Jim Johnston's Norsery Rhymes
Round and Round in Midgard
(A Rhyme with Actions)
Round and round in Midgard
Coils young Jormungand.
One coil, two coils,
He's caught you by the hand!
Æsir Wot I 'Ave Met
As I climbed up a shivery tree,
I met Vol-father Odin;
With hemp at his neck and his single eye
He would keep his secrets and never die!
As I swam down a silvery stream,
I met with tricksy Loki:
With gall in his eye and sinews awry
The earth would shake and never know why!
As I climbed up the rainbow bridge
I met with clear-eyed Heimdall:
He'd heard me walk as I spanned the sky,
Loyal to Asgard till the day I die.
As I walked through a dingly dell,
I met with queenly Freyja:
Her cats had come with their night-questing eyes
To cut me down to my proper size.
Crying Over Spilt Mead
Hie to the battle
Odin came trot,
Spilt his kenning-mead
Every drop; every drop,
And all forlorn,
Odin came home
With an empty horn.
Futhark Tumble
F, U, T, scramble up B,
The troll's in the cavern
And can't spell me!
All But Mute
All but mute
On her leathery line,
The ink-wrought rune
Bequeaths her sign.
All but mute
In the riven sky
The bolts of lightning
Go winging by.
All but mute
On the carven stone,
Drawn on scrimshaw,
Written on bone,
And mute as are
These three to me,
So sigil-like
They whisper to thee.
Goat-Play
Thor! Thor!
Come, give a loud roar!
There's a goat that dotes
On the slippery floor.
Out on the ice,
Above the stream,
He slipped on his hooves
And gave a scream.
Thor, be nimble,
Jump on his back!
He has horns on his head
And gold in his sack.
Aurvandil's Toe
Up in the blue heavens there is a great star,
The brightest of twinkles for mariners far;
The mariners sail and wherever they go,
They always catch sight of Aurvandil's Toe.
Playing Odin at Chess
As I was playing Odin at chess,
His tactical game was quite a mess.
He said to me, “Jim,
I feel quite dim!”
And so I lost – I felt sorry for him!
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