The Shore Battle at Harvest War,
September 18, 1999
Upon the sea the soldiers came
Sounding high the battle cry
Of Thor. And through the darkling night
The war bound horses of the sea
Crest the coursing water-mountains.
"Come!" Sounds the camp of Thunder.
"Fend ye off the foemen strong
Far from shore's familiar rise.
"Daring, drop them by the sea, or
Dying, be their timely death!"
Slowly moves the sea-kissed ship
Scanning 'cross the gathered force
Landwards. Low across the sky
Looms the dark of Odin's hungered
War-birds, waiting bravely for the
Warrior's first-drawn living water.
Crows call forth the ancient courage;
Counting bounty's armor not yet
Realized, men rail the snail-paced
Rowers, as forward they all lean.
As forward more they move together,
Moaning timbers burst offshore
And to the sea-foam soldiers tumble
Softly cursing Loki's touch
But louder lauding Battle-God while
Breaking through cold water-hills
Together. All around the arrows fly
Aloft, drawing red across the sea.
One and two, then ten more down;
Twenty fall before the shore.
Now crashing comes the great King basil
Cresting waves with even stride!
Comrades rush, outflank the right wing
Rousting out the archer dread.
Landsmen fall, loud cries of "Thunder!"
Lost upon their dying lips as
On advances Artemesian
Arrow-dodgers, out of icy
Ocean's hold. Over Basil
Odin's raven flies with promise.
Rages now the great ring-breaker,
Rushing forth to fell the flag.
In his call is heard Thor's dreadful
Iron hammer's whistle in his
Voice, as loud the king cries: "Vict'ry!"
Valkyrie screams join in the shout:
"The Lord of Victory crowns King Basil,
King of beautiful Artemesia!"
-jessica cox-
Wave to the Shore, and to the Sons
of Beaches.
Explanation of the Form
This poem is written in the Skaldic Epic form. The
Norse did not employ end-line rhyme. Rather, they used alliteration and
internal rhyme (assonance) to tie their poems together. Another thing,
not used often in other Nordic poem forms but is absolutely essential in
the Skaldic Epic poem.
The basic form is as follows:
1. Eight line stanzas. Easy enough to do, just like the
English sonnet.
2. Six or eight syllables per line. The six syllable version
is the Old Norse form, still popular in Iceland. The relatively newer,
eight syllable form was mostly emplyed among the Danes and southern
Norwegians. The English language lends itself much more readily to the
eight syllable form than the other.
3. Caesura. This is another defining characteristic of the
form. Apparently pauses in the middle of lines gave the bard an
opportunity to breath during the recitation of the more action-filled
portions that required a corresponding activeness of speech.
4. Alliteration. Every odd-numbered line had at least two
words beginning with the same sound. The first word of every
even-numbered line must begin with the same sound as the alliterated sound
of the previous line, thus tying every couplet together.
5. Assonance. Every even-numbered line must have at least two
words with the same vowel soundin it (internal rhyme). In the stricter
Old Style, all the lines had to have this internal rhyme, but I found that
too difficult to do in the amounto f itme I had to work with, so I once
again followed the New Schol style which only required internal rhyme
every other line.
6. Kennings. This last is a defining characteristic of
Nordic/Skaldic literature as a whole. A Kenning is an unsual combination
of two or more words (usually a noun and a verb) used in place of another
noun. For example:
ring-breaker = lord or king.
mail-coat-trees = soldiers
Odin's fires = flashing swords.
All in all, this has to have been the mmost challenging poetic form I
have ever tried; yet all the more rewarding because of its challenge. I
hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
-jessica cox-
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