In Praise of Women

An Edition of "Sprundahrós"

Abstract

“Sprundahrós” is an eighteenth-century vikivakakvæði, which was probably composed by Jón Jónsson á Kvíabekk (1739–85). To date, it has not been edited, and it has received scant scholarly attention. In its 22 stanzas, the poem praises the virtues of 25 noteworthy biblical women, female rulers, and women from Old Norse-Icelandic literature. There are three witnesses of the poem; the earliest, from ca. 1800, is in ÍB 815 8vo, and there are two copies of the poem by Gunnlaugur Jónsson á Skuggabjörgum (1766–1866) in JS 255 4to and JS 589 4to, both from 1841. This article presents an introduction to and preliminary analysis of the poem, focusing on its content, authorship, and style. It considers the poem’s relationship to the kappakvæði, and Guðmundur Bergþórsson (ca. 1657–1705) ca. 1680 poem in particular, to which “Sprundahrós” may be considered a response. This introduction is followed by a parallel diplomatic and normalized edition of the text based on ÍB 815 8vo with variants from JS 255 4to and JS 589 4to.