~ Poetry by me ~
The Langobards
Two peoples assembled for deadly fight,
to the storm of spears they had gone;
The first folk was strong with Odin´s might,
the second Frigg´s favor had won.
Frigg asked her husband: "Make strong the
shields
and swords of my people in strife!"
The Grim One laughed, "On the battlefields
rule I and not you, my wife!"
But Frigg just smiled, and secretly went
to counsel her favorite peer:
"If you´d have victory, use this wile
though strange it sounds to your ear.
"Your army must be the first to be found
in the east, when sunrise begins;
Arm your women, and have their hair bound
together in front of their chins."
Thus Allfather saw them in battle-morn´s light,
exclaiming: "This army looks weird!
In Midgard beheld I many a sight,
but never I saw such long beards."
"Langobards", Frigg said,
"henceforward they are,
since you just gave them this name.
For their naming a gift you must grant them, Hár,
so victory bring them and fame!"
Odin grudgingly yielded; and in strife
the Langobards triumphed that day.
So, husbands, take care, for the wiles of a wife
over Odin himself can hold sway!
© 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.
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