STAMFORD BRIDGE. Morning.
HAROLD: The peal of blessed Peace shan’t ever be
and never had it been, made up by men
of kind civility. It is not kept
by men of letters nor by men of throt’ling
witlore, nor by those benighted, set by love
of God. ‘Tis made by men who ken a brace
of states: the two known natures of a man.
Men are only of two dispositions:
at your throat, or at your feet. The fewer
they the former, better can civil
-ity be kept.
The motives of the world
are not the weal of weaklings, nor the whims
of misers in their castles hid. Those men
who do no harm are merely decorated
props to backdrop Mankind’s dirge vignette.
Contempt, dark acrimony, viciousness,
hot tyranny, barbarity, shaled blood,
belligerence, abusiveness, insult,
bland cruelty,
enspitefulness, banal
and crimson carnage wrought, indecency,
cruiddity… I could go on! ‘Tis these:
these motives move the World. Dear Peacefulness,
the dearest of the comities we wright
for this, our dearest realm, descends from those
two fore-kin cleven up together, known
as Violence and Suffering.
Upon
that field, we will
so do that violence.
These ticks from Northern ice, these backwoods boobs,
Ere, their part is the suffering, as well
you know it! We shall pluck them from the breast
of Albion! And sacrificing blood,
A dainty peace be known throughout this realm.
You suffer in this life so that the land
we keep is kept through perpetuity.
That always there will be an Anglestad
for distant fore-kin, hold they fast to it
and dear portfolio for them it be.
Beautifully worded piece! This stuff really shows your growth and highlights your competence as a creative writer! I certainly wish I could write with such artistry. How do you write? Do you try to get words to page as quickly as possible and refine it later or do you pick and choose carefully? Or something else?
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to more creative writing!
Oh Tiege, you are very kind to say it. This is part of a very long epic poem about the Norman world in the 11th century, culminating at Hastings. There’s actually very little in it about Scandinavia and only a bit with Harold or his brother in law Edward.
DeleteI wrote this to contrast Harold with his cousin William, who would never speak in such an erudite manner. Harold was trained to be a king, but William won the crown through blooded fuller and the guile of the steppenwolf.
In that epic poem I wrote about 15,000 (?) words about Norway and Denmark and their succession, but I ultimately cut it out because it didn’t serve the story as it was. I kept it though and hope to make it the kernel of another epic.
In that excised portion I write about Saint Olaf and his much younger half-brother among other men. I would share it with you. Maybe I will? I do t know. It’s a lot but I’ll tranche it out maybe.
As for your scholarship - it’s much better than mine. I’m a suffer. I only know enough to get in trouble. The broad strokes of history. Then I imagine the details. That’s kind of ignorant to do but it’s just for fun.
The legends, whether Christian or pre-Christian, are all myths. That is, they are stories which may not be strictly true but tell a greater truth about the state of Man and Nature. Therefore it is not surprising that all these stories converge in some ways.
Your scholarship is excellent. Thank you so much for sharing your passion!
How did you find my little website?
You should totally keep it and continue it in greater detail. Share away!
DeleteThanks for your reply. I should work on how general pagan beliefs colored early Christian thought in Western Europe to give some credence to the idea all three stories have a similar origin. I’m working on it.
How did I find your website? It’s me bro! Your old buddy, I said I would try to get back into reading your stuff again!
ps. By the way, you are obviously well read on the subject of Harold and Haraldr Hardrada at Stamford, have you ever read the Thattr of Haraldr's brother Saint Olafr? I recently did and found some of the Olafs thattr Geirstathaalfs really fancinating! PLEASE let me tell you about it as I would really like your input.
ReplyDeleteSaint Olaf got his name (and also right to rule) from his ancestor King Olaf. When King Olaf died there was a great famine, and the people prayed to the deceased king and called him "ELf of the harvest." His spirit came to the people and instructed them to name his descendant "Olaf" after him and thus the famine would be alleviated, and they did so. The descendant was Saint Olaf. Years later, "It is said that one day when Saint Olafr passed the barrow of (King) Olafr Geirstathaalfr, one of his followers asked him, "When were you buried here?" The saint answered, "Never did my soul have two bodies, and never will it have, and not on Resurrection Day." But the man insisted and said, "Some people have said that when you came to this place before, you stated, 'Here we were and from here we started!'" The saint said, "I never said that and never will." (Johnsen and Helgason translation)
THe Flateyjarbok version adds of this encounter, stating that Olafr quickly fled from the barrow, because, "Olafr knew that it is strictly forbidden to men to search out God's secrets further that Jesus Christ intends to reveal them."
The story really reminds me of another story about another Saint called Columba, who encounters a "youth" who tells him about another miraculous world, and its strange inhabitants. The youth knows about them for he has lived many diverse lives as wild animals. Saint Columba asks the youth where he came from and is answered that he has come from a ship of, "THree sails: the yellow sail which bears, the blue sail which drowns, the red sail under which bodies are conceived... Father and mother do not know what they bear, with labor for living folk, with a covering for the dead." At that point the saint asked to speak with the youth privately, and they do so. When the saint returns, the people ask him about what the youth said, and Saint Columba replied he would not utter a single word of it, "and it was better for mortals not to be informed of it." (John Carey trans, University college Cork)
And just ONE more I promise!!! There is another Old Irish story about a hero bard named Mongan, which relates that one day he was listening to his bard sing about the death of a famous warrior in Duffry. Mongan states that the man was not slain in Duffry. THe bard becomes furious and will wreck magic on Mongan for the outrage. Mongan tries to pacify him with treasure but the bard will only accept Mongan's own wife as tribute. Mongan agrees to the terms. His wife is heartbroken, but he tells her to not worry, as he can hear the distant footsteps of the one who will save them. It becomes the appointed time and the bard comes to claim Mongans wife. Just then a mighty warrior, well known in other legends, appears. He is Cailte son of Ronan, a warrior of Finn McCool, another long dead hero. Cailte himself would have to be hundreds of years old at this point himself. Mongan asks him where he was when the warrior was slain, for the bard says it was Duffry. Cailte replies, "We were with thee, with Finn." "Hush!" says Mongan. "We were with Finn then...," says Cailte, who then relates the battle in which he slew the warrior at the river Lame. Thus it is proved Mongan was correct, and ends, "Mongan, however, was Finn, though he would not let it be told." (Tom P. Cross, CLark Harris Slover trans,)
ReplyDeleteNot that there is anything to suggest the stories are same, but there are some interesting similarities, in which reincarnation is mentioned and all three heroes demand secrecy, don't you think? Even the Finn McCool one, which has no obvious CHristian influence.
Thanks so much!!!