A Mourning Death
By Annette Samuels
My son- his body wounded unto death
His mangled corpse returned to me.
The pain and havoc caused by him
Has met him in the end. Oh Father of Hell
Take my son- your devout servant
He has served you well. My mourning cloak swept aside
For the stance of battle- my tears exchanged
For the blood of mine enemy.
To my lair I shall return, until that time
When my son's killer seeks me out-
His next victim. I know he shall come.
The debt is still unsettled, the blood of my son
Not yet avenged, waiting for when he,
His killer, has paid with his own life-blood.
Let this friend of the king be my pending wergild-
Though his blood not near the worth of my son's.
Let the head of Aeschere be his beacon for battle-
The horn echoing across the land
It will be the signal for his foreboding death
I will display the head of my child's slayer
As I have brandished this Danish warrior's.
His arm will be ripped from his flesh, as was my son's.
The life-blood in him, spilt for his transgressions
His remains crushed in the dust of my path.
Alas, there he is, at the brink of the pool
On the verge of his fall.
I implore of my ancestor Cain, blood our connection,
To beseech his master, He who prevails over Darkness
To grant me victory over this warrior of Geats.
Let his mythic strength be no match to a daughter of Cain.
Let my pending victory be penitence for my son's failure.
His sword is no match to me.
Yet his strength is power beyond my knowledge
This prince of Geats has disillusioned me
Alas- he has thwarted me
His mail impenetrable against my knife-blow.
Spare me, Lord of Under.
The death I have dealt to others
Has come to meet me in the end.
Let me go to join my son and fathers-
To join my ancestor Cain and my liege.
Master of darkness, take me in,
Let my failure not cloud my standing.
Will my shadow of failure haunt me for eternity?
I sway on the brink of death- its fall my bliss
I am dead- my deed forever fragmented
With sword not of man's, but of giants wielding,
The warrior of Geats deals his last blow
The underlings of Hell take me! Agony payeth agony...