Mansöngr

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Mansöngr were erotic verses written by skalds in Scandinavia, around the time of the Vikings.

The writing of mansöngr were prohibited in a number of Norse jurisdictions, often on pain of death. This was not so much from the point of view of prudery, but from fear of magical ensnarement. As an example of this, in Hávamál, runic charms 16 and 17 are explicitly love charms. Moreover love poetry was usually seen as a smear on a woman's reputation, and with this smear came dishonour upon the whole family and all her lineage, with all that went with that.

The patron goddess of mansöngr was Freyja.

See also: Old Norse poetry