With many mazing names does old man fare
Tho his body perish his name does not
Thus spake the old man with a one-eyed stare
But which name said I, will the children wot?
Har, said the one-eyed man, only one there be
That one which drew tight round his neck a knot
And hung upon a tree to see, laughed he
But which name said I, will the children wot?
Grim, the old man spake, that’s a name for him
When over their graves he stands to see them rot
For merry seems a death to one so Grim
But which name said I, will the children wot?
With many mazing names does old man fare
Tho his body perish his name does not
Thus spake the old man with a one-eyed stare
But which name said I, will the children wot?
Wise, he said, where came ravens that he brought
And beside him wolves from the forest got
In vigil, they watch o’er mem’ry and thought
But which name said I, will the children wot?
Terrible, a fearsome name shall they raise
When the storm winds blow and the Sun he blots
His flaming eyes over a grey beard gaze
But which name said I, will the children wot?
All Father, they called when the world began
On the freezing ice where the fires were hot
And the world he made for the sons of man
That’s the name said he, that the children wot
With many mazing names does old man fare
Tho his body perish his name does not
Thus spake the old man with a one-eyed stare
©2026 R.A.R. Knight
Author’s Note:
A folk poem, naming cycle, for Woden of the Northern world, all-father before the Christ, nailed to his cross, perfected love, and the grim god so lost his life.
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