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Lakeside Hunter         Poetic form: Drottkvaett (Court Meter)

Skaldic primer by Jon Cyr, on the complexity of the Old Norse
verse meter "drottkvaet", with this poem as example!

The Ás is crossing ice,
Úllr from the North comes forth,
On blades of bone he slides,
Borne through hindering winds.
On frozen firth he rises,
The forest greets their meeting.
He wears the wild caught furs,
Woolens hold back the cold.

Staring from stand of firs,
A stag in blowing snow.
His light-brown colored coat
Crests shine tawny from dawn.
Lashings light on his feet.
On laced frames hunter braces
He bends the yew wood bound.
The bow kept taught held low.
 
Raising, sighting, sizing,
Seeking the bone of his cheek.
Squinting eye scopes the point.
And squares to horse tail hair
The gust from grasp released,
The grip of fletch bound tip,
Wending it splits the wind,
Whispers in lake air crisp.
 
Feathered tail of felling,
Firmly sets biting wýrm.
Pierced by painful arrow,
His prize from hiding rises.
Bounding full he soon finds,
Faltering hoof steps halt.
Úllr the Hunter then hailed,
The hart from forest shore. 

© Jonathan Cyr            Raven Kindred North

Image: Frozen lake on Mather Island, Prydz Bay, Antarctica. © Hannes Grobe, Alfred Wegener Institute.
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.

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