Flying Koala Games: Epic Poetry Made Easy

Epic Poetry Made Easy

Many GMs like to hand out clues or information to their players via legends, stories, or other oral traditions. Usually, this takes the form of a synopsis - "The bard tells the story of X" - or a paragraph (or pages, depending) written by the GM in prose. There's a reason, after all, that the White Wolf system calls its game masters Storytellers.

Another technique you can use to deliver this information is poetry. Specifically, alliterative poetry. What's that, and why use it?

Alliterative poetry is an Old English form. It puts a lot of words that start with the same sound together on a line. This takes advantage of the large number of synonyms English has. Rhyming poetry is easier in the Romance languages (Spanish, French, Italian), since so many of their words end in set patterns. Alliterative verse is designed for the strengths of English.

Why use it? It's sort of neat, and will probably impress your players.

When to use it? Whenever you want to. Most American high schools teach "Beowulf" at some point, so your players may dimly associate this style with the Anglo-Saxon or Viking Anglo-Scandanavian cultures from which it came. It is especially appropriate for fantasy cultures that resemble these: dwarves, barbarians, other "warrior peoples."

What to use it for? Originally, this verse form primarily expressed stories of great heroic deeds - tales of battle, of glory and of duty. It was revived in the later Middle Ages, though, to tell stories of King Arthur and his knights, so it's not entirely inappropriate to use it for romances.

The "Made Easy" Part

First, write down the key points you want your poem to cover.

Example: John wants a poetic legend to give the PCs the backstory behind a magical sword he wants to have show up. The sword was forged by dwarves, used by a great king to slay a dragon, and then lost to time.

Next, decide how many stanzas ("poetic paragraphs") you want to devote to each key point.

John will use one stanza to tell of the sword's creation, one to describe the king, another to describe the king's battle with the dragon, and a final one to lament the loss of the great sword.

Start writing.

Use short phrases. It's okay to sometimes leave out words like "the" or "a." See what sounds best to you.
Make sure at least two words per line start with the same sound. Vowels alliterate with all other vowels; consonants alliterate only with themselves or combinations starting with them. (That is, "all" and "every" alliterate, and so do "sound," "salt," "shy," and "slip.")
It's okay to use more than one alliteration per line. See the example.
If you know what a kenning is, slip a few in. If you don't, don't worry about it.

You may find it useful to write down a sentence or two first, and then try to convert it to verse. You might also want a thesaurus handy if you're having trouble thinking of synonyms.

John wants to say that the sword was forged by dwarves, and has the property that it will cut through anything when wielded by a man of honor.
"Dwarves" starts with the letter "d," so John brainstorms words he associates with dwarves that also start with "d" - they live "deep" underground, "drink" a lot of beer, "dig" tunnels and might hate "dragons." He starts his first line, "Deep-digging dwarves," and in a fit of inspiration adds, "forged a fine sword."
He wants the dragon-slaying motif to start early, so he decides that the dwarves "hated" dragons. Forging tempers, sharpens... ah, "hardens" blades. "Hating the dragon, they hardened the blade." If the dwarves had "feared" the dragon instead, they might have "forged" or "finished it, mirror-bright."
Finally, the blade's magical sharpness. Why is it so sharp? The dragon is "tough," or "armored," or "invulnerable." Since all vowels alliterate and John already came up with two words starting with vowels, he decides to use them.
"Armored with scales, dragon invulnerable
Save from this sword, when held with honor
Sharp as the wind, or wise men's words."
John added the last two lines when the "Armored" line didn't quite say everything he wanted.

That's all there is to it.

The Song of Svetlag, Dragon-Killer

Deep-digging dwarves forged a fine sword
Hating the dragon, they hardened the blade
Armored with scales, dragon invulnerable
Save from this sword Svetlag, when held with honor
Sharp as the wind, or wise men's words

Gunnor the king, crafty was he
Ruler of humans raided by dragon
Great in battle, brave and bold
Dwarves deemed him fit for Svetlag
Entrusted enchanted weapon, enemy-slayer
That the dragon might die at his hand

Great was the battle, gory and blood-slicked
Scales slide apart as Svetlag swings
But fang and fire take their toll
Great Gunnor, glory-king, is wounded
Defying death, he grapples dragon
Astride the neck he swings shining sword

Crashing from cliff, into salt sea
Man and monster seen no more
Alas for Gunnor, gone from life
Alas for Svetlag, sunk in the sea
Wonder-sword, work of dwarves
Lost to the briny bottom

(Ten minutes to write last three stanzas. It gets faster with practice.)

Sources for Real Anglo-Saxon Poetry

Building Blocks of Old English Poetry
Northshield Arts and Sciences: Writing Old English Forms in Modern English
Forgotten Ground Regained - has Beowulf, some Viking poetry, and two Arthurian alliterative poems online
Beowulf - a 1910 translation. There are much better, more modern ones out there, but this one's free.