Wednesday, July 31, 2013

When words are lacking

Today is not a good day to blog. I feel extremely uncomfortable to have to be the one to do the first regular posting after the tragedy that is the passing of our friend Leighton Gage. He is the one that came up with the idea for this blog, the one that gathered us together and the one who did the hard work of keeping us dedicated and reminding us that missing our spot was not particularly good for this venture. All of this he did with extreme politness and warmth so one never felt that he was totalitarian, simply precise and of strong ethical character. Which shone through his writing and his every human interaction.

I have at some point mentioned Hávamál, the verses containing sayings of advice and wisdom from the Viking age. There is one verse within this collection that applies perfectly to Leighton. I have looked up the English translation but find it lacking the spirit of the original. So I will simply put it here in the original language Icelandic or old Norse:

Deyr fé deyja frændur,
deyr sjálfur ið sama;
en orðstír
deyr aldregi
hveim er sér góðan getur  
 
I am certain that where ever you are Leighton, you will be able to read this and understand.
 
My thoughts and those of my husband Óli are now with Eide, whom we hope we will be lucky enough to meet again.
 
Yrsa - Wednesday
 



3 comments:

  1. Thank you Yrsa, from Belgium...
    Christiane

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  2. That you, Yrsa, who uses words so well, are having difficulty finding the right words to speak about your loss, says so much about Leighton. I can understand how much you and the others on this blog will miss him.

    Beth

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  3. Your "loss of words" captured the essence of our friend. Proud to be here with you.

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