Mikael Males THE EARLIEST OLD NORSE METRICS This article explores Old Norse metrical developments in the ninth century, focusing on the only securely datable evidence we have: the Rök stanza and Bragi’s poetry. It reveals a greater degree of continuity between the two than scholars have previously assumed, and it clarifes fundamental dynamics in the emergence of dróttkvætt that have hitherto been obscured by an unwarranted analytical dichotomy. It also presents the frst detailed metrical analysis of the Rök stanza, specifying how far its form has proceeded from the shared Germanic one towards later, specifcally Old Norse forms. While Bragi’s metrical practices are usually grouped together with those of other early poets, this article also clarifes how he differs from these in ways that are most plaus- ibly explained by the fact that he represents the earliest attested stage of dróttkvætt poetry. 1. Introduction Overviews of ON metrics often focus on a classical stage, a kind of standard from which individual poems may or may not deviate. This practice has tax- onomic and didactic benefts, but it has the drawback of suggesting that some early poetry deviates from a norm, whereas in fact, that norm had not yet been fully formed at the time of composition. There are some exceptions to this general rule, the most recent and infuential being Gade 1995. 1 Still, the topic deserves to be revisited for a number of reasons. First, Gade 1995 is aimed at skaldic specialists, whereas the following overview aims to be access- ible to any student of Germanic philology. Second, Gade sees dróttkvætt and kviðuháttr as syllable-counting, in contradistinction to fornyrðislag, and this results in a false dichotomy in the analysis of the innovations involved in the development from the latter to the former. 2 Third, a detailed metrical analysis of the Rök stanza and its implications for the later tradition is still wanting. This study focuses on the fornyrðislag stanza on the Rök runestone, dating to c. 800, and on Bragi’s dróttkvætt poetry from around 850. 1 Gade 1995, 226-238. 2 Ibid., passim. Filologia Germanica – Germanic Philology 15 (2023), 121-144.