My narrative 84-line poem “The Bog Witch’s Brew” is now available from NewMyths.com. I am really proud of this poem and so happy to see it out in the world at last. While I believe it stands just fine on its own, I’d really like to talk a bit about the inspiration behind it.
I have been living in Denmark for more than twenty years now and this country gets a lot of fog and mist, such as in the poem. Of one of these types, people say mosekonen brygger. This translates to “The bog witch is brewing.” (kone is also the word for wife, but in the context)
No one has ever been able to tell me who the bog witch is or what she is brewing. Even the Danish wikipedia site says she doesn’t have a story of her own. And I couldn’t continue to tolerate that.
The Bog Witch needed a role in life and somehow this poem came out. It insisted it was a poem, although some other writers who saw it and even one market I sent it to suggested it should be prose. I am so glad the team at NewMyths.com liked the tale in her original state.