segulsviði

Segulsviði is a term from Icelandic literary tradition generally translated as "the song of the sword" or "sword-song." In Old Norse and Icelandic poetry, weapons are frequently anthropomorphized and endowed with voice and agency, and segulsviði denotes such personification where a blade is described as speaking, singing, or reciting verses. It is not a single titled work but rather a motif or descriptive idea used across different texts, particularly within skaldic poetry and later medieval sagas. The concept often functions as a kenning or poetic device to emphasize the power, honor, or fate associated with arms and warriors. In interpretation, segulsviði may reflect beliefs about weapons as objects of ritual value, companions in battle, or kin to the warrior’s own fate.

Etymology is typically described by scholars as a compound where segull or segul refers to the blade or its enchantment, and svið or sviði denotes song or utterance, though exact forms vary by text and dialect. Because the term appears in a range of sources and editions, contexts can differ from literal singing to metaphorical "voice" of a blade.

In modern scholarship and popular culture, segulsviði is cited as an example of weapon-centered imagery in Norse literature and is discussed in studies of kennings, mythic poetry, and the ritual significance of arms in medieval Iceland.