Elds-vimr (Fire-whims) # 2

A second pass at auroras today. I´m trying to get my imagery more consistent throughout a verse. In this verse, I´m using a martial imagery scheme. I hope it works for you.

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Old Norse	Line-by-Line Translation	Prose Order Translation
Egg fránn herjar Oðins élker norðan birta -- sverða glóa Svǫlnis svaðil ofan á hrylligr. Borgar manna birting blinda ljósa skjolda. Drauma hirðmanns drepa dreka krókar blóði.	Edge-flashing army Oðins storm-vessel northern brightens; sword glows of Svǫlnis frozen lands over ghastly. Wall men´s brightness blinds light-shields; dreams hirthman´s kill dragon coils bloody.	The flashing edge of Odin´s army brightens the northern storm-vessel; Svǫlnis´s sword glows over the ghastly frozen ground. The wall of light-shields blinds men´s brightness; Dragon's bloody coils kill hirthman´s dreams.

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Kennings Used

Egg fránn herjar Oðins > flashing edge of the Army of Oðin > the AURORA

élker > storm vessel > SKY

Svǫlnis sverða > sword of Svǫlnis [Oðinn] > the AURORA

Borgar ljósa skjólda > wall of light-shields > the AURORA

manna birting > man´s brightness > man´s VISION

dreka krókar blóði >  dragon´s bloody coils > the AURORA

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A New Verse: Snæ-skála (Snow-scales)

Finally, I have gotten a new verse written.  Yesterday was an interesting day, weather-wise, as we went from the 50's on Wednesday to an ice-snow mix that had to be scraped from the cars Thursday morning. It inspired the following verse:

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Old Norse	Line-order Translation	Prose-order Translation
Snærliga búland snerta snæ-skála al-kalinn - hækinn maðr heklu handar svella fanga. Gjalda ljós-gim gullin garmr-hrót ok jarð-eldr - hvítum smiðja-hitu hæru-Iðjas þiða.	Briskly home-land touches snow-of-scales frozen - greedy men hooded ice sheets of the hand capture. Yields light-gem golden roof-wolf and earth-fire white smith-hot hair of Iðja melts.	Frozen snow-of-scales briskly touches home-land - Greedy hooded man captures ice-sheets of the hand. The golden light gem yields roof-wolf and earth-fire - (and) smith-hot melts the white hair of Iðja.

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NOTES:

The poem works with an extended kenning, silver for ice. It is meant to present the scraping of ice into piles and the subsequent metlting of the ice by the sun´s rays. In a circular fashion, it uses "snow/ice" kennings for silver.

snæ-skála > snow of scales > SILVER

handar svella > ice-sheets of the hand > SILVER

ljós-gim > light-jewel > SUN

garmr-hrót > roof-wolf > FIRE

jarð-eldr > earth-fire > LAVA

hvítum hæru-Iðja > white hair of Iðja (a giant) > SILVER

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HOW AM I DOING?

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Gullin-lappar (Golden-paws) Update: RIP Mr. Sid

[UPDATE: Mr. Sid left us last month. He developed a terrible thing called a "saddle thrombosis" and we had to have him euthanized. We will miss him very very much.]

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Himself, at his best

And, as a kitten

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I've been knocking this poem around since before Christmas.  It got back-burnered for a very long time, until I decided that I'd better get it done. (There's another one waiting ... maybe by next week.)

We have this cat, Sid Vicious On Your Feet by name, a great tawny boy - reputedly the Most Beautful Cat In The World.

As you can see, he is ALWAYS on the alert.

Last fall, I watched him, at the ready, stalking a squirrel across our yard.  As he moved, the wind blew the leaves and poor Sid jumped, startled.  The squirrel fled into the trees and swore at the feline intruder.  It inspired this poem.

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Old Norse

Prose Order Translation

Gullinn ferr til geigrðing gnýstœririnn geira; kyndug grimm-lig kat-fimr koma hann um vǫlinn. Tvistrir mǫgu úvina valds-maðr likr frjó-korn; jaga fat-tokt eye-lǫpp æztan konung trjá. Skjaldar hirðsmanns silfra spjalla Dumbs-riks glumra; Þinga-menn þrǫngvinn þrapa-þengils kjaptað; haldinn ef úhræddr hann trýta deigliga. forðandi skayti fjarri flein-þundr ganga smán-lauss. Gellanði gulli-hagr grá-skipa í siglir; gnistan tǫnnum ganga gunnbráðr þil-fer kong-túsks. tyrfa í siglu-trján trú-lauss reð-valdr grufa; Hann bǫl-vanar hendi hæst frá greiner skatar. Flýða þengill fljóta flé-fot heiman skrefa; mun beiða á morgunn mattig tjal-hæst rannari.

The golden one goes to the war-thing Increaser of the din of spears; guileful, grimly cat-agile comes he across the field. Scatters many-foes the wolf-feeder like seed-corn; hunts strong-hearted quick-paw the highest king of trees. (as) Shields guards' silver confidant of Misty-realm's rattle; Thing-men thronging of quarrel-king chatter. Halting but fearless, he growls softly; Avoiding missiles far-off the spear-god presses forward. Yelling, golden-hair, gray-ships among sails; gnashing-teeth goes battle-fast (to) squirrel-king's decks. fir-tree within the mast-trees the infidel tyrant cowers; he curses hurls highest from branched tree-tops. The lord of trees flees (and) the warrior mighty stalks home; Tomorrow he will hunt again the mighty high-branch runner.

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Kennings Used

Verse One

gnýstœririnn geira > increaser of the din of spears > WARRIOR

valds-maðr > wolf-feeder > WARRIOR

eye-lǫpp > quick-paw > CAT

Verse Two

Skjaldar silfra > shields of silver > LEAVES

Þinga-menn þrapa-þengils > Quarrel-king's thing-men > SQUIRRELS

flein-þundr > spear-God > WARRIOR

Verse Three

tyrfa í siglu-trján > fir tree in mast-trees > man among the ships

Verse Four

þengill fljóta > Lord of trees > SQUIRREL KING

tjal-hæst rannari > high-brach runner > SQUIRREL

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I hope you enjoyed this one.  Of course, now that I've written for Sid & Freya, I owe the other two poems.  Please leave me comments!  Thank you!

Þoku-vísur (Fog verses)

Welcome Back, My Friends, To The Show That Never Ends!

It does, however, go on hiatus without warning.  I apologize for the past three or four weeks of silence.  Between the holidays, an attack of personal life revolving around getting my daughter back to college, and just plain dog-laziness, I haven´t written in about a month.  But this week, things are coming back.

So, you get two verses for the price of one today.  Both are Þoku-vísur [Fog verses]. They are inspired by a picture that a friend posted to FaceBook and by a verse from Þorleifs þáttr jarlsskálds. The poem, Jarlsnið contains a helmingr from a lost poem called þoku-vísur (Fog Verses). The helmingr is as follows:

Þoku dregr upp et eystra,
él festisk et vestra, 
mǫkkr mun náms, af nøkkvi, 
naðrbings kominn hingat.

I make it out to mean (in prose order):

The fog rises in the east, the snow grows to the west -
The mind studies the clouds, the snake-bed ship comes to the journey.

Between one thing and another, I am fascinated by making the fog come to life in some verses. You have two un-connected verses here. The only relationship between them is the metaphor of the fog. The first is in the first-person - a personification of fog.  The second is in the second-person, addressed to the unnamed person experiencing a fog.

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Old Icelandic	Line-by-Line Translation	Prose-Order Translation
Dregg ek up a Eystra - jaga ek a lappar; þyrja fold ek fetum - fjall ok fjörðu halda. Hlymr þagga hrossa - hjaldr breiða skjaldar: rauðu grá-fá hræflóð en rekja mara ekka. Hlébarð sigltu hjúpat hanka á ólginn jölla - vápn-þrumu vánar, vig-stríða þu sæki. Blindað-þoku bana- blígja aum-lig á draum-skrok; hvískum váfa hvæsa hvaðan aefa heyra.	Rise I up in the East - hunt on cat´s paws; I sweep over the fields - fells and firths I hold. hoofbeats I silence horse´s - uproar cloak shield´s: red gray-paint I carrion-flood - but unwind nightmares sobbing. Bear sail you shrouded cleat's to the swell of strife - weapon-thunder desire, spear-strife you seek. Fog-blind, death's gaze piteously at dream-fiend; whispering ghosts hissing from all sides you hear.	I rise in the east (and) hunt on cat's paws; I sweep over the fields (and) hold fells and flords. I silence horse's hoofbeats (and) cloak the shield's uproar; I gray-paint the red carrion-flood, but unwind sobbing nightmares. You sail the shrouded cleat-bear to the swell of strife - weapon-thunder you desire, spear-strife you seek. You gaze fog-blind at death´s nightmares From all sides you hear the hissing ghost whisper

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Kennings Used

VERSE ONE:


hjaldr skjaldar  >  uproar of shields  >  BATTLE
hræflóð  >  carrion-flood  > BLOOD


VERSE TWO:


Hlébarð hanka >  bear of the cleat  >  SHIP
draum-skrok  >  dream-phantom  >  NIGHTMARE


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Happy New Year!

I want to wish all my readers a Happy New Year! When I began this back in May, I thought that no one would ever find it and read it. To date, 2400+ hits from around 35 nations. The last part surprises me the most.

 During 2012, I plan to post at least once a week. I hope you will continue to read, enjoy, and comment more often!

For now, though, a nýju tólf mánuðr gróða to all of you!

Fridrikr/Tom

A Chicken Posting

Today, Jackson Crawford, who runs the highly entertaining and instructive Tattúínárdǿla saga, posted a message about  The Temple of Vængr the wing-god.  I encourage you all to go have a look; it's good for laugh.  In honor of Vængr the wing-god, I present to you the following flokkr of verses, discovered in a middens filled with egg-shells, burnt bread crusts, and dark brown granular particulates. The manuscript, apparently written by the Boreal Master something 1000+ years ago, seems to refer to a warrior who may well have been a congregant at The Temple of Vængr the wing-god.  The manuscript, written on a piece of parchment covered with circular stains which have been identified as having similar characteristics to the dark brown granular particulates found in the midden, was wrapped around a shard of pottery similarly stained. At the head of the manuscript was written in red letters:

Hœna flokkr eggja-gæzlumaðr (which translates very roughly as The Flokkr of Henny Egg-protector-man)

The verses run as follows (taken from a diplomatic version edited by Alowishus T. Cornpone and published in Annals of Animal-Husbandry and Other Felonies, vol. 17, number 3 [March, 1946], pp. 47-48):

Hœna flokkr eggja-gæzlumaðr

Verse 1:

Poetic Order:

Hklaka mattigs óðar hylð þu
hauka tal þelli-hringa flokkr
Heppin bóru bana hœnaar
hviti-kjöt eggjaveðr mattig.

Prose order:

Hlyð þu mattigs óðar hklaka-hauka; tal þelli-hringa flokkr.  Heppen hviti-kjöt bóru mattig  eggjaveðr bana-hœnar.  

Translation:

Hear my mighty poem, Klucking-hawk; I tell of the fir-ring of the flock (> woman > chicken).  Well-starred (> lucky, fortunate) white-meat (> chicken) brought a mighty edge-windstorm (> battle) to the bane of hens (fox).

Verse 2:

Poetic Order:

Hœna réttir estu Hœna Pœna
Hverr fuglar es þer stóru verri

Prose Order:

Réttir hœna estu Hœna Pœna; hverr fuglar es þer stóru verri.

Translation:

A  mighty hen are you, Henny Penny; every bird is below you.

Verse # 3

hana-Óðinn sunginn hagstœðr
hróstinn burja Loxsi-lósti

Prose order:

Hagstœðr sunginn hana-Óðinn burja hróstinn Loxsi-lósti.

Translation:

Fair singing cock of Óðinn (> warrior rooster) struck bragging Loxsi-lusting (> fox).

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Unfortunately (or blessedly, depending on your point of view) the script following this flokkr is utterly scrambled, giving us no further clues as to the outcome of the saga.
  

Steff-granni (Stem-thin)

This is a revision. I want to make my poetry more grammatically correct as I go along, and I decided to take a few days to go over two or three recent verses and see if I can't make them "right".

The first is below, entitle "Steff-granni" after the first two words.  What you have is the original version, which was first posted on December 1.  It is followed by the revised verse. The meanings haven't changed, but, if I'm lucky, the grammar has improved.

On this one, I truly encourage those who know to give me corrections and take me to task. Part of the learning process, right?

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Original Verse	Revised Verse
Stef-grannr klofað stríðs-maðr staðfastr á flaðgs-mór; kyrtil gróm-lauss kongsgjøf kompásað miðli stríðs-manns. Folk-Tyr mattig (fagr-eygr) (furu-rafir) krúnu fara andvigr (fylgt hinn) feginn-samligr (legg ást).	Stef-granni klofa striðs-maðr ok staðfasti til flaðgar-mós; kyrtill gróm-lauss kongs-gjøf kompassar mitti striðs-manns. Folk-Tyr mattig (fagr-eyga) (furu-rafir) krúnu ferr vega (hann fylgja) fagnaðar (með ástum).

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Line-by-Line Meaning	Prose Order Meaning
stem-thin strides strife-man and stedfast to the ogress-moor Stainless belt the king's gift compasses middle of strife-man. Army-god mighty (fair-eyed) (fir tree of amber) crown goes to fight for (guide him) joyfulness-filled (by love)	Stedfast stem-thin strife-man strides to the ogress-moor; The King's gift, a stainless belt compasses the strife-man's waist The army-Tyr goes joyfully to fight for the crown; the fair-eyed amber fir-tree guides him by her love

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