~ Historical & Classical Poetry ~
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* Rune Poems * Poetic Edda *
Icelandic Sagas * Anglo-Saxon *
German *
* Norwegian * Swedish *
Danish * Faroese *
Modern English * Of kindred spirit
*
* The
Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem
All rune poems with original and modern english translation.
* The Norwegian Rune Poem
All these are very early, alliterative poems.
* The Icelandic Rune Poem
* The Abecedarium Nordmannicum
*
Havamal (Words of the High
One)
Complete Translation by
W.H.Auden
* Hail
Day !
The
"Sigdrifumál" from
the Poetic Edda
* Hail Day
Sung version (MP3)
* Hail
to the Day
Another sung version (MP3)
* The
Waking of Angantyr
Ghost/adventure
poem from the Poetic Edda
* Hrafnagaldr
Odins
Odin´s Raven Magic
*
Poetic Edda by A.S. Cottle
A rather free translation, written in rhyming couplets throughout
(ext. link) *New*
*
Death
Song of Ragnar Lodbrok From
the "Krákumál", end of 12th century
* Valkyries at the Grisly Loom
The "Darradarljóð" from the
Njáls Saga
* Egil´s
Lament for his Son
The "Sonatorrek" from
the Egilssaga
*
Höfuðlausn (Head-Ransom)
Egil Skalla-Grimsson, from the Egilssaga
*New*
* Hjalmarr´s Death-Song
From
the Saga of Arrow-Oddr
*
Busla´s Curse
From the Bosasaga, 14th
cent.
*
Ragnar Lodbrok´s Death-Song
From the Krákumál, different version
* Vellekla
ca. 986 by the skald Einar Skålaglam
* Nine Herbs
Charm
alliterative
* Beowulf -
chapter 14
ca. 1000 CE. Beowulf celebrates his victory over Grendel.
* Beowulf - several short excerpts
From different chapters, selected for their beauty
* Beowulf - last chapter (41)
Beowulf´s funeral
*
The Lay of Guthorm
Anonymous
* The
Wanderer
ca. 1000 Ce, anonymous
* The Two Merseburg Charms 9th
c., Old High German, alliterative
* Lay of
Hildebrand
8th c., Old High German long verse, original, transl.,
annotations, MP3
* The Younger Lay of
Hildebrand 15th c.
ballad, original & transl.
* Lay of Old Hildebrandt
19th c. ballad, original & transl.
* The
Nibelungenlied
13th c., Middle High German (1st Adventure, stanzas 1-6)
* The Ring of the
Nibelung
19th c., Richard Wagner. (3. act, 3. scene: Wotan takes leave of
Brunhilde)
* The Niebelungs
19th c., Agnes Miegel
* Faithful Eckart
18th c., J.W. Goethe
*
The
King of Thule 18th
c.,
J.W. Goethe
* Herman
and Thusnelda
18th c., F. G. Klopstock
*
Gorm Grymme 19th
c.,
Theodor Fontane
* The Last Goths
19th c.,
Felix Dahn
* Thus
Spake Zarathrustra (... to Odin ?)
19th c., Friedrich Nietzsche
*
Bergliot
19th c., melodrama by Edvard Grieg
* Olav
Tryggvason
19th c., E.Grieg/Bjørnsson. Beautiful
invocation to the Gods.
* Suttungs Mead
19th c., Johan S. Welhaven
* Asgardsreien
(The Wild Hunt)
19th c., Johan S. Welhaven
* Snorre
19th c., Per Sivle
* Who Can
Sail Without the Wind Swedish Folk
song
* The Merman´s Dance (Näckens
polska)
Arvid August Afzelius (1785-1871)
* Fridhtjof
Comes to King Ring
19th cent., from the Fridthjof´s Saga
by Esaias Tegner
* Balder´s
Funeral Pyre
From the Fridthjof´s Saga
*
Nordens Gudar (Gods of the
North)
Erik Sjöberg ("Vitalis") (1794-1828)
*New*
* Vikingen (The Viking) Erik Gustaf Geijer, Swedish poet (1783-1847)
*New*
* To
the Gods
18th c., Adam
Gottlob Oehlenschläger
* Thor´s Fishing
18th c.,
Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger
*
Grimilds Revenge
Old Denish ballad, ca. 14th cent.
* Sivord and
Brynhild
Old Denish ballad, ca. 14th cent.
From the Sigurd Lays, ca. 14th century:
* Brynhild´s Ballad
Transl. by
A. E. Petersen
* The Ballad of
Regin
Transl. by E.M. Smith-Dampier, 1934
*
The Ballad of
Brynhild
"
* The Ballad of
Hogni
"
*
The Ballad of Ragnar
"
*
The Ballad of Ísmal
"
*
The Rime of Asla
"
*
The Rime of Nornagest
"
* Lokatáttur
Transl. by
Kiyo
*
Skrimsla
Transl.
by G.H. Borrow (1803–1881)
Modern English Sorted by author´s birth date
Thomas Gray (1716-1771)
* The
Fatal Sisters
*
The Descent of Odin
James Thomson (1700-1748)
* Liberty
Mrs. Felicia Dorothea Browne Hemans (1793-1835)
*
Valkyrjur Song
*
The Wild Huntsman
* The Sword of the Tomb
George Henry Borrow (1803–1881)
*
Runic Verses
*
Vidrik Verlandson
(From the Old Denish)
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
*
Tales of a Wayside Inn - The Musician's Tale: The Saga of King Olaf
Part 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
My favorite parts:
* Interlude
* The
Challenge of Thor (Part 1)
*
Queen Sigrid the Haughty (Part 4)
* The
Wraith of Odin (Part 6)
* The
Dwarves
*
Tegner´s Drapa
*
The Skeleton in
Armor
* The Grave
John Greenleaf Whittier
(1807-1892)
* The Norsemen
Alfred Lord Tennyson
(1809-1892)
* Home
They Brought Her Warrior Dead
James Russell Lowell (1819-1891)
* The Voyage to
Vinland
Charles Kingsley (1819-1875)
*
The Longbeards´ Saga
Matthew Arnold (1822-1888)
*
Balder Dead
Edward Robert Bulwer-Lytton (1831-1891)
* The
Death of King Hacon
William Morris
(1834-1896)
* The Prophecy of Guest the Wise
* Of
the Slaying of Sigurd the Volsung
*
On the Last Battle of King
Sigmund
Rudyard Kipling
(1865-1936)
* Harp
Song of the Dane Women
* Song
of the Men´s Side
*
Song of the Red War-Boat
* Thorkild´s
Song
* The
Runes on Weland´s Sword
* Norman and Saxon
Donald A. Mackenzie (1873-1936)
*
Njord and Skade
Robert
Frost (1874–1963)
* Fire and Ice
J.R.R.Tolkien
(1892-1973)
* Lament
of the Rohirrim
From "The Lord of the Rings"
C.S. Lewis (1898-1963)
*
Cliche Came Out Of Its Cage
Robert E. Howard (1906-1936)
* The
Gold and the Grey
*
Lay of the Norse Gods
*
The Song of Horsa's Galley
* Thor´s Son
Christopher Logue (1926- )
* Come to the
Edge
From the film "The 13th Warrior"
*
Lo, there do I see...
inspired by Ibn Fadlan´s 10th c. account
******************
Less directly Norse-related, but of kindred spirit:
*
How did you die ?
Edmund Vance Cooke (1866-1932)
* If
Rudyard Kipling
(1865-1936)
* Opportunity
Edward Rowland Sill (1841-1887)
* L'ENVOI: The Poet and his Songs
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
*
To a Poet a Thousand Years Hence
James Elroy Flecker (1884-1915)
*New*
* In
the black season of deep winter
Celtic
poem, 11th century
* I
prize no meat or drink
Bertran de Born (1140-1215)
* The two Crows
Traditional, originally Scottish