Here is a poem in honor of Wintertime. Its meter is fornyrðislag, but the type of poem is known as a drápa, which is a praise poem with one or more refrains. (In a future post, I will say more about drápur and the different types of poems that I’ve been writing.)
The poem is called “Vetrartímadrápa.” (The name is in Old Norse and simply means “Wintertime drápa.”)
And now for something a bit different… sumbel toasts!
Followers of modern Germanic heathenry (Asatru, Odinism, Theodism, etc.) will undoubtedly be familiar with the traditional three round sumbel, in which the first round is dedicated to the gods, the second round to heroes and ancestors, and the third to boasts, toast, and oaths, or more generally, the participant’s choice. Poetry in the alliterative, eddic meters is indeed appropriate for such significant speech. Here, I present three short sumbel toasts. The first is to the gods and goddesses as a whole and the second is to the ancestors as a whole — both are in ljóðaháttr. The third toast is more specific, and is in honor of the Asatru kindred that I’m in — it is in galdralag.
It’s way past time for a new poem. My aim now is to update this blog at least weekly, and this may be chaotic at first, but here goes…
In the Prose Edda, there are many fine stories that unfortunately have no poetic counterparts in the Poetic Edda or other ancient sources. One of these is the tale of the creation of the treasures of the gods. Thus I have made a modern English poetic version of it in the ljóðaháttr style that goes to the point where the gods judge the treasures — it does not include Brokk’s attempt to collect on the wager. (Generally, Old Norse names in the poem are rendered in Old Norse, but not always — you’ll probably notice the strange characters.)
I presented this poem at the East Coast Thing’s Skaldic Competition in 2011, where it won first place in the spoken word category. It has also been a favorite of the kindred I’m in.
The poem is called “The Six Treasures”
It’s time for another poem.
In the Poetic Edda, there are some examples of numbered lists, where the speak counts out the items. In Hávamál, the speaker relates 18 magic spells he knows. In Sigrdrífumál, Sigrdrífa gives 11 pieces of advice to Sigurðr. In Grógaldr, the dead woman Gróa sings 9 magic spells to protect her son on a dangerous journey.
This poem was inspired by those counting list poems. It’s also in the fornyrðislag style, although in this one I use three syllable lines more often than usual. It is based on what is probably the most well-known list in modern American Asatru, with my own interpretations and descriptions for each of items, some of which make references to the mythology. There is a strange word in this poem that most will not be familiar with and for which a dictionary probably won’t help: ginn-holy. James Chisholm used this to represent the Old Norse ginnheilög (which means “most holy”) in his translation of the Poetic Edda (in Völuspá 6, for instance). That’s probably what inspired me to use it in a poem. (Actually, there’s probably a few more strange words in here… perhaps another time I’ll make a glossary post to this blog of such words and their meanings.)
The poem is called “Nine Noble Virtues”
And now for my first poem posting on this blog. It’s written in the fornyrðislag meter.
“Heathen Pride”
The Skaldic Eagle 