How the sky trembled ꭫ with Odin’s temper
Sleipnir’s hooves striking ꭫ skirring the storm sped
Thundering ever swift ꭫ the walls of night swayed
In tumult flew this host ꭫ a raging torrid horde
Grim the god rode ꭫ grief his final ruin
Upon the dales of Vigrid ꭫ the demiurges are veiled
For murderous bond ꭫ their fathers had bore
Weighed in strife’s gold ꭫ the brothers stirring gained
Havoc seduced their will ꭫ the wergild, eternal war
And Ymir’s flesh wrought ꭫ reckoned the earth’s ruin
For bone, hard rock smashed ꭫ for skull, soft sky shattered
For blood, blue seas burned red ꭫ and Yggdrasil’s roots lay wrecked
Eld’s seers well foresaw ꭫ Odin wandering fare
Always on due day ꭫ his wisdom dared
To gain with will o’er fate ꭫ he grimly gathered fell
Carrion to fend his right ꭫ and coax the bright-sun rise
To light the dying worlds ꭫ to wright with wisdom’s words.
Well met was Odin’s fear ꭫ when swallowed up Fenrir
The fates of all men ꭫ grasped by merciless maw.
©2026 R.A.R. Knight
Author’s Note:
I set out to capture the Norse vision of fate as a contract sealed in the act of creation. In this inescapable momentum toward Ragnarök itself, there is a notion of original sin. Even the wisest god cannot rewrite the primal debt owed for Ymir’s murder. The poem, however, also conceives of ‘strife’ as a fundamental force, necessary in a cosmological setting, much as the pre-Socratic sage Heraclitus revealed.
Editor’s Note:
If you want to learn more about Norse mythology and Ragnarök follow this link to read a translation of the Voluspa with notes on names you see in this poem.
Leave a Reply