The Death of Baldr
War's sacral memory endured in justice's silent hope
Dixit ei Jesus: Ego sum resurrectio et vita: qui credit in me, etiam si mortuus fuerit, vivet: et omnis qui vivit et credit in me, non morietur in æternum. Credis hoc?
(Jesus said to him: I am the resurrection and the life: he who believes in me, even if he dies, will live: and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?)
A miracle of breakfast is it’s ability to judge doctrine, as doctrine enables us to judge miracles1.
For breakfast I sit and write, ennobled by intricate landscapes of chaotic wanderings gleamed between time’s spaces, where my heart and mind find time to create a poem about Gesetz Tzedek (Law of Justice), in a world seemingly without it.
"Hell blot black for always the thought 'Peace'!"
Hell’s harkens a harbinger of ruin, weighted to sorrows grief, harrowing those who mourn after war’s violence2.
Affixed between lodestar’s glory and conflict’s cavernous cost lies the misguided patriotism ideally glorified by Wilfred Owen’s Dulce et Decorum Est and Peter Nicolai Arbo’s The Wild Hunt of Odin3.
As if Völva’s hoary prescience foresees a perspicacity for all, the labyrinthine correspondences of battlefield trauma depicts the dolor and fugacious in mortal brevity’s apperceptive allure, where ostensible impermanence is a fervid profundity to trenchant augmentations of cyclical destruction and rebirth4.
The lachrymose elegance aloft espied placidity concedes to reverberated tenacity beneath bedlam, as the adumbrate sacrifice to war conciliates an exigent privation (even when beautified), beset the intransigent peregrination ex post reliquiae to sorrow’s relegate soteriological diminution5.
Enyo’s ebbing gleam of solace
Hark to the clangor, the clash’s blare, In stony keep, la lumière défaillit Pâlit to winds' hollow prayer, For knights entombed by Moirai's decree: In dust-choked halls, le feu éclaire-- Endromid flame, a secret en somnolence.
"Hark to the clangor, the clash’s blare" toils melancholic timbres accentuated to battlefields accosted in Henry V, similitude to exigencies bruit ogled belligerence bellicose to sonorities anthropogenic convulsion6.
The serene decay amid “stony keep,” aperçu la lumière défaillit (the light fades) nervures the constringed latescence of peristaltic grief succumbed to caudal specillarity, as per sequent towers mourn “winds' hollow prayer” adnexal to Shelley’s Ode to the West Wind.
As the wind pâlit to tristful orating in plaint to those who have fallen to fate, "knights entombed by Moirai's decree" binds death to even the noblest affairs destined to mortals, ossifying chthonic effulges to “dust-choked halls7”.
Such relict plumage contrives a simulacrum where “feu éclaire (fire illuminates)”, an incarnate vacillation of Inferno’s obsolescence, creating a spiritual typology amid anastomosis and apotropaic ordainment (the phylactic dyad of Alethia’s grip)8.
The elicit inchoate within “Endromid flame,” bids “a secret en somnolence,” in abeyance of episteme (or vis) to epopteia’s palingenetic fire (Prometheus’ hylomorphism of theileriosis’ scathe)9.
Constantia’s temporal memory
Yet time itself ne’er falls to somnolence, Nor dulcitude quiets to clarion's blare. From murk's recess, wan fires éclaire-- Les ombres éclairent défaillit-- To phantoms wryd's, bound to decree Upon fastened stone's prayer.
“Time itself ne’er falls to somnolence,” exempt from tumult torsions indefatigable to augury acuity, calming memorial’s cortège’s balm as an impellent vis impetus dynamism that neither sleeps nor slumbers (Psalm 121:4), dulcitude (sweet, charming, or delightful) to a clarion’s blare (humanity’s sharp rallying action).
The “murk’s recess, wan fires éclaire,” remanence to buccinas dusk intenerate to dreams chrysalid arising from an overborne threnody of resurrected judgement (1 Corinthians 15:52), where albescent brilliance has a languor glaucous luster—obscured to evanescent imprint—discerning an uncertain gloom (John 1:5), before the “sun and light and moon and stars grow dark, and the clouds come back again after the rain (Ecclesiastes 12:2).”
The precipitate light limns to cryptic embers, as ombres éclairent défaillit to lapsed capitulation through frail darkness, fleeting the penumbrae’s axiom pallid to transient coruscation in aureole shifts, the unchangeable destiny tied to “phantoms wyrd’s, bound to decree10.”
The equal repose contrasted to souls—whether humble or grand—contemplates the uncelebrated yet dignified lives of the poor and saints alike (Gray’s Elegy), lasting monuments ingrained “upon fastened stone’s prayer (Joshua 24:27), where time’s progression transforms swords and spears into plowshares and pruning hooks11.
Epiales’ dreams of the fallen
Un rêve endormi, les morts en prière: As shades drift o’er somnolence, To gleam an orison priest's decree. The eldritch crypt from which blare Betrayal parlay's to plié défaillit, As rare an affair as faire tonnerre éclaire.
“Un rêve endormi, les morts en prière (a sleeping dream of death’s prayer adrift in shadows)”, imbibe a valley’s justice (Revelation 6:9-10; Psalm 23:4), as fallen memoirs/memories slumber to liminal petitions subdued by “shades drift o’er somnolence.”
The incandescence shone by “orison priest’s decree,” rouses a priestly blessing attested to enigmatic events (Numbers 6:24-26), arbitrating an eerie “eldritch crypt from which blare betrayal parlay’s to plié défaillit,” the potent perfidious forfeiture gestured in delicate providential alteration (Ezekiel 37:12-14), as “rare an affair as faire tonnerre éclaire” (as rare as thunder illuminating) dawning over Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:16).
It’s undulations awakened to irreparable lamentation (similar to Julius Caesar and Frankenstein), as insipient reconciliation coruscated asunder a halcyon’s succession attired to Erebus12.
Bellona’s weight to conflicting cycles
Strife's own ferrous despair, éclaire Serments solennels de vigueur (prayer): Finit survit s'ensuit défaillit-- Spectral armaments of somnolence, Bloodborne to somber sounds blare. To raise anew what do we decree?
“Strife’s own ferrous despair, éclaire,” impels indelible idylls, paralogical to conflict’s crucible (unyielding and forged), where weapons equipoise penal realities of ghostly dormancy panged to psychical attritions, as swords and spears are replaced by tools of peace (Isaiah 2:4).
The iron yoke of despair (Deuteronomy 28:48) is the “serments solennels de vigueur (prayer),” wending darkness to light (Psalm 18:28) in a austere fealty manifest to troth’s heft of hardship in the psalmist’s cry for aegis and pliancy.
The cyclical nature of travail “finit survit s'ensuit défaillit,” an analogical articulation hieratic in interactions seen in both James and Nehemiah, orchestrating allusions transient to Isaiah 40:7-8 withering grass and fading flowers motif to time’s passage of God’s sovereignty13.
“Spectral armaments of somnolence” proposes a poise purposed in past battles—under heaven’s divinely appointed remnant—of earthly endeavors (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8), as dry bones abide revival amidst success and strife (Ezekiel 37’s vision), pondering the somber sounds of bloodborne struggle blared forward14.
The challenge we consider in raising anew is “what do we decree” in its stead15?
Mnemosyne’s shadow to erosional ideals
A roused dirge shaded by decree, Is Oizys mistress, surmised éclaire, Bound to a past ivy's blare; The torchlight clung to faded prayer, S’efface, emporté vers la somnolence-- La lumière de la beauté éternelle défaillit.
“A roused dirge shaded by decree,” casts Oizys’ miserable suffering “bound to a past ivy’s blare,” as if torches dim in airless caves, inescapable to grief akin to fate (Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 and Lamentations 3), where a “torchlight clung to faded prayer” saunter au fait to subordinate exertion’s of frail hope (Proverbs 10:7).
The persuasion of mournful sorrow ordained by perceptible lamentations suffers bitter wickedness, as scenes progress “emporté vers la somnolence” (carried away towards drowsiness), congruous a memento as “lumière de la beauté éternelle défaillit,” of those whom God loves (Romans 8:28).
Terra’s final reclamation prayer
O'ertake by oryx and crake, bénit défaillit: A mist that rises from fields decree, To bleed scattered lances somnolence. Chaque épée amère cavaliers éclaire, To join le monde en dernier prière, To haunt the halls long-spent blare:
"O'ertake by oryx and crake, bénit défaillit" elicit a haunting silence reborn to natural spaces, as blades of contention (ash) and seeds of dissension (strife), mar once peaceful visions (Isaiah 11:6).
Each épée amère (bitter sword) éclaire cavaliers (enlightens riders), divulge moral toll’s conflicted by truths in God’s word (Hebrews 4:12), discerned to psyched intentions of the heart in humanity’s illuminate justice (Revelation 19:15), as gathered en dernier prière (in final prayer).
The sanctified ascent where every kneeled bow opens in confessional tongue (Philippians 2:10-11) promises forgotten deeds (Revelation 8:3-4), giving way to no more death, mourning, crying, nor pain (Revelation 21:4), until "halls long-spent blare” hymns of compassion, truth, and healing (1 Peter 1:3 and Ecclesiastes 1:11).
Eris’ quiet aftermath
Ares' blare to cloisters défaillit, Rendered open to prayer and decree, From blood which éclaire somnolence.
The fading "blare of Ares to cloisters défaillit" marks a transition from war’s chaos to stillness’ sanctification (Psalm 46:10 and John 14:27), where dismantled divisions transform strife into unity (Ephesians 2:14).
Within these quiet halls, the spilled blood "which éclaire somnolence" becomes a reawakened reflection of light amidst sorrow, as if Friedrich’s Abtei im Eichwald (The Abbey in the Oakwood) comes to life.
The cyclical tension between human frailty and divine constancy, reveal how the ruins of conflict and fleeting efforts are transformed by faith, community, and the enduring promise of reconciliation, renewal, and peace through Christ.
In the face of life’s cycles of struggle and renewal, how might you transform the ruins of your own experiences into sanctuaries of purpose, hope, and peace?
From A Miracle for Breakfast, by Elizabeth Bishop.
In Christian theology, the Harrowing of Hell recounts Christ’s descent to the underworld to redeem lost souls (1 Peter 3:18-20; Ephesians 4:8-10; Matthew 12:40), a similar redemptive power seen in the sacrificial offers within Greek, Norse, Celtic, and Aztec traditions, wherein blood sacrifices—whether of animals or humans—were believed to bring favor, renewal, or protection to a community.
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori (from the Roman poet Horace, Odes III.2.13), translates as "It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country” which Owen’s recasts, criticizing patriotism’s sacrificial glorification as misleading to those who believe in a noble death, offering an unflinching portrayal of gas attacks, physical agony, and haunting trauma to expose the horrific conditions and disillusionment of soldiers in World War I.
Völva is a prophetess in Norse mythology, symbolic of ancient wisdom and the ability to foresee future events.
In combination with a hoary prescience (aged, venerable, mystical foresight), the labyrinthine correspondences of battlefield trauma discerns universal clarity left by emotional and psychological influence, recognized in the relationship between grief (dolor) and the fleeting beauty of life (fugacious allure).
Yet, life’s impermanence (apperception to mortal brevity) which enhances understanding (ostensible augment to trenchant profundity), is itself a part of a continuous cycle of endings and beginnings (fervid impermanence), in sempiternal actions of eldritch clambering (caducous mise en œuvre) to susurrus caducity and semblance.
The juxtaposition of sorrowful beauty (lachrymose elegance) and relentless chaos (tenacious bedlam), where empyreal flashes of calm (espied placidity) yield to the overwhelming demands (exigency) of pacifying loss and sacrifice (conciliates war’s concerted privation).
The residual fragments of conflict (ex post reliquiae), mark an obdurate grief (intransigent peregrination), are relegated to a decrescent vestige of spiritual redemption (sorrow’s soteriological diminution), limning the paradoxical chord of remembrance and closure’s desire.
Henry’s rallying speech in Henry V (Act III, Scene I), urges his men to transform from peaceful citizen to fierce warrior to face transient glory of inner conflictions, inevitable to sacrifice.
“[I]mitate the action of the tiger” to prepare for battle, as Henry’s words “blast of war blows in our ears,” to promote “fair nature with hard-favored rage,” symbolic of war’s harsh demand to “clangor’s, the clash’s blare.”
The Moirai, or Fates, in Greek mythology are three goddesses:
Clotho (The Spinner): She initiates life, representing origin and birth of each individual by spinning the thread of life;
Lachesis (The Allotter): She symbolizes the experiences, choices, and duration allotted to each person, determining the “lot” or portion of life by measuring the threads and setting the course and length of each life.
Atropos (The Cutter): She is inflexible and unyielding, responsible for death by cutting the thread of life, often depicted as stern and implacable, as she brings finality to each existence.
By weaving, measuring, and ultimately cutting the threads of life, the Moirai show fate’s inevitability, despite the valeric chivalry of King Arthur and his knights (Le Morte d’Arthur), inescapable within the frailty of mortality (Genesis 3:20).
A symbolic scene, where feu éclaire (illuminating fire) reveals a relict plumage (the remnants of beauty, fragility, or grandeur that persist after most of what they belonged to has been lost or decayed), constructs a simulacrum (distorted reflection) akin to Dante’s Inferno (symbolizing Hell, sin, and moral consequence).
Here, obsolescence vacillation (decay and instability) takes on a symbolic physical form (incarnates) as part of a spiritual typology (representing deeper truths) interlinked (anastomosis) and safeguarded (apotropaic ordainment) by a protective dual force (phylactic dyad), grounded in Alethia’s grip (the firm grasp of truth).
An Endromid flame (dormant potential), secret en somnolence (concealed in slumber), bids the elicit inchoate (waiting to be awakened), to form the foundational potential of knowledge (episteme) or latent power (vis).
In abeyance (until it is catalyzed) to this epopteia (mystical insight) the palingenetic fire of Prometheus (transformation symbolized) is suspended, blending hylomorphism (tangible struggle) with theileriosis’ scathe (an affliction), to emerge a renewal enlightened by adversity, similar to Corinthians 13:12, Ezekiel 36:26 and Isaiah 48:10.
The Old English concept of wyrd—fate—connects these phantoms to lives governed by an inevitable end, much like Job 14:5’s assertion that our days are determined by divine decree.
Time’s progression reflects the plural amalgamation of the Greek’s personification of Chronos, Kairos, and Aion.
Natural phenomena (thunder and lightning), biblical events (Mount Sinai), literary tragedies (Julius Caesar and Frankenstein), and mythological darkness (Erebus), combine to illuminate the catoptric rue of betrayal in Psalm 41:9 and the unwavering constancy of divine grace in Hebrews 13:8, as the frailty of human relationships is marked by betrayal and sorrow, memorialized in painful clarity contrasted with the eternal, unchanging nature of divine strength and grace.
Recurring patterns or rhythms (cyclical nature) suggests a repeating process in continuous loops (finit, survit, s'ensuit, défaillit—confessional ends, divine grace’s survival, transformational following, human faltering effort), bringing an end to guilt sustained in faithful following to consequential intercessions fragile without reliance on God’s eternal strength:
James 5:16, which discusses confession, intercession, and the power of righteous prayer, illustrating cycles of sin, healing, and dependence on God.
Nehemiah 1:6-9 and Nehemiah 2:17-18, referring to Nehemiah’s prayers and actions showcasing cycles of confession, restoration, and fragility within Israel’s covenantal history.
"Subject to time’s passage of God’s sovereignty" acknowledges the shaping of human life’s transience in ultimate authority and control to the cosmic arbiter over creation, life, and unfolding events, i.e., God.
Isaiah 53:5’s prophecy of redemptive suffering holds Hebrews 13:8’s assurance of Christ’s eternal constancy awakened to memory and lineage, as the discipled spiritual lethargy in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:40-41) is a somber vigilance don to blare the spiritual armor of warfare (Ephesians 6:12-17).
The duality of blood—as both a symbol of sacrifice and salvation—reverberates through mournful tones of war horns and funeral dirges where Abel’s silenced cry for justice (Genesis 4:10) is reconciled and redeemed in the testimony of Christ’s blood that speaks better words (Hebrews 12:24).
Isaiah 58:12 urges the repair of fallen walls to restored “lanes of habitation,” called upon to “suffer no more disgrace (Nehemiah 2:17-18)”, as life emerges from desolation to symbolize God’s power present in the covenantal return of revival and renewal (Ezekiel 37:3-6): a firm necessity founded upon construction of wisdom to “rock” (Matthew 7:24-27), where restorative actions withstand adversity promising reconciliation and redemption (Hebrews 12:24), encouraging trust in divine purpose to raise anew, much like Christ over past glories (Haggai 2:9).