An Introduction to Period Poetry, Part II

As taught by
Lord Andres Castillo Suarez de Sevilla

Lai
The lai is made up of groupings of 3 lines, with the first 2 lines containing 5 syllables
each and the third line containing only 2 syllables. These 3-line groups are generally compiled
into groups of 3 themselves, for stanzas which are 9 lines long. The rhyme scheme for these
stanzas can be illustrated as AAB AAB AAB, though with each new stanza a new set of rhymes
is used (so it would be illustrated as AAB AAB AAB CCD CCD CCD EEF EEF EEF…) The lai
may continue on like this for as long as the poet wishes, as there is no restriction on length;
common themes for the lai were courtly love and the Arthurian legend.

Kyrielle
The kyrielle is written in quatrains, with each quatrain containing a repeated line or
phrase as a refrain. The meter is generally eight syllables per line. There is no limit to the number
of stanzas that can be used, but three is the generally the accepted minimum. The rhyme scheme
can be illustrated as AABR CCBR DDBR… (with R representing the refrain.) This scheme is
not set in stone, however, and can be altered according to the poet’s preference (such as ABAR
CBCR DBDR… etc.)

Drottkvaett
A Viking form commonly used as a method of honoring brave warriors and fallen
comrades, the Drottkvaett is at once a simple and a complex form. The stanzas of the
Drottkvaett are 8 lines long, each of which contained 6 syllables. Each set of two lines within
the stanza was connected using alliteration, or similar sounds; in other words, the first two lines
would contain alliteration, and the third and fourth line would have a different alliteration.
Assonance (the repetition of vowel sounds), stressed syllables, and other literary techniques were
also used as follows:
Syllables - Though the order of the three stressed syllables of each line is not set in stone, the last
two syllables of each line must form what is known as a trochee (which is a stressed syllable,
followed by an unstressed syllable.)

Alliteration - The alliteration in the first line of each pair should appear at least twice, though it
may appear more times if you wish. The first word of the following line must match the
alliteration.

Assonance - This is where many people start to think that this form gets tricky, though it's not
nearly as difficult as it might sound at first. For each odd-numbered line in the poem, the
assonance should be weak (meaning that the vowel sounds aren't "hard" and may simply be
similar instead of specifically the same); on the even-numbered lines the assonance should be
strong ("hard" vowels and noticible vowel repetition.) This isn't as hard as it might sound; if
Eminem can pull off assonance, so can you.

An optional feature of Drottkvaett poetry that can serve both to make it a bit more period (since
the Vikings seemed to love this stuff) and a bit fancier is the Kenning, which is another way of
naming something or someone by describing it/them instead of simply using its/their name (or
sometimes in addition to it.) An example of a Kenning would be to call people in a boat "Wave-
travelers", or teachers "Shepherds of the Future." While not all Drottkvaett poems contained
Kennings, most did (and often contained multiple Kennings, at that.)