The Funeral Service for Harrison Arick Haxton

January 2002

Goði: Chris Haviland of the Kindred of Ravenswood, Zionsville, Indiana

Gyðia Winifred Hodge of Frigga's Web, Champaign, Illinois

The Journey Song from Hrafner is played on tape.

Hammer Warding (Chris)

A prayer from The Lay of Sigrdrifa, read by Winifred
Hail to the Day, Hail to the Sons of Day
Hail to Night and its Daughter!
Gaze on us gently, grant us sitting here
your blessings in our battles.
Hail to the gods, hail to the goddesses
Hail to the all-giving earth!
wisdom and lore, as long as we live
grant us, and healing hands.

The service (Chris):
We are gathered here today to remember one we knew not, to grieve for a life snatched from us before it began. This day, nine days after his birth, was to have been the naming of this beloved child. The name that was to have been bestowed upon him was Harrison Arick : Harrison, the son of Har, patron of his father; and Arick - an ancient form of Richard, in honor of his grandfather. Yet Wyrd has decreed that the Naming was not to be, and so we gather for this Remembrance and Memorial, and our tears drip like dew from the leaves of Yggdrasil.

Hear now this poem, written by the father, in his grief:

Never will I know the joy
Of rocking you to sleep.
Never can my pride swell
When the game ball is yours to keep.

Never will I watch you run
And play and shout and learn.
Never will I hear you call
A maid for whom you yearn.

No stocking by the Yuletide tree
No birthday celebration
No baby boy to warm my soul
Nor cheer my desolation.

You had no chance to speak a word,
No time to do a deed,
But hope is what you meant to me,
And hope is what I need.

Your mother's sobs, they rack my soul
Your sisters' grief runs deep.
My baby boy, my pride, my joy,
Your memory I shall keep.

That is the oath I make today
By family, gods, and kin.
For my Faith, it gives assurance,
That you will live again.

And on that day when hugh you find
And into Midgard spring
I know that you'll remember us,
And on our love take wing.

On that day, even if we're gone,
Know this: we'll watch you soar!
For in our hearts you'll always live,
Now and forevermore.

Gythyja's Rede (Winifred)

Godhi's Rede (Chris)
We take solace from the sure knowledge that while the form has left Midgard, the soul of this child will remain with us forever. We know that the great wheel of life and rebirth turns always, and that by our remembrance we insure our future. Though the body has gone, the soul remains, fast and secure in our hearts, and when ready, we know he will walk in the midst of his folk once more.

Closing Prayer (Chris)
There is an ancient prayer among our people, uttered by those facing their death. And while the young one we mourn could not speak the words, we know his heart felt their warmth:
Lo' there I see my fathers.
Lo' there I see my mothers,
my sisters, and my brothers.
Lo' there I see the line of my people
back to the beginning.
They call to me.
They bid me to take my place amongst them,
in the halls of the Gods,
where the faithful and True may live on....forever.

The rite is ended: the Folk go on!

The Kindred of Ravenswood
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