Took sail with a north-easterly wind did the Nords
From the glaciated valleys and narrow steep fjords
A sea voyage away by chance three lands found
Norsemen have come to claim their ground
Dragon-headed prows, ships with wooden oars
Centuries before famous lauded explorers
A Vikings roaring soul was the longboat Drakkar
Thru misty waters and unintruded shores afar
The land was calm—no frost in winter
Wild wilderness and little did the grass wither
What’s green is ice and what’s ice is green
Named in contrast so the truth be unseen
So not to make it sound it’s to one’s liking
This is the legacy of the brash hardy breed Viking
The sagas of the Icelanders—Edda
Old Norse óðr poetry of how they discovered America
Great Aunt Edda was super friendly when I first arrived.
Hugging and kissing me, holding me a bit too long.
I was pushing away, because her perfume was overwhelming.
I could not breathe, thought I would die in a coma of smelly old woman.
She held tight, with the grip of an alligator’s jaw.
When we got home, I begged my mother to never take me back
She discounted my concerns; Aunt Edda was her favorite aunt.
God heard me though; she passed away in her sleep that night.
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