Haustdag hástoðum

Today´s offering is a poem of the harvest. It is written in haðarlog, a dróttkvætt variant. Snorri cites it in the Hattatal, section 79 (p. 211 in the Everyman edition of the Edda). It is the same as dróttkvætt, except that there are only five syllables per line. The prime example of haðarlog may be Hrafnsmál by Sturla Þórðarson. You can read it here. In her notes on the poem, found in Poetry from the Kings Sagas, vol. 2, pp. 727-745, Kari Ellen Gade notes, "Because of the restrictions imposed by the metre, the poems contains a wealth of nominal compounds, many of which are hap[ax] leg[omenon]" (words or terms not found elsewhere) "and some of which are very awkward." In other words, the missing syllable forces you to invent new compound words for the poem. It's nice to know that Sturla had the same challenge I did in this matter.

The verse, which started life as a gentle pastoral, turned into an extended metaphor for war, as ON poems are wont to do. Snorri would call this use of the same metaphor throughout the verse nýgjǫrvingar "allegory" (Hattatal, section 6; Everyman, p. 170)

There is a recording, as well as the verse and its translation. The music is mine, based on a version of the Lilja, a medieval Icelandic song, which you can find here
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Enjoy!
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Old Norse Verses	Poetic Translation
Haustdagr hástóðum Hornar gullkorni gransíðr góðþegnar gáfa þorpskáru. Vélinn ljárvaldi vaðblóði mýgjaðu ok fargað vínberjum fyr fínast ulfsvínsgǫrðr.	On Fall days high-stood Freyja´s golden wheat good thegns Long-bearded field-sheared the gifts. Good-men scythe-wielders mowed-down blood-waders pressed the wine-berries for the fine wolf-wine.

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Two beautiful ladies helped make this poem better: Emer Holbert, who has given me the courage to dig for music for my verses; and Lilli Haicken, who suggested the hap. leg. þorpskáru in line 4.

Kennings Used

gullkorni > "golden wheat/corn" > WARRIORS (in shining armor)
ljárvaldi > "scythe-wielders" > WARRIORS
vaðblóði > "blood-waders" > WARRIORS
ulfsvín > "wolf-wine" > BLOOD
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Thank you!

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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Please leave your comments below!

Ravens

I have been fascinated by ravens since I was a boy. I watched crows, and I read of their cousins, the ravens. Tales of ravens, such as Hugin and Munin, are part of what drew me to Norse mythology and, eventually, to the sagas and poetry. The Norse had a fascination with the ravens and their eerie behavior when scavenging. The kennings list at the Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages website shows no fewer than 125 different kennings for ravens.

A few years ago, I read Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds, by Bernd Heinrich, a fascinating book which discusses the intelligence of the birds. Recently, I came across a web posting on the same subject. In the article, the authors discuss the sophisticated communications system of ravens:

[R]avens use their beaks similar to hands to show and offer objects such as moss, stones and twigs. These distinct gestures were predominantly aimed at partners of the opposite sex and resulted in frequent orientation of recipients to the object and the signallers. Subsequently, the ravens interacted with each other, for example, by example billing or joint manipulation of the object. Ravens in particular can be characterized by complex intra-pair communication, relatively long-time periods to form bonds and a relatively high degree of cooperation between partners.

It is this highly developed communications strategy that helped inspire this verse describing a pair of ravens viewing a battlefield. I hope you will enjoy it!

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(http://corvidcorner.com/wordpress/2011/05/raven-desktop-wallpaper/)

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Hrafnar (Ravens)

Old Icelandic	Line-by-Line Translation	Prose-Order Translation
Blígja um braut brandéls blóðig nágagl eygt-svart; á hvíslur hast-ligu hreyr dæmum leyndar. Hrafnar einir heyra haug-mál hrylla-liga; skipta ein-hjal skáliga skárfir roða sára. Svipa í hlóði sveita svanir fæða á bana; boginn hǫfuð heyra hag-mæltr bana-mana. Eru stolen arm-hring offran fyrir Tyrs-náð. Eru stoliinn sagar sagði fyrir Herjans. Fljúga heim môr Hugins (Hanga-drótins sam-siði) vísi bjóða vigs-menn (veg-semd syngja víg-liðs) meyja Viðris máttkar (minni halda þinna) ok syngja á heim sálnar (ok sǫgur telja soks-mans)	Gaze over road of sword-storm bloody corpse-geese black-eyed; in whispers harsh corpses talk secrets. Ravens only hear cairn-talk horrid; bandying secrets baleful sea-gulls huddle of wounds. swoop silently blood swans to feed on death; bent heads listen (to) well-spoken dead-men. are stolen arm-rings offering for Tyr's grace. are stolen tales told for Herjans Fly home swarm of Hugin (Hanged-god's companion) Guide (and) offer war-men (glory sing of war-folk) (to) maids of Viðris mighty (hold your memories) and sing home the souls (and tales tell of attack-men)	Bloody black-eyed corpse geese Gaze over sword-storm road; corpses talk secrets in harsh whispers. Only ravens hear the horrid cairn-talk seagulls of wounds huddle bandying baleful secrets Blood swans silent swoop to feed on death; bent heads listen to well-spoken dead-men. Stolen arm-rings are offerings for Tyr's grace; Stolen tales are told for Herjans Swarm of Hugin, fly home and offer to guide to war-men Viðris's mighty maids and sing home the souls. Companion of the hanged-god sing the glory of war-folks hold your memories and tell the heroes' tales

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Kennings Used

braut brandéls   >  sword-storm road  >  BATTLE-FIELD

nágagl  >  corpse-geese  >  RAVENS

skárfir sára  >  wound sea-gulls  >  RAVENS

svanir sveita  >  blood-swans  >  RAVENS

môr Hugins  >  Hugin's swarm  >  RAVENS

Hanga-drótins sam-siði  >  Hanged-god's companion  >  ODIN'S companion  >  RAVEN

meyja Viðris  >  maid of Viðris  >  ODIN'S maid  >  VALKYRIE

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One note: In the third stanza, I did a tricky - I essentially split the two half-stanzas into four lines and mixed them together. So, when you look at the Old Icelandic and Line-by-Line versions, the parenthetical lines go together, as they do in the prose order translation. This is a rarely used technique, but an interesting one to use once in a while. I'm sorry if this causes confusion.

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Old Wine in New Bottles, Part Two

Another new verse, based on previously written material. Like the earlier verse today, this is for the Crown Tournament þáttr.

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Old Icelandic	Line-by-Line Translation	Prose-Order Translation
Stef-grannr klofað stríðs-maðr staðfastr á flaðg's-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).	stem-thin strides strife-man 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 strfe-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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KENNINGS USED

stríðs-maðr & stríðs-manns > strife-man > WARRIOR

flaðg's-mór > ogress-moor > BATTLE FIELD (the ogress being a symbol of disharmony)

Folk-Tyr > Army-god > WARRIOR

furu-rafir > fir tree of amber > WOMAN

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Just a song before I go, To whom it may concern.

No, I'm not quite leaving, but, the Thanksgiving weekend is upon us and with the impending visit of my daughter (and follower) Brigid! whom I love and have greatly missed. She has been living in Austin since February, making a new home for herself, and I am very proud of her!

Anyway, before I disappear for the couple of days, I have two postings. The first one is sort of silly.

This morning, a friend of mine, Carrie DeWeese, posted this YouTube link to the Court Jester at Facebook:

This was pretty durned coincidental, given that I'm working on a þáttr concerning a tournament.  The "Vessel with the Pestle" routine has made me grin and giggle for almost fifty years, and it occurred to me that it should have been done in Old Icelandic, of course. :) Twenty minutes later, the four lines were done.

drykkin með dreka

er kuppr með koppa

eða pelit með pila

hefr vini al-hreinna

The drink with the dragon

is the cup with the pellet

but the bottle with the pestle

holds the wine that is pure.

Anyway, the real, serious posting follows soon.  Have a great Thanksgiving, all.

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.

Another Lausavísr: Vatns-flóð (Rain-Flood)

This verse has evolved from the English original into a slightly bittersweet verse concerning the wet and wild weather of the past month or so. I'm including the Old Norse-Icelandic verse, followed by the line by line and the prose order translations.  You can listen to it here.

Vatns-flóð

Hátunnu regns himna

hjúfr drógu skurir

grœdis vagna grogg-óttr

grautar-traðkar al-staðar.

Tárum élskríns fljótandi

túna-bards sem vágar

bána soðning baugvell

bólstaðar al-skolar.

Rain-Flood

High barrel of rain of heaven

drizzling remain showers

sea of wagons muddy

porridge-paths everywhere.

tears of the storm-shrine flowing

town of the prows like waves

bane welling of the ring of the field

homesteads all wash away.

Prose order

The clouds [Hátunnu regns himna > high barrel of rain of heaven > CLOUDS] leave drizzling showers – The muddy land [grœdis vagna > sea of wagons > LAND] porridge-paths everywhere. Rain [Tárum élskríns > tears of the storm-shrine > tears of the heavens > RAIN] like the ocean's [túna-bards > town of the prows > OCEAN] waves – the flood [bána soðning baugvell > welling bane of the ring of the field > SNAKE > FLOOD] washes all homesteads away.

I hope you enjoyed. Please comment.

More next week.

Fridrikr