Broadsword

I see a dark sail on the horizon
set under a black cloud that hides the sun.
Bring me my broadsword and clear understanding.
Bring me my cross of gold as a talisman.
Get up to the roundhouse on the cliff-top standing.
Take women and children and bed them down.

Bring me my broadsword and clear understanding.
Bring me my cross of gold as a talisman.
Bless with a hard heart those who surround me.
Bless the women and children who firm our hands.
Put our backs to the north wind. Hold fast by the river.
Sweet memories to drive us on for the motherland.

I see a dark sail on the horizon
set under a black cloud that hides the sun.
So, bring me my broadsword and clear understanding.
Bring me my cross of gold as a talisman.
So bring me my broadsword
And a cross of gold as a talisman.
– Broadsword, Jethro Tull

I bought a whole bunch of lampwork glass beads at the Bead Lounge a while ago, and then they sat…and sat…and sat. I’d thought to use them sparingly, as befits their total awesomeness, but somehow I could never come up with a design I liked.

So I decided to just use nearly all of them in one fell swoop.

I’d had the white beads for probably years — I have no recollection of getting them, so it was quite a while ago. They looked cheap and awful in every context I tried, which was a shame, because in they’re own subtle way they’re also very cool. Their very irregularity proclaims that, like the brighter beads, they too are handmade.

I put the two together, and boy, did it work.

It’s 26 inches long, plenty long enough to hang well on its own or from a pair of brooches with your Viking garb. Which is what directed my thinking when it came to a song.

Most of the sings I know about Vikings are kinda silly, and whie I enjoy them in their place, they didn’t suit this piece. I Googled things like ‘Viking song treasure’ and ‘plunder Viking lyrics’ and got nowhere much for a while until a song I’ve long known and loved came into my head — Broadsword, by Jethro Tull.

It’s simple and powerful. Have a listen if you like. Go ahead; I can wait.

See what I mean?

Like a gleaming hoard of treasure.