ment of the hypothetical Ragnarsdrápa has followed this
view, even though Snorri clearly admits only the stanzas
mentioned above (3–7 and 8–12 in Finnur Jónsson’s
Skjaldedigtning) as part of this drápa. Following Finnur
Jónsson’s arrangement, Ragnarsdrápa’s four subjects
were the encounter between the heroes Hamðir and S ̧o rli
and the Gothic tyrant J ̧o rmunrekkr (Ermanaric), also
subject of the eddic poem Hamðismál (sts. 3–7); Hildr’s
incitement to battle of her father, H ̧o gni, and her abduc-
tor, Heðinn (8–12); how Gefjon and her giant oxen won
land from the Swedish king Gylfi (13); and a version
of the god Þórr’s fi shing expedition to catch the World
Serpent (14–19). Convention has also allocated to the
drápa two half-stanza introductory verses, in the second
of which the poet thanks the “son of Sigurðr” (Ragnarr’s
father is said to have been Sigurðr hringr [“ring”]) for
the shield (1–2), and fi nishes off the drápa with a half-
stanza (20) on the metamorphosis of the giant Þjazi’s
eyes into a pair of stars. Hence the Ragnarsdrápa we
read in the standard editions is a scholarly reconstruc-
tion for which there is only partial authority in the work
in which its component verses are to be found, Snorri
Sturluson’s Edda (ca. 1225).
Other medieval texts in which stanzas attributed to
Bragi occur are MSS F (Codex Frisianus, AM 45 fol.),
J (Jöfraskinna, AM 38 fol.), and K (AM 35 fol.) of
Heimskringla (Ynglinga saga, ch. 5) for Ragnarsdrápa
13; the Fourth Grammatical Treatise (Ólsen 1884: 129)
for Ragnarsdrápa 3; MSS of Landnámabók, Hálfs saga
and Geirmundar Þáttr (for details see paragraph 1)
for a lausavísa on the twins Geirmundr and Hámundr
heljarskinn.
See also Snorri Sturluson
Further Reading
Editions
Björn Magnússon Ólsen, ed. Den Tredje og Fjærde Grammatiske
Afhandling i Snorres Edda Tilligemed de Grammatiske Afhan-
dlingers Prolog og To Andre Tillæg. Samfund til udgivelse af
gammel nordisk litteratur, 12. Islands grammatiske litteratur
i middelalderen 2. Copenhagen: Knudtzon, 1884 [for Rag-
narsdrápa 3].
Finnur Jónsson, ed. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. Vols.
1A–2A (tekst efter håndskrifteme) and 1B–2B (rettet tekst).
Copenhagen and Christiania [Oslo]: Gyldendal, 1912–15; rpt.
Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1967 (A) and 1973 (B)
Finnur Jónsson, ed. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar. Copenhagen:
Gyldendal, 1931.
Jón Jóhannesson et al., eds. Sturlunga saga. 2 vols. Reyk-
javik: Sturlunguútgafan, 1946 [for Geirmundar Þáttr
heljarskinns,vol. 1, pp.5–11].
Bjarni Aðalbjamarson, ed. Heimskringla. 3 vols. Íslenzk fornrit,
26–8. Reykjavik: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, 1941–51 [Rag-
narsdrápa 13, vol. 1, p. 21].
Jakob Benediktsson, ed. Íslendingabók. Landnámabók. Íslenzk
fornrit, 1. Reykjavik: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, 1968 [for
lausavísa on Geirmundr and Hámundr heljarskinn, p. 151].
Dronke, Ursula, ed. and trans. The Poetic Edda. 1. Heroic Po-
ems. Oxford: Clarendon, 1969 [for Ragnaradrápa 3–6 and
Hamðismàl, pp. 204–14].
Clunies Ross, Margaret. “An Edition of the Ragnarsdràpa of
Bragi Boddason.” Diss. Oxford University, 1973
Turville-Petre, E. O. G. Scaldic Poetry. Oxford: Clarendon,
1976.
Frank, Roberta. Old Norse Court Poetry: The Dróttkvætt Stanza.
Islandica, 42. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press,
1978.
Seelow, Hubert, ed. Hálfs saga ok Hálfsrekka. Reykjavik: Stofnun
Árna Magnússonar, 1981 [for lausavísa on Geirmundr and
Hámundr heljarskinn].
Translations
Hollander, Lee M. The Skalds: A Selection of Their Poems, With
Introductions and Notes. New York: American-Scandinavian
Foundation, 1945; rpt. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan
Press, 1968 [Bragi Boddason, pp. 25–37].
Faulkes, Anthony, trans. SnorriSturluson. Edda. Everyman Clas-
sics. London and Melbourne: Dent, 1987 [Bragi’s verses pp.
7, 69, 72–4, 89, 95, 99, 105–6, 120, 123–4, 132, 142; see also
Index of Names, p. 224].
Bibliographies
Hollander, Lee M. A Bibliography of Skaldic Studies. Copenha-
gen: Munksgaard, 1958.
Bekker-Nielsen, Hans. Old Norse–Icelandic Studies: A Select
Bibliography. Toronto Medieval Bibliographies, 1. Toronto:
University of Toronto Press, 1967.
Literature
Gísli Brynjúlfsson. “Brage den Gamles Kvad om Ragnar
Lodbrogs Skjold.” Aarbøger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og
Historie (1860), 3–13.
Reichhardt, Konstantin. Studien zu den Skalden des 9. und 10.
Jahrhunderts. Palaestra, 159. Leipzig: Mayer & Müller,
1928.
Finnur Jónsson. “Brage skjald.” Acta Philologica Scandinavica
5 (1930–31), 237–86.
Vogt, W. H. “Bragis schild.” Acta Philologica Scandinavica 5
(1930–31), 1–28.
Jón Jóhannesson. Gerðir Landnámabókar. Reykjavik: Félags-
prentsmiðjan, 1941, pp. 165–70.
Lie, Hallvard. “Skaldestil-studier.” Maal og minne (1952), 1–92;
rpt. Om Sagakunst og Skaldskap. Utvalgte Avhandlinger. Øvre
Ervik: Alvheim & Eide, 1982, pp. 109–200
Lie, Hallvard. “Billedbeskrivende dikt.” KLNM 1 (1956),
542–5.
Lie, Hallvard. “Natur” og “unatur” i skaldekunsten. Avhan-
dlinger utg. av Det norske Videnskaps-Akademie i Oslo,- Hist.-fi los. Kl. No. 1. Oslo: Aschehoug, 1957; rpt. Om
Sagakunst og Skaldskap, pp. 201–315.
Almqvist, Bo. Norrön niddiktning. Traditionshistoriska studier i
versmagi. 1. Nid mot furstar. Nordiska texter och undersöknin-
gar, 21. Uppsala: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1965, pp. 28–34 [for
analysis of exchange between Bragi and a troll-woman, as
reported in Snorra Edda, in tradition of Icelandic ákvæðaskáld
to whom supernatural powers were attributed].
Lie, Hallvard. “Ragnarsdrápa.” KLNM 13 (1968), 647–9
Clunies Ross, Margaret. “Hildr’s Ring: A Problem in the Rag-
narsdrápa, Strophes 8–12.” Mediaeval Scandinavia 6 (1973),
75–92.
Lindow, John. “The Two Skaldic Stanzas in Gylfaginning: Notes
on Sources and Text History.” Arkiv för nordisk fi lologi 92
(1977), 106–24 [on Bragi’s Gefjon stanza].
BRAGI BODDASON