History
Skaldic poetry can be traced to the earlier 9th century with Bragi Boddason and his Ragnarsdrápa, the oldest surviving Norse poem besides the poem preserved epigraphically on the Eggjum stone. Þorbjörn Hornklofi's Glymdrápa of the late 9th century is the oldest surviving poem in the dróttkvætt metre, and the Karlevi Runestone from the late 10th century has the oldest surviving text in the metre. From the 10th century, the poems begin to syncretize pagan and Christian elements. In the 11th century, the professional skald is extinct in continental Scandinavia with the progressing Christianisation of Scandinavia, but survives in Iceland into the 13th century. As the profession was threatened with extinction in Iceland as well, Snorri Sturluson compiled the Prose Edda as a manual with the aim to preserve an appreciative understanding of their art. Snorri's Heimskringla also preserves many poems.
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