minstrel: secrets of saga

[dcushing at istar.ca]

>Greetings all,
>
>Here and on other lists I have spotted many people who enjoy and compose
"Old Norse" (also Anglo-Saxon or Viking or elegaic) poetry.  
>
>First let me say these poems are very interesting and have good imagery.
It's great to see what you are producing, I have collected some nifty ideas!  
>
>In my early days as an apprentice I often composed such poetry...  between
a bop on the head from my Laurel and a university course in Anglo-Saxon
English, I realized that my poetry was alright, but... 
>
>My poetry could be made better in the easiest way, that is thru two tiny
technical changes.  How? you may well ask.  The first is a mistake most
commonly made, and the second is a "massage" of the verse.  Please note
that my examples will completely ignore meter.
>
>The most common "mistake" (and it isn't really an error but rather a case
of mis- or non-information) is the role of the *caesura* (the jargon word
for the break btw the two halves of the line) in this form.
>
>Fictional Eg:	
>		Denyth the Weaver	Lady most bright
>		Of inspiration	The very heart
>
>Now read the poem down, as if in two separate columns... make no sense,
right?  That is where a bit of massage on the caesura can help.
>
>Fictional Eg:	
>		Dyneth the Weaver	Lady most bright
>		Creative in art	Of my heart the light.
>
>Now the bits works across as well as down.
>
>The other improvement, "massage" as my fellows call it, is to use
*alliteration*, more jargon for an Anglo-Saxon use of words where the words
start with the same syllable.  For this use of the form, all the vowels are
counted as alliterative.  There are various patterns to use but I shall
leave the research to you (I'm not giving all the secrets away ;)
>
>Fictional Eg:
>		Dyneth the Weaver	Woman most wise
>		Creative in craft	Hearth of my heart
>
>The alliteration gives nice rhythm to the poem and makes it easier to
remember.
>
>Final tip:  The most common forms of this verse have 8 or sometimes 10
syllables, divided in two by the caesura.  You literally don't have a
syllable to spare... and a thesaurus helps!
>
>I hope I've been educational, and I'll be pleased to field comments and
questions about this.  valete, austrechild


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