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A God Thing

Fairhair’s youngest son the good, for peace trickery repaid, by hawk upon the knee            Norse blood raised an English king, hid from the bloody axe until his reign                           A Christian in a pagan scene A God Thing in a Frost Thing                                              old ways die hard drunken jarls twelve leaping things hot yule-beer,                                boiling horse flesh He signs the cup a cross to bear in heathen affair                                  Raven-feast a king tries to bring his people the Hope of the New Living Thing                 Pushing back the fires of bloody axe, he fought Eric’s sons blue-toothed Danes               Annihilator of all other Skalds recounts Haakon's Song his good night                        Outnumber six to one by Danes all weapons pointed, at the golden helmet                          though mocking refrains now hidden by poet's hat                                                        thrust on through you shall find Quernbiter,                                                              cutting runes and the Norse king, putting to flight the Danish plight                                   whirling recoil of the fleeing Erikson a lonely arrow finds Haakon's heart                             upon the flat rock lay slain                                                                                     though the Dark-wolf again eats the land                                                                        a Christian king has the hope of a God thing                                                         *                     *                                             Notes -Hákonarmál is a skaldic poem,EARLY KINGS OF NORWAY by Thomas Carlyle,THE THING SMALL LOCAL COUNTRYSIDE THING --Thing (assembly)

Copyright © | Year Posted 2014




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Book: Reflection on the Important Things