Quilliam, Queen-maker,
Queries his althing,
Speaks to skald-poets
Converses with carls.
Domhnail, dís[1]-born,
Daughter of dwarf-kin[2]
Muses
with maðr[3]
Talks
with red rekkr[4].
Who comes when called
Carries long burdens
Field and fen toiler
Works with the wain-kin[5]?
Who nears when needed
Knowing what’s lacking
Moils[6]
in mead hall
Stands without sighing?
Kolbjorn, kappi[7],
Dreki-marked[8]
kyrtil[9]
Tender of tree-lord
Binder of boughs[10].
Black bear[11]
devoted
Born into Ramlands[12]
Frigg[13]-blessed
father
Ring-rich in family.
Wise words well spoken
Well heard by high-born
Call they the Kolbjorn
Command they their carl.
Stood
he in shire-land
At
icy snow-battle
Added
as årmann[14]
Joins
band of blood-givers[15].
And so was Kolbjorn, loyal servant of
Quilliam and Domhnail, inducted into Their Order of the Pelican, at Tournoi du
Coeur des Glace, in Their Shire of Bastille du Lac, on the 30th day
of January, in the fiftieth year of the settlement.
Wording
by THLaird Colyne Stewart, using the galdralag version of the
ljoðaháttr meter (known as the “magic spell meter”). This meter was likely used for magical or
cult poetry, and since a Peerage elevation is a special event I thought it
fitting.
Ljoðaháttr (“meter
of chants”) consisted of a pair of line, each having two stressed syllables and
being bound by alliteration, followed by a third line (the “full line” that
alliterated with itself and had two or three stressed syllables. Galdralag
added a fourth line that mirrored the third. Normally a stanza consisted of two
sets of these three or four lines.
Sources:
Linguistics Research Centre, Old Norse
Online, http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/eieol/norol-BF-X.html
Nordic Names, http://www.nordicnames.de/wiki/Kolbj%C3%B8rn
Viking Answer Lady, Poetry in
Scandinavia and the North, http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/meters.shtml
[1] A dis is a spirit of fate.
[2] Domhnail is a former baroness of Septentria. She followed Barony
Cynred, whose short stature and long beard reminded many of a gnome.
[3] Henchmen, people.
[4] Warriors.
[5] A kenning referring to the Companions of the Order of the Wain, who
have been recognized for their service.
[6] A verb meaning “to work”.
[7] Hero or champion.
[8] Referring to the dragon on Kol’s heraldry.
[9] Tunic.
[10] These two lines are saying that Kol cares for Yggdraasil, the tree
that stands at the centre of the Norse universe.
[11] Kolbjorn means “black bear”.
[12] Kol is from the Barony of Ramshaven.
[13] Frigg is, among other things, the goddess of marriage.
[14] An admistrator akin to a steward or castellan.
[15] In medieval lore Pelicans were known for great sacrifice, even
feeding their own blood to their young.
