Two verses for Haakonar saga eki

Here are two verses I have written for the Haakonar saga eiki.  They are written in kviðuháttr, the same meter as the Sonatorrek, which was written by Egil Skalgrimsson.

The first describes Boris kol-skeggr coming home from  a tavern:

gjögrað kol-skeggr

þremr skautum -

hlæja skipa ok

syngur stúlkna.

skella-hlægja

ok vísa hlóa

staggers black-beard

three-sheets -

they laugh of the ship 

and sing of girls.

He laughs at jokes

and verses bellows

In the second, Boris "addresses" the king, loudly and drunkenly, while standing in fromt of the king's great house:

"Konung heyrðu

slarkarí kol-skeggr -

frið-maðr máttkir

drótinn mildi.

óvinnar þinn

ék mun upp-ræta

sem blað-rauði

rô Þorrs rífa aptr"

King, hear 

drunkard black-beard

Might ally of

generous lord -

enemies thine

I will up-root

as the red-leaved

Thor´s yard-arm I tore up.

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One kenning here:

rô Þorrs > Thor´s yard arm > TREE.

They don't loo like much yet, but they will work better when placed in a þáttr. I promise!

A New Blog Site

Hej!

Today I opened a new blog site called A Skalds Journey: Haakonar saga eiki. At this new site, I'll be posting chapters containing tales of Haakonr eiki [Haakon oak] and his brother, Boris kol-skeggr [Boris black-beard].  This saga project is an experiment in combining prose and verse, as was done in the original sagas.

I hope you'll go check it out here.

Hverja nótt húns (Every bear´s night) [NaPoWriMo # 4]

November 4 - Verse # 4


Today was a long day and I had very little inspiration to write. However, thanks to a set of replies to a "give me a word" posting, I got some inspiration. The verse is a description of winter, a kenning for which is Hverja nótt húns "Every bear's night".  There are a few kenningar in the verse - explained in the notes following it.


Enjoy!

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Hverja nótt húns

Old Icelandic	Line Translation	Prose Order Translation
Skikkja djupgr seil-ras snæugr hylja inn skógr-fjall; hærð orms gamla galla gellan kominn hélu. Sofari-hells síngjarn snerkja af vin-berja; af eplar-frosinn fuglar fátídir fors-fullr þrátta.	Mantle deep of earth-rope snowy hides mountain-forest; haired worms ancient gall yelling arrived rime. Greedy Cave-sleeper snores because of wine-berry; over apples-frozen birds strange angry quarrel.	The deep snowy mantle of earth-rope hides the mountain-forest; rime-haired ancient worm´s gall yelling arrived. The greedy cave-sleeper snores from berry-wine (while) strange angry birds quarrel about frozen-apples.

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NOTES

Kennings Used


seil-ras > earth-rope > SNAKE
orms galla > worm's gall > WINTER
sofari-hells  > cave-sleeper > BEAR

I hope you enjoyed the verse.  Comment below, please!

Hólm-ganga (the Duel), verse 1 [NaPoWriMo # 3]

November 3 - Day 3:

Yesterday's verse is tagged for future use in a þattr as I explained. Today´s verse is the second verse to go into the very same þattr about our hero fighting a hólm-gang (duel) against a foe who has insulted him.  The hólm-gang is traditionally ought on a small island, barely large enough for the two men to stand, with the battle being to the death.  If fought on land, a hólm-hring (duel ring) is drawn around the two combatants. To step beyond its limits, unless you are victorious, means death.  This is pretty serious stuff.

Today's verse features multiple kenningar which are explained in the notes following the verse.

Enjoy!

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Hólm-ganga

Old Icelandic	Line-by-Line	Prose Order Translation
Á sker-garða elg-stafna styri-flotna (fyr virðing) (sveigr mikill leiks-sára) (skorðir á holm) röri. Sól-geisli al-skarlat svaltung rauði fuðru; sam-hljóði át ströndu songar-sverða dverg-mælti.	to rock-reef elk of stems Wielder of men (for fame) (the brandisher great of wound-leek) (you challenged to a duel) you rowed. Sun-beams all-scarlet sword-tongues red blazed; harmony across the shore the sword-songs dwarf-talked.	Wielder of men you rowed the stem-elk to the rock reef; you challenged the great wound-leek brandisher to a duel for fame. Sun-beams all-scarlet blazed sword-tongues red; sword-songs dwarf-talked harmony across the shore.

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NOTES

Kennings Used

elg-stafna  > elk of stems > BOAT

styri-flotna  > wielder of men > WARRIOR LEADER

sveigr leiks sára > brandisher of the wound-leek > sword > WARRIOR

svaltung > sword-tongues > BLADES

songar-sverða > sword-songs > BATTLE

dverg-mælti > dwarf-talked > ECHOED (Note: This is not exactly a kenning, but still warrants explanation.

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I hope you enjoyed Day 3 of my NaPoWriMo exercise.  Please leave your comments below!

Sker-garðr (Rock-reef) [NaPoWriMo # 2]

Today is November 2nd ... Poem # 2 ...

Near our house runs a section of the Canandaigua Outlet, a prosaic name for a lovely stream that flows from the north end of Canandaigua Lake to the Seneca River to Lake Ontario.  For a number of years, I have seen a great blue heron fishing the outlet, and, as part of my November poetry project, I'm setting out to capture him on film. Today was day one of "The Hunt for Big Blue" which produced no heron, but several lovely photos. I've chosen a couple to inspire today's verse.

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Sker-garðr

Old Icelandic	Line-by-Line	Prose-Order Translation
Ek sá veg-sviðr ís-á (eyju-þoka) flótinn (stóð í miðju strauma) (stutta) át haf, djúpastr. Synt gæti (ey frá-skila) át strǫnd þaðan ønginn - stór-grýtta ey sker-garðr (sá blódhólm-ganga) kǫlluðu.	I saw way-swift ice-stream (islet-misty) flowing (stood in mid-stream) (stunted) to the ocean, deepest. Swam from (island isolated) to shore there no one - Stony island "rock-reef" (saw bloody duels) was called.	I saw a deepest, way-swift ice-stream flowing to the ocean. In mid-stream, a stunted misty islet stood. No one could swim from there to the shore; The lonely island saw bloody duels; The stoney island was called "rock-reef"

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Notes

The verse is intended to be the first of two or three describing a hólm-ganga or duel, fought on an island or within a restricted space. The finished poem will be included in a longer prose story called a þáttr. You can see one þáttr that I've written already here. I hope you enjoyed today's verse.  Please comment!

Elds-vimr ("Fire-Whims") [NaPoWriMo # 1]

With apologies to my friends who are participating in NaNoWriMo, I thought I´d try my hand at my variant, NaPoWriMo (National Poem Writing Month).  I hope to write a verse a day and post the results here on a daily basis this month. Wish me well!

Here is NaPoWriMo #1:

When I was in college at SUNY Geneseo, many long years ago, I was walking home one deep dark January night. Freezing as I walked, I happened to look up to the northern sky and I stood, transfixed, seemingly forever, by the sheets of light across the sky. It was the first time I had seen the aurora borealis. I have seen it a few times since, always deep into the night, always on the coldest, clearest night of the year.

I´m certain that you have heard by now of the fiery aurora that we experienced in the recent past. While there are excellent scientific explanations of this astounding phenomenon, I envision a more poetic cause.

≪http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/1110/AuroraOntario_MPark1920.jpg ≫

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Elds-Vimr (Fire-Whims)

Old Icelandic	Line-by-Line	Prose Order Translation
sá of heiðu stjörnur snjóiga dala-lagið - kómu inn ljós kaltast kyndi heiðu himna á náttar-þelli illu, elds-vimr glóðu róðinn hring-serk blód-liga Hamðis hirðmenn ljósa dró fyrir	Saw (I) over bright stars snowy waste-land - Came the light coldest (and) kindled the clear sky. At dead of night evil, fire-whims glowed bloody; Ring-shirt bloody of Hamdis hirthmen (of) light veiled over.	I saw bright stars over snowy waste-land; the coldest light came and kindled the clear sky. At the evil dead of night, Bloody fire-whims glowed; Hamðis's bloody ring-shirt veiled the light's hirthmen.

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NOTES

elds-vimr > fire-whims > Aurora Borealis
hring-serk Hamðis > Hamdis's mail-shirt > the Aurora
hirðmenn ljósa > the light's hirthmen > the stars

For those who are new to my poetry, a brief explanation: the form is dróttkvætt (court meter), a poetic style most often associated with Medieval period Iceland.  Each line contains three accented syllables.  The first and next-to-last syllable of each odd numbered line alliterates with the first syllable of the following even-numbered line.  Finally, in each even numbered line, two syllables (generally either the first or third and (always) the next to last syllable must rhyme.  The verse breaks into two sections of four lines each - each of these sections (called a helmingr) is a separate syntactic unit.  The two half-verses (helmingar) are closely related.  The three poetic devices noted above are called kennings, essentially complex metaphors.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this poem.  Please leave a comment in the space below.

Three Verses for Cold Weather

So, back when I was beginning this quest, I wrote poems in dróttkvætt metre, but in English.  I did this as an exercise to keep my mind going between inspirations.  Here are three of these English verses, slightly extended and modified, in honor of the change of weather Upstate New York is now experiencing.  Not that long ago, we had temperatures in the 70´s, with sunshine and occasional thunderstorms.  Last night, we dipped below freezing and the "higher elevations" had measurable snowfall. It's what makes Upstate living so "interesting," in a Chinese curse way.

These three verses go in order - from late summer storm through the leaf fall to winter's cold grip.  One definition: a heiti is a one-word metaphor, usually a god's name or familiar name for a thing.  In these verses, I use three heiti which are listed with the kennings in the notes.

So, parkas on? Snow shoes ready? Here we go.  Enjoy!

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Three Verses for Cold Weather

Through the storm-shrines tear-veil

torn by Vigþor's war-bolt,

shield-trees ride to safety

sheltered by the elm-masts.

Ash-bane flares in ice-homes.

Eyebrow-stones are blinded.

Lime-tree-bane knocks limbs down -

Loaf-bane flies for high-home.

Sviðrir´s yard-arm slumbers

Shields on ground he yields

Winter's onslaught waits he

Waking serpent-slayer.

Rostri - tree-top runner -

ruts through leaves on nut-quest;

Flyting with the flay-claw

Fleers at mouse-bane's queerness.

Forni's sacred fish-bath

frozen by Ull's chosen

servant - Norðri's sail-bane

settles waves to metal.

Neath the throne of narwals

neap-tide's wave-herds sleeping

wait for Suðri's warm breath

to welcome boat-land's melting.

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KENNINGS USED:

storm-shrine > THE SKY

tear-veil > CLOUDS

Vigþor's war-bolt > [VIGÞOR =Thor of Battle] > LIGHTNING

shield-trees > MEN

Ash-bane > LIGHTNING

ice-homes > CLOUDS

eyebrow-stones > EYES

lime-tree-bane > WIND

loaf-bane > MAN

Sviðrir´s yard-arm > [SVIÐRIR = Óðinn] > TREE

shields on ground > LEAVES

serpent-slayer > FROST

Rostri > a heiti for SQUIRREL

flay-claw & mouse-bane > CAT

Forni > GOD OF THE HUNT

Ull > GOD OF WINTER / SNOW

fish-bath > POND

Norðri > a heiti for THE NORTH

sail-bane > STORMS

throne of narwhals > WATER

wave-herds > FISH

Suðri > a heiti for THE SOUTH

boat-land > WATER

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Please, comment!