The late medieval poems called
sagnakvæði(or
sögukvæði) are narrative poems composed in the old eddic metre,
fornyrðislag. Although they could be described as “eddic imitations”, it would probably be more accurate to describe them as an evolution or offspring of the eddic poetic tradition. These poems vary in length from 36 to 97 stanzas, based on the versions published by Ólafur Davíðsson in
Íslenzkar þulur og þjóðkvæði(1898), although there are other unpublished copies which may contain more or fewer stanzas.
Neither earlier nor contemporary examples of the sagnakvæði have been found among other cultures, and they have thus been considered to be entirely Icelandic. Böðvar Guðmundsson, who wrote about these poems in the history of Icelandic literature (Íslensk
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Citation: Guðmundsdóttir, Aðalheiður. "Sagnakvæði". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 10 February 2025 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19702, accessed 21 February 2025.]
