Bardic Arts

"James Greyhelm"
by
Steven MacEanruig

Greyhelm, Greyhelm, where do you ride?
"Down to the tourney where the warriors bide,
"Down where the swords on helmets ring
"In combat sharp to choose a king."
Greyhelm Hreyhelm, how goes the fight?
"Forward with all my main and might.
"Many the warriors that seek the Crown,
"One by one I'll cut them down."
Laurelin, Laurelin, why do you cry?
"I sit by the seaside, weep and sigh,
"Sigh for a lover who's gone away,
"Who rode to die on this tourney day."

From a collection of fighter poems titled Valhalla. This is from the section titled: "Mourning The Fallen".

"Long ago, the West Kingdom bards decided to produce poems for every fighter in each crown lists. We carried this on for several years before finally faltering. A large number of bards were required, since the lists kept getting larger and eventually the effort involved wore us out. Even so, we published two volumes of the best of the fighter poems. I was president of the college of bards of the West Kingdom at that time and I regard that effort as perhaps the most satisfying thing I ever achieved in the SCA." -- Steven MacEanruig

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