Editing Mansöngr (section)

=== In Icelandic sagas ===
In ''[[Egils saga]]'', the poet [[Egill Skallagrímsson]] recites a poem about a woman to his friend Arinbjörn. Arinbjörn asks Egill for whom he has composed this ''mansöngr'' and Egill recites another poem before revealing that the subject of both is Arinbjörn's kinswoman Ásgerðr, the widow of Egill's brother Þórólfr (Thorolf).<ref>The dialogue between Egill and Arinbjörn is first preserved in the 'theta fragment' of ''Egils saga'' (AM 162 A θ fol.) from c. 1250.</ref> Egill requests Arinbjörn's help in arranging his marriage with Ásgerðr, and the ''mansöngvar'' are thus a prelude to an open declaration of love and a marriage petition.

[[Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld]]'s poems to Kolfinna Ávaldadóttir are also described as ''mansöngvar'' in ''[[Hallfreðar saga]]'', but the saga depicts Hallfreðr as resisting attempts to organise Kolfinna's marriage to both himself and other men. The saga portrays Hallfreðr's erotic poetry about Kolfinna and his libellous verses on Kolfinna's husband, Grís, as destructive in nature—objectifying Kolfinna while inciting her family to violence. Only through his relationship with his King [[Ólafr Tryggvason]] (his eventual godfather) and his spiritual poems does Hallfreðr find redemption and maturity and eventually express regret for the sorrow he has caused Kolfinna.<ref>Ingibjörg Gísladóttir, ''„Krist vil ek allrar ástar....“ Um eðli Hallfreðar sögu vandræðaskálds'', University of Iceland, BA Thesis in Icelandic Literature, 2008.</ref>

One of the oldest saga manuscripts to preserve a reference to the genre is DG<ref>The De La Gardie Collection in [[Uppsala University Library]]</ref> 8 from c. 1225–1250 in the hagiographical saga ''[[Óláfs saga helga]]''. According to the saga, the Icelandic skald [[Óttarr svarti]] composed a ''mansǫngsdrápa'' about [[Astrid Olofsdotter of Sweden|Queen Ástríðr]] of [[Norway]] when they were both in the court of [[Olof Skötkonung|her father, the King of Sweden]]. This [[drápa]] provoked the wrath of her husband, [[Olaf II of Norway|King Ólafr Helgason]], but when Óttarr travelled to Norway he prudently enlisted the help of his uncle and skald [[Sigvatr Þórðarson]] to gain an audience with the Norwegian king and redeem himself with the poem ''[[Hǫfuðlausn (Óttarr svarti)|Hǫfuðlausn]]'', which praises the merits of King Ólafr rather than the beauty of his wife.