A Viking's Valentine Forboden of Thing

Yearning- the bosom gemstone’s ever-grasp Without, on wavy roads of sea-asp’s Mesmerizing sky-eyed without fear Billowing locks of Freyja's tears, rapture’s reverie my battle cry An overflowing Bragi's cup does supply Though the thing will seek its reckoning I will not go, though Valhalla is beckoning for above all, I savor your fiery fervor You have made me, your love-warrior Note- Love poetry was against the law. The prohibitions against love poetry help to explain why courtships were little practiced in the Viking period. While the goddess Freyja was the patroness of mansongar, and delighted in love poetry, mortal women had to be more cautious. Love poems were viewed in law as a distinct slur upon a woman's reputation, suggesting that the poet had had a more intimate knowledge of his beloved than was considered seemly (Foote and Wilson, p. 112). The reputation of a woman reflected upon the honor of her family: if her honor was tarnished, so was that of her father, brothers, uncles, cousins and sons. Any dalliance with a woman's reputation was likely to bring down the wrath of her entire lineage upon the hapless suitor!