Bragr

Ross Cogan is a poet deeply concerned with human history and the fate of our planet. His collection Bragr (Old Norse for ‘Poetry’), brings us the voice of the Skald or Bard who reinterprets tales from Norse mythology for our times.

As precise and beautifully coloured as an illuminated manuscript, these poems are full of rich imagery and detail, packed with dramatic incident and conflict. Part One, ‘The Beginning’, infused with Norse creation myths, shows how the earth arrived from ‘onething’ in a stately procession, a process which includes hints of both glory and destruction. Also in this section are artful poems that focus on trees. Part Two, ‘Bestiary’ includes verses about toads, chickens, goats, rats, bees, ducks, seagulls, hares, and a swan. These are frequently compact and musical sonnets. Part Three, ‘Ragnarök’, is named after a final mythical battle, the ‘Twilight of the Gods’, and imagines the earth’s destruction by fire and flood. Wonderfully skillful, entertaining, imaginative and prescient, these are poems to read and revisit.