~ About this Poetry Collection & Acknowledgments ~
I
dedicate this collection to Odin, the Poets' friend and Patron of skalds, Giver of
divine inspiration,
Master of Fury and Seeker of Ecstasy. May the Wanderer inspire many of us.
"And a drink I got
from the precious mead
taken from Odhroerir.
Then I began to thrive
and be wise,
and to grow and to prosper." - Havamal
The Mead of Poetry
As told in the Icelandic Edda, Odin gained the
three vessels with the Mead of Inspiration - named
Odhroerir ("Frenzy-Stirrer") -
after great efforts and trickery
from a giant that had hidden it away in a hill, but not used it.
Odin grants a drink from it
to worthy poets, and from that time
humans have been known to receive Odin's gift
of creative madness.
The three vessels that contained the mead of poetry are
symbolized in three interlocking drinking horns.
The original can be seen on old Gotlandic picture stones; today the above
stylized version is in use, and part of the Odin's Gift logo.
The Icelandic skalds, composers of praise poetry and songs for their lords, considered Odin their patron.
But this is just one of
his copious aspects, as he is
also God of ecstasy in all its guises, war, magic, the runes, death, storm,
the Wild Hunt, and even healing. These
aspects are mirrored in
the about 200 poetic synonyms (heiti) and
complex metaphors (kenningar) for Odin that were handed
down to us by the skalds!
Some of these you will find in our poems here.
You are invited
to post your own Norse-themed / heathen poems here for the world to see!
Poetry lives by
being read and shared, and what better place for this than the web? Read here how to Submit a Poem. Go ahead !
I say a big, heartfelt "Thank you!" to the many poets and artists
that gave their permission to display their works. Without their generosity, this collection
would simply not be possible. Over the years, I have received many encouraging
emails with positive feedback, from sincere appreciation to glowing praise, and
I would like to pass that praise on to all you skalds out there!
I have placed most of my own poems under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives License, so you may use them privately and publicly without contacting me,
as long as the poem remains unchanged, including copyright notice and the License below the poem.
This site is dedicated to the education, edification, and artistic enrichment of
all visitors, and non-profit in nature.
Be reading you!
Michaela
Statement of Tolerance: This site is purely for
spiritual and artistic enjoyment and mutual exchange of inspiration. It is
educational, non-commercial, and so are
the major links from here. This is NO place for political, racist or otherwise intolerant agendas.
Legal Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for the
content of sites that I link to, or that link to me. I do NOT allow the use of
any part of this whole site for intolerant, racist, hate, or nationalistic
purposes on-line or off-line. I may at any time withdraw previously granted
permission for use of works and links.
German Disclaimer
Ohdhroerir image licensed from
123RF.
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