The Viking Zodiac
I am the seer
I know what'll happen
I gaze skywards
to see fates
of men
I know nine stars
circling Asgard's walls
I know which Aesir
occupy Asgard's halls
I watch for Odin
lord of the evening sky
I watch as Yngve{1}
does
his foes defy
I watch for Thor
travelling celestial roads
And Tyr tells
me
what the future forebodes
After the gap of summer
Ymir{2} appears
shining ever vigilant
Odin
he fears
Gladheim's{3} king does attack
Valkyrie at his side
His wrath
is so much more
than Ymir can abide
Ymir slain, dwarves{4} become
visable to our eyes
the gods take their
places
in the night skies
If in hours before dawn
Loki nowhere looms
In the hours after dusk
Frigg{5} will kiss her groom
As the daylight hours wear away
and the fall equinox balances night and
day
Odin travels to where norns hold sway
to sacred Sakvabekk{6},
ravens{7} lead his way
Odin loses an eye in Urd's well
gains the ability future to foretell
But Frey travels further south still
to battle with Beli{8} whom Odin
cannot kill
After the equinox, as longer nights draw nigh,
Odin reaches Alfheim{9},
elves dance in western skies
Frey is there too, enjoying a harvest fest
or hunting game, in Ullr's forest
In the morning sky, Loki is seen departing
from Jotunheim{10}, to Asgard
he's starting
to work his schemes, of mischievous cunning
before night
gives way, to shortened sunning
As Samhain draws near, Odin sojourns at
Yewdale{11}, Ullr's home, and
enjoys the hunt
, The eagle{12} soars above, as pointed arrows fly
Eggther{13}plays his harp high up in the sky.
More sumptuous are feasts, as game is slain
Frey may join the hunt, or
with Thor remain{14}
Dawns now come late, the norns and Loki
secretly
conspire most mischieviously
Now the sun is hardly seen at all
Odin shepherds goats of Thor
inside
Thruthheims{15} wall
as winter storms begin to roar.
Thor himself does
elsewhere stay
whilst snows Thruthheim engulf
before dawn does precede
day
Loki fathers Fenris the wolf{16}
Solstice passes and sunless days
slowly start to wear away
Snow falls
and piles into drifts
Note the signs as the seasons shift
Odin does in Vidur's realm abide
searching for a steed to ride
from
above appears Sleipnir{17} his horse
to carry him along on his course
Odin passes through Noatun{18}
home of Njord's Vanir
He gives Njord's
son Frey
A window through which to peer
Frey gazes through the window
instantly falls in love
with the
thurs{19} maiden Gertha{20}
chained to the sky above
Frey gives his sword to Skirnir{21}
to set Gertha free
Thus Frey is
left bladeless
on the day of destiny
Longer days herald the equinox
dragon ships leave their docks
Snow
melts and valleys flood
Hungry warriors lust for blood!
To Glitnir{22} does Odin trudge
where Forseti sits as judge
Balder's
son bedecked in gold
settles disputes of which he's told.
Spring is here, men start their wars
to replenish winter diminished stores
Odin journeys to Freyja's{23} lands
from there Valkyrie{24} he commands
To Folkvang{25} they bring half the slain
where Freyja's kisses soothe
their pain
In Valhalla the other half abide{26}
til reborn to war again
they ride.
After lengthening days
Odin with nine sisters{27} lays
to Heimdall
they give birth
Lord of Himinbiorg's{28} hearth
Weaponless Frey passes by To Balder's funeral pyre Fenris falls from the sky Odin's corpse is taken Solstice has arrived But nightless days
Flaming Surt{29} in the sky
Burning sword
on his belt
Odin brings flesh consuming fire
With
Mimir's{30} head he holds court
as nights start to grow short
Tis Odin's time to die
In his jaws Fenris
grasps
Odin breathing his last gasp
to Thrymheim{31}
where Thiazi's thurses
spend summer time
sun reigns supreme
at twilight time
stars
are no more seen
shall meet their end
dark shall return
Odin
will shine again
Footnotes: 1. "Yngve" is another name for the god Frey, a.k.a. the planet
Venus.
2. "Ymir" would be the star Arcturus in Bootes
3. the name of
Odins abode in the Grimnismal poem, i.e. the constellation Virgo
4. the
"dwarves" would be the low magnitude stars
found in the constellations
Hercules and Ophiuchus
5. "Frigg" would be the bright star Spica
6. The
name of Frigg's abode in the Grimnismal i.e. the constellation Libra
7. A
reference to the constellation Corvus, the raven. Odin has two ravens, Hugi and
Munin, according to the Prose Edda.
8. Beli is the bright red star Antares
in Scorpio
9. "Alfheim" is the name of Frey's abode according to the
Grimnismal poem. The constellation Scorpio.
10.If Mercury is a morning star
at the time of the fall equinox, it would be leaving Leo(Jotunheim) for Virgo
(Asgard)
11. The abode of Ullr in the Grimnismal poem, Sagittarius
12.
The northern constellation Aquila, the eagle
13. Eggther, the harp player is
mentioned in the Voluspa. He can be equated with the bright star Vega in the
constellation Lyra
14. Venus can be two Zodiac signs away from the sun
whereas Mercury can only be one sign away.
15. Thor's abode in the
Grimnismal, i.e. Capricorn
16. The dogstar Sirius starts rising in the east
on cold December mornings.
17. The northern constellation Pegazus
18.
Njord's abode according to the Grimismal, i.e. Pisces
19. "Thurs" is a Old
Norse word commonly translated into English as "giant"
20. The constellation
Andromeda
21. The constellation Perseus
22. The abode of the god
Forseti, i.e. Aries
23. Freyja would be the star Aldebaren
24. The
Valkyrior would be the Pleiades
25. The name of Freyja's abode, i.e. Taurus
26. According the Grimnismal, half the battle slain spend their afterlife
with Odin, the other half with Freyja
27. The nine sisters who bear Heimdall
would be the Hyades
28. The name of Heimdall's abode, i.e Gemini
29. The
bright red star Beetleguese in Orion
30. The bright star Capella in Auriga
31. The abode of the giant Thjazi
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