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    Viking Poetry for Heathen Rites
    Viking Poetry for Heathen Rites
    Viking Poetry for Heathen Rites
    Ebook384 pages2 hours

    Viking Poetry for Heathen Rites

    By Eirik Westcoat

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    About this ebook

    Honor the Gods with the ancient poetic forms!

    Now, for the first time in perhaps hundreds of years, here is a vast new collection of liturgical poetry for honoring the Aesir and Vanir in the alliterative meters that the Gods and their worshippers used in the Viking Age. To the Gods, poetry is a precious mead — brewed from honey and the blood of wisdom — which was brought to Asgard by Óðinn himself. Isn’t it only fitting that you offer them some of that mead in your rites?

    Inside, you will find poetry for hallowing ritual space, telling stories from the mythology, inviting the Gods and other holy beings to your blessings, dialogue for ritual dramas, praise poems for the Gods and others, sumbel toasts, prayers, and more.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSkaldic Eagle Press
    Release dateJul 5, 2017
    ISBN9781947407039
    Viking Poetry for Heathen Rites
    Author

    Eirik Westcoat

    Eirik Westcoat is a long-time Asatruar who has presented his award-winning poetry at several regional Asatru gatherings in the American Northeast. In addition to being a poet, he is also a scholar with a degree in Viking and Medieval Norse Studies who specializes in Old Norse mythology, poets, and poetry, with published articles on the galdralag meter and the meaning of the valknut. Viking Poetry for Heathen Rites is his first book of poetry.

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      Book preview

      Viking Poetry for Heathen Rites - Eirik Westcoat

      Acknowledgements

      The idea for this book was one of the earliest inspirations I received from the Mead of Poetry. It has been a long road to its completion, and many deserve thanks for their active help with it or for contributing to the conditions that allowed it to grow.

      First and foremost, my thanks go to the Hearth of Yggdrasil, to whom this book is dedicated. They supported my development as a poet during its earliest days, and many of the poems in this book were first recited in their rituals or other events. The development of a liturgy must have a religious community as its context, and without the Hearth of Yggdrasil, I might not have had that context, and this book would likely have been quite different.

      Next, thanks go to the Rune-Gild, that august initiatory school, which enabled me to make the self-transformation necessary to becoming the skald and scholar that I am today, and whose curriculum lead me to encounter the Mead of Poetry. This book comprises the largest part of my Masterwork with them. Great credit also goes to the East Coast Thing, for the spark via a lore contest that got me started on writing poetry in late 2010, and for the reception it has given to my poetry there in the years afterwards, both in its skaldic competition and outside of it.

      Thanks also go to Jesseca Trainham for her wonderful cover art and to Laura Kemmerer for copyediting the text and to Scott Mohnkern for further proofreading. Furthermore, I thank my family for supporting my endeavors over the years, but most especially my mother, Janet Westcoat, for support in publishing this book and my brother, Jeffrey Sigurd Westcoat, for offering feedback on many of my poems.

      Finally, thanks go to the gods, the Aesir and Vanir, but most especially to Óðinn, Bragi, Kvasir, Víðarr, Freyja, and Thor for their inspiration.

      Table of Contents

      Acknowledgements

      Table of Contents

      Preface

      Introduction to the Meters

      The Types of Poems in this Book

      Chapter 1: Hallowing and Warding

      Shortest Hammer Hallowing

      Short Hammer Hallowing

      Long Hammer Hallowing

      Fire and Ice Warding

      Four Dwarves Warding

      Unattested Dwarves Addition

      Short Water Warding

      Extended Water Warding

      Spear Warding

      Other Spear Warding

      Fire Warding

      Sword Warding

      Other Sword Warding

      Mead Warding

      Nine Worlds and Elements Hallowing

      Concluding Statement

      Chapter 2: Poetic Tales

      The Binding of Fenrir

      The Brísingamen

      Building Asgard’s Wall

      The Duel

      Freyr and Gerð

      Gunnlaðarljóð

      Iðunn’s Abduction

      The Mead Quest

      The Six Treasures

      Thor’s Visit to Geirröð

      Valhalla

      Chapter 3: Short Calls

      Aegir Call

      Aegir’s Daughters Call

      Aesir Call

      Álfar Call

      Ancestors Call

      Ask and Embla Call

      Auðumbla Call

      Baldur Call

      Bestla Call

      Borr Call

      Bragi Call

      Brokk and Eitri Call

      Búri Call

      Dag Call

      Dísir Call

      Dvergar Call

      Einherjar Call

      Eir Call

      Forseti Call

      Freyja Call

      Freyr Call

      Frigg Call

      Frigg’s Handmaidens Call

      Gefjon Call

      Gerð Call

      Gríð Call

      Gunnlöð Call

      Heimdall Call

      Heimdall’s Mothers Call

      Hel Call

      Helgi Call

      Hermóð Call

      Höð Call

      Hœnir Call

      Honored Dead Call

      Iðunn Call

      Ívaldi’s Sons Call

      Jörð Call

      Kvasir Call

      Landvættir Call

      Lóðurr Call

      Loki Call

      Máni Call

      Mímir Call (God)

      Mímir Call (Etin)

      Móði and Magni Call

      Nanna Call

      Nerthus Call

      Njörð Call

      Nornir Call

      Nótt Call

      Óðinn Call

      Others Call

      Rán Call

      Rind Call

      Sága Call

      Sif Call

      Sigyn Call

      Sigmund Call

      Sigurð Call

      Skaði Call

      Sunna Call

      Thor Call

      Thrúð Call

      Týr Call

      Ull Call

      Váli Call

      Valkyrjur Call

      Vanir Call

      Vár Call

      Víðarr Call

      Vili and Vé Call

      Völund Call

      Zisa Call

      Chapter 4: Long Calls

      Call to Óðinn

      Call to Freyja

      Call to Thor

      Chapter 5: Ritual Dramas

      The Abduction of Iðunn

      The Creation of the Six Treasures

      The Winning of the Mead

      Chapter 6: Praise Poems

      A Tale of Wisdom’s Well

      The Drápa of Battle Cry

      A Drápa for Formal Sumbel

      Fólksdrápa

      Mead for Camp Netimus

      An Offering to Nettie

      Pagan Praise to Freyr

      Sumartímadrápa

      Thor Processional Chant

      An Ull Poem

      Vetrartímadrápa

      Yggdrasilsdrápa

      Chapter 7: Stand-alone Sumbel Toasts

      Aegir Toasts

      Aesir Toast

      Ancestor Toast (General)

      Ancestor Toast (Personal)

      Baldur Toast

      Forseti Toast

      Frau Holle Toast

      Freyja Toasts

      Freyr Toasts

      Frigg Toast

      Heimdall Toast

      Iðunn Toast

      Óðinn Toast

      Sunna Toast

      Thor Toast

      Týr Toast

      Ull Toast

      Wayfarer Toast

      Wights Toasts

      Chapter 8: Sumbel Toast Sequences

      A Disting Sequence

      A Summerfinding Sequence

      A May Day Sequence

      A Midsummer Sequence

      A Freyfaxi Sequence

      A Winterfinding Sequence

      A Harvest Sequence

      A Winternights Sequence

      Another Winternights Sequence

      A Fallen Heroes Sequence

      A Mothernight Sequence

      A Yule Sequence

      Another Disting Sequence

      Another Midsummer Sequence

      Chapter 9: Prayers

      Aegir Prayer

      Ancestors Prayer

      Baldur Prayer

      Bragi Prayer

      Dag Prayer

      Eir Prayer

      Forseti Prayer

      Freyja Prayer

      Freyr Prayer

      Frigg Prayer

      Heimdall Prayer

      Hel Prayer

      Hœnir Prayer

      Iðunn Prayer

      Jörð Prayer

      Kvasir Prayer

      Landvættir Prayer

      Máni Prayer

      Mímir Prayer

      Njörð Prayer

      Nótt Prayer

      Óðinn Prayer

      Sif Prayer

      Sunna Prayer

      Thor Prayer

      Týr Prayer

      Ull Prayer

      Váli Prayer

      Vár Prayer

      Víðarr Prayer

      Eirik’s Hymn

      Chapter 10: Short Charms

      Waking Stave

      Sun Stave

      Washing Stave

      Food Stave

      Drink Stave

      Moon Stave

      Sleeping Stave

      For Collecting a Blót Tine

      For Returning a Blót Tine

      For Pouring Out a Blót Bowl

      An Opening Call for Sumbel

      A Closing Call for Sumbel

      Chapter 11: Other Poems

      Öfundarmál

      Beer in Midgard

      Fyrir Íslensku Landvættirnar

      Heathen Pride

      New Year’s Renewal

      Nine Noble Virtues

      Perseverance

      A Valentine’s Day Poem

      Wrath of Frost Giants?

      Wrath of a Tiny Etin?

      A Yule Poem

      Rise and Reach the Gods!

      List of Names and Terms

      Preface

      This book is an effort to restore the ancient meters and forms so that they can live again and fulfill their traditional purposes again. It is also a challenge, one that declares that the dead end of modern free verse doesn’t have to be the end of poetry, that the way forward is by a return to tradition.

      The poems in this book fulfill that mission by leading through example. True to its name, the majority of poems in this collection were written for use in many different parts of heathen ritual. Among other things, the poems here hallow space, call to the gods, memorialize heroes and ancestors, give praise, and bring the power of ritual to everyday life. They educate, inspire, and help one align with higher principles.

      Many of these Viking poems have previously appeared on my blog (The Skaldic Eagle at press time, formerly called Eirik Westcoat, Skald), but I won’t attempt to recount their original appearances there. Other poems have been published elsewhere, and these I will recount. Öfundarmál first appeared in Idunna 96 (Summer 2013). A Tale of Wisdom’s Well first appeared in Idunna 97 (Autumn 2013). Three of the poems have won victory in skaldic competitions at the annual East Coast Thing: The Six Treasures in 2011, Yggdrasilsdrápa in 2012, and A Tale of Wisdom’s Well in 2013.

      This book is laid out with the following structure. First, there is an introduction to the meters that I use, followed by a section on the types of poems, so that the poems can then be read uninterrupted in the main text as follows:

      • Chapter 1 presents short pieces that can be used for hallowing and warding ritual space through various means.

      • Chapter 2 features poetic retellings of prose tales, most of which appeared in Snorri’s Prose Edda but did not have counterparts in the Poetic Edda. My award-winning poem, The Six Treasures, is in this chapter.

      • Chapter 3 features a nearly exhaustive set of two-stanza calls to many gods and heroes, ideal for ritual use.

      • Chapter 4 contains longer calls to Óðinn, Freyja, and Thor.

      • Chapter 5 contains three ritual dramas — dialogue only, you’ll need to supply stage directions for performance.

      • Chapter 6 demonstrates another function of the ancient skald — formal praise poems to those who deserve them. My two other award-winning poems, Yggdrasilsdrápa and A Tale of Wisdom’s Well, are in this chapter. Thor Processional Chant debuted at East Coast Thing 2016, with music developed by Josh Rood. (These first six chapters are roughly in the order that they might be used in a heathen blessing.)

      • Chapter 7 is similar, except these are short pieces written as sumbel toasts to gods, ancestors, heroes, and other wights.

      • Chapter 8 also contains sumbel toasts, except these were written and recited as sequences presented over the three rounds of a heathen sumbel.

      • Chapter 9 is something unusual for heathenry: prayers to the gods.

      • Chapter 10 presents various short charms for waking, eating, sleeping, and similar for use in daily life.

      • Chapter 11 finishes the book with various heathen-related poetry that didn’t fit elsewhere.

      Many of the poems, especially those in chapters 2 and 6, are lengthy enough to stand on their own and be recited in a hall or around a campfire to entertain or inspire an audience. They

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