D'Verse Prose to Poem- Prose Edda Chapter XVI

Original passage from The Prose Edda, by Snorri Sturluson. “The Fooling of Gylfe, Chapter XVI Ragnarok,

Then happens what will seem a great miracle, that the wolf devours the sun, and this will seem a great loss.  The other wolf will devour the moon, and this too will cause great mischief.  The stars shall be Hurled from heaven.  Then it shall come to pass that the earth and the mountains will shake so violently that tree will be torn up by the roots, the mountains will topple down, and all bonds and fetters will be broken and snapped.  The Fenris-wolg gets loose.  The sea rushes over the earth, for the Midgard-serpent writhes in giant rage and seeks to gain the land.  The ship that is called Naglfar also becomes loose.  It is made of the nails of dead men; wherefore it is worth warning that, when a man dies with unpared nails, he supplies a large amount of materials for the building of this shop, which both gods and men wish may be finished as late as possible. But in this flood Naglfar gets afloat. The giant Hrym is its steersman.  The Fenris-Wolf advances with wide open mouth; the upper jaw reaches to heaven and the lower jaw is on the earth.  He would open it still wider had he room.  Fire flashes from his eyes and nostrils.  The Midgard-serpent vomits forth venom, defiling all the air and the sea; he is very terrible, and places himself by the side of the wolf.

 Turned to poetic form, keeping original text and punctuation.

Then happens what will seem a great miracle,

that the wolf devours the sun,

and this will seem a great loss. 

The other wolf will devour the moon,

and this too will cause great mischief. 

The stars shall be Hurled from heaven. 

Then it shall come to pass

that the earth and the mountains will shake

so violently that tree will be torn up by the roots,

the mountains will topple down,

and all bonds and fetters will be broken and snapped. 

The Fenris-wolf gets loose.

The sea rushes over the earth,

for the Midgard-serpent writhes

in giant rage and seeks to gain the land. 

The ship that is called Naglfar also becomes loose. 

It is made of the nails of dead men;

wherefore it is worth warning that,

when a man dies with unpared nails,

he supplies a large amount of materials

for the building of this ship,

which both gods and men

wish may be finished

as late as possible.

But in this flood Naglfar gets afloat.

The giant Hrym is its steersman. 

The Fenris-Wolf advances with wide open mouth;

the upper jaw reaches to heaven

and the lower jaw is on the earth. 

He would open it still wider had he room. 

Fire flashes from his eyes and nostrils. 

The Midgard-serpent vomits forth venom,

defiling all the air and the sea;

he is very terrible,

 and places himself

 by the side of the wolf.

 My Poetic Interpretation of the Passage

At the end of days,

Mercy shall pour,

As the snarling fangs devour light

All dreams destroyed in darkest night

Stars collide.

Fall.  Dead.

Empty. Void.

And so the storm shall feel

As if long past.

Survivors, all whom remain,

Will kiss the ground in thanks,

But lips shall first feel

The bubbling cracks below

The violent tremors break

Unleashing beast below

Prompting a universal flood

Drowning

Souls saved

Briefly by

Boatman’s ride

Yet beast grows

Constricts the orb

Spitting out what

It cannot hide

In belly

Craving

Pathways blocked

And extraction

Of the soul commences

By serpent tongue

Siding with the

Frenzied beast

Reborn

From beneath

The dead.

D'Verse is open and serving up a dose of prose to poem this week for Meeting the Bar.  I thought it an interesting challenge, but I didn't know where to begin.  So I grabbed the first book near me, but that was a topology book, and figured nobody really wanted to hear me write on that:)  So I turned my head and saw my books on myth, but none seemed to urge my getting up from the computer chair.  So I delved into Ibooks and found that version of The Prose Edda staring at me.  It took a couple minutes to find a passage not smothered in hard-to-pronounce names, but I found one, and it just so happened to be about Armageddon, or as they call it Ragnarok. I may have alluded to a bit of information not presented in this passage, but not that much, if at all.  Just a piece of that chapter, perhaps longer than intended, but I found this exercise fun, and didn't want to leave the piece hanging mid passage.  It was different for sure, but different is good.