Workmen sweating at the forges

Fashioned iron bolt and bar, Like a warlock's midnight orgies Smoked and bubbled the black caldron With the boiling tar.

Did the warlocks mingle in it,

Thorberg Skafting, any curse? Could you not be gone a minute But some mischief must be doing, Turning bad to worse?

'Twas an ill wind that came wafting, From his homestead words of woe; To his farm went Thorberg Skafting, Oft repeating to his workmen,

Build ye thus and so. After long delays returning

Came the master back by night; To his ship-yard longing, yearning, Hurried he, and did not leave it

Till the morning's light.

"Come and see my ship, my darling!" On the morrow said the King; "Finished now from keel to carling; Never yet was seen in Norway

Such a wondrous thing!" In the ship-yard, idly talking,

At the ship the workmen stared: Some one all their labour baulking, Down her side had cut deep gashes, Not a plank was spared! "Death be to the evil-doer!"

With an oath King Olaf spoke; "But rewards to his pursuer !" And with wrath his face

grew

redder

Than his scarlet cloak. Straight the master-builder, smiling, Answered thus the angry King: "Cease blaspheming and reviling, Olaf, it was Thorberg Skafting

Who has done this thing!"

Then he chipped and smoothed the planking,

Till the King delighted, swore, With much lauding and much thanking, "Handsomer is now my Dragon

Than she was before!'

Then they launched her from the tres

sels,

In the ship-yard by the sea;
She was the grandest of all vessels,
Never ship was built in Norway
Half so fine as she!

The Long Serpent was she christened,
'Mid the roar of cheer on cheer!
They who to the Saga listened
Heard the name of Thorberg Skafting
For a hundred year!

XIV. THE CREW OF THE LONG
SERPENT.

SAFE at anchor in Drontheim bay
King Olaf's fleet assembled lay,

And, striped with white and blue, Downward fluttered sail and banner, As alights the screaming lanner; Lustily cheered, in their wild manner, The Long Serpent's crew.

Her forecastle man was Ulf the Red; Like a wolf's was his shaggy head,

His teeth as large and white;
His beard, of gray and russet blended,
Round as a swallow's nest descended;
As standard-bearer he defended
Olaf's flag in the fight.

Near him Kolbiorn had his place,
Like the King in garb and face,
So gallant and so hale;
Every cabin-boy and varlet
Wondered at his cloak of scarlet;
Like a river, frozen and star-lit,
Gleamed his coat of mail.

By the bulkhead, tall and dark,
Stood Thrand Rame of Thelemark,
A figure gaunt and grand;
On his hairy arm imprinted
Was an anchor, azure-tinted;
Like Thor's hammer, huge and dinted
Was his brawny hand.
Einar Tamberskelver, bare
To the winds his golden hair,

By the mainmast stood;
Graceful was his form, and slender,
And his eyes were deep and tender
As a woman's, in the splendour

Of her maidenhood.

In the fore-hold Biorn and Bork
Watched the sailors at their work;
Heavens! how they swore!,

XV. A LITTLE BIRD IN THE AIR.

A LITTLE bird in the air

Is singing of Thyri the fair,

The sister of Svend the Dane;
And the song of the garrulous bird
In the streets of the town is heard,
And repeated again and again.

Hoist up your sails of silk,
And flee away from each other.
To King Burislaf, it is said,
Was the beautiful Thyri wed,

And a sorrowful bride went she;
And after a week and a day,
She has fled away and away,
From his town by the stormy sea.
Hoist up your sails of silk,
And flee away from each other.
They say that through heat and through
cold,

Through weald, they say, and through wold,

By day and by night, they say, She has fled; and the gossips report She has come to King Olaf's court,

And the town is all in dismay. Hoist up your sails of silk, And flee away from each other. It is whispered King Olaf has seen, Has talked with the beautiful Queen;

And they wonder how it will end; For surely, if here she remain, It is war with King Svend the Dane, And King Burislaf the Vend!

Hoist up your sails of silk,

And flee away from each other.

O, greatest wonder of all!

It is published in hamlet and hall,

It roars like a flame that is fanned! The King-yes, Olaf the King— Had wedded her with his ring, And Thyri is Queen in the land! Hoist up your sails of silk, And flee away from each other.

XVI. QUEEN THYRI AND THE

ANGELICA-STALKS.

NORTHWARD Over Drontheim,
Flew the clamorous sea-gulls,
Sang the lark and linnet

From the meadows green;
Weeping in her chamber,
Lonely and unhappy,
Sat the Drottning Thyri,
Sat King Olaf's Queen.
In at all the windows
Streamed the pleasant sunshine,
On the roof above her

Softly cooed the dove;
But the sound she heard not,
Nor the sunshine.heeded,
For the thoughts of Thyri

Were not thoughts of love.
Then King Olaf entered,
Beautiful as morning,
Like the sun at Easter

Shone his happy face;
In his hand he carried
Angelicas uprooted,
With delicious fragrance

Filling all the place. Like a rainy midnight Sat the Drottning Thyri, Even the smile of Olaf

Could not cheer her gloom;

Nor the stalks he gave her
With a gracious gesture,
And with words as pleasant
As their own perfume.

In her hands he placed them,
And her jewelled fingers

Through the green leaves glistened
Like the dews of morn;

But she cast them from her,
Haughty and indignant,
On the floor she threw them

With a look of scorn.
"Richer presents," said she,
"Gave King Harald Gormson
To the Queen, my mother,

Than such worthless weeds;
"When he ravaged Norway,
Laying waste the kingdom,
Seizing scatt and treasure
For her royal needs.

"But thou darest not venture
Through the Sound to Vendland,
My domains to rescue

From King Burislaf;
"Lest King Svend of Denmark,
Forked Beard, my brother,
Scatter all thy vessels

As the wind the chaff."
Then up sprang King Olaf,
Like a reindeer bounding,
With an oath he answered

Thus the luckless Queen: "Never yet did Olaf Fear King Svend of Denmark; This right hand shall hale him By his forked chin!" Then he left the chamber, Thundering through the doorway, Loud his steps resounded

Down the outer stair.

Smarting with the insult,
Through the streets of Drontheim
Strode he red and wrathful,

With his stately air.
All his ships he gathered,
Summoned all his forces,
Making his war levy

In the region round;
Down the coast of Norway,
Like a flock of sea-gulls,

Sailed the fleet of Olaf

Through the Danish Sound. With his own hand fearless Steered he the Long Serpent, Strained the creaking cordage, Bent each boom and gaff; Till in Vendland landing, The domains of Thyri He redeemed and rescued From King Burislaf. Then said Olaf, laughing, "Not ten yoke of oxen Have the power to draw us

Like a woman's hair! "Now will I confess it, Better things are jewels Than angelica-stalks are For a Queen to wear."

""

XVII. KING SVEND OF THE FORKED

BEARD.

LOUDLY the sailors cheered
Svend of the Forked Beard,
As with his fleet he steered

Southward to Vendland;
Where with their courses hauled
All were together called,
Under the Isle of Svald

Near to the mainland.
After Queen Gunhild's death,
So the old Saga saith,
Plighted King Svend his faith
To Sigrid the Haughty;
And to avenge his bride,
Soothing her wounded pride,
Over the waters wide

King Olaf sought he.
Still on her scornful face,
Blushing with deep disgrace,
Bore she the crimson trace

Of Olaf's gauntlet;
Like a malignant star,
Blazing in heaven afar,
Red shone the angry scar
Under her frontlet.

Oft to King Svend she spake,
"For thine own honour's sake
Shalt thou swift vengeance take
On the vile coward!"
Until the King at last,
Gusty and overcast,
Like a tempestuous blast

Threatened and lowered.

Soon as the Spring appeared,
Svend of the Forked Beard
High his red standard reared,
Eager for battle;

While every warlike Dane
Seizing his arms again,
Left all unsown the grain,
Unhoused the cattle.

Likewise the Swedish King
Summoned in haste a Thing,
Weapons and men to bring

In aid of Denmark;
Eric the Norseman, too,
As the war-tidings flew,
Sailed with a chosen crew
From Lapland and Finmark.

So upon Easter day

Sailed the three kings away,
Out of the sheltered bay,

In the bright season:
With them Earl Sigvald came,
Eager for spoil and fame;
Pity that such a name

Stooped to such treason!

Safe under Svald at last,
Now were their anchors cast,
Safe from the sea and blast,

Plotted the three kings; While, with a base intent, Southward Earl Sigvald went, On a foul errand bent,

Unto the Sea-kings. Thence to hold on his course, Unto King Olaf's force, Lying within the hoarse

Mouths of Stet-haven;

Him to ensnare and bring
Unto the Danish king,

Who his dead corse would fling
Forth to the raven !

XVIII.-KING OLAF AND EARL

SIGVALD.

On the gray sea-sands
King Olaf stands,
Northward and seaward
He points with his hands.

With eddy and whirl
The sea-tides curl,
Washing the sandals
Of Sigvald the Earl.

The mariners shout,
The ships swing about,
The yards are all hoisted,
The sails flutter out.

The war-horns are played,
The anchors are weighed,
Like moths in the distance
The sails flit and fade.
The sea is like lead,
The harbour lies dead,
As a corse on the sea-shore,
Whose spirit has fled!
On that fatal day,
The histories say,
Seventy vessels

Sailed out of the bay.

But soon scattered wide
O'er the billows they ride,
While Sigvald and Olaf
Sail side by side.

Cried the Earl: "Follow me!

I

your pilot will be,

For I know all the channels

Where flows the deep sea!"

So into the strait

Where his foes lie in wait,
Gallant King Olaf
Sails to his fate!

Then the sea-fog veils
The ships and their sails;
Queen Sigrid the Haughty,
Thy vengeance prevails!

And there in the mist 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

On 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!

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

66

Just above his head;

"Šing, 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 break

ing

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;