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~ Poetry by me ~
StarkadŽs Fate
At the time when Starkad was following King VikarŽs raven banner, one night
he was awakened
by his fosterfather Hrossharsgrani. They rowed to an island and walked into a
wood clearing
where eleven people where seated, and a twelfth chair stood empty.
The others greeted Hrossharsgrani as Odin, and he took the twelfth seat.
Odin spoke to the AesirŽs assembly:
"Here stands Starkad, my stalwart fighter;
strong he is, and stronger IŽll make him:
My gifts heŽll enjoy, I grant him renown."
Thor said darkly, "IŽll thwart your plans,
Odin:
No love I bear for the line of Starkad.
His grandmother married a mortal and spurned me,,
and always your heroes harrass my people."
"You cannot stop me bestowing my favors."
"For each of your boons I will bring him a curse."
"HeŽll win every battle, the victor he
stays."
"HeŽll be badly mangled, and marred by great scars."
"A span of three lifetimes to spend I will give him."
"In each heŽll be known for a nithlingŽs deed."
"HeŽll wear finest clothes, his weapons are
matchless."
"HeŽll never think aught that he owns is enough."
"His words shall be poetry, in verses heŽll speak."
"To remember the rhymes his memory will fail."
"Riches heŽll gain and gold beyond
measure."
"No land he shall hold, no home he will find."
"Kings will admire, the mighty ones praise him."
"The simple people, the peasants shall hate him.
"..To wish Starkad ill was a waste of my
breath:
Your blessings carry their curses within them."
"You only helped to heighten his glory:
StarkadŽs struggles will strengthen his fame."
And the Aesir, who all had listened, nodded that everything that had been spoken would come about.
© 2005 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.
Notes: This is a close rendering of an episode from the GautrekŽs Saga.
The dialogue has been set to
Old Verse Meter (Fornyrdhislag) by me. I have taken
some poetic license with the first two stanzas and the last one.
