Soon after the new year began, the stairwell at Lake and Park began to fill with the world of Norse Mythology, as imagined by the students of the North Room. At the top of the rainbow bridge is Asgard, home of the Aesir. At the very top of Asgard sits Odin's throne, the Lidskjalf. From this perch, he could see the whole world.
The Eagle
On the top of Yggdrasil
The world tree
Sits an eagle
Scanning the 4 corners of the world
With his apprentice
A little hawk
Sitting on his beak
But little do they know
That the eagle is a Jotun
-Ken
Students were inspired to write poetry and prose in response to the stories of Norse Mythology.
Asgard
All is shining
toward the gods
Tread along
a sparkling rainbow bridge
If you are not welcome
your feet
will burn to smithereens
Odin the All-father of the gods,
gave one eye
to drink from the
Well of Wisdom.
Thor the thunder god
has a hammer that is invisible,
Mjolnir the hammer
will always return to him.
Frey first lived in Vanaheim and
after the Aesir-Vanir war
he moved to Asgard.
He has a sister--
she is Freya.
-Tillie
Asgard
A place where there are clouds and
towers. You go there and you will fight
with all different people.
Pretty abstract and different
than all the other nine worlds.
The guards are not too good at keeping the good in
And the bad out.
Has lots of drama.
And when you go there make sure
To watch you back.
-Sophie
The Sun, A Song
When the moon goes down the sun comes up.
Her silky golden hair
shines bright
in the light of her chariot.
Riding,riding across the sky.
Her eyes glitter like the stars.
She waves to the animals on the earth.
When she speaks her voice is like a nightingale.
And that is the sun.
-Stazy
The Land of the Brave
This is Valhalla
where the brave go
chosen by the Valkyries
after their death
They smell the flowers
on their ascent
and taste the feasts
whenever they please
Preparing for the war
known as Ragnarok
the war to end the world--
this is Valhalla
-Teague
Midgard
A place of humans
Kept safe by eyelashes
Was made so people can
Worship the gods
In the middle of a flat disk.
By Leah
The North Wind
As the north winds blow,
A ship made from ash and elm, and hands from long ago.
As the ship sits below wind and wave, storm and sky, rain and rapids,
a fire burns, a flickering flame, and it gives light and warmth to
those on a far off cost.
And as the red flower flows, a storyteller sits, and he speaks of trolls, of Midgard, of Odin, of ships that sailed long ago.
-Owen
Alfheim
Lovely
Fun
Hidden in
Moss
-Caroline
Jotunheim
This place where
Frost Giants roam.
They came from Ymir
the first giant to come.
Then goes Ymir.
Odin, Hoenir, and Lodur
Killed him and trapped
all the frost giants into
Jotunheim and that’s where
the frost giants live.
-Lola
Ginnungagap
Giants and people--
there are none here,
Nobody.
Nobody utters a sound,
(Nobody but the gods
Touch here when they pass.
All they say is,”Ahh”.
Silence.)
Except when Ymir died and his brine
overflowed
And this place became Jotunheim
where the giants now live.
-Leah
Bifrost
Beautiful
Indestructible
Frost giants
Run away
Over the valleys to Jotunheim
Seeming like fire
This is Bifrost
~Boden
Surtr's Sword
To the south of Niflheim, the ice world is Muspell, the world of fire and lava.
Standing in the midst of the flames, Surtr waits for Ragnarok, the end of the
world, to emerge with his flaming sword in hand and strike down all the gods, then
immerse the world in fire.
-River
The Man in the Flames
To the north was Niflheim, but to the south was Muspell, a land of burning embers,
scorching fire, stifling black vapor, molten lava, and searing ashes. That was Muspell,
and nothing more than that can describe it. And at the edge of all that blistering flame
stood Surtr, and he still stands there today, brandishing his flaming sword, waiting and
waiting until Ragnarok, the end of the world. Then and only then will he depart his station,
to flourish his sweltering sword of fire, and burn the world, and one by one all the gods will
burn at his feet.
~Rhea
Helheim
The suffocating smell
of burnt hair and blood
fills my lifeless caverns
The cowards of war
Flee to me with open arms
Screams echo through my empty halls,
Driving you to insanity
The tastes of starvation and torture
lingers in my air
Where am I?
-Ayar