The Song of Spears
From EastKingdomWiki
This is an adaptation of an old Norse poem (probably written in the 11th Century) by Grim the Skald. Grim also has performed a mixed language version
This is a tale of an Irish High King who met the Danish King of Dublin in battle. The Valkyries observing this battle chanted this song:
1. Far and wide | with fall of the dead | |
The warp [1] is stretched | and streams down blood | |
A spear-grey fabric | forms on the loom | |
Woof of warriors | we valkyries [2] fill | |
Binding and crossing | with blood-red weft | |
2. The web is woven | with warrior’s guts | |
Heads of the slain | serve as its weights | |
Heddle-rods are spears, | spattered with blood | |
The shed-rod is iron, | arrows its pegs; | |
With swords we beat | our battle web. | |
3. Hild [3] goes to weave, | and Hjorðrimul | |
Sanngrid and Svipul, | with swords brandished | |
Shields will shatter | and shafts will break | |
Biter of helmets [4] | harms the breastplates. | |
4. We wind, we wind | the web of spears [5] | |
As young war-king | has waged before | |
Forth shall we fare | where fray lies thick | |
And friend and foe | fix sword ’gainst sword | |
5. We wind, we wind | the web of spears, | |
Follow our king | to fierce battle | |
Men will see shields | shattered and bloody | |
Where Gondul and Gunn | guarded the thane | |
6. We wind, we wind | the web of spears, | |
Where the banners fly | of boldest men; | |
Our liege shall not lose | his life in this place | |
Valkyries decide | those slain on the field | |
7. Danes who were driven | from Dublin’s lands | |
Have now returned | to take their halls, | |
To claim this field, | a kingdom make: | |
Seafarers will hold | sway o’er the land | |
8. Brave Irish will see | an evil time | |
As fate decrees | they fall to strife | |
Doomed to die is | their doughty king | |
Folk leader will fall | in face of spears | |
9. Woven is the web, | war-place reddened | |
We have finished | our weaving here | |
Still is the loom | all stained and scarred [6] | |
The skein garish | with gore of men | |
10. Now it is gruesome | to gaze around | |
As blood-red clouds | cover the sky | |
Clamor wardens [7] | keen their war-songs [8] | |
Far lands will hear | of fall of men | |
11. Chanted we well | the weird of the king | |
Anon we will sing | songs of victory | |
They who listen | may learn our words: | |
Speak this song to | spear-men after | |
12. Swiftly we ride | on saddle-less steeds | |
Hence from battle | brandishing swords |
© Dan Marsh
Footnotes
- ↑ This poem is likening the battle to a loom. Woof, warp, weft, web, rods, etc, are all parts of a loom and are used as metaphors.
- ↑ I simplified this line quite a bit. The original translated to “The women friends of Randver’s slayer.” Randver was killed indirectly by Odin, and his “women friends” are Valkyries.
- ↑ All the proper names in this poem are the valkyries.
- ↑ A kenning for “axe.” There seems to be some disagreement on how this line should be translated, a few of my translations had “hound of helmets,” while others just indicated a weapon.
- ↑ The latter part of this line 'vefr darraðar' is apparently difficult to translate. I went with one common to Hollander and Cook, as it fits my version best. Poole, who is the most rigorous translator, indicates “spear” as a possibility, but he favors “pennant” as the most likely.
- ↑ These two lines are added for clarity, and I moved the one beneath it from an earlier verse.
- ↑ A kenning for valkyries. Clamor is a heiti for battle.
- ↑ This is a very troublesome line, apparently it is quite corrupt. I decided to go with Hollander’s translation, taking a few hints from a transcription of the Old Norse.