FURY OF THE NORTHMEN Steels clash, ringing Sounds of cold heart Ricocheting off artic cliffs Clouded by ignorance Fighting for wealth
Blood sprays, diffusing Touching the icy film Slowly falls, freezing Looking for life In a deep red filter
Morning settles the dissident cry Layering frost upon lolling heads Thawing silently in slumber Awakening with gusto Fearing nothing
Ragnaroh looms Waiting patiently Whilst Fimulver waves Wolves destroy the sun and the moon Heimdall’s horn sounds the dirge
LOKI THE LIAR Loki the liar Cruel prankster Engineering disputes Troublesome kinsman To a deadly foe
Golden apples Stolen Gods taunted Immortality staved Loki laughs Whilst lounging in the sun
Piasi the giant eagle Soars, above Lounn’s orchard Tricking Loki To steal power Gods age and become weakened Earth stumbles
Loki the hawk Retrieved Lounn and her orbs Returning to Asgard Pursued by the giant Vengeful Gods Took wrath
After: Loki: the Prankster, Dougherty: Vikings – A history of the Norse people
A VERY NORTHERN SPRING Land, swept by the broom of winter Piling memories of warmer days High into artic airs
Slowly the land thaws Rivuletting the ways Trodden heavily
Brisk breezes haunt days Longer growing with the light Stealing the Borealis
Life struggles from the cloak of frost Uplifting the heart, pulsing, alive Waking to new dawns
YAGDRASIL Roots of differing worlds Bind the cosmology Sheltering the last humans Shielding the destruction of the universe
Midgard’s world of mortal men Lying in a vast ocean Cling to a foot of Yagdrasil
Midawellir to the north Home of the dwarves Slipping slowly on fragile fronds
Dark elves of Suartalfheim Roamed and pillaged Laughing at the Gods
Under the ocean Jormungander the serpent Wound her way around
Yagdrasil survives Ragnarok, the twilight of the Gods Worlds submerge before rebirth
HALIBUT HEAVEN Drunken seaweed stumbles Across a silky plain Masking the butts Scratching for morsels
Sudden spikes ignite Fearful feelings Predated by wraith Lying in wait
Escape roars upward Flying, gliding Mesmerising the foe Cynically calling
Flattened by despair Wraiths crumble Joining the ooze Lacing face
Buit, atoned by life Reassembles Slowly flowing Downward to hope
TWO POLAR BEARS Naked light stuns the senses Drowning thoughts of normality White wastelands of fear Beckon the unwary
Ying and Yang stumble Grasping at the edges of reality Balancing precariously High above their see
Two polar bears coalesce Plunging into the murky depths Down, further down To breaking point
Languishing in the ooze Waiting, waiting
Midnight suns drop below the horizon East and West Settling in the South Bringing darkness
New days dawn As moons lapse Bright, brighter in the brightest of all
Rushing upwards, the bears speed Emerging triumphantly Crowning the world with their presence Valhalla beckons
VIKINGS HAVE BEEN Alongside the Shannon Life is livable, peaceful Chauns frolic Leapfrogging mushies
Swiftly the clouds descend Dropping moisture Massaging the land With watery hands
On a distant peak Peering ruthlessly Winged horns Turn and focus
Descending rapidly Yells of auger Echo the hills Sparking fear
Munchkins scramble Looking for a crevice To hide To survive
Crofts raised, men stand short Waiting in terror
Swords descend Heads descend
Is all lost?
Forward and onwards Rushing to spill blood Taking all in a pass Skirts fly
Lonely waifs Burn in the placid sun Heralding new ways New times
VALHOL BECKONS Walls of light, rampant Stretching from east to east Lighting the night Endless summers
In the twitch of an eye Shapes emerge Descending into darkness Lying in wait
Dormant kisses Of cold breath Anoint Shrunken folds
Hoary screams Silent on the wind Frozen amok Tantalise
Slowly, sliding, Sol emerges Brisking off its winter bonds Stretching for Valhol
HULDREFOLK Shrunken calves Topped by dried bones Bulging black pearls Squinting
Layered by rock Grotesquely peering Taking mean spirits Into hollows of despair
Lightning drives barbs of horror Splitting rocks and Holdrefolk Scattering storm-sun’s bale Awakening the guardian of the corpse fjord
Shapeshappers Ugly and slow-witted Mothers and sons Crysaliding Freyja and fairy
“Troll of the moon, earth’s Hrugnir Wealth sucker of the giant destroyer Beloved follower of the seeress[TF1] Swallower of the sun” (Skald Bragi;s Tale) FJUR Drunken giants kicking rocks Bigger than houses Hew a field in Jotunheim Channeling anger
Jotnar spewed Torrents of ice Dowsing the sun Freezing the land
Slipping and sliding Snow felt the pressure Of Aesil’s tramp Compounding
Roaring downward Seeking solace In centrigrugery? Grasping and plucking
Slowly emerging Into sunlight Dripping white blood Rivuletting
Giant’s tears slowly Fill the furrowed brow Brimming over Flooding the fields
ABOVE THE ARTIC CIRCLE Majestic coastal mountains Scoured by ice Lying silently Waiting to melt In the harebringed inferno
Silently they stand Cries of anguish Smothered by snow Crags peek Surreptitiously beyond dawn
Night erupts as day Flooding cirques with light Etching time Wariness erodes Hope for a future
Tiny fishing villages Cruise within sight Of the sun Layering pisces Hearts exposed
Barren landscapes Mooncasts of the millennium Perch silently Waiting for death On the Artic Orb
KILLING THE SUN SWITCH Darkened light peers Slowly over the sunken hills High above, clouds Tumble down slopes of snow Air as brisk as turnips Sours on leavened stalks
Night skirts the grass On the other side of day Leaving whisps of floss Floating on frozen air
Slowly the earth turns Crushing atmospheres
Looking down All is revealed Life can start again Kill the sun switch