Loch Eriboll’s midsummer eve
is flooded by the setting sun,
and at the kyles its red rays cleave
the headlands and, bright crimson, run –
a bloody stain;
and I, a girl, at Port-na-con
cocked half an ear to Grannie’s tales
of Alasdair, of King Håkon,
of battleaxes, broad, square sails,
of jarl and thane.
She minds the time, when she was small,
when longships slipped into the firth
and iron-clad Norsemen, blond and tall,
made our wee, heathered cove their berth –
a white-winged skein!
A man much taller than the rest,
with eagle-wings upon his helm
and burnished armour at his chest,
was Håkon, Lord of Norway’s realm –
its suzerain.
When Alasdair, our Scottish King,
had landed on the Hebrides,
bold Håkon swore by cross, by ring,
by sacrament – by God! – that these
were his domain!
From Norway’s firths his longships sleek
came swiftly over northern wave
to Sutherland, revenge to wreak
on Alasdair. And none dared brave
his fierce campaign.
But all that Grannie knew was he
had lifted her with one broad hand
and set her down upon his knee,
and called her Queen of Sutherland –
“Long may you reign!”
“But where is Håkon now?” I said.
“At Magnus’ Kirk or Roineval,
it matters not, he’s long-since dead…
but still we call the Innse Gall –
Isles of the Dane!”
Author notes
Port-na-con is a little inlet on Loch Eriboll in Northern Scotland. The name possibly means "Håkon's Cove".
The Gaelic name for the Hebrides is "Innse Gall" (pronounced approximately "eensheh gall"), and it means "Islands of the Strangers" or "Viking Islands", hence "Isles of the Dane" in this poem (see below).
"Alasdair" refers to King Alexander III of Scotland, and Håkon to King Håkon IV of Norway, who did indeed go to war over possession of the Hebrides. In Dark-Age and early Medieval Britain, no distinction was drawn between Dane and Norseman; and in fact Håkon's empire included Denmark, Norway, the Scottish Islands, Orkney, Shetland, Iceland, and Greenland.
In a list
A contest entry
- Viking Warriors Come Forth! Viking inspired by Salt Therapy.
300 points, ended April 24, 8 entries
Gold trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
1 - 10 of 10
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Holy cow! This is the best!!
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Thank you. I think that was the first time anyone has said "Holy cow!" about one of my poems... and it feels good.
Thank you for honouring me with the gold.
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A fascinating blend of imagination and history (beautifully rhymed to boot). I enjoyed reading your Author's Notes also and am intrigued by the similarities between Irish and Scottish Gaelic. Port-na-Con in Irish could be translated as "the port of the hero." The word "con" derives from "cú" meaning hound, but it can be used figuratively to give the meaning "hero" or "champion."
Innse Gall (inish in Irish) has the exact same meaning in both languages, "gall" being a general term for foreigners or strangers.
Slán go fóill,
Bill
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Yes, "Houndshaven" or "Heroshaven" are other possible derivations for Port-na-con, same as Irish. The dialects of Scottish Gaelic are still very marked, and you can easily tell that the Gaels migrated here from Ireland - the two languages are brother and sister.
I am glad you liked this.
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I see my Scots auntie is at it again. . . I used to fall asleep in history too, but if it had been presented like this, I might have found my love of the subject much earlier in life. Part of the original duties of a bard was to keep the memory of the world alive by casting it into poetry. . .having said that, I have to say that you are one of the best bards I have ever known
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Hi Laz. Nice to see you here. Thanks for referring to me as a bard. I guess the history here is a wee bit fanciful, but I went for colour rather than accuracy.
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Excellent. A braw saga. My history is very scant - I used to fall asleep a lot at school. But I've been to St Magnus Kirk, and I certainly wouldn't have been surprised if a few Vikings had walked in the door. Or rather, chopped in the door.
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Have you ever been startled to hear a real Orkney accent, I wonder?
Thanks for the "braw"
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What can be said?
It rhymes, perfectly
It flows perfectly
it is well
pretty good really.
(Fantastic!)
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I love it when you write poems like this. I learn something about history and language. This flows well and tells a wonderful story.
Love,
Amera♥
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