A Northern Odyssey

I think it was Emily Dickinson who wrote "To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else". I've certainly felt like that over the past two weeks; I had thought that a trip to the Faroes, Iceland and the Orkneys would afford some welcome space and time to think and to write, but the whole fortnight was so amazing that I hardly did either! Now that I'm home again though, with the places I've seen and the things that I've done still clear in my mind (and fortunately copiously photographed for back-up), I'm hoping that I can put pen to paper and do justice to the wonderful scenery I saw, the fantastic people I met and the great experiences I had.

A driving force to go north at what could have proved a dicey time of the year was a long-held wish to see the Northern Lights - and I did, two evenings running. On neither occasion was I in a truly dark spot but they were beautiful even against the inevitable light pollution, firstly of Reykjavik and then from the ship I was travelling on. Another motivation was to learn more of Viking myths and legends, and I was fortunate enough to meet and to hear a series of talks from Sir James Hodge, an expert on them. Consequently one of the few bits of writing that I did manage combined the two!

Photograph courtesy of Rhiannon Norfolk

Aurora Borealis

(after an Icelandic myth on the spirits of the dead)

Freed from earth,

watch them light torches

in Creation's fire,

bear them aloft

through cavernous heavens,

sky-warriors on steeds

of speed and splendour,

rendering safe the path

for those who follow -

that their darkest night

may hold no fears,

that their hardest journey

may be joyful. 

(Copyright Gill Garrett 2016)