Forgotten Ground Regained

Lament to Vinland’s Sailor

Kiss me now, kill me later;I left you on that dead dock.With my heart heavy then,And you in wicked wind.
Bury me new marriedWith flowers at my feet;Shaven by the shipyardYou’ve taken back your seat.
What utterance of will,The ocean gods brought thee;Bloody-hair there will blowTaking you from me.
Your sword changed for the oars,And mine no briny bliss;Won’t warrior no more,soon covered with a kiss.
Stay stony on the bay,Sea fire not for me;nor Christian kin to be,long lovers’ dove won’t see.
Bremen’s land begs your brand,Wine-berries all what carries;And leave me left to grieve,No breath brought from the faeries.
Had Heimdall had his call,We would be one and good.But I am none and all,In church given no wood.
I miss the mead’s sweet bliss,The seal’s song—day-long;Living long to linger,Yet soil stuffs my song.
I hope you have my rope,The braided made with bronze,And scholars bring a scope,To string your journey strong.
Part of Forgotten Ground Regained: A Journal of Alliterative Verse, Issue 8, Fall, 2025: Norse and Icelandic Forms
Note from the Editor:
At this point I must ask the reader to shift gears. This poem is strongly influenced not only by the Norse habit of turning poems into riddles through the use of kennings, but by Icelandic rimur, which like much Middle English alliterative verse married alliteration with regular rhyme schemes. As a result, Marcus Lindenburg’s poems are close kin to alliterative ballads like Ted Charnley’s I Find the Naiad’s Place, and Mine – but with kennings, so you need to read this poem like a riddle. The author has provided glosses for anyone who needs them.
Glosses for the Kennings in “Lament to Vinland’s Sailor”:
  • Shaven by the shipyard: sailor/warrior’s beard shaven to return home.
  • Bloody-Hair: Blóðughadda, one of the nine daughters of the sea gods, representing different types of waves.
  • Sea-fire: Gold. See above.
  • Bremen’s land: Vinland. Referring to Adam of Bremen, a medieval German chronicler who travelled to Vinland and was the first European writer on the New World.
  • Wine-berries: Referring to Vinland. According to the Saga of the Greenlanders, Vinland was named after wineberries (vín=wine), meaning grapes.
  • In church given no wood: not given wood (i.e., a coffin) for a churchyard burial.
  • Braided with bronze: adorned with bronze fittings
  • A scope to string your journey: an astrolabe (held up by a string) as an aid to navigation
Copyright © Marcus Lindenburg, 2025
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