My younger sister is brilliant. She is one of the most intelligent human beings that I have ever had the privilege of meeting. She's a science student, majoring in hydrology and minoring in advanced calculus. I'm an arts student, I'm proud I'm able to spell the the word "Hydrology." Last term she decided to take a course in for her arts credit in Skaldic Poetry. She took this for fun. (On a side note the Alberta Norse Council actually paid her and her classmates $125 for taking the class. Yes. That exists.)
I won't even attempt to explain to you what it is (check out the wiki site) other than to briefly summarize that it's dead Norse epic poetry which is dead for a reason. It's insane and complicated and horribly metaphor laden. Hearing about how the Vikings were a mighty band of epic poets kind of makes me think of the Vogons from the Hitchhikers' Guide to the galaxy. Think about it - Men in horned helms screaming mightily at their opponents who gurgle and bleed from the ears. Sounds like it would make an awesome Mel Gibson Historical Film.
Anyway, what really stuck with me is apparently the Norse have 2 words for farts - Frata and Frisa. When I first heard these words I thought that they sounded like cute words for your grandparents; much like Opa and Oma or Baba and Guido. But no...a Frata is a full on pant bursting gas expulsion extravaganza and a Frisa is like a little baby mouse fart. As I mentioned, Skaldic poetry is all about metaphors and they use farts to mean a lot of things. They also relish a good fart simile. It's a culture that I can really get behind.
Needless to say I have been announcing my Fratas and Frisas with much pretentious delight. Moses is going to kill me but I have bad ass vikings on my side.
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