Rímur

In Icelandic literature, a ríma (literally "a rhyme", pl. rímur, IPA: [ˈriːmʏr̥]) is an epic poem written in any of the so-called rímnahættir ("rímur meters"). They are rhymed, they alliterate and consist of two to four lines per stanza. The plural, rímur, is either used as an ordinary plural, denoting any two or more rímur, but is also used for more expansive works, containing more than one ríma as a whole. Thus Ólafs ríma Haraldssonar denotes an epic about Ólafr Haraldsson in one ríma, while Núma rímur are a multi-part epic on Numa Pompilius.

Rímur, as the name suggests, rhyme, but like older Germanic alliterative verse, they also contain structural alliteration. Rímur are stanzaic, and stanzas normally have four lines. There are hundreds of ríma meters: counting variations (Sveinbjörn Beinteinsson provides 450 variations in his Háttatal), but they can be grouped in approximately ten families. The most common metre is ferskeytt.

Ríma-poetry inherited kennings, heiti and other ornate features of medieval Icelandic poetic diction from skaldic verse. The language of rímur is likewise influenced by the rhetorical devices associated with late medieval geblümter Stil ('flowery style').

When they are long — as they usually are — rímur usually comprise several distinct sections, each being called a ríma, and each usually in a different metre. After the earliest rímur, it became conventional to begin each ríma in a cycle with a mansöngr, a lyric address, traditionally to or about a woman whom the poet supposedly loves, usually in vain.

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