[Harbard’s song] is a mythological eddic poem composed in a mix of
fornyrðislag[old story meter],
ljóðaháttr[song meter],
málaháttr[speech meter], and some irregular or free verse. The poem is divided into 60 stanzas with some prose insertions. The oldest version of
Hárbarðsljóðsurvives in a vellum manuscript from c. 1260-1280, Konungsbók eddukvæða (Codex Regius of Eddic Poetry; GKS 2365 4to). A fragmentary version of the poem is also found in AM 748 I a 4to, from c. 1300, that includes the final two-thirds of the
Hárbarðsljóðtext, from stanza 19 line 7, where the surviving manuscript begins, on to the end of the poem.
Þórr and Óðinn—here disguised as Hárbarðr [Grey beard]—trade stanzas of speech from across an inlet that Þórr encounters
1013 words
Citation: McGillivray, Andrew. "Hárbarðsljóð". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 September 2022 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=40736, accessed 06 October 2024.]