Poems

A Sumbel Toast to the Folk

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Today I finish the special sequence of elaborate sumbel toasts that I started with a toast to Odin in January and continued with a toast to the Einherjar in September. This third and final toast of the sequence was written for the third round of a typical sumbel, wherein one may present oaths, boasts, or any sort of toast that would not fit in the first two rounds. In particular, one may toast living people, which is disallowed in the first two rounds, as the living are not gods or ancestors while they are still alive! Rather than toast any one particular living person, this final toast is to the living collective of modern heathens known as the Folk. Just like the previous two toasts of the sequence, it is written as a seven stanza ljóðaháttr drápa with the final stanza ending in a galdralag couplet; the refrain is italicized. As with the other toasts, I have completely anglicized the spelling of the Norse names and words.

To the Folk’s future
forward I look,
and praise the past as well;
A full horn I raise
to the Folk today —
the modern heathen heroes.

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A Runic Poem of the Nine Noble Virtues

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Over a year ago, I posted a poem about the Nine Noble Virtues. Today I present a second poem on the Nine Noble Virtues, one that takes a different approach. For this poem, I went through the rune staves of the Elder Futhark and paired a single stave to each of the virtues. It is in six stanzas of fornyrðislag. The names of the runes and the virtues are capitalized here.

A mainful song
I sing of virtues;
nine they number,
noble they be.
Useful to have,
they help my quest,
riding the road
to Runes and Mead.

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The Drápa of Battle Cry

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I look to traditional Old Norse forms for inspiration and ideas for new poems. It was perhaps inevitable that I would turn to the genre of the “shield drápa” eventually, and indeed I have. My post today features my first shield drápa, but first I shall say a bit more about what a shield drápa is, with reference to some historical examples, of course.

In the Old Norse period, finely decorated shields, often depicting scenes from the mythology, were occasionally given as gifts. If a poet received one as a gift, it was apparently expected that the poet would compose a poem about it, sometimes even in the form of a drápa. In Egil’s Saga (chapter 81), it is mentioned that a friend of Egil’s, Einar Skallaglam, came to visit him with a shield as a gift. But Egil was away. After three nights, Egil still had not returned. Since staying longer than three nights on a visit was contrary to custom, Einar left at that point, but left the shield behind as a gift. When Egil discovered it, he is reported to have said, “That scoundrel. Does he expect me to stay awake making a poem about his shield? Fetch my horse, I shall ride after him and kill him.” Egil was exaggerating a bit, as he did not actually go out and kill his friend. He is reported to have compose a drápa about the shield nonetheless, though only a single stanza of it is quoted in his saga.

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The Ghoulroarer

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This week, I present a poem very much different from anything I’ve posted here before, one that was written more for fun than anything else. It is also one of the very few poems I’ve written that has no connection to Norse mythology and is not in a Norse poetic meter. Its form is rather that of an English (Shakespearean) sonnet.

It was inspired by the name of an obscure item in a video game called Dragon Quest V that my brother had been playing a while back: the Ghoulroarer. (The name, of course, is a modification of bullroarer, whether through a deliberate twist or an accidental mishearing.) After hearing the name, it occurred to me that I should write a poem about this fictional musical instrument. Also, for some time, I had it in my to-do list to write a sonnet. I thus mixed the two together and took the approach of treating the Ghoulroarer as though it were something that might have come from Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. The poem is simply titled “The Ghoulroarer.”

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Pagan Praise to Freyr

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From time to time, I get to write longer poems that have a more central role in a ritual, as opposed to my poetic calls, which generally serve as part of the opening of a ritual. Today’s poem is one of those centerpieces — a longer praise poem to Freyr (a flokkr, since it does not have a refrain) in 12 stanzas of ljóðaháttr with a galdralag ending. I wrote it for the main ritual at Pittsburgh’s Pagan Pride Day 2013, which took place this past Saturday, September 14. The ritual was a harvest blessing primarily in honor of Freyr, performed by the Asatru kindred that I’m a member of: the Hearth of Yggdrasil.

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A Sumbel Toast to the Einherjar

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In January, I posted a special longer sumbel toast to Odin and said that it was part of a three round sequence of more-elaborate-than-usual sumbel toasts. Today I present the second toast from that sequence, intended for the second round of a typical sumbel, wherein one gives toasts to heroes and ancestors. Like that Odin toast, it is written as a seven stanza ljóðaháttr drápa, with the final stanza ending in a galdralag couplet; the refrain is italicized. As with the other toast, I have completely anglicized the spelling of the Norse names and words.

Now I turn
my needful praise
to the heroes in Odin’s hall;
With mead I toast
those mighty dead
who eternally fight and feast.

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Audio for Calls to the Gods

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Some may have wondered if there is a particular way in which the poetic calls to the gods should be recited. Of course, anyone trying these in their rituals is free to develop their own style. I prefer a style with a strong rhythm and forceful recitation. For those curious as to how I envision them, I present today an audio recording of five of my calls.

The audio contains calls to Odin, Tyr, Thor, Freyja, and Freyr. All have been featured in previous posts as text: here for Odin and Freyja, here for Thor, and here for Tyr and Freyr. Yes, I chose these particular calls because I was in a Dumezilian trifunctional mood. 🙂

Here is the downloadable file of me reciting the calls:
Eirik Westcoat – Calls to the Gods

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 Calls to the Gods is:
Copyright © 2013 Eirik Westcoat.
Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives License.

Further Calls to Gods and Others

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It has been over six months since I last presented some poetic calls to gods and others designed for ritual use. Today I present five more: calls to Freyr, Tyr, Heimdall, Jord, and Aegir. Like the previous calls, these are also two stanzas of ljóðaháttr each (with the stanza break removed as before). Continue reading →

Thor’s Visit to Geirrod, Part 1

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Snorri presents a prose telling of this tale, and he also gives the passage from the Old Norse skaldic poem Þórsdrápa by Eilífr Guðrúnarson that tells the story as well. However, it is a fairly difficult skaldic poem, even when translated to English. (If you have Faulkes’ translation of Snorri’s Edda, you can find this tale on pages 81-86, or in chapter 18 of Skáldskaparmál in other editions.) Thus, a more accessible poetic rendition is needed.

My poem is in 14 stanzas of fornyrðislag, and is titled “Thor’s Visit to Geirrod.” The spellings have been anglicized throughout. I present the first half here today, and the second half will follow next Tuesday.

A warm welcome
I wish to have
for telling the tale
of a trip by Thor
to Geirrod’s garth
and the games in the hall;
the draught of dwarves
I draw for you now.

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