Deadly Prospects

Part 1: Storofshvoll, Iceland 1855

Part 2: HIS LORD IS BURIED IN THE DARKNESS OF THE EARTH

1The Wanderer begins to tell his tale

2Sorry-hearted, he moves along the waterways towards the ice-cold sea

3Seeking those who knew his kinsmen, and could give him comfort

4For his friends have been slain within their mead halls

5Carried away by wards and wolves and ravens

6Regret and sorrow, cruel companions to the friendless

7Where now is the horse, the young rider?

8Where now the seats at the feast, the revels in the halls?

9Where the companions, forced to leave this middle-earth?

10Each days brings new desertion and decay to the walls of the city

11The weapons thirsty for slaughter

12His spirit separated from the bounty of the earth

13He is bound by sorrow

14The counsels of his lord have been lost to him

15Time passes under cover of the night

16And in sleep he lays his head upon the knees of his lord

17Who was his gift-seat and his throne

18The path of exile has twisted him like gold

19And bereft him of his homeland

20Alas for the bright cup, and the splendour of his prince

21Alas for the mailed warriors who have been put to the sword

22He ponders deeply on the darkness of his life

23On men buried, dreich-faced, into the earth

24And how cruel are the wounds of his heart

25And how he longs for the good times past

26The friendless man awakes and sees before him the fallow waves

27The rocky cliffs, where sea birds bathe and preen

28And knows that frost and hail and snow are coming from the north

29That the hall walls will soon be swept by storm and frost

30And how terrible it will be when all has gone to waste

31But the wise man keeps secure the mind-chest of his thoughts

32And those who are eager for glory do not boast

33Are patient, and never weal and reckless

34Because soon comes storm and darkness

35When all that is fleeting is turned to waste

36Becomes a land bereft of the noise of its citizens

37When the men who sought malice seek now only mercy

38And the permanence of rest

39So spoke the Wanderer, the wiser man, as he ended his lament