#vindheim

Procession written for Zubeydah Hanim and Centurion Finn Alreksson

O swift and cunning coronet serene Who rest upon the stallion seated thrones You seek your heirs to prove by prowess great As twilight falls on slowly cooling coals

A light now enters to your windy hall Glinting off of feathers white and gold For Zubeydah, Hanim and Pelican, Fights Fynn Alreksson, sable Centurion

Of herself she's given great, In runes our names she's writ A battle-tithe he's rendered here Since golden star was lit

Fynn Alreksson, whose golden eagle dives On field and cloak stained with battle-dew And what is a noble Pelican but a warrior gone unseen Valk'ries' mercy on battlefields, whose service evergreen

O swift and cunning coronet serene Who rest upon the stallion-seated thrones For Zubeydah, Hanim in liege's court Fights Centurion Fynn Alreksson

Inspiration was taken primarily from the poetic sections of Egilsaga, such as this passage from chapter 30:

Mjök verðr ár, sás aura, ísarns meiðr at rísa, váðir vidda bróður veðrseygjar skal kveðja. Gjalla lætk á golli geisla njóts, meðan þjóta, heitu, hrærikytjur hreggs vindfrekar, sleggjur.

During the writing of this procession, emphasis was placed on the usage of alliteration, slant rhyme, and poetic kenning construction. The procession ended up mostly iambic for readability (shoutability) in a potentially loud event site. The structure of the repeating opening and closing stanzas was taken from Voluspa6 and Voluspa 9, which both open with

Þá gengu regin öll á rökstóla, ginnheilug goð, ok um þat gættusk:

Then sought the gods their assembly seats The holy ones, and council held:

It was important to me to reference that idea of the presiding authority taking their formal seats while the deeds of the day are done in their audience. The Vindheim Prince and Princess are typically referred to as Their Serene Highnesses, and the very lovely thrones are topped with carved horse-heads. While little of the poetry I've thus far studied in the sagas is written in second person or otherwise as a direct address to a person, for the sake of heraldic tradition I prefer to structure processions as a direct address to the presiding royals proclaiming the worthiness of the entrant couple.

The "windy hall" is a reference to the name of our principality, Vindheim, or Wind-home. -heim and -hal are frequently almost synonymous in the poetic corpus, as the roles of home and hall are deeply intertwined through ideas of frith and grith, hospitality and guest right. The imagery of the white feathers of a Pelican and the gold feathers of a Centurion of the Sable Star of Ansteorra was simply too tempting to pass up comparing these two.

A Pelican is frequently seen as a beacon of service within the SCA, and HE Zubeydah in particular has served as a kingdom historian since before I joined the SCA and has long been a proponent of recording our histories. Her motto is "That which is not written is forgotten." Fynn has been a brilliant fighter in our community since before the Principality of Vindheim, whose arms include a golden star, formed.

The golden eagle of the Centurions is frequently emblazed across a red cloak worn by members of said order, who regularly pass down meaningful cloaks with lineage and legacy to newer members of said order. If I remember correctly, Fynn was one of our first second-generation Centurions and received multiple important cloaks when he was made. Zubeydah, a member of and leader within the Valkyrie Company, has long been renowned for her service as a waterbearer and fighter support and her contributions to training, encouraging, and enabling others to do the same, and has been lovingly referred to as the Don of the Waterbearing Mafia.

Panda Shiruyo