The warp is woven
With warriors' guts
And heavily weighted
With the heads of men
Spears serve as heddle rods
Splattered with blood
We will beat with swords
Our battle web
Polly sets to weaving
And Sound Eater
And Alina And Gween
With swords drawn
Shafts will splinter
Shields shatter
The dogs of helmets
Devours shields
We wind and wind
The web of spears
Which the young king
Has carried on before
Let us go forth
Amongst the fighters
When our dear ones
Deal out blows
We wind and wind
The web of spiders
There where the banners
Of bold women go forth
We must not let
Their lives be lost
Valkyries decide
Who lives or dies
The women who inhabited
The outer headlands
Will now be leaders
In the lands
I declare the mighty king
Doomed to death
The earls have fallen
In the face of spears
And the patriach will
Endure an evil time
Which will never lesson
As long as men will live
Now the web is woven
And the war-place reddened
The lands will learn
Of the loss of men
Now it is gruesome
To gaze around
As blood-red clouds
Cover the sky
The heavens will be garish
With the gore of men
While the slaughter-wardens
Sing their song
May he who listens
Learn from this
The tones of spear-women
And tell them to men
Let us ride swiftly
On our saddle-less horses
Hence from here
With swords in hand
The women then pulled down the cloth and tore it to pieces,
And each of them kept the piece she was holding in her hand.
credits
from We are the Valkyries,
released February 14, 2014
Source: Njal's Saga, Trans:R Cook, (London, Penguin, 1997) p.307.
Editing: IMUSS
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