A wave-frothing vat
The sea as a wave-frothing vat!
‘He fell beneath his shield, / in the same gem-crusted, kingly gear / he...
Reptile-haunted rocks
This reminds me of the French word for basking in the sun, based on the word for a lizard: se...
Care for a tarn dip?
A small mountain lake, originally Middle English from old Norse: tjorn. In Beowulf, it refers to the watery home of Grendel's...
Use it wisely
May those who have life-marking power use it wisely. It struck me as a curious phrase.
Source: Beowulf, Seamus Heaney...
Of princes & kings
The world of Beowulf, courtly kings and striving princes, confronting enemies and monsters to protect their people. The technical and...
Fate goes as ever fate must
This translation by Seamus Heaney rings like a proverb on the immutability of fate. Elsewhere, he brings it up close and...
May you not thole
'Thole' is an Old English word for 'to suffer' or to endure without complaint. It also refers to a pin, typically one...
Wide as the wind
Another pithy metaphor that deserves to enter daily use: 'as wide as the wind'. So, let me wish you this:...
Hate-honed swords and other battle gear
Everything a battle-scarred Swede could need: fine-forged mesh to protect him from other people's hate-honed swords, and a great-shafted spear...
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