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.