ico

Presented to the LIBRARY oj the

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

by

ESTATE OF THE LATE

JOHN B. C. WATKINS

\

THIS scries of SCANDINAVIAN CLASSICS is published by The American-Scandinavian Foundation in the belief that greater familiarity with the chief literary monuments of the North will help Americans to a better understanding of Scandinavians, and thus serve uilate their sympathetic cooperation to good ends

SCANDINAVIAN CLASSICS VOLUME II

POEMS BY TK(.M k

HUSHED BY Ml l.s POUL90N

POEMS in Ti <.M

1HI i HIIDREN C)i SUPPER

TRANM.ATED FROM THE SWEDISH BY HENRY WADSWORTH LONCFEL1

FKITIIIOPS SA' TRANSLATED BY REV. W. LEWERY BLACKLEY

iTH AN INTRODUCTION BY

I. ROBERT LIEDER, A.M.

HARVARD UN!

NEW YORK

THE AMERICAN-SCANDINAVIAN FOUNDATION

19U

/• by i he A m(rt tan- Scandinavian foundation

PT

DEC 2 01965

1032695

D. B. Updike, The Merrymount Press, Boston, U. S. A.

I'KI I

TEGNER presents the curious situation in literature of a A ho, although his chief work has been

rendered a score of times into Knglish, is still not widely known in England and America. This has been due partly to the rarity of most of the trans- lations. The first seven, for instance, had so limited a circulation that Muckleston, who made the eighth in 1862, did not know of the existence of any previous one when he sent his own manuscript to the press. The American-Scandinavian Founda- tion hopes through this volume to make Tcgncr more easily accessible to those who cannot read him in the original. He is the one Swedish poet to whose works all his compatriots will at once accord a place among Scandinavian classics.

The translation of the Frithiofs Saga here printed is that of the Rev. W. L. Blackley, Dublin, 1857. It was reprinted once before in this country, by Bayard Taylor, in 1867, — the first version of the Swedish work to appear in the United States. The Children of the Lord's Supper is from Longfellow's Ballads and Other Poems, Cambridge, 1842. Both translations are faithful reproductions of their origi- nals. Blackley, however, disregards the feminine or double rhymes that occur so often in the Frithiofs

PREFACE

Saga. He reproduces them only where he can do so without twisting the sense or forcing the expression. The Introduction that follows is the outcome of studies carried on under Professor W. H. Schoficld at Harvard University. To him I owe great grati- tude for valuable suggestions and encouragement. Through his mediation and the kindness of Dr. H. W. L. Danaof Columbia University, I have been able to consult freely Longfellow's Scandinavian books in the library of Craigie House, the poet's residence in Cambridge. I am also indebted to my brother, Dr. F. W. C. Lieder of Harvard, for gen- erous criticism, and for help in reading the manu- script and proofs.

I'. R. L.

Cambridge, Massachusetts May 26, 1914

INTRoi

l.UKtN OK THE LORD'S SUPPER

FOREWORD 3

TMf CHILDREN Of TNI LORD'S SUPPER I }

THE FRITH IOF-SAGA

PREFACE 37

ABSTRACT Of THI ANCIENT rttTHIor-S * 40

I. FRITHIOr AND 1NGEBORG 43

II. >.:•-. in l l .-.:• rHORSTCN VIKINCSSON 50

111. KEITMIOK'S INHERITANCE 57

i\ . r R IT H tor's WOOING 69

74

VI. FRITHIOP PLAYS CHESS 79

HIITHIOF'S JOY 8 I

Mil. THE PARTING 88

1\. INGEEORG'S LAMENTATION I 06

X. PRITHIOr AT SEA IO8

XI. rRITWIOF WITH ANCANTYR I |6

KRITHIOrS RETURN Il6

XIII. RALDER'S BALE-HRI 134

KRITHIOr GOETH INTO BANISHMENT I 39

NGABAI.K 148

XXI. FRITHIOr AND It 152

rilTHIOf COMETH TO KING RING I $5

CONTENTS

THE RIDE OVER THE ICE 1 (} I

XIX. PRITHIOF'S TEMPTATION 163

XX. THE DEATH OP KING RING §7 I

XXI. RING'S DRAPA 175

XXII. THE KING'S ELECTION 178

XXIII. FRITHIOF BESIDE HIS FATHER'S GRAVE I 82

XXIV. RECONCILIATION 187 GLOSSARY 1 99

[NTROIM

EI'M.NER was born November 13, 1782,11 K vrkrrud in Wermland.* Both hit mother and hit fa- ther were children of preachers, whose parents, in turn, had been peasant •• is virtually of the peasant

class, — a fact •» he was never ashamed. Hit father's

name, Esaias Lucasson, had been transformed at the gym- nasium, or preparatory school, to Esaias Tegncrus, because he t .•. i Tegnah . iage of Tegna) in Smaland.

In the poet's own tune, the surname was further changed •i present more aristocratic form.

When Esaias was nine years old, his father died, leav- ing a widow and six children with scant means of support. A state official in the- district, Assessor Branting, a friend of the family, offered to take Ksaias, the youngest son, into his h anting gave him a position in the >

house, but the boy had plenty of time to himself, which he :ed mainly to the study of poetry and history. Tegncr liked, above all, the old Icelandic sagas, and read frequently that of Krithi -Id, which was later to become the

basis of his greatest poem. He went with the Assessor on frequent official trips through Wcrmland, thus becoming well acquainted with the beautiful scenery of his cou h he so often describes.

Branting, being impressed by the future poet's keenness of perception and eagerness * ledge, arranged that he

should study under an elder brother, Lars Gustaf Te.

•Thr biographical facts in thi* Introduction are taken mainly from the val- uable MMjrt oo Tcgncr by Brandes ami by Boyrcen. The standard biography of the poet it by hu *on-,n- Uw, C. W. Bottifrr, 7,. * «.-r ../ 7,r «,M Lrfm^ Stockholm, 1*47.

x INTRODUCTION

a tutor to several neighboring families. re than a

year Esaias accompanied his brother on his rounds; with the irregular teaching that hi- thus received, he learned > reck, and Fivnrh. He taught himself English by reading Macpherson's Ossian, which was then at the height of its popularity in Sweden. Finally, Lars Gustaf accepted a position as tutor to the seven children of Myhrman, a prosperous iron-manufacturer, on the condition that Ksaias should be allowed to go with him. Here Tegner led a happy existence, with pleasant companions, studying diligently and reading extcnsiveK .

Two years later, in 1799, he and three of Myhrman's sons, one of whom was to be his room-mate, entered the University of Lund. Bruiting and Myhrman paid his ex- penses. In 1802 he was crowned with the laurel wreath as the foremost of twenty-four successful candidates for the degree of Master of Arts. He was almost expelled at this time for taking part in a hostile demonstration outside the house of the unpopular university rector, but was par- doned because of his scholastic standing. After his gradu- ation he received the combined positions of decent in aes- thetics, secretary to the philosophical faculty, and assistant university librarian. He spent his summer vacations with the Myhrmans at Ramen, where he paid special attentions to the daughter, Anna, whom he married in 1806.

The following years were the brightest in Tegner's life. He was strong, eager, energetic, an inspiring and beloved teacher. His joy in living was evident in everything he did. He had already begun to write. His literary develop- ment proceeded slowly, however, and few of his early works have much merit. In I 808, inspired by the national sorrow over the loss of Finland, he wrote his first success-

INTRODUCTION

ful poem, hit Il'ar-St*i far tbt Sfanian Rtttrvti^ a iiir- ring dithyramb which gained him nation-wide popular- la 1810 he was made 1< und,and the next year he followed up hit I Par-Seng with another patriotic poem, Si :\ won the coveted prize of the

iiih Acu the s.itnr year irotc the (lotitka

league, an organization of zealous

young men of letters, who took patriotic pride in the study

'Id Norse literature and cult pposition to those

rs, thr »» i'husphnrists," who looked to France for in- spiration. Tegncr soon became head of the club, and, with tabk members, like Geijcr, Af/clius, and Nican- der, made its power felt in literature. The following year

.is appointed professor of Greek at Lund and pastor of Stafvie and Lackalange, two neighboring towns. This was not a strange combination of offices, for it w^ then unu >wcden to give a professor ecclesiasti-

cal preferment if he could discharge the attendant duties without absenting himself from the university. Tegncr never regarded his posts as sinecures, and strove to be a true friend of the peasants in his parishes. In 1819 he was elected a member of the Swedish Academy. In 1820 he

o his famous Nattvardibarntn (Children if tbt Lorfi

Supptr) and started Fnthiofs Saga. The first nine cantos

of the latter appeared in the periodical Iduna, the official

publication of the Gothic League, and won immediate

applause. Meanwhile Tegncr had composed numerous

brief Ivrics, and in 1822 published Axel^ a patriotic poem

bated on events in the Russian war, and five more cantos

Ct Saga. In 1825 the entire Saga was issued.

Through >pe he was now acclaimed by critics,

he among them, as a great poet. In his own country

xii INTRODUCT1

he was further rewarded by the appointment to the bish- opric of Wc\ year marked the climax of his life. Tegner's later illness and melancholy may be passed over briefly. While writing the final can >ithiof, he had fallen in love with the wife of the t ;u illor of Lund. The result was some inspired poetry, but endless pain. His duties as bishop became irksome, his health broke down, and in 1833 he complained of fiery throbbings in the brain. He journeyed to Carlsbad, where he found s relief. On his return through Germany he was received everywhere with great honor, but it brought him little joy. In 1840, while attending the Riksdag in Stockholm, of which he was a member ex officio, he became suddenly insane. He was taken to a sanitarium in Schleswig, where he recovered. In the spring of 1841 he returned and took up his episcopal duties. Though he displayed his old cour- age and vigor, he was able to do little during these \ In i 843 he suffered a stroke of paralysis, and died on No- vember 2, 1846.

As a writer, Tegner confined himself almost exclusively to poetry, which, like nearly all Swedish poetry, is lyric and markedly romantic. To present-day readers it seems overburdened with figures of speech, many of which are fine-spun; but it was according to the temper of Tegm r's age to be rhetorical in verse. Tegner even went so far as to say in his address to the Swedish Academy, on the oc- casion of his election, that the object of poetry is to pre- sent, not ideas, but images. With the exception of a few poems written in the dark years of his life, his work, like Bjornson's,isoptimistic and fresh, not mournful and brood- ing, like that of his more recent countryman, Strindberg.

I RODUCTI

•• My golden bmrp shall never borrow

S»d lone* that 1 h.ve brought u> tight ; The poet was not nude for KMTOW. Tbeskyofsotu

"'•*yi Saga tells tl love story of the humbly

born r r; the noble Ingcborg. Though its mat

is ancient, its treatment is nu>< nth an extent, in

fact, that the -\ marriage ceremony is introduced.

sentimental in spite of his heroic qualities, is nearer in spirit to Tegncr's own time than to the feast- ing, fighting days of ninth-century Scandinavia, which arc n,thc hero's friend and counsellor. A characteristic feature of the poem is the use of a ti

e in each of the twenty-four cantos, often with variations within the canto itself, to tit the scene in hand.

is, though a narrative, the poem is

form an<: • , in so far as it takes a saga story

ts plot, was inspired, Tcgncr frankly admitted, by .cnschlacger's Htlgt. Both poems were the outgrowth of the renascence of interest in the saga age that was then manifest thn>-. x*andi na via. Ffithiof^ however, with

its exuberant glee, soon eclipsed its gloomier model in pop- ularity ami influence.

It is ii a poem for the young, and Frithiof is

hoy's hero. There is little doubt that cantos like A'ooing" and " Fnthiofs Happiness" are re- Tegncr's own happy student days, when he spent his vacations with the Myhrmans. ( )nly in " Frith- iofs Return/' written under the shadow of later love r plications, is there the sadness of age. Frithiof here, like Teg i •'.{ at the time he wrote the canto, is a mis-

•From Tkt S»mg. Eofli«h vrr.ioo by R.B. Andcnoa.

INTRODtK I ION

anthrope and a misogynist, — wholly different from the Fnthiof who resolves to win his t>< brother's opposition, by courage and self-re! •. the

pages the hr:,. never doubts of his future happi-

Fnthiof it not a character Co be analyzed like Faus Hamlet. Tegner does not seem to have fashioned his poem, except perhaps in " Fnthiofs Return/' to mean more than the ear. Its greatness lies in its intense emotion, its of imagination, and its artistic beauty, rather dun in (he pmfuruiitv of its thoughts.

The other two poems of Tcgncr that arc generally grouped with h'ntbitfi Saga arc //Wand \attvardiht.

. an excellent , ugh somewhat fantastic in plot,

reveals, like Svta^ Tegner's patriotic side. The Nattvardi- kfrmtm shows the sincerity and depth of his app of Swedish peasant life. The characteristics of both u are essentially those of Frithiof. As an example of Tegner's later style may be mentioned his Mjtlttjukan (Ode to <MvA*/r),uoneof the most despairing poems," says Brandes, "of all literatu

Tegner's writings have the individual note that we ex- pect in a man of power. His short pieces have unquestion- ably uthe lyric cry," his narratives are full of action. war-songs beat with patriotism, and the love scenes in his longer poems, despite the sentimentality of the age and country in which they were written, still make a strong appeal. Whether or not critics agree with him in valuing imagery above thought in poetry, they can but acknowledge that in revealing sensuous beauty in verses of great melody Tegncr shows nothing less than gen

IN'l xv

:is Tegncr has pet i rest because of his

on* with Longfellow. Longfellow, it is well known,

spent the summer of 1 835 in Sweden, studying the Swed-

ianguagc and Inc. , return to the t'i.

••» he published an enthusiastic essay on Frithioft Saga

in I ht North Amtrica* Rtvinu for July, 1 83 7, giving as an

.i bright picture of Swedish life as he had seen

it and as it is rrr >, though

at first it seems it "g prelude, for it puts

the reader unacquainted with Scandinavia in the proper

mood to understand and appreciate the poem. The body of

the essay consists of a spirited retclliiv of the story, with

translations, in the original metres, of the more significant

pottages.

icntly sent a copy of his article to Tcg- ncr, f".»r the latter

M Bokedal, near Gotheborg, J*fy 10, iS4i.

Three \ ears ago — when I was here at Bokedal visiting v and his beautiful wife, the most beautiful woman in Sweden — I received the letter and fragmentary translation of AWM/y with which the Hcrr Professor honored me. Professional duties, the Riksdag, recently adjourned, and above all a severe nervous illness, have prevented my ex- pressing my thanks as I ought for all this. Without exactly •ig the highest value on public opinion, either in or out of my own country, and taking the Horattan mallgnum tptr- nfrt vulgus f<> I rejoice, of course, to find my

poems reproduced in so admirable a manner, and particu- larly for a nat ••. I value. It has always been my con-

•From the Raflkh initiation of the letter printed in Samuel Loaffcllow'i

INTRODUCTI

viction that Knglish is of all languages the one which is best adapted to translation from the Swedish; for the En love, as we do, to concentrate expression, either thought or figure, within the briefest possible space; to flash a short but sharp sword : whereas the German prefers long, drag- ging sentences, and likes to encase his weapons in a scab- bard of hogskin. English, on the other hand, is a collection of laconisms, and the so much misunderstood Pope, with his keenly sharpened antitheses, has always appeared to me the true representative of the genius of the En language. Among the four or five translations of Frithiof which I have had occasion to see,* there is none as yet with which I have been fully satisfied, except the Hcrr Pro- fessor's. Where the translator has understood the mean- ing, which has not always been the case, the translation has often suffered from ignorance of technicalities or in- sufficient command over his own language. Lethman'sf is better in this respect. But above all I place the Hcrr Pro- fessor's both as regards understanding of the original and versification. The only fault I have to find with the transla- tion is that it is not complete; and to this I take the plea- sure of calling the attention of the Hcrr Professor, so that I may be able to say that Frithiof is well translated into at least one language.

This winter I begin the publication of a collection of my writings in verse and prose. ... I shall send a copy of this to America as soon as it leaves the press, addressed to the Herr Professor, as a mark of my esteem and grati-

•Whcn this letter was written, the following translations of Frithiof had already appeared : Strong's, 1833 ; Frye's, 1835 j Latham's, 1X38 ; Stephen**!, 1839; and possibly Baker's, 1841. There were also fragments in the period- icals and some extracts translated by George Borrow. fM Latham's" is undoubtedly meant.

IN I ROD! ( I ION

; be still further increased should the •«-ss, -r think something in it worthy of transition. My edition of Fritbitf accompanies this let With high regard and att

The ofessor's humble servant,

Es.TlGN*ft"

Longfellow's review of Frithiofn of importance in itself because, so far as I have been able to find out, it is the first pub! in the I only of Teg-

but of Scandinavian literature. Vet noteworthy as the in this oiiuu-i tmii, it has . tand

value. Ob shows how sincerely the American poet

appri it also shows that the beginning of

Longfellow's most popular and perhaps his greatest p Evangtlint, is fundamentally Scandinavian ; for when Long- fellow is describing the scenery, the customs, and the people of Acadia, he is simply describing Sweden. Since this fact has never before been noticed, sufficient data to establish its validity are here presented.

Longfellow, according to his brother's statement,' never

•d Acadia. After he became acquainted through Haw-

ic's friend, the Re . 1 ' »lly, with the story of

the lovers, separated when the British scattered the mhab-

ti of Grand Prc in promiscuous exile, he consulted books for mat r Acadia, we are told, f he read only

Haliburton's book on Nova Scotia,} which he found in

•Samuel Longfellow, ./. . . II. -i. f /*;.... "• '<•

IT. C. Hiliborton,^. //ur^WtfW 5Mr/ir;.W^^M«r •f*'"**''^

f*i, 1119, I, 170-173. — P. Morin came to the cooclMioi . uotaf

numrrout work* which he thought might coot* in origins for the Acadian

scene*, that Haliburton was the main source for the first part of F.+*mft/,mt.

See his &^n A /'(EMrr 4 Htvy tT+bwvtA L.*tf<U«^ Paria, 1913.

\\lll

INTRODUCTION

the Harvard Library. In tt, :\vo and one-half pages

are given to the description of the life of the Acad The following quotation is taken from the very copy of Haliburton that Longfellow in all probability used:

44 Hunting and fishing, which had formerly been the delight of the Colony, and might have still supplied it with re, had no farther attraction for a simple and < juict people, and gave way to agriculture, which had been es- tablished in the marshes and low lands, by repelling with dikes the sea and rivers which covered these plains. These grounds yielded fifty for one at first, and afterwards fifteen or twenty for one at least; wheat and oats succeeded best in them, but they likewise produced rye, barley and maize. There were also potatoes in great plenty, the use of which was become common. At the same time these immense meadows were covered with numerous flocks. They com- puted as many as sixty thousand head of horned cattle; and most families had several horses, though the tillage was carried on by oxen. Their habitations, which were con- structed of wood, wercextremely convenient, and furnished as neatly as substantial farmer's houses in Europe. They reared a great deal of poultry of all kinds, which made a variety in their food, at once wholesome and plentiful. Their ordinary drink was beer and cyder, to which they sometimes added rum. Their usual clothing was in general the produce of their own flax, or the fleeces of their own sheep; with these they made common linens and coarse cloths. If any of them had a desire for articles of greater luxury, they procured them from Annapolis or Louisburg, and gave in exchange corn, cattle or furs. [Here follows a short passage, unimportant for us, stating that they used no paper currency and little silver or gold.] Their man-

INTRODUCTION

ncrs 1 re wti seldom

a cause, . uiiul, uf importance enou.

be carried be r t of Judu UH.MI, established at

Annapolis. Whatever little differences arose from tin

among them, were amicably adjusted by their elders. All their public acts were drawn by their pastors, who had likewise the keeping of th< u hich, and their

religious services, the inhabitants paid a twenty-seventh pan . was always sufficient to afford

more means than there were objects of gcncrov

" Real misery was wholly unknown, and benevolence

anticipated the demands of pov < \ is fortune was

•ved as it were before it could be felt, without ostcnta-

M the one hand, and without meanness on the other.

.is, in short, a society of brethren; every individual of which was equally ready to give, and to receive, what he thought the common right of mankind. So perfect a har-

v naturally prevented all those connexions of gallantry, which are so often fatal to the peace of families. This evil was prevented by early marriages, for no one passed his

:i in a state of celibacy. As soon as a young man ar- rived to the proper age, the community built him a house, broke up the lands about it, and supplied him with all the necessaries of life for a twelvemonth. There he received the partner whom he had chosen, and who brought him her portion in flocks. This new family grew and prospered like the others. I n i 775, all together made a population of eighteen thousand soul the picture of these people,

as drawn by the Abbe Reynal. By many, it is thought to represent a state of social happiness, totally inconsistent

the frailties and passions of human nature; and that it is worthy rather of the poet than the historian. In describ-

xx INTRODUCTION

ing a scene of rural felicity like this, it is not improbable that his narrative partakes of the warmth of feeling for which he was remarkable; but it comes much nearer the truth than is generally imagined."

us account was all that Longfellow knew of actual life in Acadia. The poet evidently took material from it tor the beginning of Evangtline. But he needed more t and proceeded to draw on his own experience. Though brief, Haliburton's description was sufficient to suggest what sort of a life the people there led, and Longfellow could scarcely help noting the similarity between it and that of peaceful Sweden, with which he was acquainted from actual observation as well as books. When, accord- ingly, he began to present Acadian life and scenery in his poem, he copied — consciously or unconsciously — peasant life as he knew it in Sweden.

The truth of this statement is manifest from the follow- ing parallel passages taken from the review of Frithiof and from Evangfline. These extracts need no comment beyond the remark that they are not meant in every case to show a close verbal likeness. The similarity of ideas is evident.

In the review Longfellow writes: "Almost primeval simplicity reigns over this Northern land, — almost prime- val solitude and stillness. You pass out from the gate of the city, and, as if by magic, the scene changes to a wild, wood- land landscape. Around you are forests of fir. Overhead hang the long fan-like branches trailing with moss." What is this in essence but the opening lines of Evangfline?

"This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the

hemlocks,

Bearded with moss, and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight,

Stand like Druids of eld. with voice* tad tad prophetic. Stand like harper* hoar, with beards that rot on their bosom*."

In the- i«- -rot, he adiU: "Ont

wooden bridr . ou come

forth into a pleasant and funny land of fan: haps

vj» think this stream when in /-.van-

I. to) he described the Acadian fanners as

" Men whose lives glided on like rivers that water the wood.

In the review he says: "The houses in the villages are all built 'So likewise in Evangtlin* (Part I,

ngly built were the houses, with frames of oak and of hemlock."

Regarding Swedish hospitality, we read in the review:

11 ages there are no taverns, and the peasants

take turns in receiving travellers. The thrifty housewife

-. s you into the best chamber." It is not far from this

to Evangtlint (Part I, iv, 11. i 5-17):

house was an inn, \\hcrc all were welcomed and feasted."

Sunday in Sweden made a deep impression upon Long- fellow. In the re\ie\v he remarks: "If it be Sunday, the peasants sit on the church steps and con their psalm-books. •rs are coming down the road with their beloved pas- \vho talks to them of holy things from beneath his broad-brimmed hat." Very similar is the picture in Evan- j//f*/ (Part I, i, 11. 18-

INTRODUCTION

here in the tranquil evenings of summer, when brightly the sunset

Lighted the village street, and gilded the vanes on the chim- neys,

Matrons and maidens sat in snow-white caps and in kirtles.

Solemnly down the street came the parish priest, ami children

Paused in their play to kiss the hand he extended to bless them.

Reverend walked he among them ; and up rose matrons and maidens,

Hailing his slow approach with words of affectionate wel- come."

And again about Sunday in the review: " The women carry psalm-books in their hands, wrapped in silk handker- chiefs." The young men "are busy counting the plaits in the kirtles of the peasant-girls." Evangeline is not much different from these Swedish girls (Evangeline, Part I, i, II. 57, 58):

" Down the long street she passed, with her chaplct of beads

and her missal,

Wearing her Norman cap, and her kirtle of blue, and the earrings."

Both in the description of Sweden and in Evangeline (Part I, i, 11. 1 02, 103) the village pastor is at once priest and leader. "He is their patriarch, and, like Melchisedek, both priest and king," says Longfellow in the review.

"and Father Felician, Priest and pedagogue both in the village,"

he reechoes in Evangeline, where he writes (Part I, i, 11.

69-71):

INTRODUCTION

" Under the •ycamore-tree were Mires overfaaf by • pent- house, Such 4> the traveller ten in regiuiu remote by the road*

, -.

Built o'er a box for the poor, or the bleated image of Mar

What roadside be was thinking of is shown by the state- ment in the r - Near the churchyard gate stands a poor-box, fastened to a po>: hands, and secured by a padlock, with a sloping roof to keep off the rain."

Note, too, the general likeness, .• <>f metre but

also of description, between the following translation by .; fellow from the Frithiift Saga:

"Three miles extended around the fields of the homestead,

on three sides Valleys and mountains and hills, but on the fourth side was

the ocean. Birch woods crowned the summits, but down the slope

of the hillside

Flourished the golden corn, and man-high was waving the -.eld,"

and the beginning of Evangilimt (Part I, i, 11. 1-9):

"In the Acadian land, on the shores of the Basin of Minas,

mt, secluded, still, the little village of Grand Lay in the fruitful valley. Vast meadows stretched to the eastward,

:ng the village its name, and pasture to flocks without number.

West and south there were fields of flax, and orchards and

cornfields Spreading afar and un fenced o'er the plain."

These are only the more striking points of similarity. More

xxiv INTRODUCTION

incidents in Evangeline could easily be cited which mi^ht well have a Scandinavian origin, — the brewing ami drink- ing of ale (mentioned several times), the game of drau the praise of the blacksmith's craft, the sledding, ami so <>n. The description of the outdoor betrothal feast aloiu \\ suggest Scandinavia to one u h<> h.is read of similar scenes. To heap up these lesser parallels would only cloud the issue. It seems clear that Swedish life and scenery were in Longfellow's memory when he composed the beginning of Evangcline.

Four years after the poet had written his important review of Frithiof, he began the translation of the Natt- vardsbarnen in the original metre,the hexameter. His friend Samuel Ward, who had sent him a copy of the poem, had urged him to translate this work. "How strange!" Long- fellow writes him, October 24, 1841, "while you are urg- ing me to translate Nattvardsbarntn comes a letter [the one quoted above] from Bishop Tegner himself, saying that of all the translations he has seen of Frithiof,my frag- ments are the only attempts 'that have fully satisfied him.' . . . After this kind letter, can I do less than over-set the Nattvardsbarnen?" In a postscript Longfellow remarked: "This evening I have added twenty-six lines to the nine I translated for you/'*

The copy of Tegner that Longfellow used in his trans- lations is still preserved in Craigie House. On the inside of the cover is pasted Tegner's autograph, probably cut from a letter. Underneath is Longfellow's own simple book- plate, and on the opposite fly-leaf the signature " Henry W. Longfellow, 1835." Evidently, the copy was bought

•Samuel Longfellow, of. citn I, 401 fT.

1NTROIM i 1

ongfellow while he wms in Sweden. The pages of the important poems of I -.*fi &*/</, ./*//, Svta%

and Mrm/tftt/jfar*/*, have enough pencilling! in the mar- gins to show that Longfellow read them carefully in the original. The Natrvardibarnfn is especially marked up. On the first page of the poem he has u Dates of Trans ;, 1841," and beneath, m

uargin at the end nth line,

the following uninterrupted stages in the translating are noted in pencil: at the end of the thirty-fifth line, uOct. .IH-S in. .re and the d.r 30," ten

lines \ I," thirty-five lines farther "Nov

then seven lines and "Nov. 2," seventy lines uNov. 3," forty-three lines "Nov. 4," seventy-five lines "Nov with the final fifty-one lines for November 6. On the last day he wrote to Ward: ult is Saturday night, and eight by

illagc clock. I have just finished the translation of the

ilren of the Lord's Supper;' and with the very ink

wrote the last words of it, I commence this letter to you. . . . The poem is indeed very beautiful; and in parts to touching that more than once in translating it I was blinded with tears. Perhaps my weakness makes the poem strong. You shall soon judge; for, as I told you in my last,

poem goes into the forthcoming volume." In spite of his excellent translation and his success in handling the

ult new metre, the hexameter, Longfellow was at- tacked with a sort of stage fright while the translation was in press; hut he was prevailed upon by Ward not to recall the sheets, and the poem appeared in the first edition of Ballads and Other Potmt.

In 1845, f°ur years later, Longfellow composed Evam- gt/int. Immediately the remark was passed among critics,

INTRODUCTION

especially in Germany, that the poem owed its origin to Htrmann und Dorothea, — somewhat in story, but espe- cially in metre. This, it seems, has been the common opin- ion ever since. The part of the theory concerning the story is untenable, because only in those episodes which we know Longfellow got from Hawthorne's friend is there any similarity to Hermann und Dorothea. The same gen- eral likeness exists between Evangel'me and Frithiofs Saga; vet there would be no foundation for saying that Long- fellow derived his plot from the latter. As to the source of the metre, it is impossible to be dogmatic, for Long- fellow knew well the hexameters of Homer, Virgil, Chap- man, Goethe, and others. But when one reflects that of the three poems in hexameters which Longfellow wrote before he began Evangel'me, the first was an extract from Fnthiof and the second a translation of the Nattvards- barnen, one cannot help concluding that Tegner above all others influenced Longfellow in the metre of Evange- l'me •

Tegner died while Evangel'me was being written. Long- fellow paused in his work to compose a death-song or drapa in honor of the older poet. One of the stanzas in it is here specially worthy of note:

•After the above pages had been written, I came acroM the following re- marks in Edmund Gossc's essay on Runeberg (Northern Studies, Camclot Se- ries, London, 1890, p. 143) : ** Between Tegner and Runeberg the natural link is wanting. This link properly consists, it appears to me, in Longfellow, who is an anomaly in American literature, but who has the full character of a Swedish poet, and who, had he been born in Sweden, would have completed exactly enough the chain of style that ought to unite the idealism of Tegner to the realism of Runeberg. The poem of Evangelint has really no place in Anglo- Saxon poetry; in Swedish it would accurately express a stage in the progress of literature which is now unfilled." This is only a general impression, but it is that of an English critic who knew Swedish literature thoroughly.

INTRODUCTION

"So perish the old God* ! But out of the act of Time Rkcs • new land of song, Fairer duo the old.

( >\ rf ,'.-> Mirui'.i j'.\ •> )/rrr ri

. the young hard, ind .ing."

Thif might serve as th .t discourse on comparative

litcr.t

relationships as that of Longfellow and Tcy

I Ml- c HII.DREN OF THE LORD'S SUPPI l<

FROM THE SWEDISH OF BISHOP TECJNER

.REWORD BY HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

WORD

T'/>/r, from the Swedish of Bishop Tegncr, enjoys ntiderable reputa-

m the North ,>c,uml f*>r u* beaut; urn!

: he alien: :igli&h readers Idyl,

descriptive of scenes in a Swedish village; and belongs to the same class of poems, is the l.u>.>< of Voss and the Htr~ maun und Dtrttbca ot Hut the Swedish poet has

been guided by a surer taste, than his German predeces- sors, ted; and he rarely, if ever, mistakes what is trivial for what is simple.

e is something patriarchal still lingering about rural life in Sweden, which renders it a hit theme for song. Al- most primeval simplicity reigns over that Northern land, — almost primeval solitude and stillness. You pass out from the gate of the city, and, as if by magic, the scene changes to a wild, woodland landscape. Around you are forests of head hang the long, fan-like branches, trailing with moss, and heavy with red and blue cones. Under foot is a carpet of yellow leaves; and the air is warm and ba On a wooden bridge you cross a little silver stream; and anon come forth into a pleasant and sunny land of farms. Wooden fences divide the adjoining fields. Across the road ire gates, whu-h are opened by troops of children. The peasants take off their hats as you pass; you sneeze, and thc\ K! bless you. "The houses in the villages and

smaller towns arc all built of hewn timber, and for the most pan painted i rloors of the taverns are strewn with

the fragrant tips of fir boughs. In many villages there are no taverns, and the peasants take turns in receiving trav- ellers. I he th: ntothebestcham-

4 FOREWORD

bcr, the walls of which arc hung round with rude pictures from the Bible; and brings you her heavy silver spoons, — an heirloom, — to dip the curdled milk from the pan. You have oaten cakes baked some months before; or bread with anise-seed and coriander in it, or perhaps a little pine bark.

Meanwhile the sturdy husband has brought his horses from the plough, and harnessed them to your carriage. Soli- tary travellers come and go in uncouth one-horse ch.i Most of them have pipes in their mouths, and hanging around their necks in front, a leather walk-t, in which they carry tobacco, and the great bank notes of the count! large as your two hands. You meet, also, groups of Dale- karlian peasant women, travelling homeward or town- ward in pursuit of work. They walk barefoot, carrying in their hands their shoes, which have high heels under the hollow of the foot, and soles of birch bark.

Frequent, too, are the village churches, standing by the road-side, each in its own little garden of Gethsemane. In the parish register great events are doubtless recorded. Some- old king was christened or buried in that church; and a little sexton, with a rusty key, shows you the baptismal font, or the coffin. In the church-yard are a few flowers, and much green grass; and daily the shadow of the church spire, with its long tapering finger, counts the tombs, representing a dial-plate of human life, on which the hours and minutes are the graves of men. The stones are flat, and large, and low, and perhaps sunken, like the roofs of old houses. On some are armorial bearings; on others only the initials of the poor tenants, with a date, as on the roofs of Dutch cottages. They all sleep with their heads to the westward. Each held a lighted taper in his hand when he

FOi :<l) 5

. and to hi* coffin were placed hit little heart-irea*ure*, and a piece of money for hit las: . Babes that came

in the arms of gray-

1 old men to the only cradle they ever »lept in; and in the shi..ud nf" the dead mother were laid the little gar- ment* of the child, that Ii\etl ami ilied in her bosom. And over this scene the village pastor looks from his window in the stillness of midnight, and says in his heart, "How

rest, all the depart

Near the church-yard gate stands a poor-box, fastened to a pott by iron bands, and secured by a padlock, with a sloping wooden roof to keep off the rain. If it be Sunday, peasants sit on the i him h steps and con their psalm- book | s are coming down the road with their beloved pastor, who talks to them of holy things from beneath his broad-brimmed hat. He speaks of fields and harvests, and of the parable of the sower, that went forth to sow. He leads them to the Good Shepherd, and to the pleasant • f the spirit-land. He is their patriarch, and, like Melchi/edek, both priest and king, though he has no other throne than the church pulpit. The women carry psalm- books in their hands, wrapped in silk handkerchiefs, and listen devoutly to the good man's words. But the young men, like Gallio, care for none of these things. They are counting the plaits in the kirtles of the peasant girls, their number being an indication of the wearer's wealth. It may end in a wedding.

I will endeavor to describe a village wedding in Swe- den. It shall be in summer time, that there may be flowers, and in a southern province, that the bride may be fair. The early song of the lark and of chanticleer arc mingling in the clear morning air, and the sun, the heavenly bride-

6 FOREWORD

groom with golden locks, arises in the east, just as our earthly bridegroom with yellow hair, arises in the south. In the yard there is a sound of voices and trampling of hoofs, and horses are led forth and saddled. Tin- steed that is to bear the bridegroom has a bunch of flowers upon his forehead, and a garland of corn-flowers around his neck. Friends from the neighboring farms come riding in, their blue cloaks streaming to the wind; and finally the happy bridegroom, with a whip in his hand, and a monstrous nosegay in the breast of his black jacket, comes forth from his chamber; and then to horse and away, towards the vil- lage where the bride already sits and waits.

Foremost rides the Spokesman, followed by some half dozen village musicians. Next comes the bridegroom be- tween his two groomsmen, and then forty or fifty friends and wedding guests, half of them perhaps with pistols and guns in their hands. A kind of baggage-wagon brings up the rear,laden with food and drink for these merry pilgrims. At the entrance of every village stands a triumphal arch, adorned with flowers and ribands and evergreens; and as they pass beneath it the wedding guests fire a salute, and the whole procession stops. And straight from every pocket flies a black-jack, filled with punch or brandy. It is passed from hand to hand among thecrowd; pro visions are brought from the wagon, and after eating and drinking and hur- rahing, the procession moves forward again, and at length draws near the house of the bride. Four heralds ride for- ward to announce that a knight and his attendants are in the neighboring forest, and pray for hospitality. " How many are you? "asks the bride's father. "At least three hun- dred," is the answer; and to this the hosts replies," Yes; were you seven times as many, you should all be welcome;

WORD 7

and thereof U hereupon each

'•% a can of ale; and soon after the whole jovial

the farmcr'i yard, and, nd-

ing round (he Maypole, which stand* in the > < trc,alight§

1 a grand salute and floun MC.

In the hall titf the bride, with a crown upon her head and a tear in her eye, like the Virgin Mary in old church paintings. She is dressed in a red boddicc and kirtlc, with loose linen sleeves s a gilded belt around her u

and around her neck strings of golden beads, and a golden i rests a wreath of wild rotes, and below »t jnotl .:dcrs falls

her flaxen h.itr , and her blue innocent eyes are fixed upon round. ( ) thou good soul ! thou hast hard hands, but a soft heart ' : t poor. The very ornaments thou

wearest arc not thine. They have been hired for this great day. Vet art thou •> in health, rich in hope, rich in

:ig, fervent love. The blessing of heaven be upon thec1 So thinks the parish priest, as he joins together the hands i»t" bnde and bridegroom, saying in deep, sol- emn tones, — u I give thec in marriage thisdarasel,to bcthy wedded wife in all honor, and to share the half of thy bed, »ck and key, and every third penny which possess, or may inherit, and all the rights which Up- I laws provide, and the holy king Erik gave." The dinner is now served, and the bride sits between the bridegroom and the priest. The Spokesman delivers an orati the ancient oist..m ut" his fathers. He inter-

lards it well with quotations from the Bible; and in the Saviour to be present at this marriage feast, as he was at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee. The table i« sparingly set forth. Each makes a long arm, and the feast

8 FOREWORD

goes checrly on. Punch ami brandy pass round between the courses, and here and there a pipe is smoked, while waiting tor the next dish. I In \ sit long at table; but, as all things must have an end, so must a Swedish dinner. Then the dance begins. It is led off by the bride and the priest, who perform a solemn minuet together. Not till after midnight comes the Last Dame. The girls form a around the bride, to keep her from the hands of the mar- ried women, who endeavor to break through the magic circle, and seize their new sister. After long struggling thev succeed; and the crown is taken from her head and t he- jewels from her neck, and her boddice is unlaced and her kirtle taken off; and like a vestal virgin clad all in white she goes, but it is to her marriage chamber, not to her grave; and the wedding guests follow her with lighted candles in their hands. And this is a village bridal.

Nor must I forget the suddenly changing seasons of t he- Northern clime. There is no long and lingering spring, unfolding leaf and blossom one by one; — no long and lin- gering autumn, pompous with many-colored leaves and the glow of Indian summers. But winter and summer are won- derful,and pass into each other. Thequail has hardly ceased piping in the corn, when winter from the folds of trailing clouds sows broad-cast over the land snow, icicles, and rat- tling hail. The days wane apace. Ere long the sun hardly rises above the horizon, or does not rise at all. The moon and the stars shine through the day; only, at noon, they are pale and wan, and in the southern sky a red, fiery glow, as of sunset, burns along the horizon, and then goes out. And pleasantly under the silver moon, and under the silent, solemn stars, ring the steel-shoes of the skaters on the frozen sea, and voices, and the sound of bells.

KD 9

And i) •% begin tu burn, faint

»earm playing in the waters of (be blue tea. c% the heavens. There is a

Uliish on ih<- , !:!•••;. ..t be colon come and go; and

change from crimson to g .••.:.! t.. crimson. The

snow is stained with rosy light. Twofold from the /cnith, east and west, flames a fiery sword; and a broad band passes athwart the heavens, like a summer sunset. Soft purple clouds come sailing over the iky, and through their vapory folds the winking stars shine white as silver. With such pomp as this is ' us ushered in, though

a single star heralded the first Christmas. And in •. edish peasants dance on straw;

and the peasant girls throw straws at the timbered roof .11, and for every one that sticks in a crack shall a groomsman come to their wedding. Merry Christmas in- deed ' For pious souls there shall be church songs and scr- mons, !>',.• h>h peasants, brandy and nut brown ale

»odcn bowls; and the great Yulecake crowned with a >e,and garlanded with apples, and upholding a three- armed candlestick over the Christmas feast. They may tell tales, too, of Jons Lundsbracka, and Lunkenfus, and the great Riddar Finke of Pingsdaga.*

And now the glad, leafy mid-summer, full of blossoms

and the song of nightingales, is come! Saint John has taken

•lowers and IV heathen Balder; and in every

village there is a May-pole fifty feet high, with wr<-

and roses and ribands streaming in the wind, and a noisy

weathercock on top, to tell the village whence the wind

cometh and whither it goeth. The sun does not set till ten

v-k at night; and the children are at play in the streets

* of Swedish popular fair*.

10 I OKI. WORD

an hour later. The windows and doors arc all open, ami you may sit and read till midnight without a candle. O how beautiful is the summer night, which is not night, hut a sunless yet unclouded day, descending upon earth with dews, and shadows, and refreshing coolness! How beauti- ful the long, mild twilight, which like a silver clasp unites to-day with yesterday! How beautiful the silent hour, when Morning and Evening thus sit together, hand in hand, be- neath the starless sky of midnight ' From the church-tower in the public square the bell tolls the hour, with a soft, musical chime; and the watchman, whose watch-tower is the belfry, blows a blast in his horn, for each strok the hammer, and four times, to the four corners of the heavens, in a sonorous voice he chants, —

"Ho! watchman, ho! Twelve b the clock ! God keep our town From fire and brand And hostile hand! Twelve b the clock!"

From his swallow's nest in the belfry he can see the sun all night long; and farther north the priest stands at his door in the warm midnight, and lights his pipe with a com- mon burning glass.

I trust that these remarks will not be deemed irrelevant to the poem, but will lead to a clearer understanding of it. The translation is literal, perhaps to a fault. In no instance have I done the author a wrong, by intrpducing into his work any supposed improvements or embellishments of my own. I have preserved even the measure; that inex- orable hexameter, in which, it must be confessed, the

FO KD 11

»ns of t) h Muse are not unlike those of a

prisoner dam IM. •., the MUISH .-? hit chains ; ahd perhaps, as Dr. Johnson said of the dancing dog, "the worn:

•hut she should do it so well, but that she should at all."

THE CHILDRI \

Ml! 1

PENTKCOST,dayof rejoicing,had come. Thci him h

Stood gleaming white in (he morning's sheen. On the spire

of the belfry, Tipped with a vane of metal, the tnrmllv flames of the

ing-sun

;ccd like the tongues of fire, hrhrld by Apostles afore- nine.

II was the heaven and blue, and May, with her cap . with roses,

holiday dress in the fields, and the wind and the brooklet

Murmured gladness and peace, God's-peacc ' With lips rosy-tinted

ic race of the flowers, and merry on balanc- ing branches

N were singing their carol, a jubilant hymn to the High

Swept and clean was the church- vard. Adorned like a leaf- woven arbor Stood its old-1 I gate; and within upon each cross

of iron

Hung was a sweet scented garland, new twined by the hands of affection.

i the dial, that stood on a fountain among the de- parted,

• In the poem, M in the foreword, the spelling of the fint edition ha* been rru.nr.J; only • few obvioM robprini* have been corrected. The line* are here printed u they were originally written; in later edition* the poet changed •lightly about forty of the line*. The footnote* that follow arc Longfellow'i. [Eo.]

I4 I UK UUU)K1 \ OF

(There full a hundred years had it stood,) was embellished

with blossoms. Like to the patriarch hoary, the sage of his kith ami the-

hamlet, Who on his birth-day is crowned by children and children's

children, So stood the ancient prophet, and mute with his pencil <>t

iron Marked on the tablet of stone, and measured the swift-

rhanging moment,

While all around at his feet, an eternity slumbered in quiet. Also the church within was adorned, for this was the

season In which the young, their parents' hope, and the loved-

ones of heaven, Should at the foot of the altar renew the vows of their

baptism. Therefore each nook and corner was swept and cleaned,

and the dust was Blown from the walls and ceiling, and from the oil-painted

benches. There stood the church like a garden; the f the

Leafy Pavilions* Saw we in living presentment. From noble arms on the

church wall Grew forth a cluster of leaves, and the preacher's pulpit

of oak-wood

Budded once more anew, as aforetime the rod before Aaron. Wreathed thereon was the Bible with leaves, and the dove,

washed with silver,

•The Feast of the Tabernacles ; in Swedwh, LofkyJJoAogtidtn, the Leaf-huts'- high-tide.

THE LORD'S SUPPKR is

Under its canopy fastened, a necklace had on of wind-

MI i: i the altar-piece painted by

II -rbcrg/

.'i a garland gigantic; and bright-curling tresses of

angels

>cd, like the sun from a cloud, out of the shadowy

leaf-work. Likewise the lustre of brass, new-polished, blinked from

the ceiling, And for lights there were lilies of Pentecost set in the

sockets.

Loud rang the bells already ; the thronging crowd was assembled

from valleys and hills, to list to the holy preaching. Hark ! then roll forth at once the mighty tones from the organ,

•r like voices ><>d, aloft like invisible spir

Like as Elias in heaven, when he cast off from him his mantle,

i so cast off the soul its garments of earth; and with one voice

•ied in the congregation, and sang an anthem immortal ( >t the sublime Wallin,f of David's harp in the Northland Tuned to the choral of Luther; the song on its powerful

pinions Took every living soul, and lifted it gently to heaven,

•The pratant-paintrr of Swc-lrn. He w known chiefly by h» altar-piece* in the vilUfe churchc*.

f A Htttinpiifthed pa I pit -orator and poet. He it particularly remarkable for the brauty and .ublimity of hi. paalim.

16 THE rmu)RKN OF

And every face did shine like the Holy One's face upon

Tabor. Lo! there entered then into the churrh the- Reverend

Teacher. Father he hight and he was in the parish; a christianly

plainness Clothed from his head to his feet the old man of seven t\

winters.

Friendly was he to behold, and glad as the heralding angel Walked he among the crowds, but still a contemplative

grandeur

Lay on his forehead as clear, as on moss-covered grave- stone a sun-beam.

As in his inspiration (an evening twilight that faintly Gleams in the human soul, even now, from the day of

creation) Thf Artist, the friend of heaven, imagines Saint John when

in Patmos, Gray, with his eyes uplifted to heaven, so seemed then the

old man ; Such was the glance of his eye, and such were his tresses

of silver.

All the congregation arose in the pews that were numbered. But with a cordial look, to the right and left hand, the old

man Nodding all hail and peace, disappeared in the innermost

chancel.

Simply and solemnly now proceeded the Christian ser- vice,

Singing and prayer, and at last an ardent discourse from the old man.

TH 17

Many a moving word and warning, that out of the heart

came, Fell like (he dew of it ng, like manna on those in

the desert. Afterwards, when all was hm>' I Vac her retetmd

the i ha:

weil therein by the young. On the right hand the boys had their places,

figures, with close-curling hair and checks rosy- blooming.

Hut on the let't-haiul of these, there stood the tremulous lilies,

Tinged with the hlushing light <>t the morning, the diffi- dent maidens, —

mg their hands in prayer, ami their eyes cast down on the pavement.

Now came, with question and answer, the catechism. In the beginning

Answered the children with troubled and faltering voice, but the old man's

Glances of kindness encouraged them soon, and the doc- trines eternal

Flowed, like the waters of fountains, so clear from lips unpolluted.

Whene'er the answer was closed, and as oft as they named the Redeemer,

Lowly louted the boys, and lowly the maidens all i tes

Friendly the Teacher stood, like an angel of light there among them,

And to the children explained he the h..;\, the highest, in few words,

is THE CHILDREN OF

Thorough, yet simple and clear, for sublimity alwa simple,

Both in sermon and song, a child can letzeofl its meaning.

Even as the green-growing bud is unfolded when Spring- tide approaches,

Leaf by leaf is developed, and, warmed by the radiant sun- nc,

Blushes with purple and gold, till at last the perfected 1 som

Opens its odorous chalice, and rocks with its crown in the breezes,

So was unfolded here the Christian lore of salvation,

Line by line from the soul of childhood. The fathers and mothers

Stood behind them in tears, and were glad at each well- worded answer.

Now went the old man up to the altar; — and straight- way transfigured

(So did it seem unto me) was then the affectionate Teacher.

Like the Lord's Prophet sublime, and awful as Death and as Judgment

Stood he, the God-commissioned, the soul-searcher, earth- ward descending.

Glances, sharp as a sword, into hearts, that to him were transparent

Shot he; his voice was deep, was low like thethunder afaroff.

So on a sudden transfigured he stood there, he spake and he questioned.

"This is the faith of the Fathers, the faith the Apostles delivered,

i Hi LORD* SUPF1 19

This is more. - • uith whercunto I baptized you, while

M.ll ye Lay on your mothers' breasts, and nearer the portals of

heaven.

nbcring received you then (he Holy Church in its

Wakened from sleep are -. mil the light in its ra-

diant splendor

Rains from the heaven downward i — to-day on the thresh- of childhood

examine and make your

.\ < naught of compulsion, only conviction de- iireth.

This is the hour of your trial, the turning-point of exist- ence,

Seed for the coming davs; without revocation departeth Now from your lips the confession. Bethink ye, before

•nakc answer!

-.k not, O think not with guile to deceive the ques- tioning Teacher.

Sharp is his eye to-day, and a curse ever rests upon false- hood. r not with a lie on Life's journey ; the multitude hears

hers and sisters and parents, what dear upon earth is and •

Standeth before your sight as a witness; the Judge ever- lasting

Looks from the sun down upon you, and angels in waiting beside him

Grave your confession in letters of fire, upon tablets eternal.

20 THE nui.DkKN OI

Thus then, — believe ye in God, in the Father who this world created?

Him who redeemed it, the Son, and the Spirit where both are united?

Will ye promise me here, (a holy promise!) to cherish

God more than all things earthly, and every man as a brother?

Will ye promise me here, to confirm your faith by your living,

Thf heavenly faith of affection ! to hope, to forgive, and to suffer,

Be what it may your condition, and walk before God in uprightness ?

Will ye promise me this before God and man?" — With a clear voice

Answered the young men Yes! and Yes! with lips softly- breathing

Answered the maidens eke. Then dissolved from the brow of the Teacher

Clouds with the thunders therein, and he spake on in accents more gentle,

Soft as the evening's breath, as harps by Babylon's riv- ers.

" Hail, then, hail to you all ! To the heirdom of heaven be ye welcome!

Children no more from this day, but by covenant brothers and sisters!

Yet, — for what reason not children? Of such is the king- dom of heaven.

Here upon earth an assemblage of children, in heaven one father,

I ill •' 21

Ruling them is his own household, — forgiving in (urn

and chastising,

: is uf human life a picture, u c has taught

us. Blessed arr ti , *1! Upon purity and upon

virtue Resteth the c M , she herself from on high is

ig as a man and pure as a child, is the sum of the

doer

he Godlike delivered, and on the cross suffered

and dieti

O I as ye wander this day from childhood's sacred asylum Downward and c \vard, and deeper in Age's chill

vai: ( > ' how soon will ye come, — too soon ! — and long to turn

backward Up to its hill-tops again, to the sun-illumined, where Judg-

ment Stood like a father before you, and Pardon, clad like a

mother, - you her hand to kiss, and the loving heart was for-

giv< was a play and your hands grasped after the roses of

heaven ! Seventy years have I lived already; the father eternal

•• to me gladness and care; but the loveliest hours of

existence, Wht r steadfastly gazed in their eyes, I have in-

stantly known them, Known them all, all again; — thi-v \MTC my childhood's

acquaintance.

22 INK CHIl.nKEN OF

Therefore take from henceforth, as guides in the path <>t

existence, Prayer, with her eyes raised to heaven, and Innocence,

bride of man's childhood. Innocence, child beloved, is a guest from the world of the

blessed,

Beautiful, and in her hand a lily; on life's roaring bil. Swings she in safety, she heedeth them not, in the ship

she is sleeping. Calmly she gazes around in the turmoil of men; in the

desert

Angels descend and minister unto her; she herself knoweth Naught of her glorious attendance; but follows faithful

and humble,

Follows so long as she may her friend ; C) do not reject her, For she cometh from God and she holdeth the keys of the

heavens. —

Prayer is Innocence* friend; and willingly flyeth incessant 'Twixt the earth and the sky, the carrier-pigeon of heaven. Son of Eternity, fettered in Time, and an exile, the Spirit Tugs at his chains evermore, and struggles like flames ever

upward.

Still he recalls with emotion his father's manifold man- sions, Thinks of the land of his fathers, where blossomed more

freshly the flowers, Shone a more beautiful sun, and he played with the winged

angels.

Then grows the earth too narrow, too close; and home- sick for heaven Longs the wanderer again; and the Spirit's longings are

worship ;

TH 23

Worship is called his most beautiful hour, and its tongue is entreaty.

Ah! when the infinite burden of life descendeth upon us,

Crushes to earth our hope, and, under the earth, in the grave-yard, —

Then it is good to pray unto God; for his sorrowing chil- dren

•is He ne'er from his door, but He heals and helps and consoles them.

is it better to pray when all things are prosperous with us,

Pray in fortunate days, for life's most beautiful Fortune

Kneels down before the Kternal's throne; and, with hands iMtcrlolded,

Praises thankful and moved the only giver of blessings.

Or do ye know, ye children, one blessing that comes not from Heave

What has mankind forsooth, the poor! that it has not re- ceived ?

Therefore, fall in the dust and pray! The seraphs ador- ing

Cover with pinions six their face in the glory of Him who

Hung his masonry pendant on naught, when the world He created. h declareth h tnd the firmament uttereth his

gl«

Races blossom and die, and stars fall downward from hea

Downward like withered leaves; at the last stroke of mid- night, millenniums

Lay themselves down at his feet, and He sees them, but counts them as nothing.

24 I HI- CH1I.DRKN OF

Who shall stand in his presence? The wrath <>t the Judge is terrific,

Casting the insolent down at a glance. When He speaks in his anger

Hillocks skip like the kid, and mountains leap like the roe- buck.

Yet, — why arc ye afraid, ye children? This awful aven- ger,

Ah! is a merciful God! God's voice was not in the earth- quake,

Not in the fire, nor the storm, but it was in the whispering breezes.

Love is the root of creation ; ( iod's essence; worlds with- out number

Lie in his bosom like children; He made them for this pur- pose only.

Only to love and to be loved again, He breathed forth his spirit

Into the slumbering dust, and upright standing, it laid its

Hand on its heart, and felt it was warm with a flame out of heaven.

Quench, O quench not that flame! It is the breath of your being.

Love is life, but hatred is death. Nor father, nor mother

Loved you, as God has loved you; for 'twas that you may be happy

Gave He his only son. When He bowed down his head in the death-hour

Solemnized Love its triumph; the sacrifice then was com- pleted.

Lo! then was rent on a sudden the veil of the temple, dividing

I , SUPPJ 2$

ivcn apart, and the dead from their sepul- chres rising

>pcred with pallid lips and low in the cars of each ..iher

Mi' answer, but dreamed of he- , enigma,

— Atonement'

t hi of Love are Atonement's depths, ' is Atone-

ment.

r mortality, lovcthou the merciful Father; Wish what the II .. One wishes, and i . fear, but

affection, Fear is the vinuc of slaves; but the heart that loveth is

•ct was before God, and perfi . e, and Love

on

Love ( Jod as thou oughtcst, then lovest thou like-

wise thy brethren ,

One is the sun in heaven, and one, only one, is Love also.

Bears not each human figure the godlike stamp on his forehead?

Readest thou not in his face thine origin? Is he not sail- ing

Lost like on an ocean unknown, and is he not

guided

By the same stars that guide thee? Why shouldst thou hate then thy brother?

Hateth he thee, forgive! For 't is sweet to stammer one letter

Of the Eternal's language; — on earth it is called Forgive- ness!

.vest thou Him, who forgave, with the crown of thorns nul his temples?

26 THE CHI1 DRKN OF

Earncstlv pravi-d for his foes, for his murderers? Say, dost thou know Him?

Ah' thou confcsscst his name, so follow likewise his ex- ample,

Think of thy brother no ill, but throw a veil over his fail- ings,

Guide the erring aright; for the good, the heavenly shep- herd

Took the lost lamb in his arms, and bore it back to its mother.

This is the fruit of love, and it is by its fruits that we know it.

Love is the creature's welfare, with God; but Love among mortals

Is but an endless sigh! He longs, and endures, and stands waiting,

Suffers and yet rejoices, and smiles with tears on his eye- lids.

Hope, — so is called upon earth, his recompense. — Hope, the befriending,

Does what she can, for she points evermore up to heaven, and faithful

Plunges her anchor's peak in the depths of the grave, and beneath it

Paints a more beautiful world, a dim, but a sweet play of shadows !

Races, better than we, have leaned on her wavering prom- ise,

Having naught else beside Hope. Then praise we our Fa- ther in heaven,

Him, who has given us more; for to us has Hope been illumined,

THE LORD'S SUPP1 27

Groping no longer in night; the it Faith, she if living assurance.

Faith is r ed Hope ; she is light, is the eye of affec-

tion,

Dreams of the longing interprets, and carves their visions in marble.

Faith is the sun of life; and her countenance shines like the Prophet's,

she has looked upon God; the heaven on its stable foundation

Draws she with chains down to earth, and the New Jeru- salem sinketh

ulid with portals twelve in golden vapors descend- ing.

:c enraptured she wanders, and looks at the figures majc

Fears not the winged crowd, in the midst of them all is her homestead.

cfore love and believe; for works will follow spon- taneous

i as day does the sun; the Right from the Good is an offspring,

Love in a bodily shape; and Christian works are no more than

Animate Love and faith, as flowers are the animate spring- tide.

Works do follow us all unto God; there stand and bear witness

Not what they seemed, — but what they were only. Blessed is he who

Hears their confession secure; they are mute upon earth until death's hand

28 I III UULDREN OF

Opens the mouth of the silent. Ye children, docs Death e'er alarm you ?

Death is the brother of Love, twin-brother is he, and is only

More austere to behold. With a kiss upon lips that arc fading

Takes he the soul and departs, and rocked in the arms of affection,

Places the ransomed child, new born, Tore the face of its father.

Sounds of his coming already I hear, — see dimly his pin- ions,

Swart as the night, but with stars strewn upon them ' 1 fear not before him.

Death is only release, and in mercy is mute. On his bosom r breathes, in its coolness, my breast; and face to face standing

Look I on God as He is, a sun unpolluted by vapors ;

Look on the light of the ages I loved, the spirits majes- tic,

Nobler, better than I ; they stand by the throne all trans- figured,

Vested in white, and with harps of gold, and are singing an anthem,

Writ in the climate of heaven, in the language spoken by angels.

You, in like manner, ye children beloved, He one day shall gather,

Never forgets He the weary, — then welcome, ye loved ones hereafter!

Meanwhile forget not the keeping of vows, forget not the promise,

THE LOI 29

Wander from holiness onward to holiness; earth shall ye heed n

ust and heaven is light; 1 have pledged you

God of the Universe, hear me' ihou fountum ••? Love

; lasting, Hark to the *hy servant1 I send up my pra\<

•MC hereafter not miss at thy throne one spirit of all

these,

hast given me here ' 1 have loved them all like

a father. May they bear witness for me, that I taught them the way

of salvat

iiful, so far as I knew of thy word; again may they

know me, Fall on their Teacher's breast, and before thy face may

1 place them,

Pure .is thev now are, but only more tried, and exclaim- ing with gladness, Father, i here, and the children, whom thou hast

given i!

Weeping he spake in these words; and now at the beck of the old man Knee against knee they knitted a wreath round the altar's

enclosure.

Kneeling he read then the prayers of the consecration, and tor

i him the children read; at the close, with tremulous acce Asked he the peace of heaven, a benediction upon t

30 THE CHILDREN OF

Now should have ended his task for the day ; the follow- ing Sunday

Was for the young appointed to cat of the Lord's holy Supper.

Sudden, as struck from the clouds, stood the Teacher si- lent and laid his

Hand on his forehead, and cast his looks upward; while thoughts high and holy

Flew through the midst of his soul, and his eyes glanced with wonderful brightness.

"On the next Sunday, who knows! perhaps I shall rest in the grave-yard !

Some one perhaps of yourselves, a lily broken untimely,

Bow down his head to the earth; why delay I ? the hour is accomplished.

Warm is the heart; — I will so! for to-day grows the har- vest of heaven.

What I began accomplish I now; for what failing therein is

I, the old man, will answer to God and the reverend fa- ther.

Say to me only, ye children, ye denizens new-come in heaven,

Are ye ready this day to eat of the bread of Atonement ?

What it denoteth, that know ye full well, I have told it you often.

Of the new covenant a symbol it is, of Atonement a token,

Stablished between earth and heaven. Man by his sins and transgressions

Far has wandered from God, from his essence. 'T was in the beginning

THE LORD'S SUPPKR 31

Fast by the Tree of Knowledge he fell, and it hangs its the

Kail to thu dav; in the Thought i» the Kail; in ihc Heart the Atonement.

Infinite it the full, the Atonement infinite likewise.

behind me, as far as the old man remembers, and forward,

Far as Hope in her flight can reach with her wearied pin- ions,

Sin and Atonement incessant go through the lifetin. mortals.

Brought forth is sin full-gr icnt sleeps in

bosoms

Still as the cradled babe; and dreams of heaven and of angels,

iot awake to sensation; is like the tones in the harp's strings,

:s imprisoned, that wait evermore the deliverer's fin- ger-

Therefore, ye children beloved, descended the Prince of

Atonement,

Woke the slumberer from sleep, and she stands now with eyes all resplendent,

Bright as the vault of the sky, and battles with Sin and comes I

iw.ird to earth he came and transfigured, thence re- ascended,

Not from the heart in like wise, for there he still lives in the Spirit,

Loves and atones evermore. So long as Time is, is Atone- ment.

The i h reverence receive this day her visible token.

32 THE CHILDREN OF

Tokens arc dead if the things do not live. The h.:ht ever- lasting

Unto the blind man is nut, hut is hum <>t the e\ e that h.is »n.

Neither in bread nor in wine, but in the heart that is hal- lowed

Lieth forgiveness enshrined; the intention alone of amend- ment

Fruits of the earth ennobles to heavenly things and re- moves all

Sin and the guerdon of sin. Only Love with his arms wide extended,

Penitence weeping and praying; the Will that is tried, and whose gold flows

Purified forth from the flames; in a word, mankind by Atonement

Breaketh Atonement's bread, and drinketh Atonement's wine-cup.

But he who cometh up hither, unworthy, with hate in his bosom,

Scoffing at men and at God, is guilty of Christ's blessed body,

And the Redeemer's blood] To himself he eateth and drinketh

Death and doom ! And from this, preserve us, thou heav- enly Father!

Are ye ready, ye children, to eat of the bread of Atone- ment?"'

Thus with emotion he asked, and together answered the children

Yes! with deep sobs interrupted. Then read he the due supplications,

1 in. 33

Read the K«rm of Communion, ami in chimed the organ and anth

Lamb of God, who ukest away our transgres-

tlS,

Hear u§ ! give us thy peace! ha\ , have mercy upon

us! Th* old man, with trembling hand, and heavenly pearls

on hit eyelidf , Killed now the chalice and paten, and dealt round the

mystical symbols. Ol then seemed .• as if God, with the broad eye

of mid-day, Clearer looked in at ti ws, and all the trees in the

:ch-yard Bowed down their summits of green, and the grass on the

graves 'gan to shiver.

But in the children, (I noted it well; I knew it) there ran a Tremor of holy rapture along through their icy-cold mem- bers. Decked like an altar before them, there stood the green

earth, and above it Heaven opened itself, as of old before Stephen ; there saw

they Radiant in glory the Father, and on his right hand the

Redeemer. Under them hear they the clang of harpstrings, and angels

from gold clouds Beck cm like brothers, and fan with their pinions

of purple.

Closed was the Teacher's task, and with heaven in their hearts and their faces,

34 CHILDREN OF 1 HI. LORD'S SUPl'l R

Up rose the children all, and each bowed him, weeping

full sorely, Downward to kiss that reverend hand, hut all of them

pressed he Moved to his bosom, and laid, with a prayer, his hands

full of blessings, Now on the holy breast, and now on the innocent tresses.

INI Mil I HIOF-SAGA

OR

LAY 01- KR1 TNI

TRANSLATED, IN THE ORIGINAL METRES

FROM THE SWEDISH OF ESAJAS TEGNER, BISHOP OF Wf BY RE\ . u II I I AM LEWERY BLACKLEY, M.A.

PR1

HOU 1 \ 1 R an excuse may be needed for the man- ner in which the following translation of Tcgi Knth i»f -Saga is executed, none can well be required for the fact of its being undertake; K which, the glory

, native language, hat in several cognate tongues be- come an honored cla>- es, we would fain hope, but to reach English readers to be appreciated as it dese that is, in so far as its intrinsic .m be made appar- lish vcrs

Unfortunately for the fame of authors, especially of poetical ones, great difficulties stand in the way of an ex- act rendering of their ideas into other tongues from those are originally expressed. Of such difficulties, and the many consequent faults of the present volume, none can be more conscious than its translator; but, not- withstanding, he intrusts its character to the fair judgment of impartial readers, in the hope that, where their acumen may detect deficiencies, their justice will lead them to con- sider the difficulties which beset the undertaking.

It has been said of Sothcln •, the translator of Wieland's Obtron^ that his translation far surpassed his original. The present writer has never dreamt of producing so peculiar i result in the handling of Tegncr's poem. His aim has been a lower one — to reflect, not to heighten, a beautiful image; and having endeavored, as far as the nature of the languages allowed, to remi tor word, and thought

tor thought, the work he took in hand, his purpose will be fully gained if, in the judgment of those expert in such mat- . he be found to have produced a translation, where he never presumed to attempt an embellishment.

38 PREFACE

The talc of Frithiof forms one of the class of Norse Legends or Sagas styled "heroic" by Professor Muller in the introduction to his Saga-bibliothek (3 vols. 8vo, Co- penhagen, 1817-20). The period at which Frithiof lived is supposed to have been at the end of the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth century; but the critical grounds for such a supposition need not be here stated.

For the benefit of those who like an "Argument" pre- fixed to an epic, Muller's abstract of the ancient poem will be found annexed, translated from the Danish. It will also serve to show in how very few particulars Tegner has allowed himself to vary from the tale the old Saga-men handed down. In some few parts of the modern version he has used, with admirable judgment and effect, the struc- ture, and even the words, of the original ; but, not content with amplifying and adorning a heathen tale, or depicting the manners of a long-departed age, he has surrounded his work with an atmosphere of high morality, and guarded it from every mean tendency, with a care worthy alike the author of The Children of the Lord's Supper, and the char- acter of a Christian prelate.

With reference to the metres employed, opinions will, of course, be divided; nor can a candid critic help admit- ting that, even at the sacrifice of some originality, sundry parts would sound better in different metres than those employed. Tegner's plan has been a novel one, namely, to produce each of the twenty-four divisions of his work in a different measure; and, doubtless, nothing but adher- ence to such a design could have induced him to use a metre so uncouth as the iambic hexameter, in which the last division, "Reconciliation, "is confined. It almost seems as if his Muse, footsore as she approaches the end of her

PR ! 39

accommodates the t.i long to the

limping «»f her ^ait.

I hr , CM-MI translator has not, however, thought him- self at hl»rrt\ to vary from the form prescribed and adopted by his author, and has therefore adhered to the original metres, using only occasionally, and under the pressure of necessity, that greater lib< h the constitution of

English verse, like that of English government, most wisely .vs. That liberty is the more necessary and the more useful when a poem, as in this instance, partakes so much c ballad nature, but it has been rarely and reluctantly used in this translation, and only when it became abso- lutely needful to sacrifice sound to sense.

An Alphabetical Glossary, and some Notes explanatory .c superstitions and customs of ancient Scandinavia, referred to in the text, are subjoined.

Merck, 1 1 57

ABSTRACT

OF THE ANCIENT KRITHIOF-S V

IN Sognefylkc, near the holy grove of Balder, dwelt King Belc; two sons had he, Hclgc and Halfdan, and moreover a daughter, Ingeborg the Fair. When he came to die, Bcle warned his sons to keep up friendship with the mighty Frithiof, a son of his • Thorstcn, who was the son of Viking. But the young Kings re- fused scornfully FrithioPs wooing for their sister's hand, and so he vowed revenge, and that he never would come to their assistance.

Soon after it came to pass that, when King Hring made war against them, they sent to ask aid from Frithiof: he was playing chess, and let himself not be one whit disturbed by their mes- senger.

Hring conquered, and made the brothers promise Ingeborg's hand to him.

Meanwhile Frithiof had gone to sec Ingeborg in Balder* s tem- ple (which was a forbidden deed), and there he exchanged rings with her, for to him the love of Ingeborg was far weightier matter than the favor of Balder.

To punish him for thb contempt of the shrine of Balder, the Kings laid upon Frithiof the task of going to the Faroes, and de- manding a tribute. So Frithiof, with his foster-brother, set sail in the ship Ellida, the best in all the North ; a ship which all said could understand the voice of men. All in the midst of the storm Frithiof spoke of his Ingeborg. At last, when the good ship was near sinking, he hewed Ingeborg's ring in pieces, that his men might not want gold when they went down to Rana's dwelling (she was goddess of the Sea). Afterwards, when they had over- come a pair of storm-sprites, which rode on whales against them, the storm sank down, and they approached the Faroes, where Yarl Angantyr let him take the tribute for friendship's sake, and so he departed.

When he came back, he heard that the Kings had burned his

I HI AM II N I I Rl I HI 4«

ling, and that they were jiut then at the midsummer feast in the grove of Balder. Thither he went, and found few folk within; but Helge's Queen sat there, warming the image of the god, anointing it. and rubbing k wkh cloths.

Frithiof flung the pone with the money in Helge'. face, so that hi. very teeth fell out, and then he was going away, when he beheld the ring he had given to Ingeborg on the arm of Helge'. Queen. He dragged k from her with such might that she feO upon the ground. Balder's image was thrown into the fire, and the whole temple set in flame. King Helge sought to pursue Frithiof, but his ships had been made useless. Frithiof, just to show his strength, drew such a stroke with EUida's oars ( which were twelve ell. long) , hey both brake asunder.

Now Frithiof remained an outcast : so he took to the ocean, and he slew the fierce sea-kings, but let the merchants fare in peace. And so, when he had gained great glory and wealth, he hied him back again to the North, and went, disguised as a salt-burner, to the palace of King Hring. Hring knew him, and, pitying his sad tale, commanded that he should be set in the most honorable seat. Queen Ingeborg spake but little with him. Once, when Hring and Ingeborg were driving over the ice, it broke beneath them ; Frithiof came with speed, and dragged them up again, with sleigh and horse and all. Another day Frithiof and the King went out together into a wood, and the King laid him down to sleep ; then Frithiof drew hi. sword, and threw it away. Then the King told him how that he had known from the first evening who he wit. Then Frithiof wished to go away, but Hring gave up Ingeborg to him, and made him, under the title of Earl, the guardian of his heir. Soon after Hring died ; then Frithiof married hi. bride, and remained King. Helge and Halfdan made war against him, but Frithiut' >lcw Helge, and Halfdan had to pay scot to him as his lord.

FKI I II I OPS SAGA

l FRITHIOF AND INGEBORG

IN Hilding'i home together grew Two pUntt beneath hit fostering t Two fairer never graced the North, In youth's green springtime budding forth.

Strong as the oak, and towering high, Straight as a tall lance towards the sky, Its struggling, wind-tost summit blown, hcl met -plumes, so grew the one.

•thcr, like the fragile rose, When \\mier, parting, melts the snows, Ami >p ring's sweet breath bids flowers arise, Still in the bud unconscious lies.

When o'er the earth the storms speed hoarse, 1 he oak is seen to brave their force; When in the sky the spring-sun glows, Open the red lips of the rose.

So grew they glad in childhood free, And Frithint" was the sapling tree; And the sweet valley-rose was there In Ingeborg, the young and fair.

Saw'st thou the twain by light of day, In Freya's halls thou'dst seem to stray,

FRITHIOFS >.\<

Where wanders many a happy pair, With rosy wings and golden h

But saw'st thou them in moonlit glade, Dancing beneath the forest shade, Thou 'dst think in airy dance t* have seen The fairy king and fairy queen.

How light his heart, how glad his thought, When the first Runes to him were taught; So proud no king on earth was then, Since he could teach them her again.

O'er the blue deep he loved to guide His boat, with Ingborgby his side; While she, as sailed they to and fro, Clapped gleefully her hands of snow.

To gain for her, no wild bird's nest Too high for him was ever placed, Nor even could the eagle strong Protect from him her eggs or young.

No stream, however fierce its flow, He feared to carry Ingborg through; Sweetly, when 'neath loud falls they passed, Her little white arms held him fast,

The first fair flower that spring-time bred, The first wild berry, sweet and red, The first ripe ear of golden corn, Faithful and glad, to her were borne.

45

» toon sweet childhood flew,

Aiul 1

While t.i the nuid matured, his eye

full Ol

Young Frithiof often m the field Pursue! the i hue, 'gainst danger itccl'd; Proud w xwonl or spear,

Unarmed, to slay the grisly bear.

He wrestled with him breast to breast, Nor scatheless of his prize possessed, He carried home the shaggy sj

c Ingborg's smiles repaid his t

woman loves a manly deed, And beauty's praise is valor's meed;

•nc is suited for the other, As head and helmet matched together.

Then, as the winter evenings sped, Beside the hearth he sat, and read Some lay of Odin's halls of light — Of gods and goddesses so bright.

Then thought he: "Frcya's golden hair, Like a ripe corn-Held, waves in air; Hut Ingborg's tresses seem to hold and rose in net of gold.

1 Iduna's bosom, full and fair, Beau beneath silk, rich, green, and rare;

46 I RITHloi •> SAGA

But here, 'neath dearer silken folds, Its place a fairy bosom holds.

"And, like the deep, clear, azure sky, Beams lovely Frigga's soft blue eye; But I know eyes whose gentle ray lipses spring-time's brightest day.

"And shines fair Gerda's cheek alone Like sparkling snow 'neath northern sun? I know of cheeks, whose ruddy glow A double dawn appears to show.

"A loving heart I know of, too, Like gentle Nanna's, fond and true; Full worthily, O Balder, we Praise still, in song, her love for thee!

"Gladly in death would I be laid, Lamented by a loving maid, As faithful and as true as she, Welcome were Hela's home to me."

King Bele's child, of daring deeds Sate singing, while with busy threads She wove a tapestry of war, With groves, and fields, and waves afar.

Upon the snowy woollen field Grew glories of a golden shield, Blood-red appeared the lances thrown, With silver all the breastplates shone.

I-RII II lol SAGA 47

11 as the wove it, more and more

When from the frame the raited her head, Mushed with shame, but still was glad.

And I r , on birch-tree's stem,

An I, an F, where'er he can And merrily the letters, too,

KC their young hearts, together grew.

When riseth up the morning fair, The king of earth, with golden hair, And busy life begins to Each on the other thinks with love.

When night with darkness fills the air, Mother of earth, with raven hair, And silent stars are all that move, Each on the other dreams with love.

**O Earth, thou deck'st thyself each year With flowers in thy leaf-green hair;

c me the sweetest, that may shine In richest wreath for Frithiof mine!"

O Sea, thy gloomy halls

Bright pearls in thousands numberless;

me the fairest and most clear To weave a chain for Ingborg dear!"

L O Peak of Odin's royal throne, Eye of the world, thou golden Sun,

48 FRITHIOFS SAGA

Did thy bright disc belong to me, A shield for Frithiof it should be ! "

«O Lamp in Odin's halls of bliss, Pale Moon, with gentle ray of peace, Thy fairest beams, if thou wert mine, To deck my Ingeborg should shine!"

But Hilding said, "My foster-child, Check this young fondness, vain and wild; Unequal lots forbid the Nome, And royally is Ingborg born.

"From Odin, in his starry home, Her ancestors descended come; Thou art but Thorsten's son; forbear, Since but the great should greatness share."

"My sires lie," Frithiof proudly said,

"In the dark valley of the dead; But the falling wood-king left to me, With his shaggy hide, his ancestry.

"The free-born man, ne'er yieldeth he; The world belongeth to the free. What chance hath lost may chance repair, And Hope a royal crown may wear.

" Full nobly born descendeth power From the great Thrudvang-dwelling Thor: He heeds not birth, but valor true, And mightily the sword can sue.

JTHIO 49

my young bride I '11 combat now, mgh thundering Thor thould be my f >m glad, bloom true, my 1 He who would part ui ill shall fa:

II

KING BELE AND THORSTEN VIKINGSSON

KING BELE in his palace stood, on his sword he leaned, And by him Thorsten Vikingsson, his old, tried friend; The comrade who for eighty years his wars did share, Scarred as a monument was he, and white his hair.

So stand two aged temples, midst mountains high, Both with age tottering, to ruin nigh; Yet words of wisdom still on the walls we see, And on the roof pictures of antiquity.

"My day is setting fast," King Bele said;

"Tasteless the mead; I feel the helmet's weight; Dim are my glazing eyes to mortal state, But ValhalF dawns more near; I feel my fate.

"So my two sons, with thine, I 've called to me, Together they 're united, as have been we; Once more to warn the young birds am I fain, Ere from a dead man's tongue all words be vain."

Then to the hall they entered in, as he had willed: The elder, Helge, whose dark brow with gloom was filled; His days in temples spent he, with spjemen hoary, And now from sacrificing came, his hands still gory.

Then came the younger, Halfdan, with flaxen hair; His countenance was noble, but soft and fair; As if in sport a heavy falchion bearing, Like a young maid a warrior's armor wearing.

nuTHiors SAGA 5i

And last in azure mantle came Knthiof tall,

a full head in stature outmeaturing them all; H<- stood between the brothers is glorious day Stands between rosy dawning and twilight gray.

u My children," quoth the King, "my day doth wane; Rule in fraternal peace, in union reign , like the ring upon the spear, Makes strong what, wanting it, were worthless gear.

• Vigor be your country's sentinel, And blooming Peace within securely dwell; To shelter, nut to harm, your weapons wield, And let your subjects' bulwark be your shield.

"An unwise ruler devastates his land; All monarchs' might in people's strength must stand; Soon the green splendor of the tree is fled, from the naked rock its roots be fed.

ur pillars to uphold it Heaven doth own, Kingdoms are based on one, on Law alone. Danger is near where might can sway the Ting; Right guards the land, and glorifies the King.

"Helgc! in Disarsal the gods do dwell; Hut not like snails, within a narrow shell. Far as the day can shine, or echo sound, Far as the thought can flee, the gods are found.

**Oft err the entrails of the offered hau

NC, though deep-cut, is many a Runenbalk.

52 FRITHIOF'S SAGA

But in the open heart and honest eye Odin hath written Runes that ne'er can lie.

"Helge! be not severe, be firm alone: By bending most the truest sword is known. Mercy adorns a king, as flowers a shield, More than all winter can one spring-day yield.

"A friendless man, however mighty he, Fadeth deserted, like a bark-stripped tree; With roots refreshed, though fierce the storm-winds strive, By friendship's stream thou may'st securely thrive.

" Boast not thy father's fame, 't is his alone; A bow thou canst not bend is scarce thine own. What can a buried glory be to thee? By its own force the river gains the sea.

"Gladness, O Halfdan, doth the wise adorn, But folly, most of all in kings, brings scorn ! Mix hops with honey, when thou mead wilt brew; Make thy sports sterner, and thy weapon too.

"None is too learned, however wise he be. That many knowledge lack, too well know we; Despised the witless sitteth at the feast, The learned hath the ear of every guest.

"To trusty comrade, or to friend in war, Be thy way near, although his home be far; Yet let thy foeman's house, where'er it lie, Be ever distant, though thou pass it by.

r-kn Hiora SAGA $3

44 Thy confidence to many §hun to gr. hull birni we lock; the empty, open leave; Choose one in whom to trust, more seek not thou; The world, () Halfdan, knows what three men know!"

After the King rote Thorsten: thus spake he, — "Odin alone to seek ill fittcth th<

We *vc shared each h tig, our whole lives through,

And death, 1 (rust, we'll share together too.

ill many a warning Time hath whispered n> Son Knthiot, which I gladly give to ihce; As on the tombstones high perch Odin's birds, So on the lips of age hang wisdom's words.

u Honor the gods; for every good and harm Comes from above, like sunshine and like storm. Deep into hearts they see, and many mourn In lifelong sorrow for one short hour's scorn.

»r the King! let one man rule with might, Day hath but one eye, many hath the night.

the better grudge against the best; I he sword must have a hilt to hold it fast.

"High strength is Heaven's gift, yet little prize It brings its owner, if he be not wise; A bear with twelve men's strength can one man kill, As shield 'gainst sword, set law against thy will.

"The proud arc feared by few, hated by all, And insolence, O Frithiof, brings a fall.

54 I Rl I UK >l > SAGA

Men, mighty once, I 've seen on crutches borne, And fortune changeth like storm -blasted corn.

" Praise not the day before the night arrive, Mead till 't is drunk, or counsel till it thrive. Youth trusteth soon to many an idle word, Need proves a friend, as battle proves a sword.

"Trust not to one night's ice, to spring-day snow, To serpent's slumber, or to maiden's vow; For heart of woman turneth like a wheel, And 'ncath the snowy breast doth falsehood dwell.

"Thyself must perish, all thou hast must fade: One thing alone on earth is deathless made, That is the dead man's glory: therefore thou Will what is right, and what is noble, do."

So warned the graybeards in the royal hall,

As later warned the Skald in Havamal;

From mouth to mouth went words of wisdom round,

Which, whispered still, through Northland's hills resound.

Then both full many a hearty memory named Of their true friendship, in the Northland famed; How, faithful unto death, in joy or need, Like two clasped hands, together they had staid.

"Sons! back to back our stand we ever made; So ever to each Nome a shield displayed; And now, we aged, to Valhalla haste, Oh! with our sons may their sires' spirits rest!"

II Hloi : U 55

Much ipake (he KMV ..! , valor good,

Hit hero-might excelling royal blood; And ThorstcM mm h of future fame to crown Asa tons, who should the Northland own

44 And if ye hold together, ye mighty three, Your conqueror the Northland ne'er shall sec:

might, by lofty station firmly held, Is like the steel rim round a goMen shield.

44 And my dear daughter, tender rose-bud, greet, In tranquil silence bred, as most is m<

•end her; let the storm-wind ne'er have power To plant upon his ci< late-born flower.

« Helgc! on thcc I lay a father's c.i

ird, like a daughter dear, my Ingborg fair;

:ce breaks a noble soul, but mildness leads

Both man and maid to good and noble deeds.

44 Now, children, lay us in two lofty graves

n :•'. the sea-shore, near the deep blue waves: Their sounds shall to our souls be music sweet, Singing our dirge as on the strand they beat.

"When round the hills the pale moonlight is thrown, And midnight dews fall on the Bauta-stone, We ' I horsten, in our rounded graves,

And speak together o'er the gentle waves.

56 FRITHIOFS SAGA

nd now, ye sons beloved, fare ye well, We go to Allfathcr, in peace to dwell, As weary rivers long to reach the set. With you may Frcy and Thor and Odin be!"

11! FRITHIOK'S INHKRITANCE

Nov. Craves had been let King Bele and Thorsten

the aged,

•icy themselves had desired ; uprose on each side of the deep bay

Mounds high arched, like breasts that the valley of death separated.

Helge and Halfdan together, bv old traditional usage,

Ruled in the house of their sire; but Frithiof shared his with no one,

And as an only son possessed the dwelling at Framnas.

c leagues forth was his rule, on three sides round him extended,

Valley and mountain and wood ; and the sea was the fourth his mearings.

Kirch forest crowned the tops of the hills, and where they descended

Waved fields of rye as tall as a man, and golden-eared barley.

Many a fair smooth lake held a mirror of light to the moun- tains,

Picturing forth the forests, where elks with towering ant- lers

Stalked with the gait of kings, and drank from rivulets countless.

And in the valleys around, far pastured abroad o'er the meadows,

Herds with glittering hides, and udders that yearned for the milking.

58 I RITHIOF'S SAGA

Mingled with these, moved slowly about in flocks without number,

Sheep with fleeces of snow, as float in the beautiful heavens

Thick, white, feathery clouds at the gentle breathing of spring-time.

Twice twelve spirited steeds, like terrible winds in con- finement,

Pawed in the stalls impatient, and champ'd the growth ol the meadows;

Red silk shone in their manes, and their hoofs were flash- ing with steel shoes.

But a house for itself was the banquet hall, fashioned in fir- wood;

Not five hundred, though told ten dozen to every hun- dred,

Filled that chamber so vast, when they gathered for Yulr- tide carousing.

Through the whole length of the hall shone forth the table of oak wood,

Brighter than steel, and polished; the pillars twain of the high seat

Stood on each side thereof; two gods deep carved out of elm wood:

(Odin with glance of a king, and Frey with the sun on his forehead).

Lately betwixt them sat on his bear-skin (this was as coal black,

Scarlet red were the jaws, and the paws with silver be- shodden):

Thorsten still with his friends, Hospitality sitting with Gladness.

iiiii'- <;A 59

while sped the moon through the sky, the greybeard related idcrt of far-lying lands, and of many a Vikinga voy-

•g* Wide on the eastern sea, o'er the western waves, and on

mdvik.

glance of the listeners silent hung on the lips of the speaker — Hung as a bee from a rose; the Skald alone thought upon

Bragc, How, with his silver beard and tongue rune-written, he

cth Under the leafy grove, and rclateth wonders by Mimcr's

-murmuring stream; himself a living relation. Now in the nmi>t of the rush-strewn hall continual flam- ing Rose the fire from the mortared hearth; through the open

chimney

Heavenly friend-like stars looked into the banqueting chamber.

ul on the wall from hooks of steel were hanging in order Breast-plates and helmets together, while here and there

m between them Flashed a sword, like a meteor seen in the dark nights of

win Hut more than helmet or sword the shields shone bright

in the chamber,

Clear as the orb of the sun, or the silvery disc of the pale moon.

hen a maiden went round the board and filled up the mead-horns,

6o FRITHIOF'S SAGA

Downwards she cast her eyes, and blushed, and her form in the round shields

Blushed like the maiden herself; this gladdened each ban- queting comrade.

Rich was the house: wherever the eye could turn, there did meet it

Cellars and chests well filled, and granaries heaped with provisions.

Many a treasure, too, it contained, the booty of warfare:

Golden, with deep-carved Runes, and silver wondrously fashioned.

Three things there were prized above all the rest of the riches :

First of the three was the mighty sword, an heirloom an- cestral,

Angurvadel, so was it named, and brother of Lightning;

Far in the east it was forged, as ancient legends related,

Tempered by toil of dwarfs: Bjorn Blaetand the first who had borne it.

But Bjorn paid as a forfeit at once both his life and his weapon,

Southward in Groninga-sund, when he fought with the powerful Vifell.

Vifell was father to Viking. There dwelt then, feeble and aged,

At Ullaroker, a king with an only beautiful daughter.

Lo! there came from the depths of the woods a giant tre- mendous,

Greater in height than stature of man, and hairy and cruel,

Demanding a champion to fight, or else both daughter and kingdom.

KK1IHK'. 61

No man stood forth t >r could Hnd a hard enough

weapon Hit skull to wound, and therefore they named him

the lernhot, V i king alone, who had just rilled fifteen winters, withstood

him, Fighting with trust in his arm and Angurvadel, with one

stroke he the terrible foe to the waist, and rescued the fair

ig left it to Thorsten, his son, and from Thorsten de- scended

Came it to Kruhiof at last. When he drew it the hall was illumined

As by a lightning-flash, or the da/ /ling gleam of the north- lights.

Golden thereof was the hilt ; with verses the blade of it written,

Wonderful, strange to the north, but known at the thresh- old of sunshine,

Where their fathers had dwelt ere the Asen led them up northwards.

Dull was the sheen of the Runes as long as was peace in the nation,

Hut when Hildur began her sport, then glittered : blood-red —

Red as the crest of a cock when he fightcth. Lost was the nan

Who ever met that flaming sword in the midst of the battle.

Far was that sword renowned, and of swords the first in the Northland.

62 I RITIIIO! \s SAGA

Next in worth to the sword was an arm-ring, far and

wide famous, Forged by the Vulcan of northern story, the halting Valun-

derj Three marks was it in weight, of gold unmingled y-fash-

ioned; On it the heavens were wrought, and the towers of the

twelve immortals (Figuring changing months, the Sun's dwellings called by

the minstrels): Alfheim there might be seen, Frey's tower, and the sun in

new vigor, As he begin neth to climb the heights of the heaven at

Yule-tide.

Socjuaback too was there; in its hall sat Odin by Saga, Quaffing the wine from a golden shell, — that shell is the

ocean, Colored with gold from the glow of the morn ; and Saga

is springtime

Writ upon grassy fields with flowers instead of with letters. Balder appeared there too, as the sun of midsummer, glo- rious, Shedding abundance around, and shining, the image of

goodness.

Beaming with light is Goodness, but all that is Evil isgloomy. Weary the sun groweth, mounting so high, and so grow-

eth Goodness

Faint on the dizzy height; so, sighing, sink they together Down to the realms of Hela, the land of shadows and

darkness. Glitner was pictured thereon, the palace of peace, where

Forsete,

SAGA 63

impartial, rulcth the au-

tttfl

Many such forms, whereby the progress of light was be- High in the vault of the fky and deep in the tpirit of mortals, Stood, wrought by master-hand on the ring; and a cluster

of rubies Crowned the circlet fair as the tun doth the arch of the

heaven.

loom old in the race waf the ring, its origin ancient (Though by the mother's side) reached up to mighty Val-

under.

" had the gem been stolen away by plundering Sote; : through the sea of the north, but sud- denly vanished. Rumor at last was borne how on Britain's coast he had

buried Himself, with treasure and ships, in a builded sepulchre

lof: Still there found he no rest, and his grave forever was

haunting. Thorsten the rumor heard, with King Bele he mounted his

dragon,

• through the foaming waves, and steered his course

unto Britain.

Wide as a temple-dome, or a lordly palace, deep-bedded ti in the dark green grass and turf, lay the sepul

rounded ;

Light gleamed out therefrom; through a chink in the pon- derous portal (ilanced the comrades in; pitch-black within stood the

64 FRITHIOF'S SAGA

Of Sotc, with helm and anchor and mast; and high by tin-

tiller

Sat there a terrible form; he was clad in a fiery mantle; Moodily glaring sat he, and scrubbed his blood-spottnl

weapon Vainly; the stains remained, and all the wealth he had

stolen Round in the grave was heaped; the ring on his arm he

was wearing. "Come," whispered Bele, "let's enter and fight with this

terrible being, Two men against a fiery fiend." Half angry swore Thm-

stcn — "One against one our fathers fought, and alone will I

combat." Long contended the twain for the right of the perilous

conflict, Which should essay it the first; till Bele, taking his hi-1-

met,

Shuffled for each within it a lot, and soon by the star- light Thorsten discovered his own; so he smote on the door

with his steel lance. Open flew bolt and bar ; he descended. When any one asked

him What he had seen in the gloomy pit, he was silent, and

shuddered.

Bele first heard a song, like the spell of witchcraft it sounded ; Then rose a loud-clashing noise, like the crossing of

weapons it sounded; Lastly, a terrible cry, which was hushed; then out darted

Thorsten,

mi m<>. 6$

Ghastly, bcu -h awful Death he had

battled;

Bearing, moreover, the ring. " *T was dear-bought," oft be repeated;

life, save the time (hat 1 won it, 1 ne'er was affrightr

Far was that jewel renowned, and of jewels the first in the Northland. Kllida, the last of the three, of its kind was a jewel:

V i king (so say they), as homeward he hied him back from battle,

Coasting the shore, espied a man on a frail spar of drift- wood

Carelessly tossing about; he seemed with the waves to be sporting.

Tall, and of powerful form, was the man ; his countenance noble,

>us, but changing, like to the ocean playing in the sun- shine.

Blue was his mantle, belted with gold, with coral adorned;

Sea-green his hair, yet hoary his beard as the foam of the ocean.

Hithcrward Viking steered his snake to shelter the out- cast,

Took him perishing home to his house, and exercised kind- ness:

A hen the host to a chamber would lead him, the guest laughed, exclaiming —

"Good are the winds, and my vessel, thou seest, is not to be scorned;

B score leagues (at least, so I hope) shall I traverse ere morning.

66 I Rl PHIOFS SAGA

Hunks for thy bidding, well 'twas intended; would that some kindness

I, in my turn, could offer, but my wealth lies in the ocean;

Haply to-morrow from me thou may 'st find some gift by the sea-side."

Next day Viking stood by the sea, and lo! as an osprey

Klieth, quarry-pursuing, a ship sailed into the haven ;

No man upon it appeared; no pilot could be discovered;

Yet it steered its winding way through breakers and quick- sands,

Like as if spirit-possessed; and when it entered the ha- ven,

Reefed were the sails by themselves, untouched by hand of a mortal ;

Down sank the anchor itself, and clung with its fluke to the bottom.

Dumb stood Viking, and gazed; then sang the glad heav- ing billows —

"Aegir, protected, forgetteth no debt, and hath sent thee this dragon."

Kingly, indeed, was the gift; the bended planking of oak- wood,

Not, as in others, joined, was by one growth banded to- gether;

Far spread her lengthy keel; her crest, like a serpent of ocean,

High in the bows she reared; her jaws were flaming with red gold.

Sprinkled with yellow on blue was her beam; astern, at the rudder,

Flapped she around her powerful tail, that glittered with silver;

Kkl I HIM) £ SAGA 67

•c were her pn. rdered with red, and when they

the in speed with the loud- roaring blast, out it ripping the cai

Saw % armed, your eyes would

have fan

have seen a fortress at sea, or the tower of a great king.

Far was that ship renowned, and of ships the first in the Northland.

These things, and many more, from his sire did Frithiuf

inh< Scarce in the northern land was there found an heritage

bar,

Save with the son of a king; for the wealth of kings is the

greatest. He was no son of a king, yet king-like, in sooth, was his

spirit ;

Friendly, noble, and mild, with each day growing in glory. Comrades twelve were around him, gray-haired, princes

in warfare, Thorsten's steel-breasted knights, with many a scar on

their foreheads.

vest of these on the warrior's bench sate also a stripling, Like to a rose in a withering bower; Bjorn was his title; as a child, but brave as a man, and wise as an old man ; Krithiofs comrade from childhood; blood they had min- gled together

(Fostcrkin by northern use), and sworn to continue Sorrow and joy to share, and avenge the death of each

other.

68 FRITHloi •> >\C,A

Now, 'midst the crowd of comrades and guests who had

come to the gravc-fr

Krithiof, a sorrowing host, his eyes with tears overflowing, Drank (as our ancestors used) his father's memory, hearing Songs of Skalds resound to his praise, — a thundering

Drapa,—

Mounted his father's seat, now his, and silently sat him Down betwixt Odin and Freyjthat is Thor's place up in

Valhalla.

IV

KRITHIOK'S WOOING

LOUD soundeth the song in Krithiof's hall,

Skalds ling t of hit ancestor* ill ;

No joy do they bring To Frithiof, who heeds not the talcs they sing.

Again hath the earth donned her raiment of green, And vessels swim over the billows again ,

•ic shadowy grove Hicth Frithiof, by moonlight, to dream of his love.

Till lately he joined in the joys ut ie,

Halfdan the merry he 'd bidden to come, And dark Hclge, the King, And with them fair Ingborg persuaded to bring.

He sat by her side, and her white hand he pressed, And the pressure returned made hun Happy and blest; And he hung in a trance Of unspeakable love on her favoring glance.

And often they spake of each happier day,

When the morning dew on their young lives lay, —

hildhood's hours, To noble minds a garden of flowers.

1 hey spake of each valley and forest dark, — Of their names deep-carved in the birchen-bark, — Of each ancient grave, Where the oaks grew tall in the dust of the bra

70 FRITH SAGA

"In the court of the King; no such iihulness hath smiled, For Helge is sullen, and Halfdan wild, And my brothers hear Naught but flattering song or covetous prayer.

"I have no one" (and here she blushed red as the rose)

• whom I may speak of my sorrow and woes; The court of the King Far less joy than the valley of Hilding can bring.

"The doves which together we long ago reared By the hawks' fierce attack are all scattered and scared ; One pair alone Remains, of that last pair take thou the one.

"For, doubtless, the bird to his mate will return: They even for love and for fondness can yearn ; 'Neath its wing bind for me, One loving word which unnoticed may be."

So whispering sate they the livelong day,

And were whispering still when the sun passed away,

As the evening breeze

Whispers in spring through the linden-trees.

But now she is gone, and his joyous mood Is fled with her presence; the youthful blood Mounts to his cheek: He sighs and grieves, silent, unwilling to speak.

And sadly he wrote of his grief by the dove, Which joyously sped on his message of love;

KKIIHK' 71

Hut .ill' to (heir woe,

•n hi« male <. more be persuaded to go.

n thi* mourning could not bear, — He cried — u What makes our young eagle here So sad and moody? Hath his breast been struck, are his pinions bloody?

uit will's! th here we can fear no need

•il, ur uf nut-brown mead? And the Skalds' long train Cease not the joyous, tuneful strain.

41 His pawing coursers impatient neigh; His falcon wildly screams for pr< In the clouds alone Will Frithiof chase, by sorrowing o'erthmwn.

ida hath no rest upon the wave, Early and late at anchor doth she chafe. Kllida, be thou still; For strife and warfare is not Frithiof's will."

At last sets Frithiof his dragon free;

The sails swell high, the waves cleaves she;

And speedily brings

Him over the sea to the court of the Kings.

That day were they sitting on Bclc's grave, And judgment before all the people they gave; Loud Frithiof cried, — Round hill and vale his voice echoed u

72 FRITH IOFS SAC A

"Fair Ingborg, ye monarchs, I love as my lite, And your sister I ask of you now for my wife; This union, too, Was ever King Belc's purpose true.

44 In Hilding's home brought up we were, As young trees grow together fair; And our fates above Hath Freya woven in gold threads of love.

"No King, no Yarl was my sire, I own; But long shall his name in song live on. The fame of our race Is witnessed in many a burial-place.

"'Twere easy for me to win kingdom and land, But that better I cherish my native strand; Where with love I Ml watch o'er The court of the King and the hut of the poor.

"We stand on the grave of great Bele; he hears Below us my word, which adjures you with prayers; For this boon from you With Frithiof your buried sire doth sue."

Then rose King Helge, and cried with scorn, "Our sister was ne'er for a vassal born; A king's son alone Shall Valhalla's beautiful daughter own.

"Go! style thyself first in the North in thy pride; Win maids with thy word, and win men with thy might

73

Hut j/i\r

r Odin's blood, never shall be.

44 Let the care «>l" the realm be IK. trouble to thee, I can guard it myself, but my serf thou may 'it be; A phcc there is still

ir household thou mayest be happy to fill."

v serf/' exclaimed Fr I never shall be;

I 'm a man for myself, as my father was, !': From thy silver sheath fly, Angurvadel, to fright his secu

Bright flashed the blue steel 'gainst the sun-lighted sky, And the Runes blazed blood-red as he waved it on high:

^urvadel," »jin>th he, u, at least, art of ancient nobility.

"If the peace of the grave did not pacify me, Dark King, my good blade would have brought it to thee ; Now hear this last word, Come never again within reach of my sword."

So spake he, and cleft with a terrible stroke The gold shield of Helge, which hung on an oak, In twain at a blow, And its crash on the grave was reechoed below.

"Well stricken, good sword! now lie quiet, and think Upon mightier deeds; but at present let sink

Runes' bright glow; O'er the blue waves we must homeward go."

V

KING RING

AND King Ring from the board his gold scat thrust forth;

Skalds and warriors rise To list to their monarch's word of worth, Famed in the north;

Good was he as Balder, and as Mimer wise.

Peaceful his land, like groves where gods arc found;

Never arose

The din of arms within its sheltered bound; And all around

The grass grew green, and sweetly bloomed the rose.

Justice sate merciful, but undismayed,

Upon the judging-stone; And peace each year abundant tribute paid ; While widely spread

In sunshine bright the golden corn-fields shone.

O'er ocean the black-breasted dragons hied

On snowy pinions;

Thither from many a distant land they plied, And from far and wide

Brought riches more to his rich dominions.

With peace dwelt freedom safely there,

And though the King All, as the father of the land, held dear, Still, without fear,

Each spoke his mind upon the open Ting.

II mm •> BA< 75

II- ',! ruled the Northmen, HI peace and right,

Full thirty yean;

None left hit presence unsatisfied •, And e\ c

Sped to Odin his name in his people's prayers.

So King Ring from the board his gold seat thrust forth,

And all rose glad

To hear the i .'s word of worth,

Faincil in the north,

But, deeply sighing, thus he spake and said:

"In Folkvang sitteth my gentle Qii

( )n purple thro:

Hut here on her grave the grass grows green, And flowers are seen

To bloom by the brook that flows around.

"Ne'er find I a Queen so lovely and leal

My crown to share. She 's fled to Valhalla in joy to dwell; But the common weal

Makes me seek for my children a mother's care.

'h the summer winds often we used to see

King Bclc here;

A lily-sweet daughter he left, and she My choice shall be,

h the morning dawn on her cheeks so fair.

"She is young, and young maidens love, I know, To pluck flowers of spring.

76 FRITHIOK'S SAGA

My bloom is past, and chill winter's snow }'u 11 long ago

Hath whitened the hoary locks of your King.

< t an honest man still her choice may be,

Though white his hair; And if to my motherless children she A mother will be,

Then autumn with spring-time his throne may share.

"Take gold from my coffers, take bridal array

From each oaken chest;

And follow, ye bards, with your harps on the way, For meetly may

He seek Brage's aid who a-wooing doth haste."

Forth with shouting and glee his men sped strong,

With gifts and with gold;

And the Skalds they followed, a winding throng, With harp and with song,

And the home of King Bele's sons soon they be- hold.

Two days they feasted, they feasted three;

When the fourth was come, To hear what Helge's answer might be Entreated they,

That back again they might hie them home.

To the grove for sacrifice brought he in haste

Both falcon and steed; Then sought each Vala, and sought each priest,

n m<>! * BAI 77

What fa l»«l

; hit itster, ihc beautiful Ingborg, decreed.

•he oment were r\ilt though anxiously tried Each Vala and priest; And Helge, by evil signs terrified, 44 Nay ; ly cried,

: men muit \ "he god'i behest."

Hut merry King Halfdan laughingly c;

uOh! wasted feast,

Had King Greybeard himself chosen hither t<> Full gladly I 'd

Have helped him myself to climb up on his beast."

The messengers hied them home angrily; To their master's ear

I he r.i'.c they told, and loud swore he —

ig Grey beard this stain from his honor shall clear."

He smote on his war-shield, which hung at rest

On a linden-tree; And his dragons sped over the sea in haste,

i blood-red crest;

And the helmet plumes waved met

And to Helge the rumors of war came near.

In dread quoth he —

u King Ring is mighty, we 've cause to fear, So in Haider's care

In the temple 't were better my sister should be."

78 I Kl INK '

I here sate the loving one mourn fully

In the peaceful shade;

Mic wrought in silk, and in gold wrought she; Unceasingly

Her tears fell, like dew on the lily shed.

VI

1 1 HOI n i HKSS

KkiTHlor sat with HI..IM the true At the chess-board, fair t

Squares of silver decked the fran

r changed with squares of gold. H :: , thus he greeted, —

• upper bench be seated, Drain the h<»rn until my game I finish, foster-father bold."

Quoth Hilding: u Hither come I speeding, For King Bele's sons entreating;

igcr daily sounds more near, And the people's hope art thou." :n," quoth Frithiof, "now beware, 111 thy King doth seem to fare,

A pawn may free him from his fear, So scruple not to let it go."

rt not, Frithiof, kings' displeasure, Though with Ring they ill may measure;

Yet eagle's young have wings of power, And their force thy strength outvies." Hjorn, thou wilt my tower beset, Thus easily thy wile I meet,

No longer canst thou gain my tower, Which back to place of safety h

ulngeborg, in Baldcr's keeping, Passeth all her days in weeping,

8o FRITHIOF'S SAGA

Thine aid in strife may she not claim,

Fearful maiden, azure-eyed." "What wouldst thou, Bjorn ; Assail my Queen, Which dear from childhood's days hath been, — The noblest piece in all the game? Her I Ml defend, whatever betide."

"What! Frithiof, wilt thou not reply? And shall thy foster-father hie

Unheeded from thine hearth away

Because thy game is long to end?" Then stood Frithiof up, and laid Hilding's hand in his, and said,

"Already hast thou heard me say

What answers to their prayers I send.

"Go, let the sons of Bele learn That, since my suit they dared to spurn, No bond between us shall be tied; Their serf I never shall become." "Well! follow on thy proper path-, 111 fits it me to chide thy wrath :

All to some good may Odin guide," Hilding said, and hied him home.

I KM l!l< )i >

•i •«.!! 1 tele's tons may widely sound,

. vale, the battle-cry, I go not forth, mv battle-ground, My world, in Haider's gm\r doth lie.

backward glance 1 '11 cast . kingly spite or earthly c.t But joys of the immortals taste United with my Ingborg fair.

44 As long as glowing sunshine hovers O'er flowers fair in purple light,

. that covers

The bosom of my Ingborg bright, — So long I wander by the strand,

By longing ceaselessly devoured, And, sighing, trace upon the sand Her name beloved with my sword.

.v slowly pass the hours away ;

Why, son of Delling, lingerest thou? Hast thou not marked each isle and !

Each hill and grove, full oft ere now? Doth no bclov'd one westward dwell

Who for thy coming long doth grieve, And flicth to thy breast to tell

Her love at dawn, her love at eve?

:t, weary with thy course, at last Thou sinkest downwards from the height;

82 FRI Tllini ••> SAGA

Her rosy carpet eve doth haste

To spread for all the gods' delight;

Of love waves whisper as they flee; Winds whisper love in breathing light;

Mother of gods! I welcome thee, In bridal pearls arrayed, O Night !

u Each silent star glides through the sky,

Like lover to his mistress true : Over the waves, Kllida, fly,

Speed, speed us on, ye billows blue. To home of loving gods we steer,

Where yonder lies the holy grove, And Raider's temple standeth near,

Where dwells the goddess of my love.

"How happy spring I to the strand,

Beloved Earth, I press thee glad ; And you, ye little flowers, that stand

My path to gem with white and red; Thou Moon, with silvery light that beamest

Round mound, and grove, and temple tall, How fair thou sittest there, and dreamest,

Like Saga in a bridal hall.

" Who taught thee, flowery brook, to tell In murmur sweet, my love exprest?

Who gave thee, Northland's nightingale, Those waitings, stolen from my breast?

The fairies paint in sunset hues My Ingeborg on cloud-banks gray;

I I UK •

A rival beauty Freya views, And, jealous,

• may her image now depart, Since, fair as Hope, here cumeth

'., us in childhood, true of heart, bringeth love's reward to me. Come, darling, to my fond caressing,

heart, where th<m art dear; My soul's delight, my being's blessing, Come to my arms, and linger the

"As slender as the lily slight,

As blooming as the opened rose; a art as pure as Balder bright, Yet warm of heart, as Kreya glows. Kiss me, my Ingborg; let my love In joy bring kindred joy to thec; ; earth beneath and heaven above Both vanish when thou kissest me.

44 Fear not, no danger cometh near;

There standcth Bjorn with trusty blade, And men enough, if need there were,

To shield us 'gainst the world arrayed. And I, oh! could but I contend

thce, as now embracing me, Glad to Valhalla should I wend, And thou shouldst my Valkyria be.

44 Of Balder's wrath what whispercth thou? He, tender god, ne'er loveth ill

84 I Riruioi-'S SAGA

Those fond ones who, with plighted vow,

In loving, his decrees fulfil. He who true faith in heart doth bear,

And beaming sunshine on his brow, Was e'er his love to Nanna dear

More pure, more warm, than ours is now?

"There stands his image; he is near;

How softly gazing from above; And I will offer to him here

A heart that glows with faithful love. Kneel down with me, there cannot be

For Balder fairer sacrifice Than faithful hearts, which lovingly

Unite in truth as firm as his.

"To heaven, more than earth, my love

Belongs, despise it, spurn it not; For it was born in heaven above,

And longeth homeward to be brought. Oh, would we were already sped;

Oh! would we could together die; That I triumphantly might lead

My pallid Ingborg to the sky.

"Then, when to strife the warriors went, Through silver portals as they ride,

I 'd gaze on thee, a trusty friend, And sit rejoicing by thy side.

When Valhall's maidens passed around

The mead-horns, crowned with foam of gold,

mi HIM.. ;A

To thee alone my pledge should sound, Thy name alone with love be told.

r sea-surrounded isle

I 'd build for thee a bower of . And there the time away we 'd while,

Midst golden fruits in shadowy gr And wh« clear and lovely ray,

Valhalla's sun illumed the plain, Back to the gods we 'd take our way,

Hut long to reach our isle again.

"And I 'd adorn with star-light glance

The golden tresses of thy head, And high in Vingolfs hall should dance

My pallid lily rosy red. Then from the dance my love I 'd bring

To bowers of peace, in fondness true, And Brage, silver-bearded, sing

Thy nuptial song, forever new.

ngs the throstle in the gr«

Its song is from Valhalla's strand;

How sweetly shines the moon above, —

It shineth from the spirits' land. Both song and shining join to tell

Ms of" love unmarred by care: Would in such worlds that I might dwell With thcc, with thi-c-, my Ingborg fair!

"Nay, weep not, weep not: life still str Within my veins: oh ' weep no more.

86 1 Rl rHIOI-'S SAGA

But mortals' love and mortals' drc Are ever upward prone to soar.

Ah! stretch but hithcrward thine arms, Bend but thy loving eyes on me,

And see! how soon thy fondness charms Thy dreamer back from heaven to thee."

"Hist! 'tis the lark!"— "Nay, 'tis a dove

That cooeth fondness in the shade; The lark is slumbering 'neath the grove,

In sheltered nest beside its mate. Oh! happy they, for daylight brings

To them no cause for dread or fear, Their lives are free as are the wings

That skyward waft the gladsome pair."

uSee, morning dawns." — "Nay, 'tis the glow

Of watchful beacons eastward shed; Our love we still may whisper low,

Not yet the happy night is sped. Belate thee, golden star of day,

O morning, slumber, slumber still, For Frithiof may'st thou sleep away

'Till Ragnarok, if such thy will.

"But ah! in vain the loving hope;

Already morning's breezes blow, Already eastern roses ope,

As bright as Ingborg's cheek can glow. The band of winged songsters twitters,

All joyous in the bright'ning sky;

KR1 I lll< H \< 8

And earth awakes, an

Away mutt gloom and lover* fly.

44 Now mount* the *un in majc

> golden god, my pray< I feel thy near «:

How noble art thou, and how fair. Oh1 that I *o my path could tread, and miL'ht,

And, proud and glad, my life be clad, Like thine, in \ u t«>ry and light.

44 Now here, before thine eyes, I set The fairest maiden in the north; Watch o\ cr her, ( ) Haider great,

ic image she on grassy earth. Her soul is spotless as thy r.

Her eye is as thy heaven blue; And thy bright gold, that decks the day, ws in her lovely tresses too.

"Farewell1 my Ingeborg, and now

Another night we must await: Farewell! one kiss upon thy brow,

And one upon thy lips so sweet. Now sleep and dream of me, and waking

Still on our love in fond thought dwell, — Count of the hours, as I do, taking,

Loving, as I do; fare thcc well."

Mil THE PARTING

INGEBORG

ALREADY comes the day, but brings not Krithiot,

Though yesterday the open Ting was held

At Bele's grave: well chosen was the place

Where Bele's daughter's fate should be decreed.

How many fond entreaties did it cost,—

How many bitter tears, — by Frcya told,

To melt the ice of hate round Krithiofs heart,

And win the promise from his haughty lips,

( )iu •(; more to offer a forgiving hand?

Ah! man is stern, and for his own vain pride,

Miscalled his honor, he hath little care, —

Ay, less than care, — how easily he may

Torture and wound a fondly loving heart.

And hapless woman, clinging to his breast,

Is like the growth of moss, which on the cliff,

Blooming in pallor, difficultly keeps

Its hold unmarked upon the sturdy rock,

Drawing its nurture from the dews of night.

And yesterday my fate hath been decreed ' And over it the evening sun hath set: Yet Frithiof cometh not. The pallid stars Wane one by one, and vanish and depart, And with each gleam, that slowly fades away, Some hope within me sinketh to the grave. Yet, wherefore- should I hope? Valhalla's powers Owe me no favor, by myself estranged :

I-K1IHJO|'> BA4 1

The mighty Balder, in \vh.»M i dwell,

I have offended: fur no mortal'* love Is pure enough for such a god's beholding; And <v* should never dare to come

'he holy and sublime

Rulers of heaven, have their dwelling made. And \n, what i nine IN mine J The gentle god Could ne'er be angry at a maiden's lo\ Is it nut pure, as Urda's silver wa And iniiiH-ent, .is (irtion's morning dream ? •i hath never turned away

c of brightness from a luving pair; And sui My,

Amidst her muurning hears their vows with Can what is huly 'neath the vaulted sky Become a crime beneath a temple's dome? I love nu I nthiof, and have ever loved; Far as my furthest recollections go,

th of my growth, that love hath ever been: When it began I never knew; can tell No hour of life that hath not been of love. And as the fruit is formed around the core, And, clinging there, in Nature's time becomes, Beneath the sunbeams, like a ball of gold, •ive I too grown up, and ripening glad Around this kernel, all my being is ( )nly the outward shell that holds my love. .:ivc me, Balder! See, a faithful heart thy halls I brought; with such alone Will I depart, and speed, with such alone, Over bright Bi frost's bridge; with such alone J, faithful still, before Valhalla's gods.

90 FRITHIO1 .\

Then- shall my love, a child of heaven, like them, Mirror itself in shining shields, and fly On dove-like pinion through the t-iulK unit heaven to Allfader's breast, I n>m whence it came. Oh! wherefore darkenest thou, In the gray dawn, thy gentle brow with frowns? The Mom! of mighty Odin tills my veins As well as thine: but, oh! not e'en to thee, Great kinsman, can I sacrifice my h>\e, Worth more to me than all this boundless heaven. Yet can I offer all my joy of life, And cast it from me, even as a queen C'an cast away her royal robe, and still Remain the queen she was. Well ! 't is decreed Valhalla's great ones shall not need to blush For their descendant. I will meet my fate As heroes meet with theirs. Here cometh Frith i of, How wild, how pale! All, all is lost, is lost! With him approacheth, too, my angry Nome. Be strong, my heart! — Oh! welcome, though how late! Our fate is sealed; too easily I read It on thy brow.

FRITHIOF

Stand there also there

No blood-red Runes, bespeaking scorn and shame, Insult and ban?

INGEBORG

Oh! Frithiof, calm thyself. Tell me thy tale: the worst my fears foretold Full long ago. For all am I prepared.

KRI I HIM! •> SA<

FRITHIOf

I reached the Ting, where stand our fr nbt,

And mull.! KS grassy sides, *\. Id,

And su.>:<i in hand, • Aland's sons array

ring within another gathered, stood Up to the summit i on the judging-Ntunr,

a dark thunder-cloud, King Helge sate, —

pallid sacrificer, with N.rhiddmg looks; And by him, thoughtless, leaning on his sword, A fair, well-fashioned \outh, King Halfdan s;r Then stood I forth, and cried — "V near;

ir borders clash.

•»g Helge, peril thrcateruth thy realm. Give me thy sister, and I bring to thee This arm to combat, which may service do, And let our former quarrel be for. With Ingborg's kindred love I not to strive. lie think thec, monarch, and together save

golden crown, thy sister's happiness. Here and; by Thor divine, no more

Than this last time I offer it for peace." A shout filled all the Ting, a thousand swords Clashed loud approval on a thousand shields. Far fled the sounds into the lofty skies, Which drank the shouts of freemen for the right: "Oh, give him Ingcborg, the gentle lily; No fairer ever in our valleys bloomed :

- is the bravest sword in all the land. Oh! give him Ingeborg." Our foster-father, The aged Hilding, with the silver)- beard, Stood forth, and spake, in words of wisdom deep,

92 l-KlTHIors SAGA

Short, pithv pleas, which rang like strokes of swords. And Halfdan, rising from the royal seat, Himself besought, with many a word and sign. All was in vain, and bootless every prayer! So beaming sunshine, on the barren rock, No fruit cnticeth from its stony heart; And Helge's dark, unchanging visage spake To all entreaties still a ghastly Nay. "A yeoman's son," said he, at length, in scorn, "Might wed with Ingborg; but to ValhalPs daughter Becometh ill a sacrilegious mate. Hast thou not, Krithiof, broken Haider's pi Hast thou not seen my sister in his shrine, When Day had hid itself before the crime? Answer me, Yea or Nay !" Loud rose a cry Amidst the crowd of men: — "Say Nay, say only Nay, Thou Thorsten's mighty son, almost a king; Thy word we trust, and we for thee will sue: Only say Nay, and Ingeborg is thine." " My joy of life hangs on a single word," I said; "yet fear not therefore thou, O King! I would not lie for all Valhalla's bliss, Then scarce for earthly joy; I saw thy sister, And spake with her at night-time in the temple, Yet thus I never broke the peace of Balder." Here I had to cease. A scream of horrid fear Spread through the Ting; those who beside me stood Fell off as from a plague-besmitten man. Where'er I looked, their superstitious fear Had hushed each tongue, and every face was pale, Which just before had flushed with joyous hope. There conquered Helge: then, in ghastly tones,

KRITHIOK'S SAGA 93

•w and deep , hke ihoic of Vala dread, In Vegtamsquida, when to Odin tinging Of Helu\ triumph, and the Ascn'f fal Thus spake he gloomy: — "Bani»hmem or death I might denounce by our ancestral law* Against r !>ut I will show me mild

As Balder is, u hose holiness (h«>u 'ft flighted, '-stern ocean doth a cluster lie islands, where Jarl Angantyr bears swa A ftated yearly tribute paid the Jarl

Helc lived, hut never sirue his death.

Crotf thou the sea, and fetch that tribute back So may thy service for thy sin atone." Then in mean scorn he added — "Hard of hand,

and, like the dragon Fafncr, He watcheth o'er his gold; but who can stand Against our second Sigurd, Kafncr's bane ? This shall .1 worthier adventure prove Than maidens to beguile in Raider's grove. Next summer let us see thee homeward wend

h all thy glory, and thy treasure, too: Else shah thou be a knave in Northmen's eyes; And all thy lifetime pcaceless in the land." Such was his speech; and so the Ting dispersed.

INCIBORO And now thy purpose?

FRITH lor

Have I aught to choose? Hangeth my honor not on his demand? And I must free it — ay, if Angant

94 FR1THIOPS .v\»

His wretched |M>ld in Nastrand's waves should hide. This da\ shall 1 ilrpart.

INC. i BOEG

And Icavcst me?

FRITHIOF

Nay, nay, I leave thee not; thou, too, shalt conic.

INGEBORC; Impossible!

FRITHIOF

( ) Ingborg, hear me first. Thy crafty brother sccmcth to forget That Angantyr had been my father's friend, As well as Bele's; and he yet may give With good will what I ask: should he refuse, I have a sharp-tongued, mighty advocate My cause to plead; it hangeth by my side. The gold he loves to Helge I will send, Freeing forever, thus, myself and thee From service to this crowned hypocrite. But we ourselves, my Ingborg fair, will spread Ellida's sails; and over seas unknown She '11 bear us bounding to a happier land, And find sweet shelter for our banished love. What care have I for Northland, for a race Who, when their priests but speak, in fear grow pale, And rude would tear the flow'r-crowned cup of life From out the sanctuary of my heart. By Freya, nay, they never shall succeed. None but a slave will to his mother-soil

FR1 I HI' H \< 95

Be chained unwilling; 1 will wander free, at (he 11 \\ mils. A little clay

i I'M.IM Heir'* and im graves

hark •, and that is all I h.r ibiul i an c\cr need,

v beloved, warmer sunshine glows Than our pale light above the snowy hills; And we can find a fairer heaven than here,

•e gentle stars with godlike beam glance down, And in the happy, balmy summer night Watch in the laurel groves each loving pair. Full far my father, Thorsten, Viking's son, Wandered in warfare; and full oft he told By blazing hearth through the long winter nights Of southern ocean, with its islands fair: Green groves reflected in the shining waves. In days of old ruled there a mighty race; And gods tremendous in their marble shrines. Hut now forsaken stand they. Grass grows o'er The mounds deserted; and wild flowers hide Inscn hich the old world's wisdom si

Ruins of tapering pillars there grow green, Covered with leaves of clinging southern weeds, And all around the lovely earth brings forth Harvests unsown of all that men can need. And golden fruits on shadowy branches gl«> There grapes in heavy clusters on the vine Hang purple-red, and ripe as thy sweet lips: — There, Ingeborg, we '11 found beyond the waves Another Northland, fairer far than here ; And with our faithful love rejoice once more Deserted shrines and temples, and delight

96 FRITH lors SAGA

With mortal fondness the forgotten gods.

Then if some mariner with flapping sail

(For there no storms engage) drift past our isle

By rosy sunset, and with joyous gaze

Look from the ruddy ocean to the strand,

Then on the temple's threshold shall he sec

Thee, a new Freya (her, methinks, they name

In their tongue Aphrodite) — shall behold

Thy golden locks light floating in the brce/< ,

Thine eyes more radiant than the southern

And growing round thec, coming by degrees,

A temple-dwelling little A 1 fen-race

With flushing cheeks, as if the South had set

All its fair roses in the northern snows.

Ah! Ingeborg, how fair, how near doth stand

Each earthly joy to two fond loving hearts!

If boldly grasped whene'er its time be come,

It follows willingly, and builds for them

A Vingolf even here on earth below.

Come, hasten ! even now each word we speak

Stealeth away an instant from our joy.

All is prepared, and, eager for her flight,

Ellida flaps her darkling eagle-wings,

And the fresh breathing north wind calls us forth

Forever from this superstitious shore.

How? Lingerest thou?

INGEBORG

Alas! I cannot follow thee.

FRITHIOF

Not follow me?

97

'

Ah' u art ha|

Following no man, thou canst forward go, th\ sutfi \rs\rl, iddcr stands

ic; and to thou sceerest forth, With steady hand, above the angry wa Alas! how different mv lot must be. My dest thcr hands must 1

i \icld not up their prey, although it bleed.

, and grief, and pining is •reeil.'in «if the daughter of a king.

rumor

Art thuii not free, whene'er thou wilt? sittcth thy sire Not in his gr.t

INGBBORG

Ah! Helge is my father, standeth in his place; without his will

I cannot wed: and Bole's daughter steals

No happiness, however near it lie.

l-.-r what were woman, thus self-willed, to break

Those bonds wherewith the wise Allfadcr linketh • the weaker being to the strong?

In the pale water-liU pe,

Sinking or rising on the changing waves;

Above it speeds the sailor's keel au

And recks not how it wound the tender stem:

Such is its destiny; and yet as long

As clings the root tenacious in the sand

It iproutnh tVCf forth. :ts pallid hues

It borroweth from sister-stars abo\

98 FRITHini'S SAGA

Itself a star upon the azure deep:

But, by the roots uptorn, it drifts away,

A faded leaf upon the desert wave.

night — and oh! a wretched night it was — Anxious as watch'd I, and thou earnest not, Thoughts all-terrific, offspring of the night, The raven-locked, passed constantly before My waking eyes, which burned, but could not weep. Balder himself, the bloodless god, did seem To bend upon me glances filled with rage. And so, last night, I have revolved my fate, And thus determined; I will linger here, Submissive victim to my brother's will. Yet it is well that then I had not heard Thy hope-breathed dreams of cloud-imagined isle s, Where ever glows the heavenly sunset's light O'er flow'ry lands of tranquil peace and love. How few can tell how weak we are; the dreams ( )f childhood, long- forgotten, rise anew And whisper in my ear with gentle tones As well remembered as a sister's voice, — As sweet and tender as a lover's tones. But now I will not hearken, will not heed Those sweet, persuading, once beloved words! Can I, the Northland's child, there southwards dwell ? I am too pale for southern roses' bloom : Too colorless my thought for Southland's glow. It would be melted 'neath its burning sun; And longingly my weary eye would strain Towards the bright north-star, which unchanging k Its heavenly watch above our fathers' graves. My noble Frithiof shall not fly away

KRH1

H the deu ,uld defend,

Nor ever ca«> ie-spread fann

For such a trifle as a maiden's I A life in whuh the sun fpini year by year, Each day unvarying from the day bed A sameness beautiful, but everlasting, May manly souls

thine a tranquil life is wearisome. thnvest best when storms tumultuous ' foaming bat- , across the seas,

And on a swaying plank, for ! .nh

cly desert thou hast painted u < A grave untimely tor thine unborn deeds; Together \vitl soul

Would gather it shall never be:

Ne'er will I steal away m\ •'$' name

n Skalden songs, and 11 I quern h

j dawn. Be • , let us yield before

and, so submitting, save At least i f from the wreck of t.

i toy of life we can no longer save. So we must separate.

FRITHIOF

Hut wherefore so — Because a sleepless night thy mind disturbs?

INGEBORG

Because thy safety and my worth demand.

ioo FRI PHIOPS SAG \

KRITHIOF

A woman's worth in manly love is found.

INGEBOR(i

He loves not long who doth not honor too.

FRITHIOF

Inconstant stubbornness no honor trim*

INGEBORG

A noble stubbornness is love of riirht.

FRITHIOF

Yet yesterday it strove not with our love.

INO1BOKG

Nor doth to-day, but with our flight the more.

FRITHIOF

It is necessity that calls us. Come.

INGEBORG

Needful alone is what is right and noble.

FRITHIOF

High mounts the sun, the time is fleeting by.

INGEBORG

Ah me! it is gone by, gone by forever.

l-kl 1 ill< >i ' SAGA 101

FRITHIOr

Hclhink ihrr well, — IN last resolve.'

ING I BO HO

I have bethought me well, and to resol

FRITHIOr

. thm, Helge's titter, fare thec well1

INGIBORO

O Frithiof, Frithiof, is it thut we te\« And hast thou then no kindly glance for n Thy childhood's friend; hast thou no hand to offer

her unhappy, whom thou once didst lo\

•ik'st thou I stand on roses here, and cast Away with senselest tmilc my lifetimc't joy, Uprooting from my heart without a pang

hope beloved which with my growth hath grown ? Hast thou not been the day-dream of my heart ? All that I ever knew of joy was Frith: And all that life hath generous or brave

vcr in my mind thy image took. Oh! shadow not that image to me, meet

i harshness not the poor weak girl, who offers All that on earth's wide circuit she holds dear,— All that can dearest be in Valhall's halls. Frithiof, this sacrifice is hard enough, A word of comfort it might well dcscr I know thou lovest me; I knew it well, Already when our days began to bloom, And surely shall thy Ingborg's love pursue

102 I RI PHIOPS SAGA

Thee many a year, where'er thou maycst wend. Hut dm of arms at length will dull thy gn Which, floating far upon the stormy waves, Will find no place beside thee on the bench, When, glad with victory, thou dram'st the- horn. Yet now and then, when in the peace of night Thou musterest memories of the- bygone days, Amongst them may flit by an image pale \Vell known to thro, and bringing greeting fond

thy dear home, and it shall bear the- form Of the pale maid who dwells in Haider's gi Thou wilt not drive it from thcc, though its glance May troubled seem; ah! whisper but a word, One word of friendship to it, and the winds ( )f night on faithful wings will waft it me; One comfort left, the only one I own: For I have nothing to disperse my grief; All that surroundeth me rccalleth it: These lofty temple halls but speak of thee; Even Raider's image in the still moonlight, Threatening no longer, seems thy form to take. Seaward I look, — there swam thy keel, and clave Its way to me awaiting on the strand. Landward I look, — there standeth many a stem With Ingborg's name deep carved upon the bark: The trees stretch out, and so the name grows faint, 'T is but a token, as they say, of death. I ask of daylight, when it saw thee last ? Of night I ask, but she remaineth still. Even the sea, which beareth thee, returneth My questions only with a sigh to shore. Greetings I '11 send thee in the sunset red,

'I I HIM ,03

<^ur:i. h :. • .-s tirr« afar am«»iig»t thy w.

Each ;> thai >aiU tln-.u/h i 'all bear

A freight of »orr>

So in the maiden's chamber will 1

A dark-clad widow, mournm- i«»yj

oidering broken lilic-% m the frame, Till Spun;/, a nrxvU -woven carpet spread, Covcrc-il with *wn

Or, taking up my harp, Hess woe

Breathe forth in deepest tones ry,

( )r burst in tears, as n

FRITHIOF

. child of Bele; weep no m Forgive my anger: ah! 't was naught but gt Which for a moment borrowed anger's garb, — A garb which I can never carry long.

1 Ingeborg, thou art my Norna good; Tin- n.'Mc In-st nobility can teach; The wisdom of necessity can have Never a better advocate than thee, Oh1 l.'M-ly Vala, with the rosy lips.

I will vield before m

Will part from thce, but never part from hope. Hope I Ml bear with me o'er the western w.i I MI bear it with me to the gates of death.

h the first spring-day will I hie me home; Me shall King Helge soon, I trust, bt-1 My vow accomplished, and my task fulfilled, The crime forgiven of which I Ntand accused. Then shall I ask t) . shall claim thy hand

Upon the open Ting, 'nmUt naked swords,

io4 KKI nnoi -s SAGA

From Hclgc not, but fmm the Northland race, That is thy sponsor true, thou child of kings. 1 have a word for him who shall refuse. Till then, farewell, be true, remember me; And take, in memory of our childhood's love, My arm-ring here, Valunder's beauteous work. With heavenly wonders graven on the gold; Still worthier wonder is a faithful heart. How well it clingeth to thy dazzling arm — A glow-worm glittering on a lily-stem.

well, my bride, my darling, fare thee well; Bide a few moons, and all our grief is changed.

(AfM.)

INGEBORG

How proud, how valiant, and how strong in hope,

The point he sctteth of his trusty sword

At Norna's breast, and crieth — "Thou must yield."

Ah! my poor Frithiof, Norna never yields;

She goes her way, and laughs at Angurvadel.

How little knowest thou my sullen brother!

Thine open valiant soul can never fathom

The gloomy depths of his; nor tell the hate

That burneth fiercely in his envious breast.

His sister's hand to thce he'll never give.

Far sooner will he risk his crown, his life,

And offer me to hoary Odin, or

To aged Ring, with whom he now contends.

Where'er I look, I see no hope for me;

Yet am I glad, it liveth in thine heart.

So I will keep my sorrow for mvself;

And, oh! may all the good gods follow thee!

1 KI I III' ' 105

shall help me well to tell The dreary months off, in consuming care; Two, four, and six, — then mayett th«»u return, lint i.e..; find again thine Ingeborg.

IX INGEBOKcrs LAMENTATION

" AUTUMN is here;

High-heaving Ocean its waves doth rear; And still, here, far from my home, Gladly I 'd roam.

" Long did I view

His sail in the west, on its mursc as it flew; Oh ! happy, my Frithiof to follow Over the billow.

"Ye blue billows rough, Swell not so high; ye speed swiftly enough. Shine brightly, ye stars, to display To my Frithiof his way.

" He will be home

With Spring; but his dear one will come No more to his love-breathing call In valley or hall.

"Ghastly, and cold

To the voice of his love, she shall lie in the mould; Or, offered for her brother's need, Lamenting, bleed.

"Thou, his falcon, art left; Mine shall thou be, and I Ml treasure the gift; But by me, thou wing'd hunter of heaven, Thy food shall be given.

KRirillo JA 107

u r (hou shah claim,

Displayed mi Ins xvnst mi the 'broidering fru Thy wingi of Mixer folding Thy talons golden.

"Freya, in m Took falcon's wings once, through t«.

speed,

And her Oedur beloved sought forth In south and in nonh.

ildcst ihou share Thy pinions with me, sc.» vcight could

they tx-ar:

'T is death, and death only, that brings Celestial wings.

-hunter bra

Perch on my shoulder, and gaze o'er the wave. Alas! how long may we gaze While Frithiof delays.

"When I am dead

He will return; to my message give heed — Welcome and comfort, over and cr

My M»rro\vini: lux or."

X FRITHIOF AT SEA

Now, King Hclgc stood

In fury on the strand, And in embittered mood

Adjured the Storm-fiend's band.

Gloomy is the heaven growing,

Through desert skies the thunders roar, In the deep the billows brewing

Cream with foam the surface o'er. Lightnings cleave the storm-cloud, seeming

Blood-red gashes in its side; And all the sea-birds, wildly screaming,

Fly the terrors of the tide.

" Storm is coming, comrades, Its angry wings I hear Flapping in the distance, But tearless we may be. Sit tranquil in the grove, And fondly think on me, Lovely in thy sorrow, Beauteous Ingeborg."

Now two storm-fiends came

Against Ellida's side; One was wind-cold Ham,

One was snowy Heyd.

;A 109

Loose set t) M|x-st'> pinions,

Down diving in ocean dt Billow*, f'n.in unseen dormm-

To the god's abode they sweep. All the powers of frightful death,

Astride upon the rapid wave. Rise from the foaming depths beneath,

The bottomless, unfathomed grave.

.lircr was mey

Beneath the shining moon, Over the mirrory ocean To Haider's sacred grove. Warmer far than here Was Ingborg's loving heart ; Whiter than the sea-foam Heaved her gentle breas'

Now Solundar-oe

Arise -th M..IH the foam; ner the sea doth grow

As near the p«>rt thr\ o>me.

But for safety valiant \* iking

Will not readily del. At the helm he stands, delighting In the tempest's storr

the sheets more close belaying, •u-r through the surge he clea Westward, further westward flying Light 1\ ..Yr the rapid xv.i

io FRITHIO1 ;\

kk Yet longer do 1 liiul it sweet To battle with the breeze, Thunderstorm and Northman meet, Exulting on the seas. For shame might Ingborg blush, If her osprey flew, Frightened by a storm-stroke, Heavy-winged to land."

Now ocean fierce battles,

The wave-troughs deeper grow,

The whistling cordage rattles, The planks creak loud below.

But though higher waves appearing

Seem like mountains to engage, Brave Ellida, never fearing,

Mocks the angry ocean's rage. Like a meteor, flashing brightness,

Darts she forth, with dauntless breast, Bounding, with a roebuck's lightness,

Over trough and over crest.

"Sweeter were the kisses Of Ingborg, in the grove, Than here to taste in tempest High-sprinkled, briny foam. Better the royal daughter Of Bele to embrace, Than here, in anxious labor, The tiller fast to hold."

rklllllo ,,,

Whirling cold and fait,

rath* fill the tail; ck and mast Patter* heavy hail.

11 they src no m< thu-k ii darkness spread; As gloom and

chamber «>| the .:• Still to sink the sailor dashes Implacable each angry w.i Gray, as if bestrewn with ashes, Yawns the endless, awful gr.i

r us, in bed of ocean, Azure pillows Ran prepares; On thy pillow, Ingeborg,

i thinkcst u.

Higher ply, my comrades, Klliila's sturdy oars; Good ship, heaven-fashioned, Bear us on an hour."

O'er the side apace

Now a sea hath lea: In an mount's space

Clear the deck is swept.

arm now Frithiof hastens To draw his ring, three marks in weight;

the morning sun it glistens, The golden gift of Bele great.

ii2 KRI fHIOrS SAGA

With his sword in pieces cutting The famous work of pigmies' art

Shares he quickly, none forgetting, Unto every man a part.

"Gold is good possession When one goes a-wooin Let none go empty handed Down to azure Ran. Icy are her kisses, Fickle her embraces; But we '11 charm the sea-bride With our ruddy gold."

Fiercer than at first,

Again the storm attacks,

And the sails are burst, And the rudder cracks.

O'er the ship half buried tearing,

Now the waves an entrance gain, At the pumps the crew, despairing,

Fail to drive them forth again. Frithiof now no longer doubteth

That he Death had got on board, Still above the storm he shouteth,

Dauntless, with commanding word.

u Bjorn, come to the rudder, Hold it tight as bear's hug; Valhall's power sendeth No such storm as this.

IIJ

Now it work is magic : Coward Hclgc ungeth Spells above (he ocean : 1 will mount to toe*'*

as martin^ Sped he up the mast, And thence, seated high, A glance around he cast.

A whale before Kllida gliding,

Like a loose island, s And two base ocean demons riding,

Upon his back, the stormy sea. Heyd, in snow-garb shining brightly,

In semblance of an icy bear; Ham, his loud wings flapping widely, •-• a storm-bird high in air.

"Now, Kllida, let us see If in truth thou bearest Valor in thine iron-fastened Breast of bended oak. Hearken to my calling

HI be heaven's daughter, Up! and with thy keel of copper ULMC whale."

Now heed Kllida giveth UntD her lord's behest:

With a bound she cleavcth Deep the monster's bre.i

ii4 FRI PHIOPS SAGA

n ot" blood hath hounded,

Spouting upwards to the sky, Diving down, the brute, deep-wounded,

Sinketh, bellowing, to die. Together now two darts arc c .

Flung by FrithioPs arm so fierce: Through the ice-bear one hath passed,

One the storm-bird's breast doth pierce.

"Well stricken, brave Ellida: Not soon again, I wager, Shall Helge's magic vessel Rise on the gory wave. Heyd and Ham no longer Now bewitch the ocean; Full bitter is the biting Of the purple steel."

At once the storm-wind, leaving The ocean calm and clear,

Still wafteth on its heaving The ship to islands near.

And, all at once, the sun appearing,

Like a monarch in his hall, New life and new delights seems bearing

To ship and wave, to hill and vale; His silent radiance crowneth high

The lofty cliff, the forest's bound: And all rejoicingly descry

The grassy shores of Efjesund.

;A 115

'A\C Ingcborg's en: Have risen to Valhalla, — M my lily bended Before the ^

The tear* in her cye% *o lovely, sight of her swan-like h«»- Ha\ i mortals:

u thanks."

But Ellida's prow

Hath "tin km with MII I That slow she crawlcth now,

A-weary of her course.

Weary too with dangerous sailing Now arc -\ comrades bold,

the swords they lean on, failing

us erect to hold. On sturdy shoulders Bjorn doth fern

•he land;

But mighty Frithiof eight doth carry • the ftrc upon the strand.

" Blush not, pale companions, Waves are sturdy Vikings, And bitter 't is to battle \Vjth the ocean maids. Sec, the mead-horn cometh, On feet of gold it circleth , Our limbs benumb'd we Ml warm again With skal for Ingcborg."

XI FRITHIOF WITH ANGANTYR

Now also yc the talc shall hear

How, with his vassals all, Drank joyfully Yarl Angantyr

In the fir-wood fashioned hall. In mirth and gladness sitting, he

The blue waves looked upon, As down the sun sank in the sea,

Like to a golden swan.

In the deep bow of the window wide

Old Halvar, keeping ward, With one eye viewed the spreading tide,

With one his mead did guard. A habit strange the old man had —

He 'd ever empty the cup, And into the hall, with gesture sad,

For more would hold it up.

But now he cries, as the empty horn

Into the hall he throws, "A ship upon the sea is borne,

Full heavily she goes; Now seemeth she to tarry,

Now reacheth she the land; Two mighty giants carry

The pale crew to the land."

O'er ocean's wide dominions The Yarl now looketh he;

KkllHlo ,17

nose are Kllida's pinions,

That, too, mu»t Knthiof be: By such a proud appearing

Must Thontcn'f ton be kno In all the North such bearing

Belongs to him alone."

rth from the board, in furious mood,

•h Viking Atlc rise, Black-bearded Berserk, craving blood,

Rage flashing from his eyes: "Now, now," he cries, "my hand shall show

If Krithiof, as they say, A spell o'er steel itself can throw, And ne'er for quarter pray."

:h him sprung up twelve comrades there,

Twelve comrades from the board; They wield the club, they cleave the air

:h fiercely brandished sword. Thcv ru>h down to the level strand,

Where rests the ship at length, And Krithiof sitteth on the sand,

Bespeaking might and strength.

case my sword should fell thee nou Doth boastful Atle i Hut that the choice I still allow To combat or to

It sue for peace from me ough cruel name I bear),

n8 KR1THIOI > >.\(JA

Then, as a friend, I '11 go with thcc To noble Angantyr."

"My journey's toil hath left me weak,"

(^iioth Frithioi', tu rv- stir red; u Yet, ere a craven peace I seek,

I Ml prove thy mighty sword." Flashes the steel with lightnings, flung

From nervous, sunburnt hand ; Each Rune on Angurvadel's tongue In burning flame doth stand.

The clashing weapons, showering, strike

A hail of death-strokes round; The shattered shields of both alike

Fall shivering to the ground. Their comrades brave stand firm and fast,

And none his place forsake ; Keen Angurvadel bites at last;

The blade of Atle breaks.

"'Gainst swordlcss man," bold Frithiof cried, uMy sword I never use; But let us try another fight,

If other fight thou choose." Like floods, in autumn meeting,

Each rusheth on his foe; Breastplate on breastplate beating,

As they wrestle for the throw.

They wrestle like an angry pair Of bears upon the snow;

FRITHIOPS SAC- 119

struggling high in air,

Ab« :«>w.

Have tottered from their ancient place

Full many a massive rex And many an oak, of sturdy race,

At far a slighter shock.

•n heavy brows the sweat drops d<>

Their breath comes cold and hard;

each shrub and M Around them un the sward. To see the end in fear delays Each troop upon the strand;

ie was that tight, in ancient days, Krnoxvn'd through. >ut tin- l.uui.

But I rithiof felled his foe at I. And bore him to the earth, id knelt upon his heaving breast, And spoke in tones of wrath: — '•( >h' hail I hut my broadsword true,

k-bcarded Berser •

Mi. mil! ;><>int triumphant through

Your entrails, as

u Be that hut little cause for care,"

Was Atlc's firm replv; uGo fetch thv n. upon there,

ii no escape I '11 t

We both must pass from earth away, Valhalla's joys to see;

120 FRITHIOPS >\c;A

And if I wander there to-day, To-morrow may fetch thee."

Now, noble Frit hint", widely praised,

The strife to finish thought, Keen Angurvadel high he raised,

But Atle trembled not. This touched his mighty victor's soul,

And laid his anger low; He checked the stroke, with glad control,

And raised his fallen foe.

Then loud the aged Halvar cried,

His white staff raising forth, "Through this your strife ye have supplied

But little cause for mirth. Long since the silver dishes high

Send forth their steaming breath, And fish and flesh grow cold, whilst I

Am thirsting unto death."

Now reconciled, the warriors bold

Pass through the open door, And much did Frithiof there behold

He ne'er had seen before. No rough-hewn planks here cover

The naked walls so wide; But leather, gilded over,

With flowers and berries bright.

Not on the centre pavement glowed The fire, with merry glare,

rki i

«>*e by every wall there

A stove of marble fair. No smoke within the chamber sta\

The wills no dampness b Frames filled with glass the windows had,

And a lock was on the door.

All filled with light, the branches fair Spread out their silver boughs;

•re the crackling pine-torch glare Illumined the carouse. Cooked whole, a stag, with larded breast, Adorned the table round;

leaf-decked, its gilt hoof raised, As if about to bound.

There stood a damsel, lily-fair,

To each rough comrade nigh; As beameth forth a glittering star

Throughout a stormy sky. Their tresses brown luxuriant flowed;

M their eyes of blue; Their little lips like roses glowed, wn ripe in summer's dew.

High sate upon his silver throne

The Yarl, in splendor bold; Bright as the sun his helmet shone,

breastplate blazed with g< With stars embroider'd, bright did gleam

His mantle, rich and fine;

122 KRITHinrs SAGA

And every purple-glowing seam Did spotless ermine line.

Forth from the board three paces

He goes to meet his guest; He takes his hand, and places

Him at his side to rest: — "Since here full many a creaming horn

With Thorsten emptied we, His son, whose fame so far is bonu ,

Shall not sit far from me."

The great Angantyr fills the cup

With wine of Sicily, Like flashing flame it sparkles up

All foaming, like the sea. "Right welcome be thou to my hall

In ancient friendship's name; The mighty Thorsten's skal we all

Shall drink with loud acclaim."

A hoary bard, from Morven's heights,

Accords the tuneful lyre, And loud, in glowing tones, recites

A hero-song of fire; But in the old Norrana tongue,

The speech of ancient days, The hero Thorsten's fame was sung,

And all the song did praise.

Then much to hear the Yarl did crave, Of his kindred in the North;

SAGA 1 23

And prudent i clearly gave

The wisest answers f And >g he truly tells,

cs each his proper fu Saga, goddess bright, who dwells In ihc v

And now doth Knthiof rehearse His voyage, lately d«

power, and Helgc's curse, By him had been o'ert brown. The- vassals shout in joyous strain,

id laughs bold Angair And Frithiof greater glory gains As higher rose the cheer.

Mut \\hen of' Ingborg, dear and fair,

The talc doth reach their ears, •hie in her grief and care,

So lovely in her tears; Deep sighs escape from laboring breast,

( )M t.nr cheeks blushes stand, M\ r\erv maiden fond is pressed

Her faithful l<>\ir\ hand.

And now, his mission to complete,

Doth Frithiof bold prepare, Angamyr stirred : his seat

Mut gave him hearing fair. 11 answered: — UI no homage do;

I and my race are free;

i24 FRITHIOPS SAGA

King Bclc's skal we tlrink, 't is true, Hut he never governed nu-.

"His heirs, indeed, I never knew;

If tribute they demand, Then let them sue as men should d<«,

Insisting sword in hand. Then on the shore my sword shall shim-;

But Th«>rsten held I dear." And with his hand he gives a sign

To his daughter sitting near.

Up sprung the lovely Flower-charm

th from her gilded chair; How slender was her little form,

How round her bust so fair. In dimple deep was throned the sprite

Astrild, in roguish glee, As sits the butterfly so bright

In the rose delightingly.

To the women's chambers hasting,

She soon, with purse of green, Returned, on which were rivers

Through woods, embroidered seen. And there displayed, the calm moonlight

Seemed ocean to behold; The clasp was made of rubies bright ;

The tassels were of gold.

The maiden laid the purse so fair In her great father's hands,

LTTHIO 125

Up l«» the- limn I

—

uay'st will . \\ ith u* in j> Mill.

k Though vilor never should be scorned,

ui w the storm rules vs >w again to life rctur: : wager Ham and Heyd. Kllida may not always leap

So luckily a;

And whales arc plenty in the deep, Though one she may have slain."

And so in merry mood they stay'd

morning's sun did rise: oft-drained golden goblets made Them glad, but not unwise. With skal to Angantvr, at last, horn they loudly drain : So, safely housed, till winter passed, Did Krithiof remain.

XII FRITH ioK'S RETURN

SPRING breathes again in ether blue, In green the earth is clad anew;

Then Krithiof thanketh his host: again He mounteth up on the heaving main; And gaily his sable swan doth make On her glassy course a silvery wake. For the western winds, with the voice of Spring, Like nightingales in his bright sails sing; And the blue-veiled daughters of /Kgir speed His flight as they dance o'er the glittering mead. Oh! it is sweet when from distant strand

The sails swell back to that native land, Where the smoke from one's own loved hearth appears, And thoughts awaken of childhood's years, — Where play-grounds are mirrored in tranquil waves, Where forefathers lie in their grassy graves; And the faithful maiden, longingly Standing on lofty rocks, watcheth the sea.

Six days he sailed, and the seventh shows A dark-brown stripe, which larger grows, And 'gainst the edge of heaven doth stand, With cliffs, with isles, and at last with land. His home, from ocean risen, is seen, Its forests wide arrayed in green; He hears the foaming surge's shocks Break on the marble-breasted rocks; He greets the bay and the heights above,

PRITHIOI 127

And sails close under the holy gr«

f»e put iuinincr, %o many i night. He had tat with hi* Ingborg in t«>ml delight. u A p pea ret h the not, and can she not guest

>vr near o'er the dark-blue waves I press? Or doth she, from Haider's temple g<> Now dwelling at Helge's court al< Sorrow by harp, or by golden wt>

his falcon now from the temple roof Arising, as often before he hath d- To Frithiofs shoulder hath suddenly flown, Eagerly flapping with snowy wing, —

I from his shoulder can nobody bring. With u'lded claw he scrau lu-th m haste, — He giveth no peace, he giveth no rest ; To Frithiofs ear he bendeth his beak, As if some message he sought to speak, Perchance from Ingborg, the bride so dear, But the tale he telleth can no man hear.

The last point now doth Kllida pass,

Bounding, as deer bound over the grass,

The well-known waters her keel doth plough,

Glad standrth Frithiof in the prow.

He rubbeth his eyes, and with trembling hand

He shadeth his brow, he scanneth the strand;

But long though he rub them, and far though he see,

Kramnas no more discovereth he.

Naught but the naked chimney there

Standeth, like warriors' bones laid bar

Where his court-yard had been is desert land,

ii8 FRITHIOPS SAGA

And ashes whirl round the lonely strand. In fury down from his ship he hasteth; A glance on his ruined dwelling casteth, His father's dwelling — his childhood's home.

Now Bran, the wiry-haired, doth come,

His dog, who often, as true as bold,

For him the wild bears helped to hold ;

Full high he leapeth with many a spring,

In joy his master welcoming.

The milk-white steed, with the golden mane,

With stag-swift hoofs, and with lengthy rein,

Which Frithiof so oft had ridden around,

Speeds through the valley with eager bound,

And, neighing gladly, archeth his neck,

And bread from his master's hand doth seek.

Hut Frithiof, poorer than the pair,

Hath naught with the faithful brutes to share.

Houseless and sad, on his father's ground,

Now Frithiof standeth, gazing round;

Until of Hilding he is 'ware,

His foster-sire, with silvery hair: —

"At what I see I scarce can wonder, When the eagle flicth, the nest they plunder. Is this the way that a king should guard? — Well holdeth Helge his royal word; For heavenly dread, and human hate, And plundering flames, are his Eriksgate: Yet this brings rather rage than care: But tell me where is Ingborg, where?"

"The tale I Ml tell thee," the old man said;

"Though I fear thou 'It find it but little glad.

Ilillo 129

Scarce wast tbou gone when Ring drew n<

MC his warriors w

Disar's vale t> h blood-red loan > waters fraught.

Haifdan, unchanging, laughed and played, .vielded, like a nun, I.

-nth 1 held im shield,

And was jmmd <»t ht, ^ht maiden Held.

Yet soon gave way our weakened hos

!ge fled, and then all was lost. The Av rd,

Passing, in flames thy dwelling set. No i the vanquished Ring would leave:

in should give;

Naught should appease him save her hand: Refused, he 'd seize both their crown and land. Backwards and forwards the messengers h: And now King Ring hath led home his br

UO woman, woman," Frithiof said, • thought that Loke had Was to frame a lie, and he sent it forth In woman's form to man on earth. With false blue eye, and with faithless tear, Deceiving ever, yet ever dear; With rosy cheeks, and with bosom fair, Thy faith like spring-ice, thy truth like air, :ie heart but echoing with deceit,

treachery set in thy lips so sweet. Ingborg, darling of my heart, v dear thou hast been, and how dear thou art! Far as I back my thoughts can guide,

130 FRI I HIOPS SAGA

I *ve known no joy hut by thy side;

In every act and in every thought,

Thou wast the highest pn/e I sought.

As trees from earth together grown,

If Thor with lightning smite the one,

The other fades: if one grows green,

The other shares us leafy sheen:

So joy and care we 've shared and known :

I never felt myself alone.

Now I am lonely; — thou lofty Var,

Who, with thy golden tablets, far

Dost watch each mortal vow t' enrol,

Cease thy vain labor; burn thy scroll:

But lies to chronicle they serve,

And better fate doth gold deserve.

Of Balder's Nanna truth is told,

No truth can heart of mortal hold ;

Man's breast is filled with falsehood through,

Since Ingborg's voice could prove untrue;

That voice, like wind caressing flowers,

Or strain from Brage's harp that showers,—

The joyous harp no more I '11 hear,—

I '11 think no more of my faithless fair.

Where storm-winds sport I Ml make my pillow

Blood shalt thou quaff, thou ocean-billow.

Where'er a sword grave-seeds can sow,

O'er hill or dale, my joy shall grow;

And meet I a crown'd king anywhere,

I '11 laugh to see how his life I Ml spare.

But should I find, where shields clash loud,

Some love-sick youth amongst the crowd,

FRi nnors \-

v* can lake,

I '1! :i down for mercy'i i^>

And spare him the grief one ilu\ iu be .iken, divrji ct!, and betra 'd like

. tMtilrch youthful M«> The aged Hilding said: ** 'Twere good That snows of eld should cool its heat. — Much wrongest thou the noble maid: My foster-daughter cease •

:»e can turn aside, —

-c weapons smite

The sons of earth from the stormy height. True! Ingborg's sorrowing few men heard. Like Mlrnt Vular, she spake no word: Hut she grieved and pined, as in southern shade !me-lorn turtle-dove mourns its mate. M me alone her grief she would share, To me her measureless woe decla; As with stricken breast the sea-mew diveth To deepest ocean, and <• th

To hide her wound from the sight of day, And deep-laid, blecdeth her life away: So in silence deep sank her sorrow down : To me only the grief that she bore is known.

u 4 For Bclc's kingdom/ full oft she said, 4 A sacrifice must I be made; And garlands of snowdrops and evergreen .ill deck the land's peace-offering.

( )h' I omlii ilie, but 't were fate too mild,

i32 FRITHIOPS SAGA

By naught will Balder be reconciled Save a living death of lingering pain, With a beating heart, and a throbbing brain. But to none of my sorrow, I charge tlu-r, My fate may be hard, yet no pity I seek; King Bele's daughter her doom will bear — Yet greet from his Ingborg my Frithiof dear.'

u()n the morn of the bridal (ah! sad-fated day, From my runestaff, oh! would I could score it away), To the temple passed the slow-pacing train Of white-cladden maidens, and sword-bearing men. By the sorrowing Skald the troop was led; The bride sate pale on a coal-black steed, Pale as the spirit that sitteth upon The thunder-rack dark, when the storm rageth on. From the saddle I lifted the fair lily down; To the temple threshold I led her on; By the altar standing she uttered there Her vow to Lofn, and her voice was clear; And she prayed to Balder fervently, And all wept tears, but no tear wept she. Of thy ring which she wore then was Helge 'ware, And he tore it with force from her arm so fair; And the image of Balder he decked with the gold. My fury no longer could I withhold; My trusty sword from my side I drew forth, And King Helge's life was then little worth. But Ingeborg whispered me — 'Let things be; Such pang might a brother have spared to me; But much must be borne ere life's sorrows be past, Between us Allfader will judge at the last.'"

KRIIHlo 133

Quoth Fr ndgcth/t it '

t judgment 1 Ml utter too: It not to-night Balder*! midsummer feast? I '11 rind in the temple thai i .-.vn- wearing pricit, — That fire-raising king, who his sister could sell, And my share of judgment shall please me well."

XIII BALDER'S BALE-FIRE

MIDNIGHT sun on the mountains lay

Blood-red to the sight; The air was filled with vapor gray

Neither of day nor of night.

And Haider's pile, of the glowing sun A symbol true, blazed forth;

But soon its splendor sinketh down When Hoder rules the earth.

And round about the priests stood there,

All busied with the brands, Pale-faced seers, with hoary hair,

And flint-stone knives in horny hands.

Serving by the altar, crown'd,

King Helge standeth near. At midnight, hark! thro' the grove around

The clash of arms they hear.

"Bjorn, the portals guard, and so We'll captive take them all; In or out let no man go, Sooner cleave his skull."

Pale the King grew; all too well He knew the voice for doubting:

In stalked Frithiof, furious, fell, Like autumn tempest shouting:

FRITHIOFS SAGA 135

c '•» the .t thy desire

1 've fetched K ca;

Take it ' and battle by Balder** fire For life and death with :•

elds on our backs, arms bare and I. Lest tame our strife be r< Be the first stroke, as a King, to thee, Remember, I have the second.

44 Glance not, craven, at the door;

In C«>\c: 1 \c trapped the fox:

Think upon Framnas — think, still more, On Ingborg's golden locks."

So valiant Krithiof spake with scum,

And carelessly did fling The purse, from off his girdle torn,

At the forehead of the King.

Blood fnxn ..tit his lips there oozed,

Gloom took his sight away; By his altar, stunned and bruis'd,

The god-descended lay.

"Thine own red gold canst thou not bear,

Basest of Northmen, now ? Then, shame for Angurvadel *t were To fell such dross as thou.

"Avaunt, ye priests, with your altar kn Pale moonshine princes curst,

136 FRITH lOF'S SA(; A

Or little I '11 reck to take your lives To quench my good sword's thirst.

UO! Balder bright, forgive the harm;

Thine angry glances spare; Yon ring of gold upon thine arm Is naught but stolen ware.

u Never for thee, be it boldly said,

'I was forged by the great Valunder: 'T was torn by a thief from a mourning maid, Away with his graceless plunder."

Boldly dragged he, but arm and ring

Seemed to be grown the same, Till, coming loose, the force doth fling

The god into the flame.

Hark! it crackles, the golden blaze

Reacheth the roof-tree fast, Bjorn, pale as death, at the portal sta

Frithiof stands aghast.

"Let all men out, cast wide the door,

Thy watch no longer heed; The temple flames, pour water, — pour The ocean-tide with speed."

Down from the temple to the strand

They knit a chain of hands, The billows flow on from hand to hand

And hiss upon the brands.

UTHIO1 137

the god of rain doch 1 Hi- ram* and water,

And calmly gives each loud command Midst flaming death's disordc

In vain* the flames gain the upper hand, is rolled and swelled. The gold drops into the glowing sand, plates of silver melt.

Now all is lost! From the half-burnt hall

His flight a red cock win.- And he percheth high on the gable tall,

And there wing-flapping clingeth.

rning wind from the north hath hied, Far through the heavens blowing: Haider's grove is summer-dried, The flame is greedy and growing.

it speedeth from tree to tree, A wide possession claiming: Ha! what a tierce wild sight to see Great Balder's mighty flaming.

A-n in each cleft root it crack let h still, High in each summit gloweth;

st Muspel's ruddy sons, what skill Of man a barrier knoweth :

A sea of flame fills Balder's ground, > billows stream ;

138 FRITH loi-'S SAGA

The sun mounts up, but rtord and sound Mirror forth naught but flame.

In ashes lies the temple's pride, The grove to ashes burncth,

And wretched Frithiof turns aside,

Through morning's hours he mourneth.

XIV

FRITHIOI I INTO BANISHM

ON dec hi

( }f summer ni^ht, Sat Frichiuf grieving;

<• ocean heaving. Hit bosom sad

h awe and dread; Thick smoke still climbing From the temple's flaming.

"To Valhall* fly

>ui;h lottv ||

> c smoke-wreaths, seeking Balder, bespeaking His rage, just meed To me decreed; Dread tidings giving To echoing heaven Of the temple bound Razed to the ground; Of the image famed, \\hich, falling, flamed, And, charred away, Like fire-wood lay. Of the grove telling (Religion's dwelling, Where never sword In strife was heard) hi ruins buried By flames unwearied.

140 I RI PHIOPS SAGA

All that hath been, All thou hast seen, No jot forgetting, Speed thou relating, Envoy of cloud, To the cloudy god.

"Mild Helge's glory Shall live in story, Not with his hand Forth from the land Me doth he banish; I yield, I vanish O'er realms more wide Of the azure tide. Thou must not tarry, Far must thou hurry, Ellida, forth To the ends of earth ; Fed in thy roaming By ocean's foaming, My dragon good, A drop of blood Can harm thee never; Speed thou on ever. Where tempests roam Thou art my home, The Asen-brother Consumed the other. Far must I wend From fatherland;

IKIIHIo ,4,

rh,

My fotter-cirth, Be ihou my pride,

>u dark-robed hr :*e was my ochcr Hridc to her K.ver.

flowing sea! No trouble tu thee If monarch's grieving, king's deceiving. . can be

•icr

Who never feareth, Though lofty rearcth . foaming breast Its billows tost. Thine a/urc furrows Are tilled by heroes: Through them like plough The keel il.-th go.

'Neath oak's wide shadow Blood dews the meadow. Sown is death's seed

m bright steel shed. Who ocean reapeth, Thence glory keepeth, - Gold cometh too;

me be true,

u stormy billow; And I will follow.

I kHHIOrs SAGA

My father's grave

uls still and safe; Calm waters nun. T His grass-green pillow. Blue shall mine be, In the foaming sea; Sturdily floating, Midst tempests shouting, Till I sink to sleep In the boundless deep. My life art thou, ocean, My home, my possession And shalt be my grave, r-'ree flowing wave."

So spake he madly, As piloting sadly His vessel, he bore Forth from the shore; And coasted slowly The headlands holy, Which still stand forth, Guarding the North. But vengeance waketh: With ten ships seeketh King Helge wight To check his flight. Then shouted they all, Now Helge will fall: He offereth strife, Nor careth for life Here 'neath the moon.

FRlTIIK>r> SAGA 143

This Valhall's ton >g to rise native si

And, km to the gods, Seekcth Odin's abode

Scarce was this said,

When Hclge's He By unseen power, Sank lower and lower; Still sinking on, Till settled ti Midst Rana's dead.

•timing, in dread, I )oth Helgc reach Alone the b<

Bjorn, loud laughed he, And quoth mcrr

•din's blood, My craft was good; When none was nigh, Thv ships bored I Last night with speed, A worthy deed ! May Rana keep Them in the deep, As is h< I but lament That from the wave Thou shouldst be sa-

144 FRITHIOJ *S SAGA

( )n rocky shore, His peril o'er, King Helge stood In wrathful mood: His bow, ere long Of steel, he strung, And scarcely knew How far he drew, Till with a twang In twain it sprang.

But Frithiof stayed His lance, and said: "Thy death-bird here Enchained I bear: O coward king, If I freed its wing, Low shouldst thou lie For thy villany. Yet ease thy fears: My lance ne'er cares For cowards' blood; She 's far too good For such base uses; And rather chooses Her sign to grave On tombs of the brave, Than on pillars of shame, Where is branded thy name, Thy fame on sea Is lost to thee; And e'en on earth

KkilHlo ,4S

T is little worth. Kuie snipped thy bow, Not strength, At nobler gtme Thin thee 1 aim, — T were shame to me To slaughter the

Then bent he o rdy oar,

tall

In Ciudbrand's vale. He grasped its fellow, And o'er the billow He rowed with speed; Kike bending reed, Or broadsword's tongue, The stout oars sprung.

Up rose the sun,

i the clitfs he shone; And the breeze, speeding From shore, seemed bidding

h wave to dance In morning's glance. O'er the billow's crest Kllida pressed Merry and glad; But Frithiof said:

"Crest of creation,

Thou noble North,

i46 FRITHIOFS SAGA

I have no place on

Thy well-loved earth; From thec forever

My sail must swell; Thou nurse of valor,

Farewell, farewell.

"Farewell, thou brightest

Valhalla-throne; Thou, gloom that lightest,

Midsummer sun! Thou sky, unclouded,

Where heroes dwell, Where bright stars wander, I .t re well, farewell.

"Ye mighty cliffs,

Famed evermore, Rune-written temples

Of terrible Thor : Each azure sea,

That I 've known so well, Each isle and bay,

Farewell, farewell.

" Farewell, ye graves

By the ocean's foam, Where the linden-tree waves

Down its snowy bloom, (But Saga judgeth, And judgeth well

FKII UK » 1 SAGA

1 1 earth coneealethi Farewell, farewell1

Farewell, each gr And each gnu* ,

By the rippling brook.

idi of my youth, 1 loved you well; Hut we part •

Farewell, farewell'

h fondness spurned, With honor stained, With dwelling burned, And banishn i land I part

I swell — Ah joy of heart,

:, farewell'"

XV VIKINGABALK

Now wide swept he round on the wilderness deep; he sped

far, like the prey-seeking hawk, lor his comrades on board he wrote counsel and law; wilt

thou hear now his Vikingabalk?

"Make no tent upon deck, sleep not under a roof, within

doors a foe may surprise:

( )n his shield Viking sleepeth, his sword in his hand, and maketh his tent of the skies.

"Short shaft hath the hammer of conquering Thor; a su or.i

but an ell long hath Frey;

'T is enough, for thy sword can be never too short, hast thou heart to thy foe to come nigh.

" When the storms rage with might, hoist the sail to its height,

then are merry the storm-ridden waves; Speed along! speed along! and sink sooner than strike, for they who would strike are but slaves!

"Shelter woman on land ; keep her far from your bark, she 'd

deceive, ay, though Freya she were: For her dimple so deep is a pitfall untrue, and a net is her wide-waving hair.

"Wine is Valfader's drink, and carouse is allowed, if thou

drainest uninjured the can;

If thou fallest on land, thou may'st rise, but fall here, and thou sinkest to sleep-giving Ran.

KKJl Hl< >

en a merchant tails by, spare hi% sin 5. , by the weak let a tribute for safety be told i

11 art king on chy wave*, he a ilave to his gain, and thy steel is is good as bis gold.

:d the lot all your |»n/c% divide , how they fall, om plain never c..

r »eu-kmg himself catteth i»r\cr a lot, kcepeth only his fame as his share.

nes a Vikinga-ship, and we board it and fight, when the

f'c waxeth hot ' nr.it h each shield, It th.-u yield hut a pace, thou art parted from UN law, and so do as thou wilt.

uHast thou conquered? Give grace, he's no longer a foe, who

defenceless • :h pray;

Pale Prayer is Valhalla's chil. :.> its voice; he is

worthless who then sayeth Nay.

M Scars are gain to a Viking; a man they adorn, if on brow

•n bosom they sta

:hem bleed on unbound until evening become; if not, thou must part from our band."

So wrote lu- his law, and his fame day by day to far-! borders was brought;

like never sped o'er the blue heaving sea, and his com- rades full lustily fought.

Hut himself by the tiller sat, gloom, of mien, and gazed • ocean, and thought :

150 i-kiriiioi > >\C;A

u Deep art thou ; in thy depths, perhaps, peace may be found, but above I discover it i

" It the White One still rage, let him draw forth his Made;

I Ml fall gladly, if so 't is designed;

But he sitteth in heaven, and sendeth down thoughts that darken forever my mind."

Still, when battle drew near, like an eagle refreshed rose

his spirit in valorous flight, And clear grew his brow, and high raised he his voice, and

stood forth like the Thunderer bright.

So from conquest to conquest he sped, and from care-, in

the ocean he sought for release, And islands and cliffs passed he southward, and so came

he into the waters of Greece.

As his glance on the groves rising up from the sea, and the

temples, now desolate, fell, What he felt Freya knew, and the bard too must know;

and ye, lovers, ye know it full well.

" Here should we have dwelt; here the isle, here the grove,

here the temple my sire shadowed forth ; It was hither I prayed my beloved to come; but the cruel one stayed in the North.

"Doth contentment not dwell in yon valley of bliss, and

peace round those pillars so strong? Like the whispers of love sounds the murmuring brook, like a bride-hymn the nightingale's song.

SAGA 151

i* Ingcborg now? Hath ihr rVr thought of me, with her aged spouse withered and gr.t

an forget i hut to »ec h< whole life

^ive gladly away.

ce years have sped by tin I beheld, great

Saga's roajestical hall;

Stand forth still 'gainst the heaven I. • cliffs on )

groweth green still my ancestors' vale?

the in.. u ml, where my father is laid, did I plant a lin- den-tree, bloometh it now ?

Who hath tended it since? Give it nurture, () Kan h, and thy dew icy, sprinkle tl

I longer on billows afar, for slaughter and plundering pi

I have honor ..ind the red-flaming gold, the worth-

less, my soul doth despise.

"The flag on my mast streameth back to the North; to t he-

North, to my fatherland r!

I 'II follow the course of the heaven , back again to

im Northland I'll su

XVI ! RITHIOF AND BJORN

KKITHIOF

BjttRN, I am weary of wave and of sea,

>terous comrades the billows have proved; Far in the North the proud headlands beloved Back, with resistless might, beckon to me. They are happy from home who have never departed, Ne'er banished afar from their ancestors' graves! Too long, alas! all too long broken-hearted, I 've wandered around on the wide-heaving waves.

Good is the ocean, in vain dost thou chide;

Freedom and gladness thrive best on the seas;

Little they reck of effeminate ease

Loving afar on the billows to ride.

When I grow old, upon land I will house,

And cling in my turn to it, close as the grass;

But now in hot battle and joyous carouse,

On ocean, my swift years untroubled shall pass.

FRITHIOF

Yet now by the ice we are driven to land, Clasping our keel lie the chilly waves dead; Nor care I to wait till long winter be sped, Imprisoned by rocks on the desolate strand. Once more in the Northland my Yule-tide I '11 hold, And guest to King Ring and my lost bride will be;

;A

ily again on chose bright locks of gold, And hear once again chat voice dearest to me.

•J6RN

Good is chy purpose. — By Ring shall be seen

vengeance *•• like lightning can gleam:

Ac midnighc che court of the monarch shall flan We Ml slaughter the (,'reybeard, we Ml bear off the Quern.

Or wilt tt him in Vikmga-wise,

Hold'st thou him worthy of Holmgang with thcc' Then challenge him forth Co contend on the What* lest, I ready shall be.

FRITHIOF

Speak not of slaughter, nor think upon •.

In peace Co che court of the monarch 1 Ml wend.

Faultless is he, nor did Ingborg offend,

Hut the vengeance of angry gods I have Co bear.

Now leave of my dear one my heart longs to cake,

Since slight hope for me upon earth can remain;

A farewell eternal! when green buds awake

At the breathing of spring, thou shalt see me again.

BJORN

Ah' folly seems strange to my mind:

What! sorrow and sigh for a false woman's love! In sooth, upon earth there arc women enough!

the one thou hast lost thou a thousand may'st find. If thou wilt, e'en a lading of that kind of ware Shall swit: Southland so glowing be brou.

As ruddy as rosebuds, like lambs came and fair, We Ml divide them as brothers, or share them b\

i54 FRITHIOPS SAGA

H<I I MI

Hjorn, glad and honest as Frey is thy thought: 1 'huu art prudent in counsel, and fearless in war; Well hast thou learnt to know Odin and Thur, But Freya, the heavenly, knowcst thou not. Shun to think scorn of the holy Queen's power, Beware, lest the rage of the goddess thou wake; To gods and to men, soon or late, comes the hour When her smouldering spark into fierce flame must break.

BJORN Yet go not alone. They make take thec in thrall.

FRITHIOF Alone go I not, my sword followeth me.

BJORN

Remember how Hagbart was hung on a tree.

FRITHIOF

He, who lets any take him, deserveth to fall.

BJORN

Oh! brother, falPst thou, I '11 avenge thee full well: Over Frithiof s bones the blood-eagle I '11 tear.

FRITHIOF

It needeth not, Bjorn. For my foeman shall ne'er Hear a cock crow again when I perish. Farewell.

X\ II

FRITH -Ml Ml PO KIM; RING

cd at banquet tat, mead-quaffing at

fair and gentle-visaged Queen tat tilcnt by hit tide;

itumn >c . kerned togethertr

In her was set : mg-time green, in him the Autumn

drear.

And !••' into the hall there came an unknown grey- beard in,

M head to foot en\ d.»ped in a wild bear's shaggy skin; With weak and weary gait upon his heavy staff he leant, Still all the rest surpassing in stature as he went.

He sat him on the lowly bench that stood beside the

door, • is the poor man's place to-day, as 't was in days of

yo; To mock with sneer and scornful laugh the underlings

And pointed with the finger at the rude, uncouth, old man.

h flashed the ready fury from the stranger's eyes; in ha

i a single hand he snatchcth up a courtier by the waist,

And thoughtfully upon his head he turned the frightened youth,

•i all the others held their peace — as we 'd have done, in sooth.

i56 FRITHinrs SAGA

"What means below this uproar — who dares our peace to

break?

Come up to me, thou greybeard, and answer when I speak. What is thy name? — what wilt thou? — and where tin

fatherland?" So spake the angry monarch; calm did the old man stand.

"Full much thou askcst me, O King, yet answer will I

give:

Trouble thyself not for my name, its master still doth live; The land of sorrow is my home; my birthright mi Last night I lodged with hungry wolves; thence conn to- day to thee.

"In days gone by full glad I rode on ocean-dragon free, And mighty were the wings she had, and merrily sped she; Hut now she lieth frozen up and lame upon the sand, While I myself, grown old and weak, burn salt upon the strand.

UI came to see thy wisdom, by fame so widely borne; Those yonder mocked me scornfully, and I 'IM too old for

scorn ; I seized upon a grinning fool, and turned him upside

down, Yet all unharmed he rose again, so, King,no longer frown."

"Not ill-beseeming,*' quoth the King, "thy bold words are

to thee,

And age should all men honor; come, sit thee down by me; I -c-t 's see thee frank and freely ; let thy thick covering fall : Disguise disturbs enjoyment, and I wish joy to all."

FRiniK- ;A 157

:i straightway head the guett let fall the rugged

Ud

And in the old man's place they all a noble youth espied j i a from his lofty forehead, o'er his broad shoulders' might,

Fell down, like waves of molten gold, his locks in splcn- doi

•d he, gorgeously arrayed,

h silver l>e!t,u hand in width, and beasts thereon dis- plax

pursuing around the hero's waist, By some laborious master in high-wrought beauty chased.

Around his mightv .um he w..rc a golden bracelet wuie, a flash of bridled lightning hung his war-sword at his

side;

A royal, fearless glance around the hall and guests he bore, And stood, like Balder beauteous, brave and proud as

mighty Thor.

the gentle Queen's pale cheeks the crimson color

sped; So, 'neath the glow of northern lights, wide plains of snow

blush red;

And, as twin water-lilies, by sudden storm oppressed, Flutter above the billows, so heaved her gentle brc..

The horn was blown for silence, come was the votive hour,

'l high feu m the boar:

Its shoulders decked with flowers, its mouth an apple held, And, with knees beneath it bended, the silver dish it filled.

158 1-KI PHIOPS SAGA

I hen slowly aged Ring raised up his venerable head, He touched the forehead of the hoar, and vowing, thus he

said: "Great Krithiof 1 will vanquish, whom none can stand

before, So help me, Frey and Odin, and so help me, mighty Thor."

With haughty mien the stranger rose up quickly from his

seat,

His countenance all glowing with heroic anger's heat; He struck his sword upon the board, the hall reechoing

rang, And up from every oaken seat each startled comrade sprang.

"Now hear thou, too, O King!" he cried, "my vow thus

uttered loud,

That Frithiof is akin to me, a worthy friend and good; And Frithiof I will shelter against all the world arrayed, So help me first my favoring Nome, and then my trusty

blade."

"Thou speakest boldly," smiled the King, "nor only once

to-day ; But frank and free each word shall be where I, as King,

bear sway.

Kill, consort mine,the horn with wine,and fill it of the best, This stranger, let us hope, will bide the winter as ourguest."

Then took the Queen the horn that on the board before

her stood, (Which Ure's forehead once adorned, a treasure rich and

good)

SAGA 159

Y shm.Mi; vl'.rr, with many a gold ring bound, Kunr-wr.ttc-n, and with deeds of atu-imt days bedecked

around.

And as she offered him the horn, all tremblingtwich averted

goblet shook, tome drops ran o'er, and dyed her fingers rosy : And as upon the lily leaves the sunset glories seem to

stand,

So glowed the drops of purple wine upon the fair one's band.

With joy from her the stranger took the horn, and raised

it high, Two men (such men as live to-day) could scarce have

drunk it Hut the mighty guest, deep-quaffing in honor of the

en,

tied the full goblet at a draught, — no drop remained Min.

:i the bard who sat at the board of royal Ring his harp drew forth, And a beautiful sorrowful song did sing of true love in

the N<>

Of Hagbart and fair Signe: and at the mournful talc, hard heart melted in each breast beclad in shining mail.

He sang of the halls of Valhalla, the Kinherier's praise it forbears' mighty deeds on continent and sea;

160 FRITIUOF'S SAGA

Then every hand its sword-hilt duu-hed, and bright

flashed every eye, And round ami round the oft-tilled horn sped ever busily.

Deep drank they, high carousing, at the palace of the King,

And reveller good each proved himself at Yule-tide ban- queting;

Then staggered forth to slumber, unmoved by woe or care,

But Ring, the aged monarch, staid with Ingeborg the fair.

Ill

THK KIDI- (>\ I K I HI ICE

K ; (oi banquet with Ingcborg hies;

The KC tin the bay like a mirror lies.

<*dge not t>\cr the lie," the stranger cried, I will break, and too deep it the fro/

Quoth Ring, — "Not so easily kings are drowned: Whoever'* afraid by the shore may go round."

How frowneth the stranger in angry heat! lie hindeth his steel shoes in haste to his t<

v starteth the stallion forth with might, snorting in fierce deli:

Rinir cricth, " nu < hargcr good, '$ see that thou art of Sleipner's blood."

They speed as storms over ocean speed :

The (Queen's prayers little King Ring doth heed.

I'hc-tr steel-shod comrade standeth not still, He flicth past them as swift as he will.

Many a Rune on the ice cutter h he, Fair Ingborg's name discovcreth she.

So on their glittering course they go, Hut Ran, the traitress, lurketh below.

i6i FRITH10FS SAGA

A hole in her silver roof she hath reft, Down sinketh the sleigh in the pawning clc-tt.

How pale groweth Ingeborg's cheek with fear! The guest, like a whirlwind, cometh near:

His skate he hath fixed on the icy field;

The steed by the mane he hath seized and he-Id;

With a single tug he setteth amain Both steed and sleigh on the ice again.

11 Praise to that stroke,'* quoth Ring, "is due; Not Frithiof, the mighty, could better do."

Now turn they back to the court again, Till spring the stranger doth there remain.

I- KM H IMF'S TEMPTAT1

ISO-TIME i-onirlh: \\iKi tnnU twitter, WOodt grow

leafy, sunshine beams,

ing, tinging, down to ocean speed the liberated streams ;

i its hini the glowing rose peeps forth like Mush mi I rrya's chcc

And joy of hfc, and minh,and hojK-, within the breast of man awake.

.igcii monarch wills the chase, and with him hie* the

And swarming round in proud array is all the am-

bled set Bows are twanging, quivers rattle, eager horse-hoofs paw

the- And, with ruxxlci c falcons scream impatient for

their prey.

Lo! the chase's empress comet h1 Hapless Frithiof, glance

tan Like a star on spring cloud sitteth she upon her courser

gr Half like Freya, half like Rota, lovelier than the heavcnlv

pair;

r slender hat of purple azure plumes float hi

Gaze not on her eyes so beauteous, on her golden locks so bright,

164 I-RITH101 i.\

Gaze not on her form so slender, on her bosom full ami

white;

Shun to watch the rose and lily on her soft cheek varying, Hark not to the voice beloved, breathing like the si:.-hs of spring.

Now the hunter's troop is ready. Hallo! over hill and dale Horns reecho; eager falcons dimh aloft to Odin's hall: All the forest beasts affrighted seek their distant lairs in

aur;

But with lance outstretched before her, their Valkyria fol- lows near.

Ring the aged cannot follow as the chase speeds swiftlyon, rowful and silent by him rideth Frithiof alone.

Gloomy, mournful recollections all his soul with an tear,

And, wherever he can turn him, hears he echoes of despair.

"Wherefore fled I from the ocean, to mine own destruc- tion blind?

Sorrow thrives not on the billow, far 't is blown by heav- en's wind.

If Viking broodeth, danger comes, and bids him to the sprightly dance,

And his gloomy bodings vanish, blinded by his weapon's glance.

" Far otherwise 't is here: for grief unspeakable has thrown Her dark wings round my forehead; like a dreamer pass I on:

Kkiii 165

Never can 1 Haider's grove, or I ngborg'i loving oat:

:n to me. — SHI never broke it; gods, in fury, can-

celled K.

•ic race of man detesting, jealous view a fondness

blc

My rose-bud sweet they snatched away, and planted it in \\ s breast:

Little knowcth he its

Ic hii frosty breathing covers bud, and leaf, and stem

With

While thus he sorrowed, they their way into a lonely dell

had made, — Dark and hill-surrounded, overspread with birch and alder

Ring,dismountinp, quoth, — " How cool and pleasant d«»th

the grove appear: Weary am I ; let us rest, and for an hour I Ml slumber

hc:<

" Here thou may'st not sleep, O King, for such a slumber

brin^eth pain, Up! The ground is hard and cold, full soon I '11 lead thee

home again." " Like other gods," the old man said, "sleep cometh when

we hope it least,

And su. s host my guest will scarce begrudge a

little rev

166 FRI II I l()l fl S \G \

Then Frithiof took his mantle off, and spread it out in--

neath the trees, And trustfully the old King laid his head upon the you ML;

man's knees, Slept soundly, as upon his shield a warrior after v

alarms, And softly as an infant sleeps within its mother's loving

arms.

As he slumbers, hark! there sings a coal-black hinl from

off a bough : " Haste thee, Frithiof, slay the Greybeard, end thy sorrows

at a blow; Take the Queen, she 's thine, since once to thee betrothal's

kiss she gave; Here no mortal eye beholds thee; deep and silent is the

grave."

Frithiof listens, — hark ! now sings a snow-white bird from

off a bough : "Though no mortal eye behold thee, Odin's eye can see

thee now: Coward! would'st thou murder sleep? Shall helpless age

by thee be slain? Such deed, whate'er to thee it bring, can never peace or

honor gain."

So the birds sang, both in turn, but Frithiof took his bat- tle-blade,

Shuddering he flung it from him, far into the gloomy shade;

167

black bird back to Nut rand flies; but, borne Along i f hining wings,

With song as sweet j : harp, ihc while one up to

sunshine springs*

Straight the old King, waking, quoth, " Much rest did my

short sleep afford; *T is sweet to slumber in the thadc, protected by a brave

man's sword; But whc stranger, is thy blade, the lightning's

brother, whither *p< And who hath separated you, so little wont to separate.'"

"It matters little," Frithiuf said/4 for swords are plenty in the Nor

p-tongucd is the blade, () King; no word of peace it speaker!

W it hi n the steel doth evil dwell, a spirit dark from N iffelhcm , Against him sleep no safety hath; gray hairs are but a snare to htm."

^cmhled was my slumber, youth, to prove thee," aged Ring replied;

"The wise should never trust himself to man or sword of man untried.

thiof; when my hall thou entcred'st I knew thec well:

Old Ring hath long been 'ware of what his guest sou. conceal.

•/re fore, thus disguised and nameless, 'ncath my roof- tree didst thou glide?

168 FRITHIOFS SAGA

Wherefore? Was it from the old man's anus to str.il away

his bride? Honor, Krithiof, never sittcth nameless at the banquet

gay;

Frank and open is its visage, and its shield is bright as da\ .

"The dread alike of gods and men, to me a Krithiof far

was famed; Shields he cleft; by him insulted, sacred shrines in ruin

flamed; Soon with fierce array he '11 come, I ever thought, to vex

my land, And he came, — in beggar's raiment, and a staff was in

his hand.

"Yet, wherefore turn away thy ga/.c? I, too, have felt youth's angry strife;

It is the time of Berserk-rage in each man's ever-strug- gling life:

In clash of arms its course must pass, until appeased its fierce mood be:

Thy fault in pity I forget, since I have proved and par- doned thee.

41 Thou seest I am aged grown, and to the grave must soon

decline; Then take to thee my realm, and take the Queen, for she

is thine. Meanwhile, remain my son, and dwell within my palace

as before; Guard me, thou swordless warrior; our ancient strife is

Kkirmn ;A 169

M Never," gloomy J answered, "came 1 is a th

th.

: 1 willed in uke ihv <,>ureM, could any mail have huui< ily longed my bride to tee but once, alas1 but once

And, woe is me1 the half-<juciu hnl flume rekindle.: cr pain.

**Too long within thy halU I *ve staid, and now no further

Full heavily upon my head the rage of angry gods doth lie; with the radiant lockv , mankind be-

sides doth see With love, detestcth me alone, and me alone rejecteth he.

U'T i caused his shrine to flame, and Varg-i-\

call they me; To hear my name the children scream, and gladness

the feast doth flee; Its offspring lost. rherland with indignation forth

doth cast, And I am peaceless in my home, and peaccless in my

mourning breast.

"No more, no more, for peace in vain I'll seek upon the grassy earth;

rath my footsteps burns the soil, no shade to me the trees give forth ;

My Ingeborg is lost to me, alas! by aged Ring she's owned; •'s sun for me is set, and wide is sorrow's darkness spread around.

FRITHIOF*S SACJA

"And, therefore, to my waves again. A\\-a\, i\\a\, m\

dragon good, Th\ saMe breast plunge merrily once more into the briny

flood; Spread to the clouds thy pinions bright, the- hissing ocean

proudly tear, And fly as far as stars can lead, as swift as conquered waves

can bear.

"Let me hear the storm tremendous, let me hear fierce thunder's voice;

When tumultuous din surrounds me, calmly can my breast rejoice.

In clang of shields and hail of arrows be my furious sea- fights passed,

Till glad I fall, and rise, forgiven, to the gods appeased at last."

XX

I H OK KINC; RING

\Vi i M .-Mm mane gleaming,

re nobly Drawcth the tun from the waves than bcf«

Ding's bright beaming Illumineth doubly The hall of the monarch; then opens the d>

Gloomy and grieving

Krithiof seeketh

The- K:nt;; pale hi fair Ingeborg's breast

Like ocean is heaving;

The stranger he spcaketh Words of departure, in trembling expressed:

M I he blue billows chafe

My swift-winged steed,

My sea-courser longeth to bound from the strand; He doth pine for the wave,

So forth I must spe< from dear friends, and away from the land.

;s ring take, thine own a. Ingborg; there li\eth Holy remembrance within it for thec; Give it to none again ;

thiof forgivcth, But now never more on earth seest thou me.

i72 FRITHIOFS SAGA

nokc ne'er shall I sec Ever rising again

Forth from the North. Man is only a slave To what Nornas decree;

The \va\c-tossing main Henceforth is my fatherland, shall be my grave.

uThy bride to the strand, ( ) Ring, shun to take,

Above all, when the starlight illumines the sky; For, perchance, on the sand,

By ocean cast back, The corse of the wandering Viking may lie."

Then quoth the King:

"'Tis bitter to hear

A man thus lament, like a sorrowing maid; Full long doth Fate sing Her dirge in my ear; What matters it? All that is mortal must fade.

"Norna's decreeing, However it fall,

Strive we, or grieve we, we cannot withstand. To thee leave I my Queen,

And my power, and all, So thou guard for my young heir his ancestors' land.

"To many friends spake I

Full oft in the hall, And golden peace ever loved truly and well;

KkllHlo 173

>hieKU in ihc \alc, Shield* on the wave, and 1 never grew pale.

" Now will I carve amain

rsodd, and, bleeding,

No straw-death, ill seeming a King, I '11 r< Nor if the parting pain

^ Mtfc monarch*! heeding; It scarce can be harder to die than

So carvcth he sprightly

>din,

Into bosom and arm the deep death-runes are pressed; Miming forth b

lc blood-drops flowed on, klmg through silver hairs over his breast.

" Reach forth the horn , Loud skal shall arise Skil to thy glory, thou beautiful North ! Plentiful corn,

And counsellors wise, And labor in peace for thcc sought I on earth.

"Vainly and wildly

mquest I sought her,

Sought I for peace, who still further did flee; Now stands she mildly ,

The grave's gentle daughter, he feet of the gods she is waiting for me.

I74 1-KI Tlih >PS SAGA

" Hail, yc ilcMtics bright1

Ye Valhalla sons!

Earth fadeth away; to the- iu-avenly fr. Glad trumpets invite

Me, and blessedness crowns, As fair, as with gold helm, your hastening guest."

So spake he, pressing

The hand of his spouse, i-ting his sorrowing friend and his And then, his eyes closing,

Ring's spirit arose, And sped on a sigh up to Allfather's throne.

RIV i'A

he grave littcth Ring, greatest of monarchf ; Betide him his battle-sword, Shield on hit U Hit charger, the noble, Neighing bcncuth him,

i gilded hoof paweih The wall of hit grave.

ioth

Ring rest,

Arched is the bridge

eh to meet him descends; Wide spring the portals Of noble Valhalla, Gods grasp, rejoicing, The chief by the hand.

Thor is not present,

off he warrcth; Val fader beckons, The beaker is brought; The crown of the monarch

•h corn-ears Frey decketh; And flowers among them Doth Frigga cntw

Brage, the aged, Sweepcth the harp-strings,

176 I RITHIOF'S SAC; A

ecter than ever, 1 he tones of his song. Vanadis, listening, O'er the board leancth ; Glowing, her snowy Bosom doth heave.

u High sing the clashing ( )f sword upon helmet, Murmuring billows, Heaving in blood: And might, the good gift Of the happy immortals, Which, keenly as Berserk, Biteth the shield.

"Therefore, by us was Ring well-beloved: His shield ever guarding Regions of peace. Whence the loveliest image Of might unoffending, Before us, like incense, Forever arose.

" Words of deep wisdom Valfader speaketh, Sitting by Saga, Soquaback's maid. So the words sounded Of Ring ever clearly,

11 UK H . . \. 177

As Miiiirr\ hn^hl billows, — Deep, too, if they.

raccful Forme

ling, Ruicth by Urda's

Aye-heavmg w.»

I

Sat (he U.IM h,

Appeasing the rage of Avengers of blood.

44 Ne'er was he niggar

Round him he s^

u Dragon's bed gathered) 1 he daylight of dwarfs.

[ ts sped forth gladly From hand ever ope And comfort for grief From his lips ever fell.

- UY\ DON dn • u:sc one, Heir of Valhalla! Long in the Northland Liveth thy fame. Bragc, with greeting,

h the mead-horn To thcc, the Nome's herald peace from the North

XXII THE KING'S ELECTION

To the Ting ! the Ting! Budkaflc goes

From home to home: King Ring is dead. A king to choose

The- Northmen come.

I 1 0111 idle wall is ta'en the braml

( )f purple steel: Kach warrior, with practised hand,

Its edge doth feel.

The little sons behold with joy

Its glitter bright: Two raise it up, for either boy

Too heavy weight.

The daughter scrubs the helmet clean,

ht must it glare;

Then blushes red, for she has seen Her image there.

He taketh, last of all, his shield,—

A sun in blood. Hail to thee, freeborn warrior, mailed,

Thou yeoman good !

From thy free breast alone can grow

A nation's pride; In war, thy country's rampart thou;

In peace, its guide.

<;A 179

Assembled round, with warlike cry.

In proof arrayed, I rir.: weapons clash; the heaven high

Th< * made.

And I nihiof stands upon the judging-ttot

And with him tr A little chiUl, the late King's only son,

With golden ha

There pasted a murmur through the people

"Too young U hr

To judge our wrongs, and of our hosts in war I he chief to be."

Up on his shield set Frithiof bold

The child, and ci

" Here, Northmen, stands your King! Behold The Northland's pride.

"See how, with Odin's likeness fili<

And fair as he,

He standeth bold, on slippery shield, As fish in sea.

U :i H d and steel will I defend

realm's renown,

And round the child's young brow will bend The father's crown.

"Forsete, son of Balder bright. Record my \

i8o FRITHlni-'S SAGA

And lay me, ere its bond I slight, In darkness low."

Shield-throned sat, with fearless eye,

Ring's royal son, As eagles' young, from eyrie high,

( J.i/c on the sun.

But Time's course, to the child's young Seemed far too slow;

With royal bound, in courage proud, He sprung below.

Loud rose the shout through all the Ting —

"We Northmen yield; Rule us, as ruled thy father Ring, Son of the Shield !

" Be Frithiof regent of thy house

Till grown art thou :

Yarl Frithiof, Ingborg as thy spouse,

We give thee now."

"A King's election," Frithiof cried,

"Is held to-day, But not a bridal: I my bride Choose my own way.

"To Balder's grove now must I speed,

For earnest speech

Prepared, my Nornes, full long delayed, Are waiting each.

FkilHlo 181

eld-maids by me There mutt be (old, Where they, arou

Their dwelling hold.

"Snl! .•. .Men-haired, doth frown

In .u»|M

Mr t....* m\ !>rulc, and he ul- Can he i

Then \s saluted he

The new King's brow, And slowly o'er the heath they see

Hun si'.rnt gO.

XXII! I RITHI01 IJI-.SIDE HIS FATHER'S GRAVE

v I AIR shines the sun, and from its rays of glory, From bough to bough the gentle glitter leaps; I -'n»m heaven darts the glance of Odin hoary, In dew-drops bright, as over ocean's deeps; Like blood on mighty Haider's altar gory,

In purple all the mountain-tops it steeps. But soon the earth shall disappear in night, Soon, 'neath the wave, sink down the shield of light.

"Yet first must I behold each spot so dear,

Through which, a joyous child, so oft I sped; Round the same spring the self-same flowers appear,

In the same wood the self-same birds are bred. Still dash the waves upon the cliffs severe, Oh! happy, had I never o'er them fled, The same false tale of glory ever telling That lured me, restless, from my happy dwelling.

"I know thee well, O stream, thy ripples bounded

Full often as my swimming form they bore; Valley, I know thee, where, with shade surrounded,

A lasting love, unknown to earth, we swore; Ye birch-trees bright, whose bark so oft I wounded With deep-graved runes, ye stand forth as before, Bearing on silvery stems the forest crown: All is unchanged, except myself alone.

"Is all unchanged? oh! where is Framnas* hall? Where Haider's temple on the sacred strand ?

;A 183

All the dour beauty of my native vale,

Marred by the sword, disfigured by the brand, rage of men and wrath of gods, sad tale To wanderer* tells the devastated land.

•us wanderer, hither §hun to m Where beasts have made their dens in Haider's grove.

44 Ay, a betrayer stalks through life untiring,

The gloomy Nidhogg from the gloomy waste,

He shuns the Asa-h/ht, the proud aspiring,

•:«-ri on flashing sword and dauntless crest. H< nukrih us t<> his desiring,

K Mm.!, he rc\rls in rage unrepressed, And when a temple flames, delightingly Clappeth his coal-black hands in tun.ms glee.

-• Hath no atonement place in Valhall's hall?

Can naught, bright Balder, soothe thine angry mood? Men can be pacified whose comrades fall: The lofty gods we reconcile with blood; And thou an called the mildest <>t them all,

ik, and I offer gladly all my good. I h\ temple's burning Krithiof never willed, Take this disgrace from his once stainless shield.

novc the weighty burden of my woes,

vc from my soul the ghosts of gloomy thought; Let life-lung grief and sorrow interpose,

To wipe away the guilt a moment wrought.

I should not quail, though Thor were of my foes.

And ghastly Hcla fearless should be sought;

184 H<l NIK >F'S -s VGA

But thee, great spirit, shining bright and clear,— I hoc, and the vengeance sent by thec, I ft

"Here rests my father: if a hero slec;

Thither whence none reiurneth he is gone; Mead-quaffing in the starry tent, he keeps Glad revel, joyous in his armor's tone; Guest of the gods! glance down wards through the deep, Thine offspring calls thee, Thorsten, Viking's son, With spells of deep enchantment come not I ; How shall I Haider please? is all my cry.

"Giveth the grave no answer? For a sword, Angantyr, long-departed, spake not he? Tirfing was good, yet little worth such word,

I ask for more, no sword contenteth me; Battle can weapons plentiful afford.

Bring thou, () father, peace from heaven with thee; Be thou the pleader of my sorrowing prayer; No noble heart can Balder's anger bear.

"No sound, my father? hark! the ocean sings,

In its sweet voice, oh! speak a word to me, — The storm-wind flies, hang thee upon its wings,

And whisper to me as its swift gusts flee; The western sky hangs full of golden rings,

Let one of thy dear counsel herald be. What! For thy son's despair no sign, no breath? How poor, my father, is the sleep of death!"

The day sank down, with evening breezes singing To man their lullaby so soft and mild;

FKIIHK'. ;A 185

The sunset, rosy-cheeked, iu glories flinging In purple ml t the heavenly sh

md azure heights and verdant valleys clinging, lhalla's semblance all (he circle filled: sudden uVr the western billows came cly vision, weft of gold and flu

O'er Haider's bounds the gentle Hagring hovers,

so we call ii, (hough in Valhall bright More sweetly named), and floating downwards, covers

n hill and dale in coronet of light. Spreading around, as far as eye discovers,

Unfancied splendor, wondrous to the night, And as at len \n to earth descends,

.pic, on the temple's site, it stands.

>n of Breidablick ! Towards heaven rearing

, (he walls with silver seem to The M-.:.:h:\ pillars of dark steel appearing;

A single jewel forms the altar high; Forth hangs the dome, as if by spirits bearing,

Starry and beauteous, like the winter sky, And there, in azure garb and golden-crowned, The gods of Valhall' seem to sit enthroned.

Within the portal stands each noble Nome, Together bearing Fate's Rune-written shield;

Three roses gathered in a single urn, Solemn, but wondrous beautiful and mild.

Urd towards the ruined shrine doth silent turn, ild to the vision of (he new revealed;

186 ! RITHIOF'S SA(, A

And scarce is wond'ring Frithiof conscious grown, From glad amaze, ere all again is flown.

"Oh! I have comprehended, maidens fan1

My father, thou hast shown a sign of good : The ruined temple I again shall rear,

Superb upon the rock where once it stood. Oh ! happy thus, no longer to despair,

Of peaceful deeds atoning insult rude. Again in hope the outcast wretch may live, Since Balder bright doth pardon and fort'

" 1 hail you, stars, as gently ye arise!

Your silent course again with joy I see. Hail, northern lights, around the arching skies! A temple's flames full oft ye've seemed to me;

w green, dear grave, again; again arise Forth from the waves, thou wondrous melody! Here, slumbering on my shield, I '11 dream in peace, Of man forgiven, and immortal's grace."

XXIV \U1.1 \ I 1

COMPLETED now was Balder'* temple. Round about 1 not, as once, a willow-pale ; | r.m^ht,

h golden knob on every rail, was set the fence Of Balder*! grove, and like a steel-clad armament,

. rulberts bright and golden helmets, stood it forth. And sentinelled the sanctu.i .ved.

ighty stones enormous was its orruit built, •ndrous art together joined, a giant work, ndless ages raised, like Upsal's lofty shrine, — i an earthly form the North Valhalla sees. Proud stood it on the lofty cliff, and mirrored forth Its towering summit in the ocean's shining wave; And far around it, like a splendid belt of bloom,

.id Haider's valley fair, with all its rustling groves, With all its songs of joyous birds, a home of peace: High stood its copper-bolted portals, and within > pillars tall upon their mighty shoulder-blades fid the lofty dome, which hung forth beautiful Above the temple, like a giant shield of gold. Farther within great Balder's altar stood, out-hewn From one huge block of northern marble, and around A sculptured serpent cast its coils, deep-graved with Runes In wisest words from Vala and from Havamal. Hut in the wall above a space was found adorned With stars of gold upon a ground of blue; and there The god of Goodness* silver image was, as fair As silver moonshine throned upon the azure sk. So seemed the temple. — Now in pairs there entered in

i88 FRITHIOFS SAGA

Twelve temple-maidens fair, in silver raiment clad, With roses blooming on their cheeks, and roses, too, Within their guileless hearts: before the image dread They danced around the altar newly consecrate, As spring-time's breezes dance above the rivuK As forest elves dance lightly o'er the tall-grown grass, While still the morning dew lies glittering around. And midst their dancing sang they, too, an holy song, Of Balder, the all-pious ; how beloved was he ill creation : how by Hoder's dart he fell ; How earth, and sea, and sky lamented; — such a song It seemed as ne'er from out a mortal bosom spru But like a tone from Breidablick, the Bright One's hall; Like dream of loved one which a lonely maiden dreams, When in the peace of silent night deep pipes the quail, And moonlight beameth o'er the birch-woods of the

North. —

Delighted Krithiof, leaning on his sword, beheld The dance; and many a scene of childhood's gladness

sped

Before his sense, a merry race and innocent. With eyes of heavenly blue, and lovely heads, adorned With curling locks of floating gold, they nodded forth A loving greeting to the comrade of their youth. Then like a bloody shadow sank his Viking's life, With all its battles fierce, its past adventures wild, Down into darkness, and unto himself he seemed To stand, a flower-decked Bauta-stone, upon its grave. And ever as the song swelled high, his spirit rose From lowly vales of earth on high to Valaskjalf; And earthly rage and earthly hate were melted down, As Winter's icy mail from breast of Earth dissolves,

mini" ;A is,,

n shinr spring; a flood of gentle peace,

glad del .e bosom overflowed.

It seemed at if the bean of Nature be could »• To throb with hit; at if with gladness be could clasp

•iskringh in his loving arms, and nuke In sight of heaven a I <• with earth.

If; 1 Haider's sacrificing priest the shrine,

Not young and fair as Balder, but a towering t

>.ly mildness in his noble count

And downward to his belt his beard of silver flowed. Then new-fell reverence filled KrithioPi haughty Soul; And lowly l»ent the eagle-wings upon his helm

the sage, who thus in words of friendship spake :

rhiof, welcome hither: I have watched for thee: youthful Mgor wanders glad round earth and sea, Like Berserk pale, who bitcth furiously the shield, Hut wearily and thoughtful wanders home at last. Full oft enough to Jotunheim sped mighty Thor;

-pitc of magic belt, and spite of gloves of steel, Utgarda-Loke sitteth ever on his throne; To no might Kvil, mighty in itself, will yield. And profitless is piety unmatched with power, — 'Tis like the sunbeam playing over JKgir's breast, — A changing glow that sinks and swells with every wave

• >ut a settled depth, unstable, insecure. But power wanting piety devours itself, Like buried battle-blade; it is life's wild carouse, Where o'er the beaker's brim oblivious Haeger soars, And when the drinker wakes, he blushes for his deed. All vigor is of earth, from corpse of Ymcr sprung; Forth from its veins the stormy waste of water flows,

i9o PRITHIOrS SAGA

And all its sinews arc »t" bra /en metal forged. But void, and desolate, and fruitless, it must lie, Till Piety, like heavenly sunlight, shines thereon. Then grass grows green, and spreads a carpet flown -we -t t , Then lift the trees their crowns, then gleams the golden

fruit,

And man and beast draw life from mother Nature's breast ; So is it, too, with Asker's offspring. Odin hath Two weights within the balance of each mortal lift-, l.u h counterpoising each, when fairlv stands the scale, And they are named, the Love of Heaven, the Might of

th.

Full strong is Thor,O youth, when close he clasps around His mighty loins the magic belt, and strikes amain; And wise is Odin, when on Urda's silver wave He gazeth down, and round about his ravens fly, And bring him tidings up from earth to lofty heaven ; Yet pale grew both, and half was quenched the gleam that

decked

Their royal crowns, when Balder, pious Balder, fell; The clasping link was he in Valhall's wreath of gods. Then yellow grew the splendor of the tree of Time; And Nidhogg gnawed upon its root; then loose were set The powers of aged Night; the Midgard serpent raised To heaven its coils envenomed, and Fenris howled; From Muspelheim the sword of Surtur lightened forth. Since then, where'er the eye can turn, the battle fierce Throughout creation rageth on; in Valhall crows The cock gold-crested, and the red one crows to war, On earth and deep beneath the earth. Yet erst was peace, Not only in the hall of gods, but here on earth: In breast of men, as well as breast of lofty gods.

rkirni<>r> SAGA 191

whatsoever happens here hach happened, too, More wondrously above; and to th« men

If but an image slight of Valhall; heaven's light Reflected down on Saga's rune-engraven shield; And every heart of man its Balder hath. Thou \t known a t

a peace within thy bosom dwelt, and gladsome sped Thy ke dream of sweet-voiced

When winds of summer night rock gently to and fro His greenwood nest, and bend the heads of slumbering flowers,

Then Mulder still was dwelling in thy stainless soul, • rn, th»u wandering type of Valhall pu

v hildrcn still doth Balder live, and Hela yields Her booty back as oft as child of man is born. Mut in each heart of man, with Balder, groweth up His br. •: , 11 < r, blind, the child of N : 111,

Like young of bears, is sightless born, and darkness is His covering, while Balder clothes himself in light.

cr-tnm npts unceasingly,

Misleads the blind one's murderous hand, and guides the

spear

Against the heart of Balder, Valhall's best beloved. Then Hate awakeneth, t«>r prey Might springeth up; Like hungry wolf, o'er hill and dale, the greedy sword

• prowl, and dragons swim upon the bloody waves; And shadow-like, of power bereft, doth IV

•Ilk! Hela sit, as dead, amongst the dead; And low in ashes Mai.: temple lies;

And thus the life of gods above foreshadoweth The lit'c of men below, and both together are

i92 I kl HOOFS SAGA

Allfather's silent th. nights, which never know a change. What hath been, what shall be, doth Vala's deep song

tell,-

A song at once the lullaby, the dirge of Time. Therewith in unison, Heimskringla's tale is told, And thence may each man hear his own heart's histon ; And Vala asks of thee, — 4 Canst understand thine <>u

"Atonement seekest thou. — Oh! know'st th<m uh.tt

it is?

Gaze in mine eyes, oh ! Frithiof, gaze, and turn not pale; Atonement bears on earth no other name than Death; All time is but a measure of eternity; All life, — an emanation from Allfather's throne; Atonement, — thither purified to hie thee home. The lofty gods themselves are fallen. Ragnarok Is their atoning-day appointed; day of blood ( )n Vigrid's hundred leagues of plain ; there must they fall, But never unavenged; since Evil then must die Eternally, and fallen Good arise on high, From flames of earth to loftier being purified. 'Tis true, the ray less wreaths of pale-grown stars Shall fall from heaven above, and Earth in ocean sink; But, joyously, another new-born Earth shall raise, From ocean forth, its fairer, flow'r-adorned head; And wandering stars renewed, with sweet, benignant

beam,

Above the new creation take their silent course. Once more shall Balder, then, upon the grassy hills, Rule God's regenerate and purified mankind. The Rune-writ golden tablets, lost so long ago In early dawn of time, shall then again be found

mi HIM 193

a's plains, by Valhtll's rr race.

I hus, .!<-.it h .s luit an ordeal for fallen good. And its .r th into a better |

fi thither, whence it came, ing guileless, as a child on parent's knees. Alas1 that all that noblest is must lie beyond

grave — the grassy gate of heaven; and all that dv Beneath the stars be base, by evil maculate. —

tome atonement still may here on earth be found, A partial, gentle prelude to the perfect one;

hand of minstrel straying o'er his harp, bet

h skilful ringers, he awake c of song;

By gentle proof he tries the tuned accord, and then His bold hand striketh mightily the golden strings,

out the grave invoking memories of yore, And Valhall's brightness flasheth from his tranced eyes. So earth the sh.ui.»w seems of heaven above; and like

entrance court to Haider's temple in the skies; And sacrifice to gods is made; by purple rein

steed is led in golden trappings to their shrines.

rein a figure, deep of meaning, lies; for blood Must be the morning-dawn of all atonement-days. Hut neither type nor figure can themselves atone ;

. deeds of evil done can none make good for thee. Atonement for the dead is in Allfathcr's breast; Atonement for the living in each living heart.

sacrifice I know, in heaven above more dear Than smoke of slaughtered oxc offer up

Thine own heart's angry rage, thine own revenge.

: thou not blunt the edge of passion, and forgr

i, Frithiof, naught hast thou to do in Haider's house: And vain must be the temple which thou here hast reared.

194 FRITHIOF'S SAGA

h stones thou canst not please the god; with peace alone,

On earth below, and heaven above, forgiveness dwells. Be reconciled to thy foe and to thyself, And so shalt thou be reconciled to Haider bright.

I is said a Balder southward dwelt, the Virgin's son, Allfather sent him forth to make the purport known Of writings dark till now upon the shield of Fate. His rallying-cry was Peace, and Love his shining sword, And Innocence sat, dove-like, on his silver helm. He lived the holy life he taught; forgiving, died ; And, far away, 'neath spreading palms, his grave is made-. They say, his teaching spreadeth on from vale to vale, And melteth hardened hearts, and layeth hand in hand, Erecting strifeless empires on the peaceful earth. I know not well the lore he taught, and yet, mcthinks, At times, in better hours, its thoughts have come to nu -; At times such thoughts fill all men's hearts as well as mine. The day will come, I know, when he shall gently \\ His snowy, dove-like pinions o'er the northern hills. But, ere that day, the North shall pass from us away, And oak-trees murmur over our forgotten graves. Oh' generations blessed, privileged to quaff The beaming cup of new-born light, I bid ye hail. Rejoice! rejoice! when it shall drive each cloud away, That hung its misty veil before the sun of life; Yet shun to scorn our race, which, ever constant, sought With unaverted gaze its heavenly beams to view: Allfather, though but one, hath many messengers.

" Thou hatest Bele's sons. And wherefore hatest thou ? Because with thee, a yeoman's son, they did not will

FRliHlo 195

To match thr it tpning from Settling's blood,

The ton ', and because thnr pedigree

Aicendcth up to ValhallN proud.

Hut -' Birth it chance, and not dev

nan, bcli i, of hit desert* is pr«

*TU but his tune; and the best of all

Is, after all, a gift of Heaven. Art thuu not proud Of all thy valiant deeds, of all thy matchless mi And was that might conferred not

kmt

sinews of thine arm as firm as branching oak ? Is thine high heart no gift of God's, that boundeth glad Within that citadel, thine arching breast? Ar That lightning not of hca. -ia>hcth in thine eyes?

•fty Nornes already by thy cradle sang life to come; therein th\ im-nt is No greater than a king's son's for his royal birth. Condemn not others' pride, lest thine, too, be condemned. is Helgc fallen." "How!" cried Frithiof loud, Helgc fallci B, and when u know-

\vcll

• while thy temple thou wast building, he was gone To war in Finnish highlands. On a lonely cliff An ancient shrine he found, of Jumala the seat,

many a year gone by closed up and desolate; But still an aged, wondrous image of the god Above the gate remained, and nodded to its fall; Hut no man dared to venture near, fur it was said Amongst the Finns, from sire to son, whoever first

hat temple trod should Jumala behold. This Helgc heard, and blindly scaled, in bitter rage, The lonely steps that led to the detested god,

196 i RI IHK >rs SAGA

Desiring to destroy the shrine. He reached thr top; The key was rusted, fast within the portal locked. He laid his hands upon the post; in rage he shook The rotten portals; all at once, with frightful crash, The- idol's image fell, and crushed beneath its weight The heaven-born Helge. — Thus he Jumala beheld. A messenger this night hath brought the tidings home; Alone now sitteth Halfdan on King Bele's throne. (live him thine hand; to heaven thine anger sacriti This ofPring Haider doth demand, and I, his priest, As proof that now thou mockest not the peaceful god. If thou refuse, in vain this temple hast thou reared, And vainly I have spoken."

Halfdan entered now

Across the copper threshold, and, with doubtful glance, He stood aloof from Frithiof feared, and held his peace. Then Frithiof snatched the breastplate-hater from his side, Against the altar set his golden-orbed shield, And all unarmed, advancing, stood before his foe. "In such a strife as this," he spake in kindly voice, u He noblest is who offers first a friendly hand." King Halfdan blushed, and off his glove of steel he drew : Those hands so long apart were joined again In vig'rous clasp, as firm as rock's deep base. The greybeard then the heavy ban revoked that lay Upon the Varg-i-Veum, excommunicate. And sudden, while the words he spake, came Ingborg

in,

In bridal garb, — in ermine mantle, — maidens fair Behind her following, as heavenly stars the Moon. With tears within her beauteous eyes she fell upon

KK1IHK' 197

i>r..thcr Halfdan'i brcmsc -, but, deeply moved, he laid Hii filter, well beloved, on Krithioft faithful heart. A ml Ingborg, over Haider's altar, gave her hand To ) Ihood't friend, her heart'* delight.

AND NOTES

EXPLANATORY OF KAMI! AND TERMS OCCURRr IN THE rftJTHIor-iA*

AIGIR. The occmn god. Daughters of Acgirv the warn.

I l.r twelve higher gods namely, Odin, Tfcor, Njord, Frry,

H«,ur , and Fonete, with thc.r |,r,v

ALFADia (All-Father). The highest title of Od.n AMGVIVADIL (Flood of anguish). The name of FritbioT* »word.

Aim. TV god*. Asa-sons, or Aacn-sontt • name generally given to £S who were MippOKd to trace descent from the god*

ASKIR, or ASK. The first man. AM; A »D. The city of the gods. 10. The god of Love.

BALDER. The god of Light, typified by the Sun. The following account • •m the /Vw/£^,ch. xx ii:" The second son of Odin it Balder, and it may be truly said of him that hr IN the best, and that all the race of man are loud in hi» praise. So fair and dartKng is hr in form and feature*, that rays of light teem to issue from him. Balder it ^t, the miUlcM, thr mo»t eloquent of all the Ae*irj yet, Mich t» iM.rr, that thr judgment he has pronounced cannot be altered, lie ,N%rlN in the heavenly mansion called Breidablik, into which noth- ing unclean ran entrr." BaUer, «r Day, was, at the instigation of Loki, god of Mischief, tbin by the blind god, Hbdur, or Darkness.

BALI-PI Rl. A beacon-fire. That referred to in the t xui,

was the fire kindled on Midsummer's Eve, in honor of Balder, the god of Light, whose symbol, the Sun, at that period seemed to rea> highest po IT remarked, m pacing, that ignorance of the

• The Translator • indebted for the extracts from the J»r«ar EM*, in this Glossary, to Mr. I. A. Bbckwrll't trantUtion of that production, contained in his new edition of Mallet'* AWrArr. ^•ry»i/«i. 1(47 ; and has aJso pronted Urrely by remarks in other parts of his work, whkh he takes the of scknowkdrnr

200 ALPHABETICAL GLOSSARY

history and meaning of the word H ,

it* original sense in our UM Mjx.und, kili-ful, which, pr-.

signifying fiery, full of light, or flame, is UM .1 in Knglish in tin- sense of nudig fiant. The heathen custom <>t lighting bale-fires or bonfu Midsummt ; 1 -till continued in parts of Northern On;

Scotland, and Ireland, though the practice is generally supposed to be intended in honor of the coming festival of St. John the Baptist, which falls on Midsummer Day.

BAUTA-STONK. A memorial raised over fallen warriors, and formed generally of a block of unhewn stone, projecting several feet out of the ground. The Bauta-stone differed from the Rune-stone in being uninscribed, the memorial Rune-stone bearing, on tin- contra:' inscription in tl. nit, surmounted by the sign of a ham-

mer, the emblem of Thor, god of War.

BERSERKIR. A cla^s of' mythical heroes imbued with an implacable frenzy for war. Hence a proverbial expression for any warrior of un- usually ferocious disposition.

BIFROST. The rainbow. It may be interesting to remark the coinci- dence between the Eddaic account of the rainbow and Sir D.ivid Brewstcr's theory of three primitive colors. The following is from the Prose EtUay ch. xiii: " 'I must now ask,' said Gangler, 'which is the path leading from earth to heaven ?' 'That is a senseless question/ replied Har, with a smile of derision : ' hast thou not been told that the gods made a bridge from earth to heaven, and called it H:: Thou must surely have seen it; but, perhaps, thou callest it the rain- bow. // is of three hues, and is constructed with more art than any other work/ "

BJORN (Bear). The name of Frithiofs comrade. Hence the play on words, page 112 —

**Bjbrn, come to the tiller, Hold it fast at bcart-kug"

BLCKTAND. Blue-toothed.

BLOOD-EAGLE (to tear the). A custom of putting to death an enemy under circumstances of peculiar atrocity. The ceremony consisted in carving on the back of the prostrate foe the figure of an eagle, and so separating the ribs from the back -bone. In the text, Bjorn promi perform such vengeance on FrithioPs slayer, should his chief fall.

BRACE. The god of Poetry and Song.

AND NO I 201

. liraad^leaming, latsfoJjgent, Balder** palace in ibe beair-

n.-.

\PLL The bttiding-uarT. A wand about a foot in length, m- MTibeti wuh certain character* of authority t and which, MM from house to home with great despatch, formed • summon* for the laum bly of the whole nation to dcbbrratc on public matter* of moment.

, upturn bear, a Mrong analogy to the tending round of *r croat in the Scotch Highknd*on the like orc**iom. The pract Scandinavia.** well as in Scotland, i% minutely described by Sir Waller .;./, »j tkt Lmk% Canto in, Mania i.

(he idea that the Earth wa» supported

by four dwarfs North, South, Ea%t. and Woi (tee page 51, line 17),

came the belief in th< -f a Mibterranean race of dwartY, who

opposed to be lighted by the vein* of gold in the bowel* of the

DELLIXC. Twilight, dawn. Son of Delling — - Dagr, Day. See

.u^l Drlling, of the Ar«ir race, and

on was Day, a child light and beauteous like his father. Then Allfathcr tcx>k Night, ami Day, hrr son, and gave them two horse* and two cars » •> the heavens, that they might drive

successive! \ \ight ride* first on her horse, called

or frosty-maned), who every morning, as he ends his course, bedew* the earth with the foam which falls from his bit. The horse made use of by Day hining-maned), from

whose mane ligl .rr the earth ami the hea\

DISARIAL. The hall of goddesses.

DRAGON'S BED. The dragon Fafner, guardian ot >gen trea*-

•• as fable* I to lie ujx> , gold was said to be gathered

.c dragon's bed.

DRAPA. A triumphal song in honor of departed heroes, sung, for the most pan, at the "gr > ••% hich all heirs, on succeeding to their

fathers were bound to hoi.' ' mg by Brage himself, the god of

Song (as in Canto x \ ?ies a hymn of welcome rather than a

dirge.

ErjESUND. In the Orkneys, of which Angantyr was Varl.

Kim (Chosen heroes). All who, dying a violent death, were ad- mitted to the joy* of Valhalla.

202 ALPHA HI-. IK A I. GLOSSARY

-OATB. The solemn progress \\hirh tin- Scandii,

i» make through their whole realm at K r thm-i-orm.

K. Tin- dragon set to watch over the golden t K .t-inc, I., .• queretl by Sigurd, the Siegfried of the NiMuttgenliiJ.

FAFNER'S-BANK • i. A surname given to Sigurd for

the exploit referred to above.

FOLKVANG. The palace of Freya in the heaven*, the supposed lulu of virtuous and beautiful women after death.

FORSETE, or FORSETI. The god of ]\\

i . " One of the most celebrated of the gods. He presides over rain and sunshine, and all the fruits of thi I should be invoked in

order to obtain good harvests, :nid -«ls<> f'»r peace." Prose Edda, ch. xxiv.

FREYA. The goddess of Love. " The most propitious of the goddesses} her abode in heaven is called Folkvang. To whatever field of luttle she n rts her right to one-halt of the slain, leaving the rest

to Odin." Prose Edda, ch. xxiv.

FRIGGA. The spouse of Odin, and mother of the Ac IK. The White Sea.

GEIRSODD (Spear-death). In contradistinction t<. straw-death, *>. death from disease or age. Suicide, practised by aged warriors to insure their admission to Valhalla, where none dying a natural death were admitted.

GERDA. The most beautiful of women ; spouse of Frey. GLITNIR. The palace of Forsete in the heavens.

HACKING. The Fata Morgana. A well-known, though rarely witnessed phenomenon, said to be occasionally presented on the Norwegian <

HAM and HEYD. Two storm-demons, or weather-sprit. -s.

HAVAMAL. (The lay of the sublime.) An Eddaic poem, containing a number of precepts said to have been given by Odin to mankind. Many of those given by Bele and Thorsten to their sons in the text are actually adopted by Tegner from the Havamal, as may be seen by comparing, for instance, page 54, stanzas i, 2, with the following ex- from the ancient work : " Praise the fineness of an ended day ; a woman when she is buried ; a sword when you have tried it ; the ice when you have crossed it ; and liquor after it is drunk." — "Tru

AND NO I 203

•rd* which a woman utters for their bram have been made fifcY

thr »i.r. ice of one day'* freemf §

nrifhrr to thr »lrrping wrr ,

HciM»4RittGiA. The univrnr.

iiodde*. of Death iniler of Ntfcmnii^ the abode of all who died of di%ea»e or old age. ihegoddraofWar. «. The god of Darfcne*. See AaC*r.

•ingle comhai. So called from bring very frequently decided upon a lonely Uland (Holm), without witness**, and, of course,

L The spou»e of Bragi, god of Song. She b keeper of the apple* of immortality, by which the youth of the gods is continually re-

IDA'S PL AIM*. Orign Icia-vallcn. The dwrlling of the god* after thr destruction of th<

JUMALA. A deity worshipped by thr Finns. Ihr trrm hat paMed into a nan l^ing, and (as the Countes* ron ImhorT re-

mark*) our Lord u named n> thr Jumala Poyke.

JoTENMtiu, or JirriNHUM. The giant*' home, or region of the giants.

Lorn (»ometime» LOPNA, but le« correctly). The presiding deity of inony. The term (from which our word low \\ derived) signihes unchangrablc atfr. LOKI. The god of Evil and Mischief; descended from the race of the

MIDCARD SIRPENT. The great terpent said to encompass the whole earth.

Minv Thi\ rxpm«ioo (Canto xin, Mania i) may sound

uran. brar ID muul that in parts of

rn and Norway the »un does not sink below the horison at all at

the period (Midsummer) rcfcrml to in the text, but remains visible

>gh ground through the whole night.

Miura. The owner of the wrll of wit and wUdom, at the root of Yggdrassil (the ash-tree, symbolical, according to Finn Magnum,

204 ALPHABETICAL GI .< >SS \RY

•ofunivcrs.il nature). Mimcr, always drinking of his well, w.-is imhmd with the highest wisdom.

MORVEN. The north of Scotland.

MUSPELHEIM. The r , thus de-

scribed in the Prose Edda, ch. i\-: "In tin- south is the \v,,rld pel. It is a world too luminous and glowing to be entered by any not •-h(t sittrth on it- Ixirdrrs to guard it is calk-d Surtur. In his hand he beareth a flaming falchion, and at the end of the world shall issue forth to combat, shall vanquish all the gods, and consume the universe with fire."

MUSPEL'S SONS. Flames.

NANNA. The spouse of Balder, who died with grief at her hus! death.

NASTRAND. The strand of the dead.

NIDHOCC. (The down-hewer, or down-gnawer.) A dragon, said con- tinually to gnaw at the root of the aj>h, Yggdrassil.

NIFFELHEIM. The land of shadows.

NORXES. The Fates, or Destinies, three in number. Their dwelling was beneath the ash, Yggdrassil, by the fountain of Mimer. See Voltisp.i, stanza 17: "Thence come the much-knowing maidens, three, from that fountain which is beneath the tree. One is called Urd (the 1' another, Verdandi (the Present) ; and the third, Skuld (the Future). They engrave the Runic tablets; they determine the lives of the sons of men ; they lay down laws ; they settle destinies/'

NORRANA TUNGA. The old Norse language. ODIN. The most mighty of all the gods.

ODIN'S BIRDS. "Two ravens sit on Odin's shoulders, and whisper in his ear the tidings and events they have heard and witnessed. They are called Hugin (Thought) and Munin (Memory). He sends them out at dawn of day to fly over the whole world, and they return at eve, towards meal-time. Hence it is that Odin knows so many things, and is called Hrafhagud (the raven's god)." Prose EdJa, ch. xxxviii. Hence ravens, generally, are called the birds of Odin. OEDUR. The spouse of Freya. He "left his wife, to travel into very re- mote countries. Since that time Freya continually weeps, and hci are drops of pure gold. She has a great variety of names j for, having

AM 205

,i,4i.V . .- .: .If,- - :. - 4', V . •• I. • ! .!.,:. ! . , a- I . j - .- r . , .

.rlerent name.** rVw/ &£/,<

.»» ur SHAME. HMW wm the Nirfiaf poaa, or memonak «m thr name of any one guilty of cowardice or

n.l. .!•.!•! "A- » -. • :.'•.•!

RACK ARAB (The twifight of the god.). Tbr docmctioQ of tW «^

riod i» rrfrrrrU to in Canto xuv, wbrrv the plain tbemtehrc*.

TW foddm of tke wa. ROTA. One of the Valkyrie, «*h.rh .cr.

». The character* of «rian alphahet, sixteen in num-

ber. To thete letter* many manrellout pcopertie* were awigncd , they

iiacd aomctimeft a» charm« againtt mi»fonunr«, •omeiimci against

enemies •umetime* to icoire victory. They were «aid to haw been

invented by Odin hiimelt. u well for the common puipom of fife at

!..: n.4/..i.

NBALK. A >tarf, graven with Rune«, and »uppo*ed to have tome

SAGA. The goddes* of History. SEMING. A ion of O

RO. The Siegfried of the S.M^^UJ, conqueror of the dragon

FafV,

SKAL. A toatt in honor of any penon or thing. SKALD. The title of the northern bard*. SKINFAXI. The hone of Day. See Drfuaj.

;D. See Nornt.

SLEIPKER. The steed of Odin, having eight legs, and excelling all hones ever possessed by gods or men.

SOLU HOAR-OIL The Hebrides.

SoquABACK. The mansion of Saga in the beavr

I he god of Fire. See MiufvlMfim.

THO«. The god of War, wieldr: ;>rc^ented alway«

afoot, and armed with a short^hafted hammer.

206 ALPHABETICAL (iLOSSARY

THRUDVAN*.. The dwelling of Timr.

The general assembly of the Northmen, \vhirh all capable of bearing arms were bound to attend <>n occttkms requiring deliberation or action. The word is still used, Volkv-Thing being applied t<> the Swedish assembly.

TIRFIN The sword of a warrior named Angantyr, which wasburird with its (.\vner. His daughter Hc-rvor, however, desiring to gain the weapon, caused her dead sire to remonstrate against the proceeding.

UTGARDA-LOKI. See I.oki. Thus called from his dwelling, Utgard, v.iid to be at the utmost limit of the universe.

URDA. See Nornf. VALA. A spaewife or prophetess. VALASKIALF. Odin's dwelling in heaven. VALHALL, VALHALLA. The paradise of warrior*..

VALKYRIA, VALKYRIE. Choosers of the slain. Prose EJJa, ch. xxxvi : "There are, besides, a great many other goddess, whose duty it is t«. serve in Valhalla ; to bear in the drink, and take care of the drinking- horns. They are called Valkyrior. Odin sends them to every field of battle, to make choice of those who are to be slain, and to sway the victory."

VALUNDER. The god of artificers, represented as lame, and bearing a close analogy to the classic Vulcan.

VANADIS. One of the names of Freya, which see. VAR. The goddess presiding over oaths. VARC-I-VEUM. Lit., Wolf in the sanctuary.

VECTAMsquiDA (The wanderer's lay). One of the mythological class of Icelandic sagas, or legendary lays.

VIDAK. The god of Silence.

VALFATHER (The choosing father). A name of Odin, as chooser of the slain who should enter Valhalla.

VIGRID'S PLAIN. The great battle-ground, one hundred leagues in breadth, on which the race of gods were destined, at Ragnarok, to contend with Surtur and his powers.

VINGOLF (also GIMLI). The future dwelling of the righto

AND NO I 207

-Q. Talc given to the ancient »r» ruverv

\ code of lam wriitm for iKr govtiMMBt of a pint*

Balk (%c* A*«rWW*), prap^jr a Ar««j benrr, a Ma€ on wWb

Icflrr- «rrr . -jvr I : r • • 4 - UlOT IMMC plml meinraJ BctMt Of

nccrtMty for making the word rtijrme with 4n«4( in ibe *rcood fiat --loounod with an ending like that of fflfr.

YAM (whmcv KAIL). One holding kingly power, DM paying tribute. • A mighty giant, of who* corp* the earth wia Mid ID have

III! >M>

PUBLICATIONS Of J UK AMEk , DIN AVIAN FOUNDATION

ESTABLISHED BY HIIU FOUUON,

COMMITTII ON PUBLICATION!

Wu IWn*»r uf Compar *i«fr

in tianrarti University,

HBNBY CoooAto LEACH, Sccfctarjr of in* PC

•CANDINAM \\ i I.ASSICS

I . Com*: lolbtrg : Jepfx of the Hill, Wit Po/if-

icat Tin* :<mns Montattits

TnuuUtcd from the Danish by OtcAt JAMU CAUI . »nd

an Introduction by OKAB JAMU CAMr- BILL. Jt. 1914. xv+ 178 pages. Price $1.50

1 1 . Poems by fegtier : The Children of the Lord's Su/>- :hiofs Saga

Mveduhby HINRY WAWWOHTH LONGFELLOW, and Ri-\. ^ '. IJEWEEY BI.ACKLCY, with an Introduction by PAUL ROBERT LUOEE. 1914. xxvii + ao; pages. Price $i.$o

SCANDINAVIAN MONOGRAI

I he Voyages of the Norsemen to America

VM HOVCAAED. With eighty- three Illustrations and seven Maps. 1914* xxi -4-304 pages. Price $4*00

THE AMERICAN-SCANDINAVIAN REVIEW .me I. 1913. 192 pages. Price $4.00

Ftr itftrmttio* rfgtrJitg tht ikvf *•/****, *Mrtn tkt SECEETAEY or THE AMEEICAK-SCANDINAVIAN FOUKDATIOK 25 Wfit 4 5 th Strtft, New York (

PT Tegner, Eaalaa

«29

E5L6