SOURCE: Macrae-Gibson, O. D. “Sagas, Snorri, and the Literary Criticism of Scaldic Verse.” In Úr Dölum til Dala: Guðbrandur Vigfússon Centenary Essays, edited by Rory McTurk and Andrew Wawn, pp. 165-86. Leeds, England: University of Leeds, 1989.

In the following essay, Macrae-Gibson discusses whether the skalds meant for their compositions to be interpreted in a larger cultural context and also analyzes Snorri's stance on the subject.

Among Guðbrandur Vigfússon's scholarly concerns was the proper interpretation of Snorri's account of Old Norse poetry. He was particularly troubled that contemporary critics were misapplying it to Eddaic verse: “[Snorri's] system of terminology … is neither historically nor actually correct when applied to the older metres. Snorri, indeed, knows this, and does not attempt to analyse … the old poetry, but his modern followers have not shown such self-control …”.¹ The present paper has a related concern, though its business is...