A quiet notice V2Melody closes at midnight on , Spanish time.

Closes

A note from Richard

V2Melody will close at midnight on 20 January 2028

This site has been a retirement project in musical poetry: poems chosen with care and set to music, offered freely for as long as it felt right to keep the garden open.

The work no longer holds the place it once did in my life. I have gone as far with it as I wish to go. Like a sand mandala, it was made to be completed and then released. I am not attached to its permanence, and I do not believe any of it needs to last beyond the time it was given. The poems were already here before I arrived and began to experiment with them. They will still be here when these musical experiments, and indeed myself, have been swept away, like the sand of a mandala. Nothing has been lost.

I want a simpler end to my life, days of simple love and enjoyment with my wonderful wife of 20 years. The work of maintaining a server, the monitoring, and the residual obligations that come with keeping a site alive no longer fit that life.

From 4 November 2026 I will not be adding new poems or musical poems to the site.

The experimental music I am making now is on my Suno profile. Those pieces stay there, and are not added to this site.

Until midnight on 20 January 2028, Spanish time, everything remains available exactly as it is. That is when my VPS server contract comes to an end, and it will not be renewed. After that, the server will be switched off and the site will disappear.

The Mandala Is Finished explains this more fully.

Thank you to anyone who found a poem, a track, or a quiet moment here.

The pleasure was in the making.

Richard

Home › Glossary › Letter E

Embla

Mythology
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The first woman, created by Odin and his brothers from an ash or elm tree

Detailed Definition
Embla, alongside Ask, is one of the first humans in Norse mythology, fashioned by Odin, Hœnir, and Lóðurr from driftwood. She represents humanity’s origin and the gift of life, emotion, and social grace. Embla appears in the Poetic Edda’s Völuspá as a symbol of human vulnerability and potential. Poets reference her to reflect on creation, gender roles, and the divine spark within mortal beings.
Example
Example in poetry:
Embla, first woman, is created with Ask in Völuspá: “They found Ask and Embla, empty of fate”; Snorri recounts in Gylfaginning that Odin, Hœnir, and Lóðurr gave her breath, sense, and warmth; Embla’s name may mean “elm” or “vine,” symbolizing growth and connection; Poets use “Embla’s daughters” to refer to all women; Her creation myth parallels other Indo-European first-couple narratives; Embla represents the origin of human community and emotion.
Additional Notes
Embla, alongside Ask, is the first woman created by the gods in Norse cosmogony. According to Völuspá and Gylfaginning, Odin, Hœnir, and Lóðurr (or Vili and Vé) find her and Ask lifeless by the shore and endow them with breath, consciousness, and form. Embla’s name may derive from "almr" (elm tree) or "ambarn" (vine), symbolizing flexibility and connection. Students should consider how Embla represents the emotional and social dimensions of humanity—contrasted with Ask’s sturdiness. Her creation myth parallels other Indo-European first-couple narratives (e.g., Adam and Eve) but emphasizes collaboration among gods. In poetry, "Embla’s kin" becomes a kenning for humankind, making her a foundational figure for human-centered imagery in eddic and skaldic verse.
Also Known As
First Woman Elm-Maiden Mother of Humankind Embla the Life-Given
Skip to main content