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Hialmar

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I got this idea after jokingly remarking to Arpeejay, that we haven't seen modernist poetry here on MG yet, so I'm writing one in jest, because the irreverent humour I cultivated as a student is still alive. It's not your average muscle growth story, but I hope it is suggestive enough.

 

Growth: A poem

Echoes in the mind. Memories from the past:

Some to keep, some to leave behind.

Vivid mind. Brittle body

Echoes in the mind. Heroes from the past:

Greater than other kings, lofty in stature, a hero born in Uruk, a wild and rampaging bull was he.

The sheer physicality! The space he occupies

Fear of the place with steel-weights

In bloodstream herolatry

Vivid mind. Adolescent body

Echoes in the mind. Heroes from the past:

A man unlike no other cometh down from the mountains. His strength is beyond compare; he is like unto an immortal. 

The sheer physicality! The space he occupies

Fear of the place with steel-weights

In bloodstream shame

Allure of the place with steel-weights

De profundis: The URGE

Mens sana in corpore sano

in Alexandria of yore.

But THE URGE?

Vivid mind. Lanky body

Echoes in the mind. Heroes from the past:

Culann's dog and his body-changing frenzy

The sheer physicality! The space he occupies

Present in the place with steel-weights

In bloodstream URGE

Vivid mind. Changing body

Echoes in the mind. Heroes from the past:

Hottr drinking monster-blood, becoming Hjalti

The sheer physicality! The space he occupies

Home at the place with steel-weights

In bloodstream GROWTH

of heroes past

becoming walls

protective walls

of flesh instead of brick

becoming like

the heroes past

becoming wall

protective wall

of flesh instead of brick

In bloodstream URGE, in bloodstream GROWTH

becoming like the echoes in the mind.

In bloodstream joy

asserting joy

The sheer physicality! The space you occupies

huge at the place with steel-weights

towering

Pharos for brothers

journeying

yearning

for sheer physicality! The space you occupies

seeking the harbour, protective wall

hearing the echoes, too

Allure of the place with steel-weights

echoes of their past

leaving some behind

when you play Bödvar's part

and they attain

The sheer physicality! The space they occupies

and they become

Greater than other kings, lofty in stature

because

In bloodstream URGE, in bloodstream GROWTH!

 

Commentary

Any modernist poem need a commentary, of course. Wink. Wink. ?

The most obvious references are the following:

  • The first two quotes come from the Gilgamesh Epic, and describe the two heroes Gilgamesh and Enkidu
  • De profundis are the two first words of Psalm 130 (129 in older Catholic bibles for historical reasons), with lots and lots of famous settings
  • Mens sana in corpore sano is a Latin saying by Juvenal, based on a Greek original by Thales of Miletus (624-546 BCE), so the quotes and allusions on heroic tales and physioculture are arranged chronologically
  • Alexandria was founded by Alexander the Great in 332 BCE. Ships were guided to its harbour by the help of the lighthouse on Pharos, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Is the reader re-building himself into a wonder? The city-walls of Alexandria become a figure of speech for a gym-rat's mental and physical changes.
  • "Culann's dog" is the literal meaning of the name of Cú Chullainn, one of the most famous heroes in Irish mythology, set in a time before the age of St. Patrick: Iron Age Ireland. Cú Chullainn was increasing in strength and turning monstrous in battle, so – in a manner of speaking – he is the original fictitious hero to "hulk out"
  • An Icelandic saga, the tale of Hrolf Kraki (which bear some similarities with the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf Epic), tell the story of the warrior Bödvar (who is able to transform himself into a bear) protect a bullied youngster called Hottr, and let Hottr drink the blood of a monster, which formerly, until Bödvar stopped it, used to harass the court of King Hrolf. After that, Hottr turn into a huge and confident warrior, and change his name to Hjalti. The saga takes place during the Vendel Age (550-790 CE), and comes last in the chronological change, except for the new heroic tales that begin when the reader and his friends change themselves into kings over their own lives, and become good, joyful modern men accepting themselves and helping others.
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I think this is brilliant!  I love the imagery and the references to other epics.  I do not know the Icelandic saga your refer too, but I think I will have to read it.  Hmmm maybe a modern Icelandic MG saga is in the cards?   More MG literature and poetry!!!  Tack Hialmar min van!  (sorry no umlauts on my keyboard, How American of me!)

The_warrior_of_the_mountain_by_noxypia-d4nnynv.jpg

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  • 1 month later...
On 6/23/2018 at 12:36 AM, Bjort said:

Hmmm maybe a modern Icelandic MG saga is in the cards?

I have a "viking" story in the pipeline, and it is quite dark, but it will take some time to write. It will mix several authentic themes from Icelandic sagas and some Scandinavian folklore, and then some.

The illustration is very appealing, as long as you don't expect it to have something to do with reality. Pants and a dead wolf is a very insufficient garb in Nordic, Canadian or Russian winter

On 6/23/2018 at 12:36 AM, Bjort said:

Tack Hialmar min van!  (sorry no umlauts on my keyboard, How American of me!)

But how do you Americans write Tolkienesque English/Elfish then? Tolkien demand the use of names like Tinwë Laurelindolomë Nenwalossë. By the way, putting dots over the English word "Trojan" doesn't make it look cool to Swedish readers. "Tröjan" in Swedish means "the sweatshirt" or "the jersey".

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  • 2 weeks later...

I really appreciate the citations!

I got "Gilgamesn".  De profundis I recognized but did not know the details of the reference.  Mens sano in corporo sano makes me think of late 19th century Victorian English public schools and "muscular christianity," aka "Tom Brown's School Days."

 

The rest of the references were new to me.

Thanks!

  

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