Ode to Oden

What has happened to you Oden? (And the greater image of Norse mythology?)

Odin, Son of Borr, Son of Buri, I am sad to report today your image as the great, spear wielding god of Pagan Norse mythology has gone askew. While I look back at you as a wise, bearded warrior who terrorized the battlefield, it appears as if even you, even you Oden, have been given the dreaded popular culture image. As the almighty one of Norse mythology, and a well-educated man, if I may say so myself, I assumed that, when marveling at your greatness in the Prose Edda, even you were invincible. Sadly I must say Oden, that the man who was once a wise and subtly paternal figure has turned into a bulging, sometimes blue computer animated character, whose body armor and weaponry appear more than anything to be a sever anachronism. Don’t get me wrong Oden, you are a ferocious killer, but damn it, the Oden I read about did not have wings, nor did he weigh three hundred pounds. Oden son of Borr, son of Buri, while you were a real warrior, killing half the men in each battle.(Freja killing the other half of course*) you could not quite fight of the modern image which popular culture has forced upon you. Either way Oden, I will always reminisce, reading about the good old days when you sported a white beard which hung over your skinny body. To me, the days will still live on when you wore that modest blue hat, and I am sure that we could both get a laugh out of Loki* being depicted as a macho man.



*Freja is an important goddess in Norse mythology who is said to kill half the enemies in battle.
*Loki is an evil god who does his best to make things difficult for the rest of the gods.

Hi. Welcome to YWS!
I quite liked this; it's very original.

I'd alter your register. In parts it reads like an essay and I'd add colloquialisms to make it clear that you're addressing the god directly.

I'd also look at the layout so that it reads like a poem. Maybe something like this;

"What has happened to you Oden?
(And the greater image of Norse mythology?)



Odin, Son of Borr, Son of Buri,
I am sad to report today
your image as the great,
spear wielding god
of Pagan Norse mythology
has gone askew.
While I look back at you as a wise,
bearded warrior who terrorized the battlefield,
it appears as if even you, even you Oden,
have been given the dreaded
popular culture image.

As the almighty one
of Norse mythology,
and a well-educated man,
if I may say so myself,
I assumed that,
when marveling at your greatness
in the Prose Edda,
even you were invincible.

Sadly I must say Oden,
that the man who was once
a wise and subtly paternal figure
has turned into a bulging,
sometimes blue computer animated character, (I'd put a hyphen between computer and animated)
whose body armor and weaponry
appear more than anything to be
a sever anachronism.

Don’t get me wrong Oden,
you are a ferocious killer,
but damn it,
the Oden I read about
did not have wings,
nor did he weigh three hundred pounds.

Oden son of Borr, son of Buri,
while you were a real warrior,
killing half the men in each battle.
(Freja killing the other half of course*)
you could not quite fight
of the modern image (should be "off")which popular culture
has forced upon you.

Either way Oden,
I will always reminisce,
reading about the good old days
when you sported a white beard
which hung over your skinny body.

To me, the days will still live on
when you wore that modest blue hat,
and I am sure that we could both get a laugh
out of Loki* being depicted as a macho man."

I especially enjoyed the last stanza.

Hope this helps.

Jas

Hi Gabe.L,

Don't listen to the above comment, most of it is terrible advice.

First of all, don't keep oscillating between how you spell the God's name. It's either Odin or Oden (I think the proper spelling is Odin). Not spelling it correctly isn't giving the reader much confident in believing that you know what you're talking about.

Before you continue editing this piece, you need to ask yourself what you, and what your intended readers, accept and consider as poetry. Poetry in its most fundamental form is flexible and this very well could be counted as it, but I do think it would belong better in Other Fiction - at the very least, Other Poetry. Right now, this seems like an open letter, perhaps a diary entry as it's pretty clear you're not actually sending it to Odin. If that's true, be clear about it and don't try to pass it off as poetry.

Do you have a pattern as to when you use "Odin, Son of Borr, Son of Buri"? It appears in the beginning and randomly later on, and I don't see why you do that without rhyme or reason. If there is a reason, it needs to be clearer.

Hope that helped.