"A warlock, a wizard is he, Here the sign of the cross made "With rites that we both abhor, XI. And the warlocks are no more Then King Olaf cried aloud : And along the Salten Fiord BISHOP SIGURD AT SALTEN FIORD. LOUD the angry wind was wailing To the mouth of Salten Fiord. Of the champions there on board, Raud the Strong was wont to ride. And the sea through all its tide-ways ""Tis the warlock! 'tis the demon By the witchcraft of his foes." To the ship's bow he ascended, On the bow stood Bishop Sigurd, High amid the rain and mist. Then with holy water sprinkled As into the Fiord they darted, Steadily rowed King Olaf's ships; Till at last they reached Raud's dwelling Not a guard was at the doorway, Not a glimmer of light was seen. But at anchor, carved and gilded, With its crest and scales of green. Up the stairway, softly creeping, Bolt and bar that held the door. Drunken with sleep and ale they found him, Then King Olaf said: "O Sea-King! Be baptized, or thou shalt die!" But in scorn the heathen scoffer Thee and thy Gospel I defy!" Then between his jaws distended, When his frantic struggles ended, Touched by fire, they forced to glide. Sharp his tooth was as an arrow, But without a groan or shudder, Raud the Strong blaspheming died. Up the streams of Salten Fiord. Preached the Gospel with his sword. Grasping, steered into the main. Southward sailed the sea-gulls o'er him, XII. KING OLAF'S CHRISTMAS. AT Drontheim, Olaf the King Drinking the nut-brown ale, With his bearded Berserks hale Three days his Yule-tide feasts And his horn filled up to the brim, O'er his drinking horn, the sign He made of the Cross divine, As he drank, and muttered his prayers; But the Berserks evermore Made the sign of the Hammer of Thor The gleams of the fire-light dance Upon helmet and hauberk and lance, And laugh in the eyes of the King; And he cries to Halfred the Scald, Gray-bearded, wrinkled, and bald, "Sing! "Sing me a song divine, And this shall be thy reward." "Quern-biter of Hakon the Good, The millstone through and through, And Foot-breadth of Thoralf the Strong, Were neither so broad nor so long, Nor so true." Then the Scald took his harp and sang, The sound of that shining word; And the Berserks round about That made the rafters ring; They smote with their fists on the board, And shouted, "Long live the Sword, And the King!" But the King said, "O my son, I miss the bright word in one Of thy measures and thy rhymes." And Halfred the Scald replied, 66 In another 'tw s multiplied Three times." |