Poems

Staves for Daily Use, Part 2

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Continuing from last week, here are four more staves. Each is one stanza of ljóðaháttr as before. The Moon Stave deserves a few remarks, however. The beginning of it, like last week’s Sun Stave, is actually based on lines from the Eddic poem Alvíssmál. There, in stanza 16, Alvíss says that the sun is called Sól among men and Sunna among the gods. Those two names are well-known among Asatruar. However, in the parallel line from stanza 14, Alvíss says that the moon is called Máni among men and Mylinn among the gods. The name Máni is well-known among Asatruar, but Mylinn does not have much currency, and will probably strike many as odd, at least at first. The pattern in both staves, of course, is that of honoring the divine being named in the first line through the physical manifestation named in the second line.

Food Stave

For the might and main
through this meal I gain,
my thanks I give to the gods.
Let their blessings bring
to my being the strength
that enables worthy works.

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Staves for Daily Use, Part 1

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Poetry in elder times was sometimes referred to as “staves.” (As in, “I recite these staves.”) This week, I present three staves that Asatruar may find useful for reciting at need as a way to incorporate more ritual into their lives. Actually, many polytheists might find them useful as is, and I suppose any monotheists reading my blog could probably figure out how to modify certain lines if they wanted to. However, they are written from an Asatru perspective. Each is one stanza of ljóðaháttr. I’ll present a few more next week.

Waking Stave

This dawning day
brings deeds of might
for us the bold and brave.
For gifts from the gods,
I give my thanks,
may I wield them well today!

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Building Asgard’s Wall

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Today I present the tale of the building of Asgard’s wall in a lore poem of eleven stanzas of fornyrðislag with completely anglicized spelling. It is based on the story as found in the Gylfaginning of Snorri Sturluson’s Edda. It tells how Asgard got a defensive wall and of the origin of the eight-legged horse Sleipnir. The opening stanza in my poem includes a feature that is found in many skaldic poems — a reference to poetry through one of the many kennings for it. The poem’s title is simply “Building Asgard’s Wall.”

Silence I seek
for saying my tale
of the master mason
who meant to build
for the garth of gods
the greatest of walls;
with Ygg’s ale now
I utter my words.

Midgard was made
and mighty Valhalla;
for proof against
the passage of etins
the Aesir sought
a solid defense;
a builder offered
the best of walls.

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Toasts to Heroes and Ancestors

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Since all of last week’s toasts were to the gods, this week I present toasts to ancestors and heroes. There are three of them, and each toast is two stanzas of ljóðaháttr.

A Toast to the Ancestors

Hail the ancestors
of elder times,
those famous folk and heroes.
They laid for our lives
the layers in the well —
the might and main of ørlög!

Today we do
our duty to them:
remembering well their works.
A fimbul full-horn
to those folk we raise.
Hail to our honorable ancestors!

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More Short Sumbel Toasts

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Today I present four more short sumbel toasts, one each to Thor, Tyr, Heimdall, and Freyja. Each toast is two stanzas of ljóðaháttr. The spellings have all been fully anglicized.

A Toast to Thor

Hail Thor,
thunder’s wielder,
Asgard’s chosen champion;
that bane of etins,
and best of warriors
is father to Modi and Magni.

He slew Hrungnir
and hammered Thrym
with peerless might and main.
For warding well
this world of Midgard,
Hail to thunderous Thor!

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Audio for The Mead Quest

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I now present an audio recording of my poem The Mead Quest, which is a short poetic rendering of Óðin’s winning of Óðrerir, the poetic mead. For aspiring skalds in modern Asatru, this tale is perhaps the most important part of the mythology.

Here is the file of me reciting the poem: Eirik Westcoat – The Mead Quest

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 Mead Quest is:
Copyright © 2013 Eirik Westcoat.
Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives License.

Valhalla

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It is time for another lore poem. This one is not a narrative like The Six Treasures or The Mead Quest. Instead, it is a synthesis of lore on Valhalla that appears in the Poetic Edda (mostly the Grímnismál) and Prose Edda (various places).

It is written as ten stanzas of fornyrðislag. (Only the first stanza is prior to the break.) It is not anglicized at all, except for the word Valhalla. (The proper Old Norse form would be Valhöll.) A short note on an aspect of composition: the semi-riddle nature of the poem is intentional. I use various bynames of Óðinn prior to the second-to-last line, and I avoid using the name Valhalla itself until the very last word of the poem.

A spell of the lore
I speak to you now
by pouring Hropt’s
powerful drink.
I sing of that hall
high on the Tree;
to warriors dead
‘tis a welcome sight.

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More Calls to the Gods and Others

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It is time for some more calls to the gods and other wights; it was in late November that I last posted some. Like the previous ones, these calls are also two stanzas of ljóðaháttr. Today I’m presenting calls to Thor, the Elves, the Aesir, and the Vanir. (The astute and well-read may notice some Dumezilian trifunctional aspects adapted into the last two.)

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Freyr and Gerd

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As may or may not be thought appropriate for a certain secular holiday, I present a short poem about the betrothal of Freyr and Gerd. It would not be wrong to think of it as a very short poetic summary of the Skírnismál from the Poetic Edda. Numerous interpretations of the Skírnismál are possible, and I won’t try to summarize any of them here. Suffice it to say that there is much going on in that poem.

My poem here is in ljóðaháttr. The spelling has been mostly anglicized here. Note that the Old Norse name “Freyr” is not so much a name as it is a title. It actually means “Lord.” Thus I can assure you that the last half stanza is still a reference to Freyr and not to a certain monotheism.

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An Ullr Poem

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While it is still winter in the northern hemisphere, I present a poem in honor of Ullr, one of the gods most associated with winter. This is perhaps because he is associated with skis, a distinction he shares with Skaði, who is also connected with wintertime.

There is not much lore about Ullr, but I have worked most of it into this poem. In stanza one, the unusual surfing reference comes from the Gesta Danorum by Saxo Grammaticus (which is also the source of the variant name Ollerus). Stanza two is inspired by Atlakviða (stanza 30), which seems to connect Ullr to the swearing of oaths. Ull’s dwelling in Ýdalir is mentioned in Grímnismál 5, though I have added the idea of winter winds being there. The other half of stanza three is inspired by Ull’s connection to hunting via archery. The first half of stanza four is built from the attributes that Snorri ascribes to him (Gylfaginning 31). The poem is in fornyrðislag.

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