Hákonarmál
Also known as: The Lay of Hákon, Hakonarmal, Hákon's Lay
A skaldic encomium for King Hákon the Good, narrating valkyries choosing him in battle and his reception in Valhalla by Óðinn and the gods. It fuses royal praise with vivid mythic scenery and afterlife imagery.
Description
Eyvindr skáldaspillir’s Hákonarmál memorializes King Hákon the Good after his death at Fitjar (961). Cast in elevated skaldic diction, the poem frames Hákon’s fall as a fate decreed by Óðinn, with the valkyries Göndul and Skögul sent to choose the slain. The action alternates between the battlefield and the halls of Valhalla, where Bragi and Hermóðr greet the king and the einherjar are summoned to honor him. The work blends political praise with mythic eschatology, presenting the ideal of the warrior-king whose glory continues in Óðinn’s hall. Preserved in later saga prose, it remains a key witness to valkyrie agency, hall-culture, and royal ideology in the late Viking Age.
Historiography
Transmitted in prose contexts of the kings’ sagas—primarily Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla (Hákonar saga góða) and the earlier Fagrskinna—Hákonarmál likely draws on the model of Eiríksmál yet develops a fuller Valhalla scene. Scholars debate meter and redactional seams introduced by saga compilers. The poem’s portrayal of a Christian king welcomed by heathen gods has prompted discussion of court politics, conversion-era poetics, and skaldic strategies of commemoration.
Date Notes
Composed shortly after King Hákon the Good's death at Fitjar (961); preserved within 13th-century kings' sagas (notably Heimskringla and Fagrskinna).
Major Characters
- Hakon the Good
- Odin
- Hermod
- Bragi
- Valkyries
Myths
- Odin Sends for King Hákon
- The Welcoming of Hákon to Valhalla
Facts
- Composed by Eyvindr skáldaspillir as an encomium for King Hákon the Good after 961.
- Preserved chiefly in Heimskringla’s Hákonar saga góða and the kings’ saga Fagrskinna.
- Depicts valkyries Göndul and Skögul as Óðinn’s agents choosing Hákon in battle.
- Bragi and Hermóðr greet the king upon entering Valhalla, emphasizing courtly welcome.
- Often read alongside Eiríksmál as paired royal memorial lays of the 10th century.
- Meter is predominantly málaháttr with skaldic diction and kennings.
- Key evidence for Norse beliefs about Valhalla, the einherjar, and royal afterlife ideology.
- Highlights tensions of the conversion era: a Christian king honored within heathen mythic space.
- Attributed poet Eyvindr served at Hákon’s court and later praised Earl Hákon in Vellekla.
- Influential in later reception of valkyrie imagery and the ‘chooser of the slain’ motif.