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Viking Tales of the North


Fridthjof's Saga


Canto X

Page 2

VII.

Threat’ning still his worst,
        Roars the storm again;
Quick the sheet is burst,
        Snaps the yard in twain.

‘Gainst th’ half-buried ship, comotion-
        Toss’d high waves to boarding go;
And howe’er they bale, is ocean
        Not so soon bal’d out, we know!
Not e’en Fridthjof now doubts longer
        That he carries death on board;
Yet than storm or billow stronger,
        Higher sounds his lordly word:

“Hither Bjorn! the rudder
Grasp with bear-paw (2) strongly;
Vahhal’s pow’rs sure send not
Weather such as this;
Witchcraft’s workings! Helge,
Coward-scoundrel, doubtless
Conjured has these billows, —
I will up and see!”


VIII.

Like marten he flew
        Up the bending mast;
And there, fast clinging, threw
        Many a glance o’er the waste.

Look! as isle that loose-torn drifteth,
        Stops that whale Ellide’s way;
Sea-fiends two the monster lifteth
        High on’s back, through boiling spray;
Hejd (3) is wrapp’d in snowy cov’ring,
        Fashion’d like the white-furr’d bear, —
Ham (4) ‘mid whistling winds, grim, hov’ring,
        Storm-bird like assaults the air.

“Now, Ellide! show us
Whether, as ‘tis boasted,
Hero-mood thy iron fast
Round oak-bosom holds!
Listen! art thou truly
Æger’s god-sprung daughter,
Up with copper-keel, and
Gore that spell-charm’d whale!”


IX.

And Ellide hears
        Her young lord’s behest, —
With one bound-gulf clears
        To the troll-whale’s breast.

From the wound a stream out-gushes,
        Up toward heav’n, of smoking blood;
And, gashed through, the beast down-rushes,
        Roaring, to the deepest mud;
Then, at once, the hero slingeth
        Two sharp spears; one the ice-bear’s hide
Pierceth, the other deadly springeth
        Through yon pitch-black eagle’s side.

“Bravely sruck, Ellide!
Not so soon will Helge’s
Dragon-ship leap upward
Out from bloody mud;
Hejd and Ham much longer
The up-toss’d sea will keep, for
Bitter ‘tis to bite the
Hard blue-shining steel.”



X.

And the storm — it had fled
        At once from the sea;
Only ground-swells led
        To the isle on their lea.

And at once the sun fresh treadeth,
        Monarch-like, in hall of blue;
Joy o’er ship and wave he spreadeth,
        Hill and dale creates anew.
Sunset’s beamings crown with gold the
        Craggy rock and grove-dark plain;
All with glad surprise behold the
        Shores of Efjesund again.

“Ing’borg’s prayers — pale maidens
Up to Valhal rising —
Lily-white, on heav’n’s own
Gold-floors bent the knee;
Tears in light-blue eyes, and
Sighs from swan-down bosoms,
Th’ asas’ stern hearts melted, —
Thank, then, thank the gods!”


XI.

But Ellide rose
        Sore jarred by the whale,
And water-logg’d goes,
        All awear’d by her sail.

Yet more wearied than their dragon,
        Totter Fridthjof’s gallant men;
Though each leans upon his weapon,
        Scarcely upright stand they then.
Bjorn on powerful shoulder dareth
        Four to carry to the land;
Fridthjof, all alone, eight beareth —
        Sets them so round th’ upblaz’d brand.

“Nay, ye white-faced, shame not!
Waves are mighty vikings;
Hard’s th’ unequal struggle —
Ocean’s maids our foes.
See! there comes the mead-horn,
Wand’ring on bright gold-foot;
shipmates, cold limbs warm, and —
Here’s to Ingeborg!”



ENDNOTES:

2. A pun on the name Bjorn, which means bear. Back

3-4. Hejd and Ham are the names of the two witches. Back

 



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