From vikings to kings

Sibbi, son of Foldarr, commemorated in dróttkvætt on the Karlevi stone (see ch. 1), is said, by implication, to have ruled land in Denmark (ráða landi í Danmqrku). Whatever the extent of his rule, it was not sufficient for him to make his mark in any other source, and we know nothing about who he was, or where in or how much of Denmark he ‘ruled’. Nor is it possible to date the inscription closely enough to judge which king of Denmark he may have served, or indeed attempted to challenge. When we compare the inscription with that on the larger Jelling stone, commissioned by the much more famous Haraldr Bluetooth ias soR uan tanmaurk ala auk nuruiak ‘who won all of Denmark for himself, and Norway’ (D 42), we realise that Sibbi was probably no more than a minor magnate at home, and his activities as a warrior and sea-captain abroad probably gave more cause for his runic and poetic commemoration.

We have little or no skaldic poetry in praise of Haraldr Bluetooth, though Eskál II, addressed to a Danish prince, might have been for him (see also Anon X I,A,Nid). However, it is characteristic of the growing ambitions of his descendants that some of them, such as Knútr, were frequently commemorated in this way, and this poetry has been studied quite extensively (e.g. Frank 1994a, 1994b; Jesch 2000b). In the Danish context, this kind of royal praise was taken to its limit soon after 1100, when King Eiríkr Sveinsson was celebrated in Markús Skeggjason's Eiríksdrápa (Mark I), a poem much less extensively studied (though see Olsen 1921). This is not in dróttkvætt, but in the more flowing rhythms of hrynhent, with its lines of eight syllables, first used by Arnórr þórðarson to celebrate Magnús góði (Arn II). Much of Markús’ praise of Eiríkr is quite traditional. He is shown as a successful sea-captain (Mark I,5–6,16) and as the commander of a fleet (Mark I,24). He is the consummate war-leader (Mark I,17–19), who does his share of killing (Mark I,20) and successfully conquers fortifications and destroys habitations in Wendland (Mark I,21–23). He is, of course, generous to his followers (Mark I,3,7), but stern and unyielding with anyone who tries to oppose him (Mark I,32).