"Through the mists a northern ship"

Through the mists a northern ship,

Lets oars dip in water cold,

As warriors bold their axes clasp

And rough breaths rasp in hungry throats.

In wolfen cloaks they howl loud,

Fierce and proud and free to roam

So far from home yet not afraid.

Their foes waylaid and sent to Hel

And told to tell of how they passed

From first to last upon the blades—

In forest glades—of the northmen.

A ship of ten they treasure take,

And thirst they slake, with blood and mead

As fury’s freed to wander south

While bearded mouth of mighty skald

Loudly called and told of deeds

Of planted seeds that grew so tall

They could not fall to any man.

Bezerker clan leaps into lake

And like cold drake they wade ashore

Grip axe and oar in burly hands.

They scan the lands they’ve come to reave

While Southerns leave in haste and fear

As ten draw near, the moon so bright

In fell light bloody work commences.

Riot of the senses, scent of blood,

The feel of mud and steel and flesh,

Muscles thresh, the sounds of fright

And fierce delight, panic, pain and disbelief,

And sobbing grief. Then sudden still

In morning chill as pelted wolf-men,

Now nine of ten, collect their geld

From those they felled upon their boat.

With laugh and gloat they fill their fists

As through the mists they disappear.

Written using the Aicill rhyme scheme where the final word of one line rhymes with an internal word in the next rhyme.

For Helen Grey

By THLaird Colyne Stewart

Amid the rustling banners bold

A tale is told of Korigan

Who fears no one, the wolf red-black,

Who from her pack will never stray.

For Helen Grey she stood the field

With sword and shield, and heavy axe,

To make me wax on honour bought

With how she fought for Helen Grey.

On August 29, 2015, at the Emprise of the Ermine Star, I fought Lord Korigan in a deed of arms. Part of the rules of the list were that if any part of a fighter other than their foot were to touch the ground, they owed a ransom to their opponent. I fell to the ground, and for my ransom Korigan tasked me to write a poem for her wife, Helen Grey.

Written using the aicill rhyme scheme where the final word of one line rhymes with an internal word in the next rhyme.

Hounds of Arrochar

Dedicated to Gilchrist, Ilsa, Boaz, Ozymandius, O’ber and Fengil

By THLaird Colyne Stewart, March AS 49 (2015)

In northern hall the hounds all sit,

Sleek bodies fit for dogs who hunt,

When with a grunt released they fly,

Give voice to cry as swift they go,

The whippets flow through bright green grass,

While greyhounds pass and kennets bay,

Lymers find the prey, elusive,

And then, conclusive, end the game;

So heed their lord and dame, head home,

No more to roam and on floor sprawl.

Written using the Irish poetic device known as Aicill. Aicill is a rhyme scheme where the final word of one line rhymes with an internal word in the next rhyme.

For instance:

He was a man both strong and tall,

Who, come the fall, would travel round

To hallowed ground, and there kneel down

etc

I again settled on iambic octometer for my meter (for some reason that feels most natural to me), and did not use a traditional poetic stanza form. I instead wrote single ceathramhain (lines of verse) until I felt the tale had been told (in this case a scene of all the dogs who are part of House Arrochar chasing something through a field). I also chose to write it as a single rann (stanza). Technically I also used the device known as dúnadh (meaning “conclusion”) where the poem begins and ends on the same sound. This sound can be the whole word, a syllable, or just a letter. This poem begins and ends with the letter L, so it could be considered to be using dúnadh. Another device I made use of a on a few ceathramhain was uaim, which is the use of alliteration in early Irish poetry. With uaim only unaccented syllables should come between alliterated words (so “hall the hounds,” “fit for,” “when with,” “green grass,” and “head home” all alliterate correctly).

Kennets were a type of dog used as small hunting hounds, while lymers were dogs used to locate game.

For more information on dogs in period, check out:

Walker-Meikle, Kathleen. Medieval Dogs. British Library, 2013.