skald

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skald in ancient Scandinavia, a composer and reciter of poems honouring heroes and their deeds; the complex syllabic and rhyme structure of most skaldic verses make it likely that the majority of them have come down from oral tradition uncorrupted. Typically, skalds of the 10th and 11th centuries were court poets, providing praise-poems for the Norse rulers of Norway, Denmark, the Orkneys, and the Viking kingdoms of York and Dublin.

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