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Wednesday, 11 July 2012

7/100 - your unpopular house

Tonight I am riding
To visit your unpopular house.

[v. 5, Twelfth-Century Norse Lyrics of Rognvald Kolson, Bard and Saint, George Mackay Brown,
from Selected Poems 1954-1992]

5 comments:

  1. I wonder if 'unpopular house' is a literal translation, or if it's some kind of idiom.
    The closest I've ever been to studying Norse culture is reading Beowulf, and it's so full of metaphor that it's hard to know what's real and exactly what the listeners would understand from the poem.

    I like the phrase. I'm dying to be able to use it ...............

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    Replies
    1. The verse refers to shipwreck and the grudging welcome given to the sailor victims thereof, referring to the difference between the way the laird treats such sailors and the visiting Earl. I bought the Penguin translation of Beowulf a decade ago, thinking "I ought" but never read it yet.

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  2. beautiful, love the tiling & the colours

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