Clerihew Erik the Red

 

Erik the Red

Went where others feared to tread

A dead man’s shovel sent him sailing

Along Iceland’s coast, he had five hundred men a’ trailing

Author's Note

Erik the Red's parents had to flee Norway because of "some killings" as The Saga of Eric the Red recounts. The family settled in western Iceland. The Icelanders later sentenced Erik to a three-year exile for several murders around the year 982. According to The Saga of Eirik the Red, his neighbour Thorgest borrowed a shovel and when it did not come back to Erik, he sought an explanation. When Thorgest refused to return it, Erik stole the shovel back. In the ensuing chase, he killed Thorgest. A second crime laid at Erik's door occurred when he insisted upon revenge for the deaths of his slaves who had "accidentally started a landslide" on Valthjof's farm. Valthjof murderously punished the slaves for this misfortune. Erik did not take kindly to this and so slew Valthjof. The Icelanders eventually convicted Erik of these murders and banished him from Iceland. This event led him and a group of followers to travel to the lands nearly 500 miles west of Iceland.

Reviews

[Salvatore Buttaci]

Despite providing an explanation of why the "shovel," it needs to be understood in the poem.

Sal

[Tony Hwilka]

A good write and good luck in the contest. Tony

[Helena]

Quite a fellow Erik! Quite a write too! Loved it, you did a good job
with the form. It worked really well to tell his story "in a nutshell"!


BTW you can write 2 more if you wish. The number of entries per poet are now three.
So what are you waiting for?? LOL

Helena

[Salvatore Buttaci]

A great clerihew! You might want to replace "were" with "where." (went where others failed to tread...)
Aren't they fun to write?

Sal

[Sharon Miller Bolander]

Quite a character! I really appreciated your author's notes, too. Iceland is a stop on my bucket list. :-) Sharon