{{pad|1em}}
{{pad|1em}}{{pad|1em}}Vengeance now on king is ta'en:{{pad|1em}}
Wolf and eagle tread as prey{{pad|1em}}
{{pad|1em}}{{pad|1em}}Princes born to sovereign sway.{{pad|1em}}
Hallvard's body cloven through{{pad|1em}}
{{pad|1em}}{{pad|1em}}Headlong in the billows flew;{{pad|1em}}
Wounds of wight once swift to fare{{pad|1em}}
{{pad|1em}}{{pad|1em}}Swooping vulture's beak doth tear.'<ref>{{Cite news |title=Egil's Saga - Icelandic Saga Database |language=en |work=Icelandic Saga Database |url=https://www.sagadb.org/egils_saga.en |access-date=2023-12-02}}</ref>}}

Further details about [[Old Norse]] versification can be found in the companion article, [[Old Norse poetry|Old Norse Poetry]].

===Icelandic===
Icelandic is not only descended from Old Norse, it is so conservative that Old Norse literature is still read in Iceland.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Karlsson |first1=Stefán |title=The Icelandic Language |last2=McTurk |first2=Rory W. |publisher=Viking Society for Northern Research |year=2004}}</ref>  Traditional Icelandic poetry, however, follows somewhat different rules than Old Norse, both for rhythm and alliteration. The following brief description captures the basic rules of modern Icelandic alliterative verse,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jónas Hallgrímsson: Selected Poetry and Prose |url=https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/Jonas/Jonas.html |access-date=2023-12-02 |website=digicoll.library.wisc.edu}}</ref> which was the dominant form of Icelandic poetry until recent decades, and is still a living cultural tradition.<ref name="auto">{{cite thesis |last1=Kass |first1=Sophie Antonia |title='Svá sem naglar halda skipi saman': Attitudes to Alliteration in Poetry and Lyrics in Iceland |url=https://skemman.is/handle/1946/37940 |date=May 2021}}{{page needed|date=December 2023}}</ref>

==== Formal features ====

==== Meter, rhythm, and alliteration ====
Icelandic alliterative verse contains lines that typically contain eight to ten syllables.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Formal Features of Jónas Hallgrímsson's Poetry: Appendix A. The Scansion of Lines of Modern Icelandic Stanzaic Verse |url=https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/Jonas/Prosody/Prosody-AppA.html |access-date=2023-12-02 |website=digicoll.library.wisc.edu}}</ref> They are traditionally analyzed into feet, one per stress, with typically falling rhythm. The first foot in a line is considered a ''heavy foot'', the second, a light foot, and so on, with the third and fifth foot counting as heavy, and the second and fourth as light.<ref name="digicoll.library.wisc.edu">{{Cite web |title=Formal Features of Jónas Hallgrímsson's Poetry: Appendix B. The Rules for Alliterant-Placement in the Odd Lines of Modern Icelandic Stanzaic Verse |url=https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/Jonas/Prosody/Prosody-AppB.html |access-date=2023-12-02 |website=digicoll.library.wisc.edu}}</ref> Icelandic lines are basically Germanic half-lines; they come in pairs. The ''head-stave'' is the first stressed syllable in the second line in each pair, which must alliterate with at least one stress in the preceding line. The alliterating stresses in the first line in each pair are called props, or ''studlar'', following the usual Germanic rules about which consonants alliterate. They are subject to the following rules:<ref name="digicoll.library.wisc.edu"/>

* at least one prop must stand in a heavy foot
* if both props are in heavy feet, no more than one light foot can separate them.
* A prop can only appear in a light foot if it is immediately adjacent to a prop in a heavy foot.
* If the second prop appears in a light foot, only one foot can separate it from the head-stave in the next line
* If the second prop appears in a heavy foot, one or two feet can separate it from the head-stave in the next line.

This system allows considerable rhythmic flexibility.<ref>Adalsteinsson, R. I. (2014). ''Traditions and Continuities: Alliteration in old and modern Icelandic verse''. Torossa.{{page needed|date=December 2023}}</ref>

Icelandic keeps some Old Norse forms, such as ''[[fornyrðislag]], [[ljóðaháttur]]'', and ''[[dróttkvætt]].''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Formal Features of Jónas Hallgrímsson's Poetry: I. Strophic Forms |url=https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/Jonas/Prosody/Prosody-I.html |access-date=2023-12-02 |website=digicoll.library.wisc.edu}}</ref> It also has a wide variety of stanzaic forms that combine the alliterative structure described above with rhyme ([[Rímur|rimur]]), including quatrain structures like ''[[Ferskeytt|ferskeytla]]'' that rhyme ABAB, couplet structures (''stafhenduætt''), tercet structures like ''baksneidd braghenda'', and longer patterns, in which rhyming and alliteration patterns run either in parallel or in counterpoint.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Formal Features of Jónas Hallgrímsson's Poetry: Stanzaic Forms |url=https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/Jonas/Prosody/Prosody-II.html |access-date=2023-12-02 |website=digicoll.library.wisc.edu}}</ref>

==== Diction ====
Traditional poetic synonyms and kennings persisted in Icelandic [[Rímur|rimur]] as late as the 18th Century, but were criticized by modernizing poets such as Jonas Hallgrimsson, and dropped out of later usage.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1163/9789004648982_003 |chapter=Introduction |title=The Reception of German Literature in Iceland, 1775-1850 |date=1985 |last1=Senner |first1=W.M. |pages=v-xii |isbn=978-90-04-64898-2 }}</ref>

==== Example ====
The following poem in ''kviðuhattr''  meter by Jónas Hallgrímsson with translation by Dick Ringler<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jónas Hallgrímsson: A Toast to Iceland |url=https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/Jonas/Minni/Minni.html |access-date=2023-12-02 |website=digicoll.library.wisc.edu}}</ref> illustrates how the rules for Icelandic alliterative verse work. For convenience, lines starting with a head stave are indented and both props and headstave are bolded and underlined.
{{Verse translation|
{{lang|is|
'''Íslands minni'''{{pad|1em}}
{{pad|1em}} 
Þið þekkið fold með <u>'''b'''</u>líðri <u>'''b'''</u>rá,{{pad|1em}}
{{pad|1em}}{{pad|1em}}og <u>'''b'''</u>láum tindi fjalla,{{pad|1em}}
og <u>'''s'''</u>vanahljómi, <u>'''s'''</u>ilungsá,{{pad|1em}}
{{pad|1em}}{{pad|1em}}og <u>'''s'''</u>ælu blómi valla,{{pad|1em}}
og <u>'''b'''</u>röttum fossi, <u>'''b'''</u>jörtum sjá{{pad|1em}}
{{pad|1em}}{{pad|1em}}og <u>'''b'''</u>reiðum jökulskalla —{{pad|1em}}
<u>'''d'''</u>rjúpi' hana blessun <u>'''d'''</u>rottins á{{pad|1em}}
{{pad|1em}}{{pad|1em}}um <u>'''d'''</u>aga heimsins alla.
}}
|
A Toast to Iceland{{pad|1em}}
{{pad|1em}}
Our <u>'''l'''</u>and of <u>'''l'''</u>akes forever fair{{pad|1em}}
{{pad|1em}}{{pad|1em}}be<u>'''l'''</u>ow blue mountain summits,{{pad|1em}}
of <u>'''s'''</u>wans, of <u>'''s'''</u>almon leaping where{{pad|1em}}
{{pad|1em}}{{pad|1em}}the <u>'''s'''</u>ilver water plummets,{{pad|1em}}
of glaciers swelling <u>'''b'''</u>road and <u>'''b'''</u>are{{pad|1em}}
{{pad|1em}}{{pad|1em}}a<u>'''b'''</u>ove earth's fiery sinews —{{pad|1em}}
the <u>'''L'''</u>ord pour out his <u>'''l'''</u>argess there{{pad|1em}}
{{pad|1em}}{{pad|1em}}as <u>'''l'''</u>ong as earth continues!
}}

==== Recent developments ====
Alliterative verse appears to have been the dominant poetic tradition in Iceland until well after World War II. In the last generation, or so, a split appears to have developed between avant garde and traditionalist approaches to Icelandic poetry, with alliteration remaining frequent in all forms of Icelandic poetry, but playing a structural, defining role only in more traditional forms.<ref name="auto"/>