Tøglag
Tøglag is a rod-rhyming meter of Skaldic seal. It is a variant of the Dróttkvættvers measure , but due to the reduction in the number of syllables it is even more difficult to compose than this.
etymology
Tøgr is the "tens" in Old Norse and was a law or, in this case, a meter. However, the interpretation as a "decimal measure" is not convincing. The derivation from the word “train” (Old Norse Tog ) in the sense of a journey or journey is more likely . Since the first two poems in Tøglag are travelogues, this interpretation is obvious.
construction
A Tøglag strophe follows the Dróttkvættvers measure in structure . The four long lines of a stanza must each contain three sticks (two in the anterior and one in the reverse). Each half line is also held together by an internal rhyme and, that is the difference to Dróttkvætt, must consist of exactly four syllables. In a Dróttkvættstrophe the poet had six syllables to accommodate the bars and the inner rhyme. A Tøglag strophe is very difficult to compose due to the strict limitation of the syllables per half line.
In the following example from the Knútsdrápa of the Skald Sigvatr Þórðarson , the alliteration rhymes are marked in bold and the inner rhymes in red.
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In the example stanza, the poet managed to fit all of the bars and rhymes that are common for meter into the verse. It only crosses the syllable limit once, but only because the English king name Aðalráð already requires three syllables.
use
The meter was seldom used because of its difficulty. Sigvatr Þórðarson uses it in his award song about Knut the Great Knútsdrápa and Þórarinn loftunga in the eponymous poem Tøgdrápa . Both poems deal with the subject of Canute the Great and therefore it is assumed that the meter originated at his court in England.
See also
literature
- Klaus von See: Germanic verse art ; Metzler Collection M 67; Stuttgart (1967) p. 48
- Edith Marold : Töglag . In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde Vol. 31 (2nd edition) Berlin, New York 2006. S. 20