The Faerfolk's Edda - The Lay of Sterendar
The Lady of Envy and Gratitude, of Jealousy, Adoration, Music and Art.
“It is said that the old elven gods were often mischievous when it came to the lives of the men that lived around them. Simple souls us human beings be, easily duped and readily deceived.
The faerfolk and their gods would trick them with glamours and guises, willing them to follow paths they’d dare not tread had they their wits about them.”
- Greenjack Jorkin
The Lay of Sterendar
I met a Lady on a far off hill,
Where endless skies and shining stars,
Near swallowed all around until,
There felt to be no hearts but ours.
-
My own dim ember flickered low,
A firefly amidst the dawn,
The Lady’s light did gleam and glow;
And danced she there with heart forlorn.
-
I saw she wore a ragged cloth
That covered both her eyes,
But still I felt her waking wroth,
And heard her weary sighs.
-
“Hither help me see o’er yonder,
The lands o’er which I shine,
I hunger for the weal and wonder
O’ that which is not mine.”
-
Her beauty beamed in rays abundant,
But envy makes such light redundant.
-
Her gown was made of many cloths,
All weightless webs of silk.
Around her flew a swarm of moths,
With wings the shade of milk.
-
I swear I heard them whisper words,
Regaling her with news beyond,
Of hills and trees, of beasts and birds,
But Lady fair did ne’er respond.
-
Instead stretched she a ghostly hand,
That flickered with unearthly light,
That danced with dust and starlit sand,
E’er fading in and out of sight.
-
“Hither, mortal, be mine eyes,”
She commanded in a mournful tone,
I yearned to not, but to my surprise;
My will was not my own.
-
She lay her weightless hand in mine,
And the mists of mortal sight unfurled,
And saw I then the god’s design,
As fingerprints upon the world.
-
A thousand-thousand harp strings,
To pluck as one desired,
That played the songs of earthly things,
To any tune required.
-
Songs and splendour lay there; dormant,
For envy’s voice is e'er discordant.
-
I stood now still in a silent awe,
The Lady squeezed my hand,
“Pray tell me what you see, and more,
Pray tell me where we stand.”
-
“We stand upon a misty moor,
But mist is fast abating,
I see the world the faerfolk saw,
All green and gold and waiting.
-
The sun is set but yet I see,
As though the dawn has broken,
Alive with fire all things be,
With whispered prayers half-spoken.”
-
“Whispered prayers, but ne’er to me,”
The lady’s hand withdrew.
I said “I’ll send my prayers to thee,”
If such you’ll have me do.”
-
But prayer and promise reached her not,
For envy turns all prayers to rot.
-
“My father sits a throne of sand,
My mother; one of snow,
My siblings rule o’er sea and land,
O’er storms and where the wilds grow.
-
My twin, you see him, high above,
Watching all with moonlit eyes,
My kinsmen, all, whom one should love,
So deeply I despise.
-
“Despise,” said she, a second time,
Wet with muling malice,
“Have I committed some fell crime?
That cost me my fair palace?
-
Where are my subjects? Man and fae?
Where’s my golden tower?
Why blind me to the light of day,
Why bind me to this twilit bower?"
-
Her riches rivalled any lord,
But envy saw them quite ignored.
-
“Pray, what of Lady Sterendar?
Is this all she deserves?
To be distant as the northern star,
A Lady who ne’er rules, but serves?”
-
She looked to me with veiled eyes,
And willed me then to answer.
“My Lady you are fair and wise,
Thou art grace, a queen, a dancer.
-
I’d strike my eyes, if e‘er you bade me,
Or drown myself in wine.
By will alone couldst thou persuade me,
To give my life for thine.”
-
Her ire calmed, then offered she
A sweet and starlit smile,
Her arm she gave, then proffered me;
“Come, I’d have us walk a while.”
-
Her gracious words were sharp and thin,
For envy turns all grace to sin.
-
And as we walked through moor and fen,
Her moths e’er danced above her,
I poured my heart and told her then,
Of how I longed to love her.
-
“To love as courtly lovers might,
To name you as my wife,
I’ll be your eyes, your earthly sight,
E’er bound to thee for life.”
-
And laughed she then and softly found
Her hand of alabaster,
And petted me, just as a hound
Is petted by his master.
-
“Grateful be your Queen of Stars,
As so befits her virtue,
But envy haunts such loves as ours,
And doubtless it will hurt you.”
-
The Lady’s smile did wilt and wain,
For envy turns true love to pain.
-
Hither, thither wandered we,
O’er silver starlit lands,
While resting by a rowan tree,
The Lady took my hands.
-
“The dawn is come,” she told me,
“And soon I’ll have to leave,
But promise now to hold me,
And Tomorrow you may grieve,”
-
“And grieve you will,” she darkened,
As the dawn began to crack,
Then her final words I harkened,
“For I will never love you back.”
-
And when I turned to face her,
My Queen of Stars had gone,
Knowing I could ne’er replace her
Love, nor how her spirit shone.
-
The moors were mud, the joy now hurt.
For envy turns all dreams to dirt.
-
I cursed her name, then sung her praise,
I shrieked, I wept, I wailed,
I searched those fetid moors for days,
Concluding then; I’d failed.
-
But stayed I then another night,
To give a last goodbye,
But mist and cloud did bar my sight,
So gave I just a sigh.
-
I promised as I strode through mud,
That came now to my knees,
“By heart and hand, by bonds of blood,
Please listen to my pleas,”
-
“I desire that which is not mine,
All else I have is yours,
I’ll gladly give my life for thine,
And never leave these moors”
-
My Lady’s touch bore quite the cost.
What’s found in envy ends up lost.