Page:History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North.djvu/63

Rh rare euphony, and for their truly poetic sentiment. , who belonged to the followers of King Eystein, made himself particularly famous by his great religious poem, "Geisli" (The Sunbeam) or Olafsdrapa, which he composed in honor of St. Olaf, and declaimed in the Christ Church at Nidaros (Throndhjem). It celebrated the merits of the king and the saints in behalf of Christianity, and especially the miracles worked by Olaf after his death. The saga very characteristically tells "that the church during the declamation of the poem was filled with the most exquisite fragrance, a token that the poem had received the approval of the saint." It is the oldest religious drapa which has been preserved in perfect condition. Finally we must mention the celebrated historian, who besides other poems composed the above-mentioned Háttatal, and his nephews (sons of his brother), , and. Sturla is the last poet who is known to have composed drapas in honor of Norwegian kings.

That drapas celebrating kings and princes ceased to be produced was a natural result of the change of the times. A more peaceful political and social life had taken the place of continual warfare, and consequently there was no more use for the rigid forms in which the productions of the skalds were moulded. Poetry therefore sought another field, that of religion, for its materials. To be sure religious poems had already been written in the preceding epoch by some of the skalds. Such a poem is extant, namely, the Sólarljóð (Song of the Sun), which is written in the Ljoðháttr style, and is largely based on the heathen myths. It belongs unmistakably to the oldest Christian age, and Halfred Vandrædaskald's drapa on the resurrection is perhaps still older. But yet the epoch of the religious drapa cannot properly be said to begin before the close of the heroic age. The most celebrated of the religious poems is the Lilja (The Lily) by the monk, a kind of Messiad, written in an original metre which henceforth was called the Lily metre. It