Háttatal (EDDA SNORRA STURLUSONAR//EDDA)

Ha'ttatal is a treatise in Old Icelandic on the metres and verse-forms of Old Norse poetry. It forms the third part of the Edda of the Icelandic historian and poet Snorri Sturluson (1179-1241). This poem consists of 102 stanzas in various verse-forms in praise of the rulers of Norway after Sturluson had visited the Norwegian court in about 1222-3. This is the earliest medieval treatise on the metres of poetry in a Germanic language, and is of immense importance for our understanding of the metres not only of Norse poetry but also of those of Anglo-Saxon and Medieval German, and it also provides great insight into the ways in which a medieval vernacular poet perceived his work. This edition is in normalized spelling and has an introduction, notes, and glossary.