Anonymous, Hymiskviða [Hymir’s poem]

Andrew McGillivray (University of Winnipeg)

Ed. by Ármann Jakobsson, University of Iceland
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.3.4: Icelandic Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Ármann Jakobsson (University of Iceland), Kjerstin Moody (Gustavus Adolphus College), Sven Hakon Rossel (Universitat Wien), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen (University College London)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1100 - 1200

Places

Iceland (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poem

Resources

Save to Bookshelf

Hymiskviða

[Hymir’s poem] is a mythological eddic poem composed in

fornyrðislag

[old story meter]. The poem is divided into 39 stanzas. The oldest version of

Hymiskviða

survives in a vellum manuscript from c. 1260-1280, Konungsbók eddukvæða (Codex Regius of Eddic Poetry; GKS 2365 4to). A second version of the poem is found in AM 748 I a 4to, a vellum manuscript from c. 1300. In Konungsbók eddukvæða the poem is titled

Þórr dró Miðgarðsorm

[Thor catches Midgard serpent], whereas in AM 748 I a 4to the poem is titled

Hymiskviða

Hymiskviða relates the story of one of Þórr’s adventures to the land of the giants. The form is primarily narration with some direct speech interspersed. The narrative structure is that of a double-frame, the exterior frame set in Ásgarðr [Home

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

2131 words

Citation: McGillivray, Andrew. "Hymiskviða". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 July 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=41002, accessed 04 May 2024.]

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Anonymous, Hymiskviða [Hymir’s poem]

Dates

Places

Genres and Modes

Resources

Save this article

Leave Feedback