Monday, March 30, 2015

Ghostly Kiss


From one of my favorite Icelandic stories - a young girl has an encounter with a long-gone warrior, after she sees a bone dug up in the cemetery and makes a comment, "It would have been fun to kiss him when he was alive."

As unpleasant and disturbing the reality of the ghost's speech, I can't help but be drawn to the romantic aspect.
"Gone is my glowing skin tone,
good my maid, and faded.
Look in my dead eyes, lady,
lustrous of old, though cold now.
hacked in half my buckler
had I yore in war; my
beard's uncleaned, but kindly
kiss me if you still wish to."

And she kissed him!

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