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~ Poetry by me ~

 

Prayer for the Dead

Dear (name of the deceased),
You have set sails for the great journey,
You have set out for the long travel.
We have come to say farewell to you,
as to one who is gone for a while,
but whom we will meet again at the end of our own journey.

May the Disir keep you company as you travel
and bring you safely to the other side.
Sleipnir, carry him to Asgard´s realm!
Ship of the Vanir, speed his journey
unto the place where he will finally be.

Dear Gods, Aesir and Vanir,
receive the soul of our beloved,
take care of him and keep him well.
Let him rest and be happy within your kindness,
as he was yours in Midgard, so let him be now,
forever and for all days.

Dear (...),
bring word from us to our ancestors,
our loved ones that have gone before.
Bring to them our love and our honor,
keep a place for us in their halls,
that we may all meet each other again at the end of the journey.

Dear (...), for a while we will not see your face among us,
and though we miss you and your company in our daily lives,
you are still in community with us, and we with you.

We are united together by our troth and our gods,
and this community continues, here and hereafter.
This bond between us is as strong in life as it is in death,
and this bond unites us, wherever we dwell.

Meanwhile, your words and your deeds live on among us.
We remember you and all that you have been, and done.
Your name will be spoken with gratitude and pride,
and your name will become part of the tales we tell.

Gods, bring comfort and strength to us in this time of change,
and help us to go on with our own life´s journey.
Gods, be in our hearts, as (...) is in our heart,
where we shall always be united in love and in troth.

 So it was, and so it is, and evermore shall be so.

© 2007 Michaela Macha


License: This poem may be freely distributed, provided it remains
unchanged, including the copyright notice and this License:

This work by Michaela Macha (www.odins-gift.com) is licensed
under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives License.