By Maister Colyne Stewart, August AS 52
(2017)
Dagmar halvdan | Daughter of ravens
Walker of valleys | Vildar’s favoured
Yggdrasil trav’ler | dew treading wolf
Giver of rings | golden of name
Hertogakona | kin of high fame
Skalds sing her name | Sif, Sól, both love
her
Garðhús chron’cler | Chosen of dyrgja
Lover of lanterns | Layer of lines
A sea of wounds | has stained Fjörgyn
Hrafn-fed ulfvins | elevate towns
Verǫld-folk heed me | Her name exalt
Raven-wine giver | Pelican víf
Written in fornyrðislag (pronounced
fort-near-this-lagh; “meter of ancient words”), an Eddic verse form consisting
of a 4-line stanza, each line divided by a caesura into two half-lines, which
in turn have two accented syllables and two or three unaccented ones. There are
six variations of half-lines that could be used. The two half-lines are linked
together by alliteration, which in case of the first line could fall on one or
the other of the stressed syllables, but in the second half-line had to fall on
the first stressed syllables. The alliteration of the first half-line was called
stuðlar (props), the one in the
second half-line höfuðstafr
(head-stave). The alliteration is actually an initial rhyme consisting of
consonants alliterating with the same consonants, except sk, sp and st, which
could be alliterated with themselves, and of a vowel alliterating with any
other vowel, as well as with j.
A footnoted version of the poem follows,
with alliteration bolded and stressed syllables shown in italics.
Dagmar halvdan | Daughter of ravens[1]
Walker of valleys[2]
| Vildar’s favoured[3]
Yggdrasil
trav’ler[4]
| dew treading[5]
wolf[6]
Giver of rings[7]
| golden of name
Hertogakona[8]
| kin of high fame[9]
Skalds sing her name | Sif[10],
Sól[11],
both love her
Garðhús[12] chron’cler[13]
| Chosen of dyrgja[14]
Lover of lanterns[15]
| Layer of lines[16]
A sea
of wounds[17]
| has stained Fjörgyn[18]
Hrafn-fed[19] ulfvins[20]
| elevate
towns[21]
Verǫld[22]-folk heed me | Her name exalt
Raven-wine giver | Pelican
víf[23]
[1] Dagmar is a member of
House Galbraith, whose charge is the raven.
[2] She is well known for
her love of hiking.
[3] Vildar is the Norse
god of the forst.
[4] Yggdrasil was the
world-tree, and her symbolizes how Dagmr travels all over the knowne world.
[5] Hike start early, you
know. She also rises early when working at Pennsic.
[6] Dagmar is Ealdormerean
and therefore a wolf.
[7] Dagmar is known for
her generosity.
[8] A Norwegian equivalent
for the title Duchess.
[9] Many members of House
Galbraith are Peers of one sort or another.
[10] Goddess of the
harvest.
[11] Goddess of the sun.
[12] Old Norse for ‘yard
house’ or an outhouse. https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/06/unexpected-viking-toilet-discovery-leads-to-controversy/
[13] Leading up to Pennsic
2017, Dagmar posted photos as port-a-potties appeared on sire as if they were
part of a nature documentaring.
[14] A female dwarf.
Dwarves were known for their skill at building. Dagmar helps build up not just
Pennsic but the Society as a whole.
[15] Dagmar is up early and
goes to bed late. Lanterns are a necessity. In fact, her Pelican scroll was
incorporated into a stained glass lantern.
[16] One of the tasks
Dagmar takes on at Pennsic is marking out camp sites.
[17] A kenning for blood.
[18] Another name for Jörð,
goddess of the earth. Dagmar has blistered her hands and feet while working at
Pennsic, feeding the soil with her blood.
[19] Hrafn is Old Norse for raven. Dagmar is the raven feeding the earth. On her Peerage coat the Pelicans have
been fused with ravens.
[20] “wolf-wine”, a keening
for blood.
[21] It is partly through
her work that Pennsic War occurs.
[22] Old Norse for “world”.
[23] Old Norse for “woman”.
