"Svá sem naglar halda skipi saman": Attitudes to Alliteration in Poetry and Lyrics in Iceland

• Main Author: Sophie Antonia Kass 1994-
• Other Authors: Háskóli Íslands
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2021
• Subjects: Miðaldabókmenntir; Íslenskar fornbókmenntir; Halda; Stuðlar; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1946/37940

Alliteration is a feature of the poetic expression of many languages, but it was one of the most important ones within the ancient Germanic poetic tradition. While other Germanic languages no longer apply the poetic metrics that call for structural alliteration and stopped doing so during medieval times, Icelandic poetry continues to employ structural alliteration in accordance with the tripartite system that includes props and a head-stave (stuðlar and hǫfuðstafr in Old Icelandic). Even in modern poetry and lyrics, one can come across the traditional alliterative style. “Svá sem naglar halda skipi saman,” as nails holding a ship together, so does Óláfr Þórðarson hvítaskáld deem the importance of alliteration in the 13th century for the Nordic poetic tradition. Given this importance of alliteration, it is no surprise that it can be found in all types of Icelandic poetry until well into the 20th century. Few exceptions exist, however, most notably poetry such as sagnadansar and þulur which were mostly performed by women and as such belonged to a less prestigious sphere in society. Since the beginning of the 20th century until today, the importance of alliteration for nearly all types of Icelandic poetry seems to be in a decline, a fact which this thesis aims to explore in more detail through an analysis of scholarship, representative popular poetry and lyrics throughout that time, and the conduction of four interviews with modern Icelandic artists of the poetic and the songwriter’s sphere, namely Bragi Valdimar Skúlason, Gerður Kristný, Kristín Svava Tómasdóttir and Guðrún Ýr Eyfjörð Jóhannesdóttir (better known as GDRN). Through these means, it shall come to light that although knowledge and appreciation of the Icelandic alliterative tradition is still alive among the Icelandic society, there is a clear indication that the usage of it is starting to be restricted to a certain community that values the traditional ways of poetry. Meanwhile, most mainstream poetry and lyrics are using alliteration more freely as ...