Title: Hárbarðsljóð

Tags: Old Norse-Icelandic

Description:

​Hárbarðsljóð, "the Lay of Hárbarðr," is a poem in the Poetic Edda. In the Codex Regius ("royal book") manuscript of the eddic poems, Hárbarðsljóð is the 6th poem, coming after Skírnismál. The name Hárbarðr means "Greybeard," and is attested in lists of names of Óðinn, for example in Grímnismál and Gylfaginning. From this, most readers have assumed that Hárbarðr is Óðinn in disguise, as he usually is in the myths and sagas in which he appears; and he is often described as an elderly, bearded wanderer, which compounds the likelihood. Hárbarðsljóð has a puzzling structure, as it jumps between different poetic metres, and even has some single line stanzas, which are very uncommon in the metrical forms of Germanic poetry.

​Hárbarðsljóð is a verbal duel in which the opponents exchange insults, called a flyting in Old English literature, and in Old Norse these contests are called senna or mannjafnaðr ("comparison of men"). Although both of these are insult contests designed to increase one's own social standing and simultaneously depreciate the opponent's (for one or another purpose, even intimidation ahead of a physical battle), there are some differences between the two. Marcel Bax and Tineke Padmos (1983) contend that that Hárbarðsljóð is both a senna (stanzas 1–14) and a mannjafnaðr (stanzas 15–46), while Carol Clover (1979) argued that it was a parody of these genres of insult contests. The other well known mythological insult contest is in Lokasenna (LINK), "Loki's Quarrel," which also reflects a few of the stabs in Hárbarðsljóð, confirming that they were known and considered true. 

Synopsis​

The god Þórr (Thor) (LINK) arrives to a fjord on his way back from the east (​jötunnheimar, "giant-lands") and calls to a ferryman with a boat he sees resting on the other side. His address pokes fun at the old age of the ferryman, initiating the insult contest, to which the ferryman responds in kind with a similar insult. As they continue to exchange barbs, they also ask and receive each other's names, and the contest transfers from the senna to the mannjafnaðr format, if we follow Bax and Padmos' proposal above. The contest changes from simply slinging insults to boasts, inverting the format of insult by claiming one's own primacy and implying the opponent is not so skilled in the area of the boast. Þórr's boasts are limited to his battles with jötnar, his most famous exploits, while Hábarðr cites his own battle exploits and adds in his sexual achievements with women. The end of each "round" of the contest is signalled by the refrain, "what were you doing meanwhile?" Hárbarðr's sexual boasting and his barbed insults get the better of Þórr, who is angered at several points, threatening the ferryman with his hammer, Mjöllnir (LINK). The contest ends when Þórr bows out, asking for directions around the fjord since Hárbarðr only offers insults instead of passage across the water. Þórr gives a parting threat if he ever runs into Hárbarðr again, and Hárbarðr tells him to "go where monsters will take you!"

Often cited as the kernel of the poem, Hárbarðr says in stanza 24 "...Óðinn owns the jarls [earls] who fall in battle / and Þórr owns the kin of thralls [slaves]." Hárbarðr, likely Óðinn in disguise, and the poet or scribe of the poem, are drawing a distinction between the cults of the two gods, those who worship them. Þórr was a god of farmers and of safe travel, of livestock and weather, among other things, whereas Óðinn became associated with kingship, war, poetry, magic, and other elite matters. Þórr may fight and defend the other gods, but this is made to seem simplistic compared to Hárbarðr's (Óðinn's) boasting and talents.