Skalds:

poets who composed at the courts of Scandinavian & Icelandic leaders in the Viking & Middle Ages; their poetry is 1 of 2 main groupings of Old Norse poetry, the other being the anonymous Eddic poetry (Eddas).  The most prevalent metre of skaldic poetry is dróttkvætt; subject is usually historical & encomiastic (formal expression of high praise; eulogy), detailing the deeds of the skald's patron; they may have accompanied their verses with the harp or lyre.  The technical demands of the skaldic form were equal to the complicated verse forms mastered by the Welsh bards & Gaelic (in both Scotland & Ireland) ollaves.  Like those poets, much skaldic verse consisted of panegyrics to kings & aristocrats or memorials and testimonials to their battles.

 

Minnesanger:

see Chapter III, page 116

 

Celto-Germanic:

pertaining to both the Celtic & Germanic peoples; (specifically) pertaining to an artistic style developed in northern & western Europe between the 5th & 9th centuries characterised by the use of recognisable human or animal structures interlaced into complex designs and patterns, chiefly found in Christian illuminated manuscripts of Britain and Ireland.

 

Epos:

an epic; epic poetry; a group of poems, transmitted orally, concerned with parts of a common epic theme.