KORMÁKR QGMUMDARSON
(ca. 930–970)
Kormákr Qgmumdarson was an Icelandic poet, the
chief character of Kormáks saga. The name (Irish Cor-
mac) suggests Celtic family connections. According to
Haukr Valdísarson’s Íslendingadrápa, Kormákr was of
high birth (kynstórr). The saga belongs to the category
of skáldasögur, and is particularly remarkable for the
large number of verses (lausavísur) it contains scattered
throughout. Sixty-four of the eighty-fi ve verses are
spoken by the hero. Of the remaining ones, fi fteen are
attributed to his chief rival, Bersi. A few verses are faked,
corrupt, or of doubtful origin (in particular 6, 24, 61, 73,
and 79). The prose story of the saga, the biography of
the poet, is unusually short and constitutes little more
than a connecting framework around the many verses.
There are linguistic indications that it was composed
at the beginning of the 13th century, the earliest period
of saga writing.
Its all-dominating theme is the hero’s unhappy love
story, a love that is never consummated. Right from
the start, it contains bizarre elements. A glimpse of a
young girl’s beautiful ankles is enough to make the poet
fall in love and causes a fl ow of poetic inspiration. He
realizes that love for the young Steingerðr is to be his
fate for the rest of his life. But although his feelings are
reciprocated, and, after incidents in which blood is shed,
her father’s resistance is overcome, the planned marriage
falls through. Paradoxically enough, the direct cause of
the failure is Kormákr himself: when the time comes, he
does not turn up at the wedding that has already been
prepared. According to the saga, the real reason is the
harmful spell put upon him by a woman whose sons the
poet had killed. Against her will, Steingerðr is married to
the scarred warrior Bersi. With the arrogance that always
characterizes him, Kormákr insists on his fi rst right to
the girl and challenges Bersi to single combat, but after
a slight wound has to admit defeat. Scornful verses,
challenges, and single combats follow. Steingerðr leaves
Bersi and later marries again, this time a peaceful man
whom Kormákr deeply despises and mocks.
Off on his Viking journeys, the poet dreams of his be-
loved and sings the praises of her beauty. What seems to
be a promising meeting between the two occurs when Ko-
rmákr visits his country, but a night spent with Steingerðr
ends in a frustrating anticlimax: the physical role of a
lover seems to have been something denied to Kormákr.
One thing is certain: no Icelandic skald can compete
with Kormákr as the master of love poetry, which is
not, however, his only genre. Skáldatal informs us that
Kormákr had sung the praises of both Earl Sigurðr in
Hlaðir and Haraldr gráfeldr (“grey-cloak”) Eiríksson.
Only a part of the former’s poem has survived; there
are seven half-strophes from Sigurðardrápa, cited in
Skáldskaparmál in Snorri’s Edda, and one complete
strophe in Heimskringla. An original artistic device of
the poet is his way of replacing the drápa’s refrain (stef)
by varying mythological allusions that do not seem to
have any connection with the content of the rest of the
poem. In Snorri’s Háttatal, this variety of dróttkvætt is
called hjástælt.
A much-discussed theory would have us believe that
Kormáks saga is an entirely literary product, with prose
and poetry as equally authentic literary components. The
author, it is suggested, was a 13th-century writer who
had been infl uenced by continental European troubadour
poetry and the medieval love poetry of which Tristan
is the hero (Bjarni Einarsson 1976). This theory has
been contested on both linguistic and literary-histori-
cal grounds (Einar Ól. Sveinsson 1966–69, Andersson
1969, Hallberg 1975).Further Reading
Editions
Einar Ól. Sveinsson, ed. Vatnsdcela saga. Íslenzk fornrit, 8.
Reykjavik: Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, 1939.
Literature
Wood, Cecil. “Kormak’s Stanzas Called the Sigurðardrápa.”
Neophilologus 43 (1959), 305–19.
Hallberg, Peter. The Icelandic Saga. Trans. Paul Schach. Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press,’ 1962.
Einar Ól. Sveinsson. “Kormákr the Poet and His Verses.” Saga-
Book of the Viking Society 17 (1966–69), 18–60.
Andersson, Theodore M. “Skalds and Troubadours.” Mediaeval
Scandinavia 2 (1969), 7–41.
Frank, Roberta. “Onomastic Play in Kormákr’s Verse: The Name
Steingerðr.” Mediaeval Scandinavia 3 (1970), 7–34.
Bjarni Einarsson. “The Lovesick Skald: A Reply to Theodore
M. Andersson (Mediaeval Scandinavia 1969).” Mediaeval
Scandinavia 4 (1971) 21–41.
Hallberg, Peter. Old Icelandic Poetry: Eddie Lay and Skaldic
Ve r s e. Trans. Paul Schach and Sonja Lindgrenson. Lincoln:
University of Nebraska Press, 1975.
Turville-Petre, E. O. G. Scaldic Poetry. Oxford: Clarendon,
1976.
Bjarni Einarsson. To skjaldesagaer. En analyse af Kormáks saga
og Hallfreðar saga. Bergen, Oslo, and Tromsø: Universitets-
forlaget, 1976.
See, Klaus von. “Skaldenstrophe und Sagaprosa. Ein Beitrag zum
Problem der mündlichen Überlieferung in der altnordischen
Literatur.” Mediaeval Scandinavia 10 (1977), 58–82.
Frank, Roberta. Old Norse Court Poetry: The Dróttkvætt Stanza.
Islandica, 42. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press,
1978.
See, Klaus von. “Mündliche Prosa und Skaldendichtung. Mit
einem Exkurs über Skaldensagas und Trobadorbiographien.”
Mediaeval Scandinavia 11 (1978–79), 82–91.
Schottmann, Hans. “Der Bau der Kormáks saga.” Skandinavistik
12 (1982) 22–36.
Lie, Hallvard. Om sagakunst og skaldskap. Utvalgte avhan-
dlinger. Øvre Ervik: Alvheim & Eide, 1982.
Clover, Carol J., and John lindow, eds. Old Norse–Icelandic Lit-
erature: A Critical Guide. Islandica, 45. Ithaca and London:
Cornell University Press, 1985.
Folke StrömKORMÁKR QGMUMDARSON