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Nordic Memories
They rise with the dawn of fashion
Their eyes for new booty are keen,
To ride the tide of nostalgia
For something that they’ve never seen.
Their patrons board the longship,
Geared up for the latest craze,
They soil and ink their forearms,
And dredge up the golden days.
Ravens, runes and tee shirts
A weathered drinking horn,
Make a bisque of lutefisk
Settle in for a Viking yarn.
Through lanes of fashion they dabble
Till on a new island they see,
The newest ephemeral image
Of masculinity.
But I like to drift through the hazes
Of childhood reverie ,
Floating by white-steepled churches
On prairies that swell like the sea.
My heroes were broad-shouldered farmers
With no need to shout to be heard,
Husbanding horses and cattle
Toiling with nary a word.
Through sun-weathered seasons they labored
Contented as years increased,
Nourished by family and farm
And plowing the fields in peace.
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Dan Tuton is a poet living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After an initial career as a family therapist, he has been ordained as an Episcopal priest since early in 2004. He initially served a parish in the Baltimore area for four years, and have been the Vicar, then Rector of Hope in the Desert in Albuquerque until retiring in 2023.
Dan, “Nordic Memories” rekindled mine in a beautiful way. Many may not know that “lutefisk” is “white fish” which was served with “leftsa,” a potato bread flat like a tortilla to hold the fish that has been well buttered. My Nordic relatives in South Dakota would often serve this for holidays or annual family reunions. They were farmers as you indicated the characters in your poem were who quietly went about their farm chores. Thank you for this well-rhymed poem that moved me.
Thanks very much, Roy! I’m actually thinking about making some lefse for New Year’s…
One thing to remember — peaceful farmers without warriors to protect them will never survive. Just watch the film “The Magnificent Seven.”
As for battle re-enactors, perhaps they do it out of nostalgia and a desire to dress up as Vikings. Nevertheless, we need anything today that will re-ignite masculinity, even if it it seems only playful or ephemeral. And I mean that we need real, hard-bitten toxic masculinity, not effete metrosexuality.
Thanks for your response, Joseph. It often occurs in conversations with my wife that perhaps there’s a middle way between toxic masculinity and metrosexuality? Thanks again for your reply.
What I like about this poem best is it made me think. I had to sort through my thoughts before this comment, which in and of itself is the sign of a successful poem. On one hand, I agree with Dr. Salemi: there is “a time to kill and a time to heal,” so to speak, and we need the warriors as much as the yeomen-farmers. Yet on the other hand I see a personal statement of values: your lot is to seek peace and perform your duties, and you see LARPing as Vikings as an overcompensation for the desire to seek masculinity. I can appreciate what you say here, and thank you for making me think.
Adam, thanks so much for your response. Your interpretation is consonant with my intent to a large degree. I will also admit to feeling a little burned out with the glorification of a time of aggressive, brutal violence. This glorification strikes me as one spawned by a superficial understanding of history and a modern caricature of an honorable Nordic culture. Thanks again for your generous words!
I very much enjoyed reading this poem, Fr. Dan. I am particularly taken by the contrast of contemporary Nordic images with the nostalgic ones which have obviously nourished you. This is very much a poem about contrasts as we look not only at contemporary versus legacy, Vikings versus humble farmers, the sun-weathered versus the tattooed, latest fashion versus timeless and, as noted by other readers, masculine ideals both aggressive and bucolic. I appreciate the yearning for a simpler age that is manifest in this poem and your reconciliation of two different aspects of Nordic life in your description which combines nautical with agricultural in “prairies that swell like the sea.” All beautifully done!
Thank you so much, Brian! You perceive very clearly what I intended to convey. Your feedback is always encouraging. Thanks again!
I’m sympathetic with re-enactors who take up real learning about history and its hardships, and often those who simply don the fashions progress toward that. But your contrast, Dan, is that of men capable of man’s work and virtues, against those whose masculinity is ephemeral play (or in past times, inhuman violence). I too admire prairie farmers who took on a hard, independent life where they were prepared to defend themselves as well as feed their families. Those were all-around men. Some of their ancestors were intrepid sailors who discovered America, but I have not the slightest respect for those who took slaves from Europe by the Northern route to sell in the Middle East. What horror to be thus moved from Ireland to Iraq with no hope of return! My Swedish great-great-grandmother bore the name of “Strang,” which means “rigorous and severe” (“strong” in Swedish is “stark”). Content of the character accompanying that description makes all the difference. Let the Nordic yarn tell of labor with strength and greater content as years increase!
Margaret, thank you so much for your response! You really “got” what I was trying to convey. While there is much to admire in many of our ancestors, sadly there were a few too many skeletons in too many closets. But virtue does manage to shine through in a much brighter way than regrettable imperfections and superficial sentiment.
Wannabe heroes and real heroes. I enjoyed the take and the interesting contrast. Alas, in this day and age, one man’s hero is another man’s meme. CNN celebrate modest heroes every year – average folk like the Old West prairie farmers. It’s very inspiring.
Thanks for the read, Dan.
Thank you, Paul, for your response! We share an appreciation for modest heroes, one of the foremost of whom was my late father. He modeled understated and powerful masculinity. I sometimes struggle to live up to his example.
The capture and sale of slaves was not unique to the Vikings, but was practiced by almost every culture in the distant past, including highly civilized ones like the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans. Slaves were simply the spoils of war (as is clear in the Iliad), and there were no racial considerations involved.
The phrase “toxic masculinity” is a political dogwhistle, invented by radical feminists and their allies. The only way to counteract it rhetorically is to accept as a proud label and spit it back into their faces. The actual truth is that when our enemies say “toxic masculinity” they really mean an entire spectrum of normal and valuable male traits: toughness, determination, a refusal to take an insult, a basic unconcern with opposition opinions, a willingness to fight when necessary, and a strong sense of one’s self-worth and a pride in one’s abilities. All these things drive feminists into a blood-rage, so they have used the word “toxic” to describe them. The best we can reply is “Yeah, that’s us. If you don’t like it, tough titty.”