So there I am, writing another chapter in the Apocalypse System novel manuscript, and I’m really liking this supporting character, Sheila. She’s a jacked appliance repair tech, Swedish, no-nonsense, and acts like she’s the MC.
Something not good happens in the story, and Sheila is not feeling good about her actions. You’ll have to read the book for that.
“What would she say?” “How would she act?”
I saved the doc and finished writing for the night.
Right before bed, I played a “history of the Vikings to fall asleep to” video on YouTube, closed my eyes, and sunk into the history.
Turns out, the Vikings were fucking awesome. Also, they didn’t have reading and writing early on, so they would do verbal storytelling. Very cool stuff.
The next day, I’m researching the oldest Nordic material I can find. Turns out a lot of it was burned, so yeah, great job, humanity.
What I was able to find was interesting, and so I wrote a little poem for the book:
Sorg bär smedjan; städet sjunger.
Grief bears the smithy; the anvil sings.
Svart går glöden, grå går dagen.
Black goes the fire; grey goes the day.
Hårt slår hammarn; hjärtat skälver.
Hard strikes the hammer; the heart trembles.
Järn ger vika; jag gör icke.
Iron yields; I do not.
Eld tar slagg men ej mitt minne.
Fire takes the slag; not my memory.
Rök bär hennes namn till taket.
Smoke bears her name to the rafters.
Ur min saknad stiger eggen.
From my longing, the edge rises.
Ur min smärta föds mitt stål.
From my pain, my steel is born.
Aska lägger sig där elden vilat.
Ash settles where the fire has rested.
Tång tar ämnet; tyst är handen.
Tongs take the billet; the hand is silent.
Slag för slag går själen samman.
Blow by blow, the soul is bound together.
Det jag mist har märkt min klinga.
What I have lost has marked my blade.
The poem was done. I added it to the book, and it wouldn’t leave me alone. I needed to do more with it.
I picked up my bass and started noodling. Within two hours, I had it sort of worked out. From there, the snowball rolled downhill, and when it was time to make the vocals, I chose Lyra. I added the bass and guitar to the AI tool, and magic happened. Lyra’s persona nailed it on the first try.
EQ, remaster, and audio cleanup.
Grief Bears the Smithy was done.
But I wasn’t done with this.
How many people will ever read this book? Hopefully lots. But until then, Sheila’s story won’t be known. I couldn’t wait that long.
So yeah, this is ADHD on overdrive.
Who was this song written for? No idea. How many times have I listened to it? Like 100+.
