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PART 1 STOROFSHVOLL, ICELAND 1855
PART 2 HIS LORD IS BURIED IN THE DARKNESS OF THE EARTH
1 The Wanderer begins to tell his tale
2 Sorry-hearted, he moves along the waterways towards the ice-cold sea
3 Seeking those who knew his kinsmen, and could give him comfort
4 For his friends have been slain within their mead-halls
5 Carried away by wars and wolves and ravens
6 Regret and sorrow, cruel companions to the friendless
7 Where now is the horse, the young rider?
8 Where now the seats at the feast, the revels in the halls?
9 Where the companions, forced to leave this middle-earth?
10 Each day brings new desertion and decay to the walls of the city
11 The weapons thirsty for slaughter
12 His spirit separated from the bounty of the earth
13 So he is bound by sorrow
14 The counsels of his lord have been lost to him
15 Time passes under cover of the night
16 And in sleep he lays his head upon the knees of his lord
17 Who was his gift-seat and his throne
18 The path of exile has twisted him like gold
19 And bereft him of his homeland
20 Alas for the bright cup, and the splendour of his prince
21 Alas for the mailed warriors who have been put to the sword
22 He ponders deeply on the darkness of his life
23 On men buried, dreich-faced, into the earth
24 And how cruel are the wounds of his heart
25 And how he longs for the good times passed
26 The friendless man awakes and sees before him the fallow waves
27 The rocky cliffs, where sea birds bathe and preen
28 And knows that frost and hail and snow are coming from the north
29 That the hall walls will soon be swept by storm and frost
30 And how terrible it will be when all has gone to waste
31 But the wise man keeps secure the mind-chest of his thoughts
32 And those who are eager for glory do not boast
33 Are patient, and never weak and reckless
34 Because soon comes storm and darkness
35 When all that is fleeting is turned to waste
36 Becomes a land bereft of the noise of its citizens
37 When the men who sought malice seek now only mercy
38 And the permanence of rest
39 So spoke the wanderer, the wiser man, as he ended his lament
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