Ragnarsdrápa

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One of the decorations on Ragnarr's shield probably showed Thor's fishing trip. This illustration of the scene is from an 18th century Icelandic manuscript.

Ragnarsdrápa is a skaldic poem composed to the Scandinavian hero Ragnar Lodbrok. It is attributed to the oldest known skald Bragi Boddason who lived in the 9th century. Bragi describes the images on a decorated shield which Ragnar had given to him. The images included:

the attack of Hamdir and Sorli against King Jörmunrekkr
the never-ending battle between Hedin and Högni.
Thor's fishing for Jörmungandr
Gefjun's ploughing of Zealand from the soil of Sweden

The extant fragments of Ragnarsdrápa are preserved in Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda. The episodes of Hamdir and Sorli, and Hedin and Högni are explicitly ascribed to Ragnarsdrápa while the other parts are inferred by scholars to belong to the same poem.

The poem is often compared with Húsdrápa and Haustlöng which also describe artworks depicting mythological scenes.

External links

[Ragnarsdrápa] in Old Norse from «Kulturformidlingen norrøne tekster og kvad» Norway.
[Two editions of the original text]
[The first two half-stanzaz read aloud]
[Translation and discussion of six half-stanzas]

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