Reglubyrði

Reglubyrði is a term used in Icelandic literary studies to refer to a form or class of traditional verse that is said to follow a prescribed system of rules governing its composition. The concept is applied mainly in analyses of medieval Icelandic and Norse poetry, where certain poems appear to exhibit regularities in metre, line length, and phonetic patterning that poets were trained to observe.

Scholarly usage of reglubyrði is not uniform. Some researchers treat it as a distinct metrical category with fixed constraints; others view it as a descriptive label for passages that conform to conventional stylistic norms without a single universal meter. The term remains relatively uncommon and is typically found in specialized discussions of skaldic and saga-era verse.

Proposed features include adherence to a set number of syllables per line, prescribed stress patterns, and alliteration that links lines or half-lines. A further element in some definitions is the use of formulaic phrases or kennings that fit the recognized pattern. Evidence is fragmentary and interpretations vary among editors and philologists.

Reglubyrði is often discussed in relation to other Icelandic metre forms such as fornyrðislag or dróttkvætt, but its boundaries are unclear and debated. The term is mainly of interest to scholars of prosody and philology and has limited relevance for general readers.

See also: Old Norse poetry, Icelandic metre, skaldic poetry, fornyrðislag, dróttkvætt.