Dear all,
I love the Icelandic poetical tradition and was wondering how the old sagas and Eddas used to be recited (in the very old days) and whether recordings still exist of such recitations? I am guessing the oral tradition got lost somewhere before recording devices were available, and that people just started to recite the poems how they fashioned? Nowadays many interpretations are available in songs, e.g. Sequentia’s [beautiful recording](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0vrXzZzr38) of the Edda… But I am guessing [Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQAe4VpQKUQ)s recordings are closest to what the medieval Icelanders would recite to oneanother? Or am I mistaken and do we have evidence that they would play music while singing the songs?
Looking forward to your answers!
2 comments
[Ísmús](https://www.ismus.is/) has a ton of old recordings of various songs and stories. That would probably be your best bet. Website and recordings are in Icelandic.
TBH, scholars do not agree on how the Sagas and Eddas were recited. No one knows for sure. This is one of the most fun and interesting part of this field of study. Most of it is shrouded in mystery. They agree that some kind of rhythm was used to build a system to remember these very long poems. Fun fact, previous Greek research on Homer’s Batrachomyomachia, Odyssey and Iliad have helped a great deal in research on Eddukvæði.