The Musician's Tale - The Saga Of King Olaf - The Wayside Inn - Part First Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis

Rhyme Scheme: A B BCBDEB FGBHIJ IJKLJM MINMMI BOMBBP QMIMRM MNMMLH A S BBMOOM MMBMMB TTUOOU VVMIIM WWHBBH IINBBN XXIIII IIBLLB YYMOOM MMZIIZ IINMMN MMBMMB A2A2BMMB B2B2BMMB A Z HHC2C2NN HHZZNN BBZZNN BBD2D2BN HHZZZN OOOOBN MMYYON OOIIBN Y M MMMI MM E2E2 ZF2 MM MM G2G2 ZZ MM MM G2G2 F2F2 MM H2H2 MM BB YY OO MM II I2I2 MM YY MM J2J2MI M I IIBIIB BBMBBM MMMYYM IIIIII MMMOOM K2K2OMMO MMOZZO IIMBBM IIBOOB G2G2BMMB MMMMMM G2G2BIIB L2L2M2MMM2 G2G2OBBO BBMG2G2M K2K2MIIM Y G2 N2N2O2O2O2 G2G2MMO2 ZZMMO2 MMMMO2 BBMMO2 MMG2G2O2 IIG2G2O2 MMBBO2 IIP2P2O2 MMMMO2 Q2Q2O2O2O2 MMIIO2 MMR2R2O2 Y M G2G2M BBM BBY BBY III BBI MMI III MMM MMM MMG2 O2O2G2 MMI BBI MMO2 G2G2O2 MMM MMM MMO2 G2G2O2 O2O2B MMB MMO2 G2G2O2 Y G2 MMII BBG2G2 MMG2G2 IIBB IIR2R2 IIII MMMM BBBB IIBB G2G2MM I M MMMMMMM MMMMO2O2M MZMZBBM MBMBF2F2M IMIMMMM MG2MG2BBM MMMMG2G2M IG2IG2MMM MZMZO2O2M MG2MG2MMM S2G2S2G2MMM I O2 MMIIMIY MMMMMT2M MMIIMYT2 MMO2O2MO2T2 MMIIMIY BBMMBBT2 MMMMMMY M M O2O2G2M IIG2M MMIM IIIM G2G2MI MMMI MMMM MMMM MMG2I IIG2I O2O2F2G2 MMF2G2 O2O2BB MMBB O2O2ZM BBZM MMBM BBBM G2G2O2M G2G2O2M MMMG2 MMMG2 I I O2O2ZZZZ IIMO2O2M G2G2IBBI IIO2MMO2 G2G2MMMM MMBO2O2B O2O2MMMM MMO2MMO2 G2G2IMMI MMIIII IIMMMM IIMMMM MMMZZM I M BIBO2I MO2MG2O2 O2IO2YI MIMO2I BBBO2B IBIG2B MIMO2I O2BO2G2B O2MO2MM O2O2O2F2O2 O2MO2IM BO2BBO2 O2O2O2O2O2 O2BO2G2B MZMIZ IIIF2I MBMO2B Y M F2F2ZBBBB MMMMMMM IIZMMMZ O2O2MMMMM BBMBBBM O2O2BMMMB IIMG2G2G2M MMZMMMZ IIBMMMB Y B BBG2MMG2O2B MMIMMIO2B MMMMMMO2B G2G2MG2G2MO2B ZZMO2O2MO2B Y I MIMG2 BIBG2 IG2BY MMBY MO2BI MMII MBYM BBMM MIMG2 BMMG2 IG2BI MMBI BMBY O2BIY YO2MG2 YO2MG2 BMMB MMZB MIYM MIYM IMU2Y O2BMY O2G2IB MIBB Y B MMMMMMMM R2R2R2MMMMM IIIMBBBM O2O2O2MMMMM MMMZG2G2G2Z O2O2O2O2MMMO2 MMMG2MMMG2 MMMIMMMI IIIG2O2O2O2G2 Y M IIMI ZZIZ MMMM MMIM MMBM MMIM MMYM MMIM MMYM IIMI I I MMMIIM O2MO2O2O2M O2MO2MMM MMMMMM O2O2O2MMO2 MIMBBI O2MO2YYM IIIMMI O2MO2IIM MMMMMM ZO2ZIIO2 I B BMBMO2MO2M BMBMO2ZO2Z G2MG2MG2MG2M O2O2O2O2O2O2O2O2 BMBMO2YO2Y BIBMBO2BO2 MV2MV2O2MO2M I O2 MMMZ MMMZ MMMY G2G2G2Y O2O2O2I IIII O2O2O2Z MMMZ G2G2G2M IIIM BBBV2 BBBV2 IIIO2 MMMO2 ZZZG2 MMMG2 I I MBIO2O2B IO2IMBI BMMO2YW2 G2ZMIII MIZMIM MMBZII BIIIO2I O2O2MMIO2 ZMIIBI MMZIIM MIZMIZ M ZZMM MMMMMMIIIII X2G2G2X2X2G2MBBM MIIMMIIII IMMMM G2G2MMBG2G2B G2G2IIMG2G2M MMMMMMYY ZZMG2G2G2M

I	A
	-
THE CHALLENGE OF THOR	B
	-
I am the God Thor	B
I am the War God	C
I am the Thunderer	B
Here in my Northland	D
My fastness and fortress	E
Reign I forever	B
	-
Here amid icebergs	F
Rule I the nations	G
This is my hammer	B
Miolner the mighty	H
Giants and sorcerers	I
Cannot withstand it	J
	-
These are the gauntlets	I
Wherewith I wield it	J
And hurl it afar off	K
This is my girdle	L
Whenever I brace it	J
Strength is redoubled	M
	-
The light thou beholdest	M
Stream through the heavens	I
In flashes of crimson	N
Is but my red beard	M
Blown by the night wind	M
Affrighting the nations	I
	-
Jove is my brother	B
Mine eyes are the lightning	O
The wheels of my chariot	M
Roll in the thunder	B
The blows of my hammer	B
Ring in the earthquake	P
	-
Force rules the world still	Q
Has ruled it shall rule it	M
Meekness is weakness	I
Strength is triumphant	M
Over the whole earth	R
Still is it Thor's Day	M
	-
Thou art a God too	M
O Galilean	N
And thus single handed	M
Unto the combat	M
Gauntlet or Gospel	L
Here I defy thee	H
	-
	-
	-
II	A
	-
KING OLAF'S RETURN	S
	-
And King Olaf heard the cry	B
Saw the red light in the sky	B
Laid his hand upon his sword	M
As he leaned upon the railing	O
And his ships went sailing sailing	O
Northward into Drontheim fiord	M
	-
There he stood as one who dreamed	M
And the red light glanced and gleamed	M
On the armor that he wore	B
And he shouted as the rifled	M
Streamers o'er him shook and shifted	M
I accept thy challenge Thor	B
	-
To avenge his father slain	T
And reconquer realm and reign	T
Came the youthful Olaf home	U
Through the midnight sailing sailing	O
Listening to the wild wind's wailing	O
And the dashing of the foam	U
	-
To his thoughts the sacred name	V
Of his mother Astrid came	V
And the tale she oft had told	M
Of her flight by secret passes	I
Through the mountains and morasses	I
To the home of Hakon old	M
	-
Then strange memories crowded back	W
Of Queen Gunhild's wrath and wrack	W
And a hurried flight by sea	H
Of grim Vikings and the rapture	B
Of the sea fight and the capture	B
And the life of slavery	H
	-
How a stranger watched his face	I
In the Esthonian market place	I
Scanned his features one by one	N
Saying We should know each other	B
I am Sigurd Astrid's brother	B
Thou art Olaf Astrid's son	N
	-
Then as Queen Allogia's page	X
Old in honors young in age	X
Chief of all her men at arms	I
Till vague whispers and mysterious	I
Reached King Valdemar the imperious	I
Filling him with strange alarms	I
	-
Then his cruisings o'er the seas	I
Westward to the Hebrides	I
And to Scilly's rocky shore	B
And the hermit's cavern dismal	L
Christ's great name and rites baptismal	L
in the ocean's rush and roar	B
	-
All these thoughts of love and strife	Y
Glimmered through his lurid life	Y
As the stars' intenser light	M
Through the red flames o'er him trailing	O
As his ships went sailing sailing	O
Northward in the summer night	M
	-
Trained for either camp or court	M
Skilful in each manly sport	M
Young and beautiful and tall	Z
Art of warfare craft of chases	I
Swimming skating snow shoe races	I
Excellent alike in all	Z
	-
When at sea with all his rowers	I
He along the bending oars	I
Outside of his ship could run	N
He the Smalsor Horn ascended	M
And his shining shield suspended	M
On its summit like a sun	N
	-
On the ship rails he could stand	M
Wield his sword with either hand	M
And at once two javelins throw	B
At all feasts where ale was strongest	M
Sat the merry monarch longest	M
First to come and last to go	B
	-
Norway never yet had seen	A2
One so beautiful of mien	A2
One so royal in attire	B
When in arms completely furnished	M
Harness gold inlaid and burnished	M
Mantle like a flame of fire	B
	-
Thus came Olaf to his own	B2
When upon the night wind blown	B2
Passed that cry along the shore	B
And he answered while the rifted	M
Streamers o'er him shook and shifted	M
I accept thy challenge Thor	B
	-
	-
	-
III	A
	-
THORA OF RIMOL	Z
	-
Thora of Rimol hide me hide me	H
Danger and shame and death betide me	H
For Olaf the King is hunting me down	C2
Through field and forest through thorp and town	C2
Thus cried Jarl Hakon	N
To Thora the fairest of women	N
	-
Hakon Jarl for the love I bear thee	H
Neither shall shame nor death come near thee	H
But the hiding place wherein thou must lie	Z
Is the cave underneath the swine in the sty	Z
Thus to Jarl Hakon	N
Said Thora the fairest of women	N
	-
So Hakon Jarl and his base thrall Karker	B
Crouched in the cave than a dungeon darker	B
As Olaf came riding with men in mail	Z
Through the forest roads into Orkadale	Z
Demanding Jarl Hakon	N
Of Thorn the fairest of women	N
	-
Rich and honored shall be whoever	B
The head of Hakon Jarl shall dissever	B
Hakon heard him and Karker the slave	D2
Through the breathing holes of the darksome cave	D2
Alone in her chamber	B
Wept Thora the fairest of women	N
	-
Said Karker the crafty I will not slay thee	H
For all the king's gold I will never betray thee	H
Then why dost thou turn so pale O churl	Z
And then again black as the earth said the Earl	Z
More pale and more faithful	Z
Was Thora the fairest of women	N
	-
From a dream in the night the thrall started saying	O
Round my neck a gold ring King Olaf was laying	O
And Hakon answered Beware of the king	O
He will lay round thy neck a blood red ring	O
At the ring on her finger	B
Gazed Thorn the fairest of women	N
	-
At daybreak slept Hakon with sorrows encumbered	M
But screamed and drew up his feet as he slumbered	M
The thrall in the darkness plunged with his knife	Y
And the Earl awakened no more in this life	Y
But wakeful and weeping	O
Sat Thorn the fairest of women	N
	-
At Nidarholm the priests are all singing	O
Two ghastly heads on the gibbet are swinging	O
One is Jarl Hakon's and one is his thrall's	I
And the people are shouting from windows and walls	I
While alone in her chamber	B
Swoons Thorn the fairest of women	N
	-
	-
	-
IV	Y
	-
QUEEN SIGRID THE HAUGHTY	M
	-
Queen Sigrid the Haughty sat proud and aloft	M
In her chamber that looked over meadow and croft	M
Heart's dearest	M
Why dost thou sorrow so	I
	-
The floor with tassels of fir was besprent	M
Filling the room with their fragrant scent	M
	-
She heard the birds sing she saw the sun shine	E2
The air of summer was sweeter than wine	E2
	-
Like a sword without scabbard the bright river lay	Z
Between her own kingdom and Norroway	F2
	-
But Olaf the King had sued for her hand	M
The sword would be sheathed the river be spanned	M
	-
Her maidens were seated around her knee	M
Working bright figures in tapestry	M
	-
And one was singing the ancient rune	G2
Of Brynhilda's love and the wrath of Gudrun	G2
	-
And through it and round it and over it all	Z
Sounded incessant the waterfall	Z
	-
The Queen in her hand held a ring of gold	M
From the door of Lade's Temple old	M
	-
King Olaf had sent her this wedding gift	M
But her thoughts as arrows were keen and swift	M
	-
She had given the ring to her goldsmiths twain	G2
Who smiled as they handed it back again	G2
	-
And Sigrid the Queen in her haughty way	F2
Said Why do you smile my goldsmiths say	F2
	-
And they answered O Queen if the truth must be told	M
The ring is of copper and not of gold	M
	-
The lightning flashed o'er her forehead and cheek	H2
She only murmured she did not speak	H2
	-
If in his gifts he can faithless be	M
There will be no gold in his love to me	M
	-
A footstep was heard on the outer stair	B
And in strode King Olaf with royal air	B
	-
He kissed the Queen's hand and he whispered of love	Y
And swore to be true as the stars are above	Y
	-
But she smiled with contempt as she answered O King	O
Will you swear it as Odin once swore on the ring	O
	-
And the King O speak not of Odin to me	M
The wife of King Olaf a Christian must be	M
	-
Looking straight at the King with her level brows	I
She said I keep true to my faith and my vows	I
	-
Then the face of King Olaf was darkened with gloom	I2
He rose in his anger and strode through the room	I2
	-
Why then should I care to have thee he said	M
A faded old woman a heathenish jade	M
	-
His zeal was stronger than fear or love	Y
And he struck the Queen in the face with his glove	Y
	-
Then forth from the chamber in anger he fled	M
And the wooden stairway shook with his tread	M
	-
Queen Sigrid the Haughty said under her breath	J2
This insult King Olaf shall be thy death	J2
Heart's dearest	M
Why dost thou sorrow so	I
	-
	-
	-
V	M
	-
THE SKERRY OF SHRIEKS	I
	-
Now from all King Olaf's farms	I
His men at arms	I
Gathered on the Eve of Easter	B
To his house at Angvalds ness	I
Fast they press	I
Drinking with the royal feaster	B
	-
Loudly through the wide flung door	B
Came the roar	B
Of the sea upon the Skerry	M
And its thunder loud and near	B
Reached the ear	B
Mingling with their voices merry	M
	-
Hark said Olaf to his Scald	M
Halfred the Bald	M
Listen to that song and learn it	M
Half my kingdom would I give	Y
As I live	Y
If by such songs you would earn it	M
	-
For of all the runes and rhymes	I
Of all times	I
Best I like the ocean's dirges	I
When the old harper heaves and rocks	I
His hoary locks	I
Flowing and flashing in the surges	I
	-
Halfred answered I am called	M
The Unappalled	M
Nothing hinders me or daunts me	M
Hearken to me then O King	O
While I sing	O
The great Ocean Song that haunts me	M
	-
I will hear your song sublime	K2
Some other time	K2
Says the drowsy monarch yawning	O
And retires each laughing guest	M
Applauds the jest	M
Then they sleep till day is dawning	O
	-
Facing up and down the yard	M
King Olaf's guard	M
Saw the sea mist slowly creeping	O
O'er the sands and up the hill	Z
Gathering still	Z
Round the house where they were sleeping	O
	-
It was not the fog he saw	I
Nor misty flaw	I
That above the landscape brooded	M
It was Eyvind Kallda's crew	B
Of warlocks blue	B
With their caps of darkness hooded	M
	-
Round and round the house they go	I
Weaving slow	I
Magic circles to encumber	B
And imprison in their ring	O
Olaf the King	O
As he helpless lies in slumber	B
	-
Then athwart the vapors dun	G2
The Easter sun	G2
Streamed with one broad track of splendor	B
in their real forms appeared	M
The warlocks weird	M
Awful as the Witch of Endor	B
	-
Blinded by the light that glared	M
They groped and stared	M
Round about with steps unsteady	M
From his window Olaf gazed	M
And amazed	M
Who are these strange people said he	M
	-
Eyvind Kallda and his men	G2
Answered then	G2
From the yard a sturdy farmer	B
While the men at arms apace	I
Filled the place	I
Busily buckling on their armor	B
	-
From the gates they sallied forth	L2
South and north	L2
Scoured the island coast around them	M2
Seizing all the warlock band	M
Foot and hand	M
On the Skerry's rocks they bound them	M2
	-
And at eve the king again	G2
Called his train	G2
And with all the candles burning	O
Silent sat and heard once more	B
The sullen roar	B
Of the ocean tides returning	O
	-
Shrieks and cries of wild despair	B
Filled the air	B
Growing fainter as they listened	M
Then the bursting surge alone	G2
Sounded on	G2
Thus the sorcerers were christened	M
	-
Sing O Scald your song sublime	K2
Your ocean rhyme	K2
Cried King Olaf it will cheer me	M
Said the Scald with pallid cheeks	I
The Skerry of Shrieks	I
Sings too loud for you to hear me	M
	-
	-
	-
VI	Y
	-
THE WRAITH OF ODIN	G2
	-
The guests were loud the ale was strong	N2
King Olaf feasted late and long	N2
The hoary Scalds together sang	O2
O'erhead the smoky rafters rang	O2
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang	O2
	-
The door swung wide with creak and din	G2
A blast of cold night air came in	G2
And on the threshold shivering stood	M
A one eyed guest with cloak and hood	M
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang	O2
	-
The King exclaimed O graybeard pale	Z
Come warm thee with this cup of ale	Z
The foaming draught the old man quaffed	M
The noisy guests looked on and laughed	M
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang	O2
	-
Then spake the King Be not afraid	M
Sit here by me The guest obeyed	M
And seated at the table told	M
Tales of the sea and Sagas old	M
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang	O2
	-
And ever when the tale was o'er	B
The King demanded yet one more	B
Till Sigurd the Bishop smiling said	M
'T is late O King and time for bed	M
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang	O2
	-
The King retired the stranger guest	M
Followed and entered with the rest	M
The lights were out the pages gone	G2
But still the garrulous guest spake on	G2
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang	O2
	-
As one who from a volume reads	I
He spake of heroes and their deeds	I
Of lands and cities he had seen	G2
And stormy gulfs that tossed between	G2
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang	O2
	-
Then from his lips in music rolled	M
The Havamal of Odin old	M
With sounds mysterious as the roar	B
Of billows on a distant shore	B
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang	O2
	-
Do we not learn from runes and rhymes	I
Made by the gods in elder times	I
And do not still the great Scalds teach	P2
That silence better is than speech	P2
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang	O2
	-
Smiling at this the King replied	M
Thy lore is by thy tongue belied	M
For never was I so enthralled	M
Either by Saga man or Scald	M
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang	O2
	-
The Bishop said Late hours we keep	Q2
Night wanes O King 't is time for sleep	Q2
Then slept the King and when he woke	O2
The guest was gone the morning broke	O2
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang	O2
	-
They found the doors securely barred	M
They found the watch dog in the yard	M
There was no footprint in the grass	I
And none had seen the stranger pass	I
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang	O2
	-
King Olaf crossed himself and said	M
I know that Odin the Great is dead	M
Sure is the triumph of our Faith	R2
The one eyed stranger was his wraith	R2
Dead rides Sir Morten of Fogelsang	O2
	-
	-
	-
VII	Y
	-
IRON BEARD	M
	-
Olaf the King one summer morn	G2
Blew a blast on his bugle horn	G2
Sending his signal through the land of Drontheim	M
	-
And to the Hus Ting held at Mere	B
Gathered the farmers far and near	B
With their war weapons ready to confront him	M
	-
Ploughing under the morning star	B
Old Iron Beard in Yriar	B
Heard the summons chuckling with a low laugh	Y
	-
He wiped the sweat drops from his brow	B
Unharnessed his horses from the plough	B
And clattering came on horseback to King Olaf	Y
	-
He was the churliest of the churls	I
Little he cared for king or earls	I
Bitter as home brewed ale were his foaming passions	I
	-
Hodden gray was the garb he wore	B
And by the Hammer of Thor he swore	B
He hated the narrow town and all its fashions	I
	-
But he loved the freedom of his farm	M
His ale at night by the fireside warm	M
Gudrun his daughter with her flaxen tresses	I
	-
He loved his horses and his herds	I
The smell of the earth and the song of birds	I
His well filled barns his brook with its water cresses	I
	-
Huge and cumbersome was his frame	M
His beard from which he took his name	M
Frosty and fierce like that of Hymer the Giant	M
	-
So at the Hus Ting he appeared	M
The farmer of Yriar Iron Beard	M
On horseback in an attitude defiant	M
	-
And to King Olaf he cried aloud	M
Out of the middle of the crowd	M
That tossed about him like a stormy ocean	G2
	-
Such sacrifices shalt thou bring	O2
To Odin and to Thor O King	O2
As other kings have done in their devotion	G2
	-
King Olaf answered I command	M
This land to be a Christian land	M
Here is my Bishop who the folk baptizes	I
	-
But if you ask me to restore	B
Your sacrifices stained with gore	B
Then will I offer human sacrifices	I
	-
Not slaves and peasants shall they be	M
But men of note and high degree	M
Such men as Orm of Lyra and Kar of Gryting	O2
	-
Then to their Temple strode he in	G2
And loud behind him heard the din	G2
Of his men at arms and the peasants fiercely fighting	O2
	-
There in the Temple carved in wood	M
The image of great Odin stood	M
And other gods with Thor supreme among them	M
	-
King Olaf smote them with the blade	M
Of his huge war axe gold inlaid	M
And downward shattered to the pavement flung them	M
	-
At the same moment rose without	M
From the contending crowd a shout	M
A mingled sound of triumph and of wailing	O2
	-
And there upon the trampled plain	G2
The farmer iron Beard lay slain	G2
Midway between the assailed and the assailing	O2
	-
King Olaf from the doorway spoke	O2
Choose ye between two things my folk	O2
To be baptized or given up to slaughter	B
	-
And seeing their leader stark and dead	M
The people with a murmur said	M
O King baptize us with thy holy water	B
	-
So all the Drontheim land became	M
A Christian land in name and fame	M
In the old gods no more believing and trusting	O2
	-
And as a blood atonement soon	G2
King Olaf wed the fair Gudrun	G2
And thus in peace ended the Drontheim Hus Ting	O2
	-
	-
	-
VIII	Y
	-
GUDRUN	G2
	-
On King Olaf's bridal night	M
Shines the moon with tender light	M
And across the chamber streams	I
Its tide of dreams	I
	-
At the fatal midnight hour	B
When all evil things have power	B
In the glimmer of the moon	G2
Stands Gudrun	G2
	-
Close against her heaving breast	M
Something in her hand is pressed	M
Like an icicle its sheen	G2
Is cold and keen	G2
	-
On the cairn are fixed her eyes	I
Where her murdered father lies	I
And a voice remote and drear	B
She seems to hear	B
	-
What a bridal night is this	I
Cold will be the dagger's kiss	I
Laden with the chill of death	R2
Is its breath	R2
	-
Like the drifting snow she sweeps	I
To the couch where Olaf sleeps	I
Suddenly he wakes and stirs	I
His eyes meet hers	I
	-
What is that King Olaf said	M
Gleams so bright above thy head	M
Wherefore standest thou so white	M
In pale moonlight	M
	-
'T is the bodkin that I wear	B
When at night I bind my hair	B
It woke me falling on the floor	B
'T is nothing more	B
	-
Forests have ears and fields have eyes	I
Often treachery lurking lies	I
Underneath the fairest hair	B
Gudrun beware	B
	-
Ere the earliest peep of morn	G2
Blew King Olaf's bugle horn	G2
And forever sundered ride	M
Bridegroom and bride	M
	-
	-
	-
IX	I
	-
THANGBRAND THE PRIEST	M
	-
Short of stature large of limb	M
Burly face and russet beard	M
All the women stared at him	M
When in Iceland he appeared	M
Look they said	M
With nodding head	M
There goes Thangbrand Olaf's Priest	M
	-
All the prayers he knew by rote	M
He could preach like Chrysostome	M
From the Fathers he could quote	M
He had even been at Rome	M
A learned clerk	O2
A man of mark	O2
Was this Thangbrand Olaf's Priest	M
	-
He was quarrelsome and loud	M
And impatient of control	Z
Boisterous in the market crowd	M
Boisterous at the wassail bowl	Z
Everywhere	B
Would drink and swear	B
Swaggering Thangbrand Olaf's Priest	M
	-
In his house this malcontent	M
Could the King no longer bear	B
So to Iceland he was sent	M
To convert the heathen there	B
And away	F2
One summer day	F2
Sailed this Thangbrand Olaf's Priest	M
	-
There in Iceland o'er their books	I
Pored the people day and night	M
But he did not like their looks	I
Nor the songs they used to write	M
All this rhyme	M
Is waste of time	M
Grumbled Thangbrand Olaf's Priest	M
	-
To the alehouse where he sat	M
Came the Scalds and Saga men	G2
Is it to be wondered at	M
That they quarrelled now and then	G2
When o'er his beer	B
Began to leer	B
Drunken Thangbrand Olaf's Priest	M
	-
All the folk in Altafiord	M
Boasted of their island grand	M
Saying in a single word	M
Iceland is the finest land	M
That the sun	G2
Doth shine upon	G2
Loud laughed Thangbrand Olaf's Priest	M
	-
And he answered What's the use	I
Of this bragging up and down	G2
When three women and one goose	I
Make a market in your town	G2
Every Scald	M
Satires scrawled	M
On poor Thangbrand Olaf's Priest	M
	-
Something worse they did than that	M
And what vexed him most of all	Z
Was a figure in shovel hat	M
Drawn in charcoal on the wall	Z
With words that go	O2
Sprawling below	O2
This is Thangbrand Olaf's Priest	M
	-
Hardly knowing what he did	M
Then he smote them might and main	G2
Thorvald Veile and Veterlid	M
Lay there in the alehouse slain	G2
To day we are gold	M
To morrow mould	M
Muttered Thangbrand Olaf's Priest	M
	-
Much in fear of axe and rope	S2
Back to Norway sailed he then	G2
O King Olaf little hope	S2
Is there of these Iceland men	G2
Meekly said	M
With bending head	M
Pious Thangbrand Olaf's Priest	M
	-
	-
X	I
	-
RAUD THE STRONG	O2
	-
All the old gods are dead	M
All the wild warlocks fled	M
But the White Christ lives and reigns	I
And throughout my wide domains	I
His Gospel shall be spread	M
On the Evangelists	I
Thus swore King Olaf	Y
	-
But still in dreams of the night	M
Beheld he the crimson light	M
And heard the voice that defied	M
Him who was crucified	M
And challenged him to the fight	M
To Sigurd the Bishop	T2
King Olaf confessed it	M
	-
And Sigurd the Bishop said	M
The old gods are not dead	M
For the great Thor still reigns	I
And among the Jarls and Thanes	I
The old witchcraft still is spread	M
Thus to King Olaf	Y
Said Sigurd the Bishop	T2
	-
Far north in the Salten Fiord	M
By rapine fire and sword	M
Lives the Viking Raud the Strong	O2
All the Godoe Isles belong	O2
To him and his heathen horde	M
Thus went on speaking	O2
Sigurd the Bishop	T2
	-
A warlock a wizard is he	M
And lord of the wind and the sea	M
And whichever way he sails	I
He has ever favoring gales	I
By his craft in sorcery	M
Here the sign of the cross	I
Made devoutly King Olaf	Y
	-
With rites that we both abhor	B
He worships Odin and Thor	B
So it cannot yet be said	M
That all the old gods are dead	M
And the warlocks are no more	B
Flushing with anger	B
Said Sigurd the Bishop	T2
	-
Then King Olaf cried aloud	M
I will talk with this mighty Raud	M
And along the Salten Fiord	M
Preach the Gospel with my sword	M
Or be brought back in my shroud	M
So northward from Drontheim	M
Sailed King Olaf	Y
	-
	-
	-
XI	M
	-
BISHOP SIGURD AT SALTEN FIORD	M
	-
Loud the angry wind was wailing	O2
As King Olaf's ships came sailing	O2
Northward out of Drontheim haven	G2
To the mouth of Salten Fiord	M
	-
Though the flying sea spray drenches	I
Fore and aft the rowers' benches	I
Not a single heart is craven	G2
Of the champions there on board	M
	-
All without the Fiord was quiet	M
But within it storm and riot	M
Such as on his Viking cruises	I
Raud the Strong was wont to ride	M
	-
And the sea through all its tide ways	I
Swept the reeling vessels sideways	I
As the leaves are swept through sluices	I
When the flood gates open wide	M
	-
'T is the warlock 't is the demon	G2
Raud cried Sigurd to the seamen	G2
But the Lord is not affrighted	M
By the witchcraft of his foes	I
	-
To the ship's bow he ascended	M
By his choristers attended	M
Round him were the tapers lighted	M
And the sacred incense rose	I
	-
On the bow stood Bishop Sigurd	M
In his robes as one transfigured	M
And the Crucifix he planted	M
High amid the rain and mist	M
	-
Then with holy water sprinkled	M
All the ship the mass bells tinkled	M
Loud the monks around him chanted	M
Loud he read the Evangelist	M
	-
As into the Fiord they darted	M
On each side the water parted	M
Down a path like silver molten	G2
Steadily rowed King Olaf's ships	I
	-
Steadily burned all night the tapers	I
And the White Christ through the vapors	I
Gleamed across the Fiord of Salten	G2
As through John's Apocalypse	I
	-
Till at last they reached Raud's dwelling	O2
On the little isle of Gelling	O2
Not a guard was at the doorway	F2
Not a glimmer of light was seen	G2
	-
But at anchor carved and gilded	M
Lay the dragon ship he builded	M
'T was the grandest ship in Norway	F2
With its crest and scales of green	G2
	-
Up the stairway softly creeping	O2
To the loft where Raud was sleeping	O2
With their fists they burst asunder	B
Bolt and bar that held the door	B
	-
Drunken with sleep and ale they found him	M
Dragged him from his bed and bound him	M
While he stared with stupid wonder	B
At the look and garb they wore	B
	-
Then King Olaf said O Sea King	O2
Little time have we for speaking	O2
Choose between the good and evil	Z
Be baptized or thou shalt die	M
	-
But in scorn the heathen scoffer	B
Answered I disdain thine offer	B
Neither fear I God nor Devil	Z
Thee and thy Gospel I defy	M
	-
Then between his jaws distended	M
When his frantic struggles ended	M
Through King Olaf's horn an adder	B
Touched by fire they forced to glide	M
	-
Sharp his tooth was as an arrow	B
As he gnawed through bone and marrow	B
But without a groan or shudder	B
Raud the Strong blaspheming died	M
	-
Then baptized they all that region	G2
Swarthy Lap and fair Norwegian	G2
Far as swims the salmon leaping	O2
Up the streams of Salten Fiord	M
	-
In their temples Thor and Odin	G2
Lay in dust and ashes trodden	G2
As King Olaf onward sweeping	O2
Preached the Gospel with his sword	M
	-
Then he took the carved and gilded	M
Dragon ship that Raud had builded	M
And the tiller single handed	M
Grasping steered into the main	G2
	-
Southward sailed the sea gulls o'er him	M
Southward sailed the ship that bore him	M
Till at Drontheim haven landed	M
Olaf and his crew again	G2
	-
	-
	-
	-
XII	I
	-
KING OLAF'S CHRISTMAS	I
	-
At Drontheim Olaf the King	O2
Heard the bells of Yule tide ring	O2
As he sat in his banquet hall	Z
Drinking the nut brown ale	Z
With his bearded Berserks hale	Z
And tall	Z
	-
Three days his Yule tide feasts	I
He held with Bishops and Priests	I
And his horn filled up to the brim	M
But the ale was never too strong	O2
Nor the Saga man's tale too long	O2
For him	M
	-
O'er his drinking horn the sign	G2
He made of the cross divine	G2
As he drank and muttered his prayers	I
But the Berserks evermore	B
Made the sign of the Hammer of Thor	B
Over theirs	I
	-
The gleams of the fire light dance	I
Upon helmet and hauberk and lance	I
And laugh in the eyes of the King	O2
And he cries to Halfred the Scald	M
Gray bearded wrinkled and bald	M
Sing	O2
	-
Sing me a song divine	G2
With a sword in every line	G2
And this shall be thy reward	M
And he loosened the belt at his waist	M
And in front of the singer placed	M
His sword	M
	-
Quern biter of Hakon the Good	M
Wherewith at a stroke he hewed	M
The millstone through and through	B
And Foot breadth of Thoralf the Strong	O2
Were neither so broad nor so long	O2
Nor so true	B
	-
Then the Scald took his harp and sang	O2
And loud though the music rang	O2
The sound of that shining word	M
And the harp strings a clangor made	M
As if they were struck with the blade	M
Of a sword	M
	-
And the Berserks round about	M
Broke forth into a shout	M
That made the rafters ring	O2
They smote with their fists on the board	M
And shouted Long live the Sword	M
And the King	O2
	-
But the King said O my son	G2
I miss the bright word in one	G2
Of thy measures and thy rhymes	I
And Halfred the Scald replied	M
In another 't was multiplied	M
Three times	I
	-
Then King Olaf raised the hilt	M
Of iron cross shaped and gilt	M
And said Do not refuse	I
Count well the gain and the loss	I
Thor's hammer or Christ's cross	I
Choose	I
	-
And Halfred the Scald said This	I
In the name of the Lord I kiss	I
Who on it was crucified	M
And a shout went round the board	M
In the name of Christ the Lord	M
Who died	M
	-
Then over the waste of snows	I
The noonday sun uprose	I
Through the driving mists revealed	M
Like the lifting of the Host	M
By incense clouds almost	M
Concealed	M
	-
On the shining wall a vast	M
And shadowy cross was cast	M
From the hilt of the lifted sword	M
And in foaming cups of ale	Z
The Berserks drank Was hael	Z
To the Lord	M
	-
	-
	-
XIII	I
	-
THE BUILDING OF THE LONG SERPENT	M
	-
Thorberg Skafting master builder	B
In his ship yard by the sea	I
Whistling said It would bewilder	B
Any man but Thorberg Skafting	O2
Any man but me	I
	-
Near him lay the Dragon stranded	M
Built of old by Raud the Strong	O2
And King Olaf had commanded	M
He should build another Dragon	G2
Twice as large and long	O2
	-
Therefore whistled Thorberg Skafting	O2
As he sat with half closed eyes	I
And his head turned sideways drafting	O2
That new vessel for King Olaf	Y
Twice the Dragon's size	I
	-
Round him busily hewed and hammered	M
Mallet huge and heavy axe	I
Workmen laughed and sang and clamored	M
Whirred the wheels that into rigging	O2
Spun the shining flax	I
	-
All this tumult heard the master	B
It was music to his ear	B
Fancy whispered all the faster	B
Men shall hear of Thorberg Skafting	O2
For a hundred year	B
	-
Workmen sweating at the forges	I
Fashioned iron bolt and bar	B
Like a warlock's midnight orgies	I
Smoked and bubbled the black caldron	G2
With the boiling tar	B
	-
Did the warlocks mingle in it	M
Thorberg Skafting any curse	I
Could you not be gone a minute	M
But some mischief must be doing	O2
Turning bad to worse	I
	-
'T was an ill wind that came wafting	O2
From his homestead words of woe	B
To his farm went Thorberg Skafting	O2
Oft repeating to his workmen	G2
Build ye thus and so	B
	-
After long delays returning	O2
Came the master back by night	M
To his ship yard longing yearning	O2
Hurried he and did not leave it	M
Till the morning's light	M
	-
Come and see my ship my darling	O2
On the morrow said the King	O2
Finished now from keel to carling	O2
Never yet was seen in Norway	F2
Such a wondrous thing	O2
	-
In the ship yard idly talking	O2
At the ship the workmen stared	M
Some one all their labor balking	O2
Down her sides had cut deep gashes	I
Not a plank was spared	M
	-
Death be to the evil doer	B
With an oath King Olaf spoke	O2
But rewards to his pursuer	B
And with wrath his face grew redder	B
Than his scarlet cloak	O2
	-
Straight the master builder smiling	O2
Answered thus the angry King	O2
Cease blaspheming and reviling	O2
Olaf it was Thorberg Skafting	O2
Who has done this thing	O2
	-
Then he chipped and smoothed the planking	O2
Till the King delighted swore	B
With much lauding and much thanking	O2
Handsomer is now my Dragon	G2
Than she was before	B
	-
Seventy ells and four extended	M
On the grass the vessel's keel	Z
High above it gilt and splendid	M
Rose the figure head ferocious	I
With its crest of steel	Z
	-
Then they launched her from the tressels	I
In the ship yard by the sea	I
She was the grandest of all vessels	I
Never ship was built in Norway	F2
Half so fine as she	I
	-
The Long Serpent was she christened	M
'Mid the roar of cheer on cheer	B
They who to the Saga listened	M
Heard the name of Thorberg Skafting	O2
For a hundred year	B
	-
	-
	-
XIV	Y
	-
THE CREW OF THE LONG SERPENT	M
	-
Safe at anchor in Drontheim bay	F2
King Olaf's fleet assembled lay	F2
And striped with white and blue	Z
Downward fluttered sail and banner	B
As alights the screaming lanner	B
Lustily cheered in their wild manner	B
The Long Serpent's crew	B
	-
Her forecastle man was Ulf the Red	M
Like a wolf's was his shaggy head	M
His teeth as large and white	M
His beard of gray and russet blended	M
Round as a swallow's nest descended	M
As standard bearer he defended	M
Olaf's flag in the fight	M
	-
Near him Kolbiorn had his place	I
Like the King in garb and face	I
So gallant and so hale	Z
Every cabin boy and varlet	M
Wondered at his cloak of scarlet	M
Like a river frozen and star lit	M
Gleamed his coat of mail	Z
	-
By the bulkhead tall and dark	O2
Stood Thrand Rame of Thelemark	O2
A figure gaunt and grand	M
On his hairy arm imprinted	M
Was an anchor azure tinted	M
Like Thor's hammer huge and dinted	M
Was his brawny hand	M
	-
Einar Tamberskelver bare	B
To the winds his golden hair	B
By the mainmast stood	M
Graceful was his form and slender	B
And his eyes were deep and tender	B
As a woman's in the splendor	B
Of her maidenhood	M
	-
In the fore hold Biorn and Bork	O2
Watched the sailors at their work	O2
Heavens how they swore	B
Thirty men they each commanded	M
Iron sinewed horny handed	M
Shoulders broad and chests expanded	M
Tugging at the oar	B
	-
These and many more like these	I
With King Olaf sailed the seas	I
Till the waters vast	M
Filled them with a vague devotion	G2
With the freedom and the motion	G2
With the roll and roar of ocean	G2
And the sounding blast	M
	-
When they landed from the fleet	M
How they roared through Drontheim's street	M
Boisterous as the gale	Z
How they laughed and stamped and pounded	M
Till the tavern roof resounded	M
And the host looked on astounded	M
As they drank the ale	Z
	-
Never saw the wild North Sea	I
Such a gallant company	I
Sail its billows blue	B
Never while they cruised and quarrelled	M
Old King Gorm or Blue Tooth Harald	M
Owned a ship so well apparelled	M
Boasted such a crew	B
	-
	-
	-
XV	Y
	-
A LITTLE BIRD IN THE AIR	B
	-
A little bird in the air	B
Is singing of Thyri the fair	B
The sister of Svend the Dane	G2
And the song of the garrulous bird	M
In the streets of the town is heard	M
And repeated again and again	G2
Hoist up your sails of silk	O2
And flee away from each other	B
	-
To King Burislaf it is said	M
Was the beautiful Thyri wed	M
And a sorrowful bride went she	I
And after a week and a day	M
She has fled away and away	M
From his town by the stormy sea	I
Hoist up your sails of silk	O2
And flee away from each other	B
	-
They say that through heat and through cold	M
Through weald they say and through wold	M
By day and by night they say	M
She has fled and the gossips report	M
She has come to King Olaf's court	M
And the town is all in dismay	M
Hoist up your sails of silk	O2
And flee away from each other	B
	-
It is whispered King Olaf has seen	G2
Has talked with the beautiful Queen	G2
And they wonder how it will end	M
For surely if here she remain	G2
It is war with King Svend the Dane	G2
And King Burislaf the Vend	M
Hoist up your sails of silk	O2
And flee away from each other	B
	-
O greatest wonder of all	Z
It is published in hamlet and hall	Z
It roars like a flame that is fanned	M
The King yes Olaf the King	O2
Has wedded her with his ring	O2
And Thyri is Queen in the land	M
Hoist up your sails of silk	O2
And flee away from each other	B
	-
	-
	-
XVI	Y
	-
QUEEN THYRI AND THE ANGELICA STALKS	I
	-
Northward over Drontheim	M
Flew the clamorous sea gulls	I
Sang the lark and linnet	M
From the meadows green	G2
	-
Weeping in her chamber	B
Lonely and unhappy	I
Sat the Drottning Thyri	B
Sat King Olaf's Queen	G2
	-
In at all the windows	I
Streamed the pleasant sunshine	G2
On the roof above her	B
Softly cooed the dove	Y
	-
But the sound she heard not	M
Nor the sunshine heeded	M
For the thoughts of Thyri	B
Were not thoughts of love	Y
	-
Then King Olaf entered	M
Beautiful as morning	O2
Like the sun at Easter	B
Shone his happy face	I
	-
In his hand he carried	M
Angelicas uprooted	M
With delicious fragrance	I
Filling all the place	I
	-
Like a rainy midnight	M
Sat the Drottning Thyri	B
Even the smile of Olaf	Y
Could not cheer her gloom	M
	-
Nor the stalks he gave her	B
With a gracious gesture	B
And with words as pleasant	M
As their own perfume	M
	-
In her hands he placed them	M
And her jewelled fingers	I
Through the green leaves glistened	M
Like the dews of morn	G2
	-
But she cast them from her	B
Haughty and indignant	M
On the floor she threw them	M
With a look of scorn	G2
	-
Richer presents said she	I
Gave King Harald Gormson	G2
To the Queen my mother	B
Than such worthless weeds	I
	-
When he ravaged Norway	M
Laying waste the kingdom	M
Seizing scatt and treasure	B
For her royal needs	I
	-
But thou darest not venture	B
Through the Sound to Vendland	M
My domains to rescue	B
From King Burislaf	Y
	-
Lest King Svend of Denmark	O2
Forked Beard my brother	B
Scatter all thy vessels	I
As the wind the chaff	Y
	-
Then up sprang King Olaf	Y
Like a reindeer bounding	O2
With an oath he answered	M
Thus the luckless Queen	G2
	-
Never yet did Olaf	Y
Fear King Svend of Denmark	O2
This right hand shall hale him	M
By his forked chin	G2
	-
Then he left the chamber	B
Thundering through the doorway	M
Loud his steps resounded	M
Down the outer stair	B
	-
Smarting with the insult	M
Through the streets of Drontheim	M
Strode he red and wrathful	Z
With his stately air	B
	-
All his ships he gathered	M
Summoned all his forces	I
Making his war levy	Y
In the region round	M
	-
Down the coast of Norway	M
Like a flock of sea gulls	I
Sailed the fleet of Olaf	Y
Through the Danish Sound	M
	-
With his own hand fearless	I
Steered he the Long Serpent	M
Strained the creaking cordage	U2
Bent each boom and gaff	Y
	-
Till in Venland landing	O2
The domains of Thyri	B
He redeemed and rescued	M
From King Burislaf	Y
	-
Then said Olaf laughing	O2
Not ten yoke of oxen	G2
Have the power to draw us	I
Like a woman's hair	B
	-
Now will I confess it	M
Better things are jewels	I
Than angelica stalks are	B
For a Queen to wear	B
	-
	-
	-
XVII	Y
	-
KING SVEND OF THE FORKED BEAR	B
	-
Loudly the sailors cheered	M
Svend of the Forked Beard	M
As with his fleet he steered	M
Southward to Vendland	M
Where with their courses hauled	M
All were together called	M
Under the Isle of Svald	M
Near to the mainland	M
	-
After Queen Gunhild's death	R2
So the old Saga saith	R2
Plighted King Svend his faith	R2
To Sigrid the Haughty	M
And to avenge his bride	M
Soothing her wounded pride	M
Over the waters wide	M
King Olaf sought he	M
	-
Still on her scornful face	I
Blushing with deep disgrace	I
Bore she the crimson trace	I
Of Olaf's gauntlet	M
Like a malignant star	B
Blazing in heaven afar	B
Red shone the angry scar	B
Under her frontlet	M
	-
Oft to King Svend she spake	O2
For thine own honor's sake	O2
Shalt thou swift vengeance take	O2
On the vile coward	M
Until the King at last	M
Gusty and overcast	M
Like a tempestuous blast	M
Threatened and lowered	M
	-
Soon as the Spring appeared	M
Svend of the Forked Beard	M
High his red standard reared	M
Eager for battle	Z
While every warlike Dane	G2
Seizing his arms again	G2
Left all unsown the grain	G2
Unhoused the cattle	Z
	-
Likewise the Swedish King	O2
Summoned in haste a Thing	O2
Weapons and men to bring	O2
In aid of Denmark	O2
Erie the Norseman too	M
As the war tidings flew	M
Sailed with a chosen crew	M
From Lapland and Finmark	O2
	-
So upon Easter day	M
Sailed the three kings away	M
Out of the sheltered bay	M
In the bright season	G2
With them Earl Sigvald came	M
Eager for spoil and fame	M
Pity that such a name	M
Stooped to such treason	G2
	-
Safe under Svald at last	M
Now were their anchors cast	M
Safe from the sea and blast	M
Plotted the three kings	I
While with a base intent	M
Southward Earl Sigvald went	M
On a foul errand bent	M
Unto the Sea kings	I
	-
Thence to hold on his course	I
Unto King Olaf's force	I
Lying within the hoarse	I
Mouths of Stet haven	G2
Him to ensnare and bring	O2
Unto the Danish king	O2
Who his dead corse would fling	O2
Forth to the raven	G2
	-
	-
	-
XVIII	Y
	-
KING OLAF AND EARL SIGVALD	M
	-
On the gray sea sands	I
King Olaf stands	I
Northward and seaward	M
He points with his hands	I
	-
With eddy and whirl	Z
The sea tides curl	Z
Washing the sandals	I
Of Sigvald the Earl	Z
	-
The mariners shout	M
The ships swing about	M
The yards are all hoisted	M
The sails flutter out	M
	-
The war horns are played	M
The anchors are weighed	M
Like moths in the distance	I
The sails flit and fade	M
	-
The sea is like lead	M
The harbor lies dead	M
As a corse on the sea shore	B
Whose spirit has fled	M
	-
On that fatal day	M
The histories say	M
Seventy vessels	I
Sailed out of the bay	M
	-
But soon scattered wide	M
O'er the billows they ride	M
While Sigvald and Olaf	Y
Sail side by side	M
	-
Cried the Earl Follow me	M
I your pilot will be	M
For I know all the channels	I
Where flows the deep sea	M
	-
So into the strait	M
Where his foes lie in wait	M
Gallant King Olaf	Y
Sails to his fate	M
	-
Then the sea fog veils	I
The ships and their sails	I
Queen Sigrid the Haughty	M
Thy vengeance prevails	I
	-
	-
	-
XIX	I
	-
KING OLAF'S WAR HORNS	I
	-
Strike the sails King Olaf said	M
Never shall men of mine take flight	M
Never away from battle I fled	M
Never away from my foes	I
Let God dispose	I
Of my life in the fight	M
	-
Sound the horns said Olaf the King	O2
And suddenly through the drifting brume	M
The blare of the horns began to ring	O2
Like the terrible trumpet shock	O2
Of Regnarock	O2
On the Day of Doom	M
	-
Louder and louder the war horns sang	O2
Over the level floor of the flood	M
All the sails came down with a clang	O2
And there in the mist overhead	M
The sun hung red	M
As a drop of blood	M
	-
Drifting down on the Danish fleet	M
Three together the ships were lashed	M
So that neither should turn and retreat	M
In the midst but in front of the rest	M
The burnished crest	M
Of the Serpent flashed	M
	-
King Olaf stood on the quarter deck	O2
With bow of ash and arrows of oak	O2
His gilded shield was without a fleck	O2
His helmet inlaid with gold	M
And in many a fold	M
Hung his crimson cloak	O2
	-
On the forecastle Ulf the Red	M
Watched the lashing of the ships	I
If the Serpent lie so far ahead	M
We shall have hard work of it here	B
Said he with a sneer	B
On his bearded lips	I
	-
King Olaf laid an arrow on string	O2
Have I a coward on board said he	M
Shoot it another way O King	O2
Sullenly answered Ulf	Y
The old sea wolf	Y
You have need of me	M
	-
In front came Svend the King of the Danes	I
Sweeping down with his fifty rowers	I
To the right the Swedish king with his thanes	I
And on board of the Iron Beard	M
Earl Eric steered	M
To the left with his oars	I
	-
These soft Danes and Swedes said the King	O2
At home with their wives had better stay	M
Than come within reach of my Serpent's sting	O2
But where Eric the Norseman leads	I
Heroic deeds	I
Will be done to day	M
	-
Then as together the vessels crashed	M
Eric severed the cables of hide	M
With which King Olaf's ships were lashed	M
And left them to drive and drift	M
With the currents swift	M
Of the outward tide	M
	-
Louder the war horns growl and snarl	Z
Sharper the dragons bite and sting	O2
Eric the son of Hakon Jarl	Z
A death drink salt as the sea	I
Pledges to thee	I
Olaf the King	O2
	-
	-
	-
XX	I
	-
EINAR TAMBERSKELVER	B
	-
It was Einar Tamberskelver	B
Stood beside the mast	M
From his yew bow tipped with silver	B
Flew the arrows fast	M
Aimed at Eric unavailing	O2
As he sat concealed	M
Half behind the quarter railing	O2
Half behind his shield	M
	-
First an arrow struck the tiller	B
Just above his head	M
Sing O Eyvind Skaldaspiller	B
Then Earl Eric said	M
Sing the song of Hakon dying	O2
Sing his funeral wail	Z
And another arrow flying	O2
Grazed his coat of mail	Z
	-
Turning to a Lapland yeoman	G2
As the arrow passed	M
Said Earl Eric Shoot that bowman	G2
Standing by the mast	M
Sooner than the word was spoken	G2
Flew the yeoman's shaft	M
Einar's bow in twain was broken	G2
Einar only laughed	M
	-
What was that said Olaf standing	O2
On the quarter deck	O2
Something heard I like the stranding	O2
Of a shattered wreck	O2
Einar then the arrow taking	O2
From the loosened string	O2
Answered That was Norway breaking	O2
From thy hand O King	O2
	-
Thou art but a poor diviner	B
Straightway Olaf said	M
Take my bow and swifter Einar	B
Let thy shafts be sped	M
Of his bows the fairest choosing	O2
Reached he from above	Y
Einar saw the blood drops oozing	O2
Through his iron glove	Y
	-
But the bow was thin and narrow	B
At the first assay	I
O'er its head he drew the arrow	B
Flung the bow away	M
Said with hot and angry temper	B
Flushing in his cheek	O2
Olaf for so great a Kamper	B
Are thy bows too weak	O2
	-
Then with smile of joy defiant	M
On his beardless lip	V2
Scaled he light and self reliant	M
Eric's dragon ship	V2
Loose his golden locks were flowing	O2
Bright his armor gleamed	M
Like Saint Michael overthrowing	O2
Lucifer he seemed	M
	-
	-
	-
XXI	I
	-
KING OLAF'S DEATH DRINK	O2
	-
All day has the battle raged	M
All day have the ships engaged	M
But not yet is assuaged	M
The vengeance of Eric the Earl	Z
	-
The decks with blood are red	M
The arrows of death are sped	M
The ships are filled with the dead	M
And the spears the champions hurl	Z
	-
They drift as wrecks on the tide	M
The grappling irons are plied	M
The boarders climb up the side	M
The shouts are feeble and few	Y
	-
Ah never shall Norway again	G2
See her sailors come back o'er the main	G2
They all lie wounded or slain	G2
Or asleep in the billows blue	Y
	-
On the deck stands Olaf the King	O2
Around him whistle and sing	O2
The spears that the foemen fling	O2
And the stones they hurl with their hands	I
	-
In the midst of the stones and the spears	I
Kolbiorn the marshal appears	I
His shield in the air he uprears	I
By the side of King Olaf he stands	I
	-
Over the slippery wreck	O2
Of the Long Serpent's deck	O2
Sweeps Eric with hardly a check	O2
His lips with anger are pale	Z
	-
He hews with his axe at the mast	M
Till it falls with the sails overcast	M
Like a snow covered pine in the vast	M
Dim forests of Orkadale	Z
	-
Seeking King Olaf then	G2
He rushes aft with his men	G2
As a hunter into the den	G2
Of the bear when he stands at bay	M
	-
Remember Jarl Hakon he cries	I
When lo on his wondering eyes	I
Two kingly figures arise	I
Two Olaf's in warlike array	M
	-
Then Kolbiorn speaks in the ear	B
Of King Olaf a word of cheer	B
In a whisper that none may hear	B
With a smile on his tremulous lip	V2
	-
Two shields raised high in the air	B
Two flashes of golden hair	B
Two scarlet meteors' glare	B
And both have leaped from the ship	V2
	-
Earl Eric's men in the boats	I
Seize Kolbiorn's shield as it floats	I
And cry from their hairy throats	I
See it is Olaf the King	O2
	-
While far on the opposite side	M
Floats another shield on the tide	M
Like a jewel set in the wide	M
Sea current's eddying ring	O2
	-
There is told a wonderful tale	Z
How the King stripped off his mail	Z
Like leaves of the brown sea kale	Z
As he swam beneath the main	G2
	-
But the young grew old and gray	M
And never by night or by day	M
In his kingdom of Norroway	M
Was King Olaf seen again	G2
	-
	-
	-
XXII	I
	-
THE NUN OF NIDAROS	I
	-
In the convent of Drontheim	M
Alone in her chamber	B
Knelt Astrid the Abbess	I
At midnight adoring	O2
Beseeching entreating	O2
The Virgin and Mother	B
	-
She heard in the silence	I
The voice of one speaking	O2
Without in the darkness	I
In gusts of the night wind	M
Now louder now nearer	B
Now lost in the distance	I
	-
The voice of a stranger	B
It seemed as she listened	M
Of some one who answered	M
Beseeching imploring	O2
A cry from afar off	Y
She could not distinguish	W2
	-
The voice of Saint John	G2
The beloved disciple	Z
Who wandered and waited	M
The Master's appearance	I
Alone in the darkness	I
Unsheltered and friendless	I
	-
It is accepted	M
The angry defiance	I
The challenge of battle	Z
It is accepted	M
But not with the weapons	I
Of war that thou wieldest	M
	-
Cross against corselet	M
Love against hatred	M
Peace cry for war cry	B
Patience is powerful	Z
He that o'ercometh	I
Hath power o'er the nations	I
	-
As torrents in summer	B
Half dried in their channels	I
Suddenly rise though the	I
Sky is still cloudless	I
For rain has been falling	O2
Far off at their fountains	I
	-
So hearts that are fainting	O2
Grow full to o'erflowing	O2
And they that behold it	M
Marvel and know not	M
That God at their fountains	I
Far off has been raining	O2
	-
Stronger than steel	Z
Is the sword of the Spirit	M
Swifter than arrows	I
The light of the truth is	I
Greater than anger	B
Is love and subdueth	I
	-
Thou art a phantom	M
A shape of the sea mist	M
A shape of the brumal	Z
Rain and the darkness	I
Fearful and formless	I
Day dawns and thou art not	M
	-
The dawn is not distant	M
Nor is the night starless	I
Love is eternal	Z
God is still God and	M
His faith shall not fail us	I
Christ is eternal	Z
	-
	-
	-
	-
INTERLUDE	M
	-
A strain of music closed the tale	Z
A low monotonous funeral wail	Z
That with its cadence wild and sweet	M
Made the long Saga more complete	M
	-
Thank God the Theologian said	M
The reign of violence is dead	M
Or dying surely from the world	M
While Love triumphant reigns instead	M
And in a brighter sky o'erhead	M
His blessed banners are unfurled	M
And most of all thank God for this	I
The war and waste of clashing creeds	I
Now end in words and not in deeds	I
And no one suffers loss or bleeds	I
For thoughts that men call heresies	I
	-
I stand without here in the porch	X2
I hear the bell's melodious din	G2
I hear the organ peal within	G2
I hear the prayer with words that scorch	X2
Like sparks from an inverted torch	X2
I hear the sermon upon sin	G2
With threatenings of the last account	M
And all translated in the air	B
Reach me but as our dear Lord's Prayer	B
And as the Sermon on the Mount	M
	-
Must it be Calvin and not Christ	M
Must it be Athanasian creeds	I
Or holy water books and beads	I
Must struggling souls remain content	M
With councils and decrees of Trend	M
And can it be enough for these	I
The Christian Church the year embalms	I
With evergreens and boughs of palms	I
And fills the air with litanies	I
	-
I know that yonder Pharisee	I
Thanks God that he is not like me	M
In my humiliation dressed	M
I only stand and beat my breast	M
And pray for human charity	M
	-
Not to one church alone but seven	G2
The voice prophetic spake from heaven	G2
And unto each the promise came	M
Diversified but still the same	M
For him that overcometh are	B
The new name written on the stone	G2
The raiment white the crown the throne	G2
And I will give him the Morning Star	B
	-
Ah to how many Faith has been	G2
No evidence of things unseen	G2
But a dim shadow that recasts	I
The creed of the Phantasiasts	I
For whom no Man of Sorrows died	M
For whom the Tragedy Divine	G2
Was but a symbol and a sign	G2
And Christ a phantom crucified	M
	-
For others a diviner creed	M
Is living in the life they lead	M
The passing of their beautiful feet	M
Blesses the pavement of the street	M
And all their looks and words repeat	M
Old Fuller's saying wise and sweet	M
Not as a vulture but a dove	Y
The Holy Ghost came from above	Y
	-
And this brings back to me a tale	Z
So sad the hearer well may quail	Z
And question if such things can be	M
Yet in the chronicles of Spain	G2
Down the dark pages runs this stain	G2
And naught can wash them white again	G2
So fearful is the tragedy	M

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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About The Musician's Tale - The Saga Of King Olaf - The Wayside Inn - Part First

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