A Long Winter’s Night — 2018 Edition: Day 1
Posted By Randy on December 21, 2018
One imagining of The Wild Hunt — Click the image to enlarge.
The Winter Solstice occurs at 18:23 Atlantic Time tonight. After that, the nights get shorter, the days longer, and you should curb your enthusiasm because most of the parts of Winter that will kill you haven’t happened yet.
In Elder times this was Midwinter’s Night, and while I understand the meaning, marking the longest night of the year and the start of a long slog toward Spring, from a climatic perspective, my Canadian Winters are saying, “‘MIDwinter?’ Hold my beer!”
This was the night the Wild Hunt went forth, exactly who they were and what they were hunting depending on where and when you were when you asked. We’ll get further into that as we progress through these ten days of A Long Winter’s Night.
To kick things off, here is a suitably raucous poem.
The Ride is Nigh!
By LFM
Hark! The horn! The Ride is nigh!
Hounds and Huntsmen rend the sky!
Sling your hanger! Don your furs!
Join the fray! The night is Hers!
Shun ye not the Elder Way!
Fie! The hearth’s where cowards stay!
Harken to their raucous call,
Frigg, Odin, Ravens, Wolves and all!
No matter what the hunt pursues,
This night’s for saddles, not for pews!
For quarry brought from chase to fare
A lusty feast for all who dare!
I like the new header introducing yourself officially – although you did neglect to add, “Exemplar of Modesty, and Master of Unparalleled Humility “.
Excellent poetry of course – but studying the lovely painting, I cannot but wonder, after my many adventures and misadventures in eons past, in forests, jungles and swamps, hunting and being hunted – where duz them Viking guys get all them nekkid wimmens to hang out with them?
Thank you for your insights Julian. In fact, that introductory passage has been at the top of my home page since day one. The reason it gets periodically rediscovered is that it ONLY appears on my home page, so if you go to the site exclusively from links to articles, you may never see it. The first version contained all you currently see, as well as words to the effect of those you suggest. When I first wrote it and passed it along to Mrs. LFM for her review she said, “I think it would be better if you just stick to the truth.”
And so, after her edit, you see the result.
As to them nekkid wimmens, there are perks to hanging with the right posse.