Like many previous poems on this blog, today’s poem was written for ritual use. However, it is for a ritual that my readers might not have expected me to address: La Louche, the traditional method of preparing absinthe. Now, absinthe fans have a poem they can use along with the usual absinthiana of fountain, glass, and spoon.
Author: Eirik Westcoat
Kaldidalur og Fyrir Íslensku Landvættirnar
About my recent four-week trip to Iceland, I could write a very long time. Here, I’ll briefly mention a particular spot connected to poetry that I got to see, which I had not expected. I got to see it on July 20, on a bus tour that stopped in Kaldidalur on the way between Þingvellir and Hraunfoss. I have a poem and a picture after the cut.
Learning Icelandic and Old Norse
The advanced Asatru alliterative poet should also have some knowledge of the older languages, as the best exemplars of the form are in the old languages. Most important are Old Norse and Old English, although some alliterative material also exists in a few other old dialects. Today’s post, however, focuses on Old Norse and Modern Icelandic. The two are so similar (at least in the way they are written) that knowledge of one is almost the same thing as knowledge of the other. The vocabulary of the modern language is, of course, larger. The differences are relatively minor, and in comparing texts of the two, my brain doesn’t even register them as separate languages.
To really ramp up my learning of Modern Icelandic, I’m taking a trip to Reykjavík, Iceland for a four-week summer course in Modern Icelandic at the Árni Magnússon Institute. <http://arnastofnun.is/page/althjodlegt_islenskunamskeid_en>. While I’m there, my internet access will be limited, and this blog will be taking a four-week hiatus — the next post will not occur until July 31. So those who post comments may have to wait a while before they are approved.
Here’s a list of helpful resources for the poet who wants to study Modern Icelandic and/or Old Norse.
Toasts to Freyr and Other Beings
Today I present four more short sumbel toasts, one each to Freyr, the elves, the dwarves, and the landwights. All are in ljóðaháttr.
A Toast to Freyr
Hail Freyr,
a friend to all,
and lord of light and elves.
The bane of Beli
is a bringer of frith
we honor for excellent harvest.
Gerð’s husband
is gracious and kind,
that celebrated son of Njörð.
For peace and pleasure,
and prosperous seasons,
Hail to fruitful Freyr!
Audio for Valhalla
I’ve been in quite a mood for audio recording lately, and this is now the third week in a row for a recorded recitation. This time it’s for Valhalla, the text of which I posted back in late February.
Here is the downloadable file of me reciting the poem:
Eirik Westcoat – Valhalla
And here is the inline player:
Enjoy! Feel free to share the file. For details, see the Creative Commons link below.
This post is:
Copyright © 2013 Eirik Westcoat.
All rights reserved.
The linked audio file of Valhalla is:
Copyright © 2013 Eirik Westcoat.
Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives License.
Audio for Sumartímadrápa
Here in Pennsylvania, summer has very much arrived in force, and in honor of that, I present an audio recording of my poem Sumartímadrápa.
Here is the downloadable file of me reciting the poem:
Eirik Westcoat – Sumartímadrápa
And here is the inline player:
Enjoy! Feel free to share the file. For details, see the Creative Commons link below.
This post is:
Copyright © 2013 Eirik Westcoat.
All rights reserved.
The linked audio file of Sumartímadrápa is:
Copyright © 2013 Eirik Westcoat.
Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives License.
Audio for The Rúnatal
Four weeks after its posting as text, I now present an audio recording of my poetic translation of the Rúnatal, which is Hávamál stanzas 138-145. For those who seek after the runes, there is much essential lore in these eight stanzas.
Here is the downloadable file of me reciting the poem:
Eirik Westcoat – The Rúnatal
And here is the inline player:
Enjoy! Feel free to share the file. For details, see the Creative Commons link below.
This post is:
Copyright © 2013 Eirik Westcoat.
All rights reserved.
The linked audio file of The Rúnatal is:
Copyright © 2013 Eirik Westcoat.
Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives License.
The Binding of Fenrir, Part 2
Now for the remaining seven stanzas of the Binding of Fenrir. Part 1 was posted last week.
Soft and smooth
like silken ribbon,
yet firm and fast as well:
The Æsir wished
the wolf to try
his strength against Gleipnir.
The Binding of Fenrir, Part 1
The Binding of Fenrir is another of the famous stories from Snorri’s Edda that does not have a corresponding form in verse in the Poetic Edda. Today I present the first half of my poetic retelling of this story, in seven stanzas of ljóðaháttr. Next week, I’ll post the remaining seven stanzas.
The ale of Ygg
I eagerly brewed,
and here I pour a poem.
Of Fenrir’s binding
and famous Týr,
that spell I speak to all.
The Skald as Scholar
In addition to writing poetry in modern versions of the traditional Old Norse and Old English meters, I also study those meters from a scholarly perspective. This week, I’m going to the 48th International Congress on Medieval Studies, where I’ll be presenting a paper on the uses of the galdralag meter in the Old Norse poetic corpus. It is a condensed version of a longer paper that takes a broader look at historical galdralag. In the future, I may post the shorter paper here or on my academia.edu page, and I intended to seek publication for the longer, more comprehensive paper.
As a brief taste, here are the two introductory paragraphs of the shorter paper.
The Skaldic Eagle 