"Sound the horns!" said Olaf the King;
And suddenly through the drifting brume
The blare of the horns began to ring,
Like the terrible trumpet shock
Of Regnarock,

On the Day of Doom!

Louder and louder the war-horns sang
Over the level floor of the flood;
All the sails came down with a clang,
And there in the midst overhead
The sun hung red

As a drop of blood.

Drifting down on the Danish fleet
Three together the ships were lashed,
So that neither should turn and retreat;
In the midst, but in front of the rest,
The burnished crest

Of the Serpent flashed.

King Olaf stood on the quarter-deck,
With bow of ash and arrows of oak,
His gilded shield was without a fleck,
His helmet inlaid with gold,

And in many a fold

Hung his crimson cloak.

On the forecastle Ulf the Red

Watched the lashing of the ships;

"If the Serpent lie so far ahead,

We shall have hard work of it here,"
Said he with a sneer

On his bearded lips.

King Olaf laid an arrow on string,

"Have I a coward on board?

said he.

“Shoot it another way, O King!"

Sullenly answered Ulf,

The old sea-wolf;

"You have need of me!"

In front came Svend, the King of the Danes, Sweeping down with his fifty rowers ;

To the right, the Swedish king with his thanes; And on board of the Iron Beard

Earl Eric steered

To the left with his oars.

"These soft Danes and Swedes," said the King, "At home with their wives had better stay, Than come within reach of my Serpent's sting: But where Eric the Norseman leads

Heroic deeds

Will be done to-day!"

Then as together the vessels crashed,

Eric severed the cables of hide,

With which King Olaf's ships were lashed,

And left them to drive and drift

With the currents swift

Of the outward tide.

Louder the war-horns growl and snarl,
Sharper the dragons bite and sting!
Eric the son of Hakon Jarl
A death-drink salt as the sea
Pledges to thee,

Olaf the King!

66

XX.

EINAR TAMBERSKELVER.

It was Einar Tamberskelver
Stood beside the mast;

From his yew-bow, tipped with silver,
Flew the arrows fast;
Aimed at Eric unavailing,
As he sat concealed,
Half behind the quarter-railing,
Half behind his shield.

First an arrow struck the tiller,

Just above his head;

Sing, O Eyvind Skaldaspiller,"

Then Earl Eric said.

"Sing the song of Hakon dying,

Sing his funeral wail! "
And another arrow flying
Grazed his coat of mail.

Turning to a Lapland yeoman,
As the arrow passed,

Said Earl Eric, "Shoot that bowman
Standing by the mast."

Sooner than the word was spoken

Flew the yeoman's shaft; Einar's bow in twain was broken, Einar only laughed.

"What was that?" said Olaf, standing On the quarter-deck. "Something heard I like the stranding Of a shattered wreck."

Einar then, the arrow taking

From the loosened string,

Answered, "That was Norway breaking

From thy hand, O King!

"Thou art but a poor diviner,"
Straightway Olaf said;

"Take my bow, and swifter, Einar,
Let thy shafts be sped."
Of his bows the fairest choosing,
Reached he from above;
Einar saw the blood-drops oozing
Through his iron glove.

But the bow was thin and narrow;

At the first assay,

O'er its head he drew the arrow,

Flung the bow away;

Said, with hot and angry temper

Flushing in his cheek,

"Olaf! for so great a Kämper Are thy bows too weak!"

Then, with smile of joy defiant
On his beardless lip,

Scaled he, light and self-reliant,
Eric's dragon-ship.

Loose his golden locks were flowing,
Bright his armor gleamed;
Like Saint Michael overthrowing
Lucifer he seemed.

XXI.

KING OLAF'S DEATH-DRINK.

All day has the battle raged,
All day have the ships engaged,
But not yet is assuaged

The vengeance of Eric the Earl.

The decks with blood are red,
The arrows of death are sped,
The ships are filled with the dead,
And the spears the champions hurl.

They drift as wrecks on the tide,
The grappling-irons are plied,
The boarders climb up the side,
The shouts are feeble and few.

Ah! never shall Norway again
See her sailors come back o'er the main,
They all lie wounded or slain,

Or asleep in the billows blue!

On the deck stands Olaf the King,
Around him whistle and sing