The Shield

Of old was the age | when Ymir lived;
Sea nor cool waves | nor sand there were;
Earth had not been, | nor heaven above,
But a yawning gap, | and grass nowhere.

The sun, the sister | of the moon, from the south

Her right hand cast | over heaven's rim;
No knowledge she had | where her home should be,
The moon knew not | what might was his,
The stars knew not | where their stations were.

In front of the sun | does Svalin stand,
The shield for the shining god;
Mountains and sea | would be set in flames
If it fell from before the sun.

NOTES

ABOVE

Three stanzas from The Poetic Edda: Vǫluspá 3rd and 5th stanzas; Grímnismál stanza 38.  The Poetic Edda: Translated from the Icelandic with an Introduction and Notes by Henry Adams Bellows (1923). Bellows notes: 

-Vǫluspá 3: Ymir: the giant out of whose body the gods made the world; Yawning gap: this phrase, "Ginnunga-gap," is sometimes used as a proper name. 

-Grímnismál 38:  Shield: the shield Svalin ("Cooling") that stands in front of the sun. Also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetic_Edda

Paintings: Ink on Rice paper / Douglas Beauchamp / From the deep archives (ciick on image to enlarge)

BELOW

—Brilliant Earth  https://www.brilliantearth.com/about-brilliant-earth/

—Poem by Jean Valentine, To the Black Madonna of Chartres, in Growing Darkness, Growing Light (1997)

Friend or no friend, 

darkness or light, 

vowels or consonants, 

water or dry land,

anything more from you now

is just gravy

—just send me down forgiveness, send me down

bearing myself a black cupful of light.